I rush back across the street to the shop, trying not to spill the drinks or drop the bag of food. I manage to open the door and make my way to the back counter to hand Ember his portion; however he is not behind the counter. I sit the bag down with both drinks and head to the back part of the shop. Noises stop me in my tracks. I hear a commotion and debate if I should keep going. But what if he is in trouble; what if he is getting roughed up by the men in the black suits? I just know they are going to be coming back.

I turn to go back up front but then I hear something break. I can't tell if something fell or if it was thrown. I end up turning back around and going on to the back to make sure that everything is ok. The moment I see him, my jaw nearly hits the floor. I tried not to gasp but it was way too late for that. Ember is half naked with a girl, pressed up into the shelf. I happen to look down and glass is shattered on the floor. Looks like one of the pieces that he had worked on earlier in the week. Her eyes lock with mine and she lets out a squeal and pulls him closer to her so that I can't see her naked body. Ember quickly looks over at me and says a few swear words that normally don't come out of his mouth. The only thing I can do is cover my mouth with my hand and leave the room as quickly as possible.

Five minutes later he comes to the front part and his cheeks are a tad red from embarrassment. "I uh...look just so you know Brea and I have been seeing each other for several months. I wasn't expecting her to come to the shop today. Please don't tell ma and pa. Pa wouldn't like that I had a girl up in here and not attending the shop."

"I won't say anything." And I knew I never would, but this might be just the thing that I could always have on him.

His eyes light up a little while the side of his mouth grins upward. "Whew...you're the best."

"So you like this girl. I mean it looked a little serious." I hand him his drink.

"Brea is amazing. I just don't know how ma and pa would like her since she's not American or Indian." He takes a long sip of his drink.

I watch him for a few seconds letting those words sink in. He was so right; they would never approve of her. A part of me felt bad for him because in those few moments I could tell that he really had feelings for her and I worried that it would actually break his heart if he couldn't be with her. So maybe I will keep this secret to the grave. "I won't say anything, but you know one day you are going to have to you know, especially if it keeps going the way it's going."

"I know and I will when the time is right; if the time is every right that is."

About that time the front door opens and we both look up at the same time. Two men come in and by the way they are dressed, I know that they are here for some of the pieces. I grab my stuff and head towards the back. I thought Brea would still be back here, but I guess she went out the back door to leave. I don't blame her; I would have done the same thing. Hell, I would have been horrified if I got caught practically naked with a guy. I sit down to attempt to finish off the burger, but Ember walks in with a look on his face.

"Look you need to leave for a little while. They are coming back here to look at the stuff and I don't want you to get involved in any of this." He points to the back door. "Just go looking around or something alright. Come back in about an hour or so."

I glare back at him like he has lost his mind. "An hour or so, are you serious."

He hands me my drink and rushes me towards the back door. "Yes, I am being serious right now. Just go alright. Don't talk to anyone and keep to yourself." I find myself in the back lot and suddenly the door shuts in my face. Well then. Guess I have some time to look around. I just hope that Ember is going to be alright. I haven't really met the guys. Every time they come to the shop, I find things to do. Ember makes sure that they stayed away from me and me away from them. Today was just different. He has never asked me to leave the shop though.

A part of me knows that I should stay but then the other half of me tells me to go. I do as he says and walk around the building to the front. I stay on the sidewalk and just walk. I don't bother finishing off my drink and end up throwing it away in a nearby trash can before going into one of the stores. I look around, knowing that I will not buy anything. I touch the one shirt on the rack just so I can feel the softness of it and then walk towards another rack to do the same. I hear a voice behind me and I instantly roll my eyes before turning around to look at him.

"I thought you couldn't get away Aura."

My lips part just enough for a soft smile. "My brother requested for me to look around for a little bit. Guess he was tired of me hanging around him all day."

"Well since you have time, you should go try on a few of the dresses."

I shake my head no. "There's no point to trying them on." I let go of the one dress that my fingers were still touching the softness of the fabric.

He reaches towards me and I step slightly to the left. Instead of touching me his hand keeps going past me to grab the yellow summer dress. He gracefully takes it off the rack and hands it to me. "You should at least try it on, have a little fun at least."

I hold the dress up to me and notice the mirror beside him. I see myself and how it would look so pretty on me. The yellow would make my skin glow even more. There is really no point in trying it on because I can't afford it and my parents would not be happy with me having it for a number of reasons. For one it was way above my knees and the thin spaghetti straps showed my arms and my below my neck not to mention the top part went low enough to show the top part of my breast. No way, I would ever be able to wear this out in public much less in my own back yard. My smile slowly goes away as I turn around to place it back on the rack.

"You don't want to try it on. Come on you have been admiring it for a good five minutes. I know you like it. If it's the money I can buy it, consider it a friendly gift."

I shake my head no and start to walk out of the shop. I can hear his footsteps behind me. "Aura...Aura."

Once outside he reaches for my arm and pulls me around to look at him. "It's just a dress and a simple nice gesture from a new friend."

"Finn is it? I appreciate you being nice to me and all but there is no way that I could accept your kindness. I would never be able to wear it anyway. My parents, you just don't understand. Look I need to get back to the shop. Please..." I hold out my hand between the two of us. "Please don't follow me."

"Aura I was just trying to be nice, nothing more. I just thought you would like to have the dress."

I shake my head no again and start to walk off without saying another word.

When I get back to the shop, I turn around and he is nowhere to be seen. I gather myself and walk in and the place is super quiet. As I walk towards the back, I see Ember sweeping up the glass that they had knocked over from earlier.

"Is everything ok," I ask him.

"For now. I wish I knew why pa thinks he has to be dealing with these jerks. They just gonna keep coming back wanting more and more. I wonder how he even got involved with them. I mean really what in the hell do we have that they want so badly. These glass pieces...for what?" He picks up the dustpan and throws the glass in the trash can. "Anyway, we should just go ahead and close up for the night. Let's get on home."

"Ember, what if they keep coming back and we just don't have what they really want? Will they hurt us? I'm scared to know what will happen."

He reaches over and grazes my arm with his hand and then steps in closer to hug me. "Aura, I will never ever let them hurt you or anyone else in our family. I promise you that much."

As we pack up a few of the empty boxes in the back of the truck, I notice a small package close to the cab of the truck with my name written nicely on the corner. I place one of the boxes next to it so that Ember doesn't see it.

When we get home, as we unload the boxes, Iquickly grab the package before he has a chance to see it. I walk quickly tothe house and up to my room. I debate not even looking into the brown bag as Iset it on the edge of the bed. But I was curious and just had to look. As Iopen it up, I see the bright sunny yellow material. I slowly pull it out andthe dress falls towards the floor. I gasp. Why would he do this after I toldhim that I wouldn't be able to wear it? Why? I couldn't resist the temptationthough. I had to try it on. I take off my clothes then slide on the yellowdress. I turn to look at the mirror that is behind my door and I can't believehow I look in it. My fingers play with the hem, and I can't believe how soft it reallyis. I was admiring the dress that I almost didn't hear my name being called. Iquickly take the dress off and shove it back into the package to only hide itcompletely under my bed before getting dressed to go back downstairs.