With her earbuds in, Emma didn't realize someone was knocking until she looked up and saw Paige peering through her partially opened door. Flipping her iPod off, she jumped to her feet. "Paige!" she said as she made her way across the room and met her sister in law in a hug.

"Emma," Paige said, "it's so good to see you."

"Yeah, you, too," Emma said. They held hands and made their way back to sit on Emma's bed. "I'm sorry about leaving the room when you walked in."

"No apology is necessary. I understand. But, you know, I was thinking. Hank told Ev and me about school. There are plenty of great hotels in the city. Why don't you and I check into one near your school. You can take you exams and study, and then we can meet up and spend time together when you're done. We can go to the spa, shop, see a show, whatever you want. A girl's vaca. What do you say?"

It sounded like heaven to Emma, but, as usual, she was worried. "It sound great. But it sounds expensive."

"Oh! My treat," Paige said. "I forgot to mention that part."

"No, I can't have you pay for all that."

"Alright, how about you pay for what you can and I'll cover the rest?"

Emma was getting excited. She didn't want to miss her finals, essentially throwing away this past semester of school. And she never had enough time to spend with Paige. "Ok, If we skip the spa. That's way too much money."

"Hmmmm . . . throw in a mani/pedi and you have a deal."

Emma laughed, "Deal!" she said and the sisters hugged again.

RPRPRPRPRP

Paige and Emma walked down the stairs after finalizing their plans to find the worried faces of the two brothers. The air felt heavy, so Paige kept things light. "Everything is all set. We leave Monday afternoon to get settled so Emma can take her exams on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We'll be home Thursday night." She walked to her husband and fell into place inside his open arm.

Emma felt scrutinized, "I'm sorry about earlier, guys. I was just panicked about school. Everything is fine."

"Oh, I don't think so," Evan said.

Hank added, "It's pretty clear that there is something else going on, Emma."

"You don't feel safe anywhere? Emma, what happened?"

"Nothing happened," she said. When they looked at her disbelievingly, she continued, "Please, guys, I don't want to lie to you-"

"Then don't," Evan said. He felt his wife tense warningly in his arms.

"I'm not going to, Evan. But I need you to give me some space on this one. Nothing bad has happened. I'm just going through something right now and I need you to be patient." She looked between her brother. "Please?"

"Ok," Hand said with his signature grin.

"Not ok," Evan added.

Hank turned to his younger brother, "Evan, it is ok. We will give Emma some space to work things out, but we'll be here for her when she needs us. Ok?" He looked imploringly at Evan.

"Alright," Evan agreed. This produced smiles all around. Emma moved towards her family who were all pulling her into a group hug. "But I want it noted somewhere that I don't like this."

"Duly noted," Hank said.

Emma laughed. She loved her brothers and Paige. And she knew she would need all of them if she was going to get through this ordeal.

RPRPRPRPRP

By Thursday morning, all but one of Emma's exams had been completed. Her last test in General Psychology wasn't scheduled until ten o'clock, but Emma found herself wide awake at seven, reviewing one last time. Actually, she should have been reviewing, but was thinking about the last couple of days spent in the city with Paige. She had a wonderful time. They had shopped and eaten out, and even had their mani/pedis at the hotel spa. Emma felt comfortable with her relationship with Paige. They had always shared an easy going banter, but Emma knew that Paige's standards for all aspects of her life were high. Like her brothers, Emma would never want to let Paige down. This past year with the three of them in her life had been such a turn around from her previous life, when no one had any expectations of her. She thrived on the security that her new family brought her, but it caused anxiety as well. She felt on edge much of the time, like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Hank in particular seemed to pick up on this anxiety and frequently tried to reassure her that nothing she could ever do would make them turn their backs on her. Still, she worried.

These thoughts were interrupted by the sound on Paige's voice as she talked on the phone in the next room. It was clear by the tone and cadence that she was speaking to Evan. While she couldn't make out the words, Emma focused her mind on listening. She loved being witness to the relationship Paige and Evan shared. There had been no example of a healthy partnership while she was growing up with her mother. Then, men came and went and she usually experienced extreme highs and debilitating lows. Steady and comfortable described her brother's bond with his wife, and she loved it.

Paige finished her phone call and entered the main room of the suite, knocking Emma out of her reverie. "Good morning," she said.

"Hi, Paige," Emma pulled her legs out from under her and stretched.

"Are you ready for your final final?"

"Yeah. I think so. It should be easy."

"Ready to head home afterwards?"

"I am," she said. "I mean, I had a fantastic time, and I so appreciate you coming here with me."

"I had fun to. And I hope I helped you feel a little safe." Paige was also hoping that her sister-in-law would open up to her at some point during their mini get-away, but so far she had not.

Emma hesitated for a moment, unsure how much information she was ready to divulge. Deciding to hold things close for a bit longer, she said, "You did. Thanks."

RPRPRPRPRP

It was about a week later when Hank entered the guest house in the early morning hours after tending to a patient in the hospital. He didn't expect to find Emma awake, but awake she was, in the dark living room with the TV once again on mute. She seemed alert for the hour.

"Hey!" Hank said as he dropped his bag and went to the kitchen for a drink.

"Hey," Emma said.

After getting his beverage, he returned and sat on the adjacent loveseat. "Ya know, I think I'm supposed to be staying up late waiting for you to get home."

She smiled across at him. "Most of my friends haven't returned for the summer yet. I'm sure there are many sleepless nights ahead for you. Don't worry."

"Oh, good, cuz, yeah, I was starting to worry about getting too much sleep." Hank took a long sip of his water and contemplated the coed in front of him. Something had been off since the last time he came home to find her on the couch, and it hadn't improved. He had given her space and time, they all had, but his patience was wearing thin. After a few moments of him looking at her, and her looking at the silent TV, he attempted to broach the subject. "The volume on that goes up. Then you can actually hear what people are saying."

"Funny!" Emma responded, but didn't turn her attention away from the show. She gathered what her brother was trying to do and felt frozen, trying to look calm.

"Why do you watch it with the sound off?"

A direct question, she hated when her brothers asked her one of those. Her vow of honesty to them was something she took seriously. "I like to keep it down when I'm alone. So I can hear if someone comes in."

Hank got a bite and wasn't going to let go. He leaned forward in his seat. "So you're still scared." When she didn't reply he reached for the remote and flicked the TV off. It lowered into its case before he continued. "Emma, you're safe here."

She waited a beat, then turned to look at him. "I know," she said. When he didn't respond to that with anything more than an intense stare, she continued. "I just don't like people coming up behind me. I'd rather hear them coming. You know, so I don't jump."

Hank took on the role of protector when he and his brother were young, and easily slipped into that role whenever it was needed. It was needed now. "No one is going to hurt you."

This conversation was becoming too difficult for Emma to handle. She rose saying, "I know." Unfortunately, he rose with her.

"Emma, it's time for you to tell me what has been going on." He didn't want his voice to sound as angry as it did. The irony of his trying to scare her out of being scared crossed his mind and he tried to soften his face. He failed.

"No!" she said. "It's not!" She ran up to her room and slammed the door. It was childish, she knew, but she needed to make her point.

When Hank returned from his run on the beach the next morning, Evan was drinking coffee and preparing for the staff meeting. The others hadn't arrived and Emma was not present. "Hey, Evan," he said, walking to the kitchen for some juice.

"Hey."

"Have you seen Emma?"

"No, but here car wasn't here when I got here, so I figured she left." When Hank didn't respond, he continued. "Everything ok there?"

"Yeah," he said. He looked around casually for a note, not really expecting one but hoping nonetheless. "We kind of got into it last night."

"What? Why? I thought you said to wait her out."

"I did. But she was acting too strangely and I was tired of waiting."

"Strange how?" Evan asked. He listened as Hank relayed the conversation from the previous night. "Someone has hurt her."

Hank said, "I know." They had both known, all known, for some time, but this was the first time anyone dared to voice it.

"So what do we do?" he asked his big brother.

"I don't know." Sometimes being the big brother was hard.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading. I would love to know what you think.