Audra assured her brothers she was fine and this was all a misunderstanding on Emily's part. She refused to show her brothers the bruises on her arms. That she refused to answer Jarrod whether Charles ever hit her only confirmed to him there was no misunderstanding. Nick trusted his wife's judgment and knew Emily did not look for trouble where wasn't any. His brothers knew this, too.
Jarrod leaned against the desk in from of Audra while Nick paced and Heath sat quietly next to her on the sofa, leaning forward, resting his forehead against his hand, thinking.
Frantic to make to her brothers stop their inquiry into the secret of her marriage, Audra conceded that sometimes Charles was a little rough with her but he was always very sorry afterwards. But this admission only intensified their concern. Jarrod asked her how many times Charles was sorry afterwards and Audra looked up at him, pleading with her eyes.
"Audra," Jarrod said, "I know this pattern. That's how men like that keep your loyalty: They're very sorry till the next time. And it never stops, often it just gets worse." A quiet corner of Audra's mind recognized in Charles what Jarrod described but the thought stopped there.
Jarrod watched for a response from Audra while Nick continued pacing, his hands clenched into tight fists.
Heath sat up and turned to her and calmly told her, "You know, Audra, we can't let you go back."
Audra's eyes widened and she said, "I have to go back! Don't you see? No one can know about this! No one!" She meant that Charles must never know his secret was out.
"I'm afraid others people do know, Honey," Jarrod said. He hadn't called her Honey in a long time but it felt right in the moment and he used it to remind her she was loved. "The people who love you the most." He continued, "Heath is right, we can't let you go back to him."
Audra looked terrified and pleaded with them. "You don't know what he'll do!"
"We're not going to let him do anything to you," Heath said.
"No! You don't understand!" She was shaking her head sadly, "He's a very powerful man. He has a lot of influence . . . "
Nick stopped pacing and looked at her. "It's three against one," he said emphatically, "and we have just as much money as he does and friends who are just as powerful!" He walked to stand next to Jarrod in front of her. "I won't allow you to go back."
Audra felt defeated and pushed from two sides: Her brothers who were insisting on keeping her here and the man to whom she had pledged her life. The man who was likely very upset with her for defying him. And now her brothers knew what she and Charles had concealed for so long. She knew her brothers would confront him, one way or another, and she did not want to be alone with him after they did.
So Audra gave in to her brothers and agreed to stay - for now, anyway. She would need to think of a way to go back to Charles and make everything all right. Right now, though, she was overwhelmed, exhausted, and needed time to think.