“I may not have a choice,” Aurelie said, her voice quiet.She hadn’t meant to bring this up now, not until she knew more, but her heart spoke on her behalf.
“What?”Paige asked.Everyone’s eyes fell on Aurelie again, and she wished, for once lately, she could be the bearer of good news for her friends.
“I got a call from Dr.Roberts that I need to talk to her about my papers.It turns out my permanent work visa didn’t come through; she has some ideas, but nothing I do is going to matter if that visa is denied.”
“But that’s not possible.”
“It is, I’m afraid,” Aurelie said.Paige choked back a sob, and Brad got up to pace the floor behind the couch.
“Not on my watch,” Owen finally said, rising and bending down to envelope her in a bear hug.His embrace squeezed the tears of doubt that had built up within her since she’d left the islands onto his dusty flannel work shirt.“You’re not going anywhere if I can help it.Tell us what to do, and we’ll do it.You’re my sister-in-law, Aury.You can’t leave.”
Aurelie’s eyes filled up again as if fed by an endless well of saltwater.She’d never cried so much in her whole life as she had since she’d met this family, and now it was all she seemed to do.Surrounding her was the world’s best set of friends a woman could ask for, which made the possibility of losing them all the harder to bear.
“I really wish there was something I could do, but I knew this was a possibility when I came here.It doesn’t make it any easier to know it is happening, though.Believe me, if I could find a way to stay, I would.”
“Well, let’s figure out a way to make it happen, then,” Brad chimed in.
“Tomorrow.Right now, all I want is to cuddle my niece and let her parents have a night where they aren’t thinking about all the drama I bring to their lives.”
Owen choked out a laugh.“Ha!If you weren’t here to keep life interesting, Aury, I’d have just continued on the world’s longest conversation about the feel of cow’s teats compared to a woman’s.Add all the drama you want.”
“Oh really, honey,” Paige said, her voice sing-songy and light.Besides Aurelie, only Brad seemed to know that meant trouble.Brad looked at his friend and mimed shutting up, zipping up, and throwing away the key.“What did you two lotharios come to?”
“Well, we decided,” Owen continued, apparently having missed his brother-in-law’s less-than-subtle clues to shut up, “they’re both feeding troughs, so they should feel the same, but…”
Brad coughed loudly, and Owen got the hint.He turned a shade of red Aurelie had only seen on the bright island clothes she’d brought from home.
“I mean, um…” he started.Aurelie bit back a laugh for the first time since she’d walked through the doors.
“Aury, I’m so glad you’re watching Maddie so I can let my husband here take me out to a nice, fancy dinner to make up for being a total schmuck.”Paige turned to her husband, flashing him her million-dollar smile, the one that meant he had some making up to do.“Think of something nice, sweetheart.I’m going to go clean up my feeding trough and see if I can make my tits into something you might want to do some research on later.”She handed Maddie to Aurelie and glowered at Owen, who was still beet-red.
“I’d, uh, better go start to make up for that,” he said, running his fingers through his blond curls.
“You should start with reservations,” Jace said, laughing.“My agent set me up with dinner at a fancy joint in the city, hotel included, and I forgot to cancel them when I decided to stay.Why don’t you take it?”
Owen stared slack-jawed at the stranger.Aurelie’s pulse sped up when she realized what Jace had just done for her best friend and her husband.Giving up a hotel room like that for strangers?Well, people he hadn’t seen in decades made them virtual strangers, anyway.Why did that unexpected kindness and ease with which he’d suggested it take her mind to something else unexpected: him in her bed, sleeping clothes optional?And more so, why didn’t that image alarm her like it should?
“You don’t mind?That’s a helluva gift, brother.”
“Consider it payment for thatkissing your wifecomment from yesterday.”
“Dude.If I were a better man, I’d spend the next few minutes arguing with you thatI couldn’t possibly.But I’m in a shit storm of trouble, and this might help dig me out, so…hell yeah, man, thanks!”Owen shook Jace’s hand.
“No problem.I’ll make the calls to transfer them to you right now.The hotel’s the Delta, I think, and dinner at the Bella Roma.And my treat, since it’s paid for already anyway.Is that okay?”
“Okay?Man, I’m naming my next kid after you.Paige’s been dying to try Bella Roma since she moved back.And the Delta was my plan for our fifth anniversary.”
“Enjoy.She deserves it.”Jace laughed as Owen chased down his wife.
Brad told Aurelie that he was heading home to get dinner in a slow cooker so that after work, he and Sophie could chat about the latest string of bad news and make a plan.He’d meet Owen and Jace at Jace’s barn in half an hour.Aurelie wished him luck and rocked a sleeping Maddie, content for the first time in days.
She overheard Jace on the phone with someone telling them to change the reservations to Owen’s name and to send Jace the bill for both.Aurelie wondered what it must be like to be so famous that everyone fawned over you, did anything you wanted.But it felt petty for even wondering such a thing of a man who’d just given up what sounded like Helena’s most comfortable bed and mouthwatering meal for a man he didn’t know.At least he was using his fame and money for good, unlike Analise’s ex-husband.
Her train of thought went to Dr.Roberts, who was still waiting for Aurelie to return her call.What Aury had discovered about the visa wasn’t damning, but it wasn’t good, either.As the agent had told her, she had two options: she could marry someone from the United States or apply for another work visa.
Both seemed impossible, especially since the current federal administration was cracking down on how many visas it issued.And it’s not like she had anyone she was dating who she could talk into marrying her so she could stay, get the clinic off the ground, and see her niece grow up.She sighed.It seemed hopeless.She walked back to the nursery and laid the sleeping infant in her crib, then dialed her boss’s number.It may take a while to get the approval for another work visa, but it started with an endorsement from her current employer.And it was far more likely than a marriage, unfortunately.
Miranda Roberts was a world-class pediatrician and a phenomenally kind and giving woman to boot.But ultimately, even with the nicest letter possible, she had no control over Aurelie’s status in this country.And that scared Aurelie more than losing her mother.All her mom had ever wanted for her was to get away, to make a life for herself.It had taken the better part of thirty years, but she’d done it.Now it might be stripped from her without her consent.
