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It was clear from the look on Nick’s face that he had only caught the tail end of the conversation and didn’t understand the whole situation. He had been staring at Emma with an angry look but she could see that he was also hurt; she felt badly that he had found out this way.

“You’re just going to leave again?” Nick demanded. “Were you ever really going to talk to me or were you just saying that so you could leave before it happened?”

“No,” Emma answered defensively, “I had every intention of talking to you about everything.”

“What excuse were you going to give me? You’re going to quit another job, pack up all your stuff and just take off.; you were probably gonna leave while I was sleeping so you wouldn’t have to tell me!”

Emma felt the heat of anger, embarrassment and hurt flooding her face and AJ realized that he needed to intervene before this could get out of hand. He grabbed Nick by the arm and started dragging him into the house; he was halfway to the basement when Ro, Addie and Howie rounded the corner with Ava right behind them.

“Hey everyone,” AJ said with a forced smiled, “we were just going down to the studio to listen to some music. Howie, why don’t you come with me and you ladies go enjoy some coffee with Emma?”

He then turned towards Nick and hissed in his ear that he was not to say one word until they were in private. The adults could all tell that something was wrong and they had just walked into a volatile situation. Howie shrugged at the women and headed in the direction of the basement while Ro and Addie headed towards the deck. When they saw Emma’s face, they knew there was a long story about what had just happened and they didn’t think Ava should be listening.

“Why don’t you go get some of your toys and play down in the backyard” her mother suggested, “we’re just going to sit with Auntie Emma for a little bit.”

“But I’m a lady so I should get to talk too!”

Her mother looked at her sternly so she headed to get what she asked; she purposely stomped her feet in anger so her mother would know she was unhappy. She finally came back out with a toy, Rochelle got her settled and then both women sat down to talk with Emma.

They listened as Emma retold the story she had just talked about with AJ and both ladies were stunned about the situation. They agreed with AJ that it was complete nonsense and that she should be able to do something about it; she explained that she couldn’t because there was no protection in private schools and she just had to deal with the consequences. She also told them about the invitation that she had received from her parents and that she was considering going to visit for a while.

“Are you moving there?” Ro asked quietly. “You have other options, you know; you could always come stay with AJ and I.”

“No,” Emma answered quickly, “I am just going to visit and spend some time with my parents. It’s been so long since I’ve seen them and I could use some time and space to figure out what my next move is.”

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At that moment, AJ was explaining what was going on to both Nick and Howie; he wanted Nick to understand that Emma wasn’t doing anything to spite or upset him. He knew she had intended to talk to Nick and was sure that she would have told him herself had he not overheard them.

“So it’s my fault!?” Nick exclaimed. “I didn’t ask her to come take care of me!”

AJ just shook his head; no matter how he tried to explain it, Nick just wasn’t getting the point.

“No, she got fired because her boss hates her and was just looking for ways to get rid of her. The Thanksgiving trip was just what she was looking for and she used it to her advantage; this is no one’s fault except hers.”

“And she’s just going to up and move again!?” Nick yelled. “She probably never intended on telling me. I opened myself up and I’m gonna get the door slammed in my face AGAIN!”

Both Howe and AJ wanted to throttle their brother; he wasn’t seeing the big picture and was just acting out of anger and hurt. They both assured him that this wasn’t like the time she moved to North Carolina, and she wasn’t going to stomp on his heart even though that’s how he was feeling.

“Do you get how hard this is for her?” AJ asked. “Her life just got blown up and you’re acting like this was all done to spite you. Maybe you two aren’t getting back together but did it occur to you that she needs a friend right now and not someone who’s going to accuse her of trying to hurt people?”

Before Nick could answer, Howie cut him off and reminded him of a double standard he was ignoring.

“Did you happen to tell Emma that we were leaving for a few months or are you the only one who can get hurt by someone walking away?”