Dare to Stay (Dare Nation 4)

Aurora sniffed and rubbed her eyes with a napkin on the table. “What happened to your parents? My mom left me with her mom, my grandma, and never came back. Grandma died of breast cancer when I was five. There were no other relatives and I ended up in foster care. I had asthma and was sick a lot. Nobody wanted to adopt a sick kid,” Aurora said.

Willow reached across the table and grasped the girl’s hand. “I’m sorry about your parents and your grandma.”

“Thanks,” Aurora said, her gaze on Willow’s, waiting for an answer to her question, what happened to her parents?

Willow never talked about her past. Ever. But for this girl, she would. “I have no idea who my father was. My mother said she didn’t know. And she … she never picked me up from school one day.” She curled her hands into fists in her lap, her nails digging into her skin. “After the police went to check where I lived, they said the apartment had been emptied out.” Willow shrugged. “My mother left without a trace.”

Aurora wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m sorry, too.”

“Now, will you take the clothes and come keep me company at this big celebration where we’ll both feel a little out of place?” She forced a smile past the revelations she’d just made, and to her relief, Aurora grinned back.

“Yeah. I will. Thank you,” she said, her tone serious.

“You’re welcome.” Willow reached into her big purse and pulled out the clothes she’d folded and put inside. “Hopefully they’ll fit well enough.”

Aurora grabbed the items, a flicker of excitement in her eyes. “I’ll go try them on.”

Willow turned to watch her go and saw Braden standing behind her. Her face flamed at the realization that he’d heard everything. All the details she’d never told him. That neither her father nor her mother had loved her enough to stick around. She hadn’t been enough.

“I didn’t want to interrupt.” He leaned against one of the pillars in the room, his gaze steady on hers.

She swallowed hard. “So you heard.”

He inclined his head. “You never told me any of that,” he said in a gruff voice. “And I really wish you had.”

“I don’t like to talk about my childhood.” She rose from her chair, feeling like she needed to be on equal footing with him.

“Yet you just did. For Aurora’s sake. That was sweet and she needs it. I went snooping and saw that back room she’s living in.” He shook his head. “It barely holds a twin bed. It’s more like a closet than a room.”

She closed her eyes and sighed, her heart breaking for the young pregnant girl who was barely a woman.

Braden’s warm gaze caressed her face, making her tremble, the emotions he evoked hard for her to process. “Aurora needed to hear she isn’t alone,” she told him.

“I think you need to hear that, too. You aren’t alone. I’m here.” Reaching out, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

Her body leaned into him and she caught herself. She’d always felt safe in his arms until he’d ripped the rug out from beneath her feet. Then again, she hadn’t been much of an anchor for him, either.

“You’re here for now. What happens when the next big adventure or opportunity comes calling?” She couldn’t help but ask the question that lay on her mind.

He winced. “That’s a fair question and one I deserve. Somehow I’m going to prove to you that I’ve changed and this is where I want to be. I learned a lot being away from the people I care about.”

“It fits!”

Willow stepped away from Braden and turned to Aurora. The too-large shirt had come from a mistaken purchase online at a no-return store, and she’d kept it. It hugged the girl’s belly but didn’t look too small.

“I’m using my own leggings because these didn’t fit at all. But thank you.” She held the black stretch pants out, and Willow folded them and put them back in her bag.

“You look great!” Willow noticed she’d brushed her hair and had color in her cheeks due to the excitement of going out.

Willow was grateful Braden had come up with this plan. She already liked Aurora and hated the idea of her living in a closet-sized room while mentally preparing to have a baby.

“Ready, ladies?” Braden asked, interrupting her thoughts.

“Are you sure your family won’t mind the extra person?” Aurora twirled a strand of hair nervously around one finger.

“Positive. The more the merrier,” he reassured her.

Willow wished someone would reassure her as she joined him and his huge family for dinner.

* * *

Braden thought he’d have two women to worry about at his mom’s house, but as it turned out, Aurora fit right in. Bri took an immediate liking to her, as if his twin sensed the young girl needed a friend. Given the wink Bri gave him, he figured she was also giving Braden time with Willow.