“Get out here, you two,” I grumble as I yank on Walker and Knox’s shirts.
I close my bedroom door, and the barrier seems to relax all three of us. My hands fall away from their shirts as Knox rolls his shoulders and Walker rolls his head to pop his neck.
“Okay,” Knox says on an exhale, “that escalated fast.”
Walker rubs the back of his neck. “This can’t be just preheat. She has to be close now.”
“I know,” I mumble as I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Has she said anything to either of you guys about what she wants to do about her heat?”
The two of them just shake their heads.
I lean back against the hallway wall and scrub a hand down my face. “Way to drop that bomb at the dinner table, by the way.”
“Yeah, that wasn’t the most tactful way to go about things,” Walker says. “You think I overwhelmed her?”
Knox shakes his head. “No, this is definitely something more than that.”
The hope in Walker’s voice is evident when he speaks. “She didn’t immediately turn down the idea, though.”
“Hey,” Knox says as he holds up his hands, “I thought it the instant I walked into your place. You’re not the only one thinking about it.”
“What do you think, Eli?” Walker asks. “Do you think vineyard living is something you and Amber could do?”
I give him question some time in my head. Could I really do that to Amber? Just uproot her from the home I shared with her mother? From the place where her mother’s scent used to reign supreme? Could I really uproot her from the memories?—
ThatIhave of her mother.
Amber doesn’t have any memories of her mother in this home. I’m the only one with those. The thought slams into my chest so hard it leaves me breathless. I cup my hand over my eyes, and my throat works around the hard knot forming in my throat.
“I shouldn’t have brought it up,” Walker mumbles.
“My grief isn’t your issue,” I say as I look over at Walker. “The truth of the matter is, I think Amber would love vineyard living. I’m the one that’s still overly attached to this house, and it’s an attachment that probably isn’t healthy at this point.”
“It doesn’t have to be any time soon,” Walker says. “I just thought… if Lia was considering a future at all, she might like to know that someone else is considering one as well.”
To say today has been a lot is putting it mildly. I’ve never seen vulnerability like this on Walker’s face before. To be honest, I don’t know where I stand with moving to the vineyard. Mostly because I don’t know where Lia stands on it.
Funny, how so much of me now depends on what Lia wants and needs.
“What are we doing about Amber?” Knox asks.
“At the vineyard?” I ask.
“No,” Knox says with a shake of his head, “during Lia’s heat. She may not want help with it. That may be too much for her right now, but if she does want our help? What are we doing with Amber?”
I stare at the closed bedroom door for a little while. He’s right. We don’t have a clue what Lia is going to want or need for her heat. Some Omegas prefer isolation during that time. Some need their packs relentlessly.
But we’re not pack. Not officially, anyway. There’s no telling what Lia will require of us, if anything.
“I’ll call my parents, if it comes down to it,” I say.
“They’d take her for a few days?” Walker asks.
I snicker at his question. “They’d take her for life, if they were allowed. She’ll be fine, I’m not worried about her. They love any excuse to spoil her.”
“Good,” Knox says with a decisive nod of his head. “I can take a few days off work, too. Ford can survive a week without me.”
Walker nods once. “I’ll clear my schedule at the vineyard, make sure I’ve got managers slotted in where they need to be.”
