My stomach is tied in knots and I bite the edges of my nails as I wait for the clock to turn. Sixty Minutes is on at the top of the hour and I’ve never been so nervous. Well, that’s not exactly true. I haven’t been this nervous since I was a kid. Not since I sat in waiting rooms, pulling the sides of my nails off with my teeth and praying I did a good enough job at the audition that I could get to see my mom again.

Tears well up in my eyes as the knots in my belly burn away in the fire building up inside me. What the hell do I have to be nervous about anyway? He’s the one who took me away from her. The one who bled me dry. The one who never let me think I was worth more than I could have deposited into his bank account.

And now the world will find out the real story, so fuck him. “Fuck you, Dad ,” I mumble and hit the button on the remote to turn on the television.

“Hey, so it felt like making popcorn would be wrong, you know?” Travis walks into the room holding a couple beers. “So, I brought these. But, I mean, if you’re hungry I can definitely pop some popcorn, too.” He looks down at me, his bright blue eyes twinkling under the lights.

“No, this is perfect. Thanks.” I smile and take the bottle.

As he sits down beside me, the distinctive ticking of the stopwatch that opens the show Sixty Minutes makes my head snap to the television. As the anchors introduce themselves, I hold my breath.

Holden hurries into the room with a beer of his own and sits on the other side of me. Finally my nerves settle and my mind quiets. I’ve done everything I can do. This should be enough to finally be free. And sitting here, between these two guys… between my two men, it’s enough to make me feel safe from any boogeyman or evil.

Even my father.

“Tonight we have an exclusive interview with the actress who went missing under mysterious circumstances, Audrey Lawrence,” the blond anchor lady explains as my segment for the show opens.

They do a little montage, showing clips of me in movies like Cinderella and my headshots over the years. I blink as I try to remember being that girl. The one with the unmistakable sadness in her eyes, despite the smile plastered on. The one dancing and singing for the chance to see the only person who ever loved her.

The sadness wins over the anger this time and a tear drops down my cheek. I brush it away and take a long swig of my beer. I run my fingers through my short hair and my mind flashes back to sitting on my mama’s lap and her fingertips lazily playing with my locks. I can almost feel her by me, singing “In Dreams” by Roy Orbison. As a child I never understood how heartbreakingly appropriate that song was for us. All I knew as a child was the comfort I felt in her arms and the ache I felt when I was ripped from them.

“Should we turn this off?” Holden snaps me back to reality and leans into me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” Travis brushes a stream of tears I didn’t even feel fall from my cheeks.

“No.” I sniff and struggle to take a long breath. “I’m fine. Leave it on, please.”

“All right, but if it gets to be too much, just say the word. We’re up way past our bedtime anyway,” Holden reassures me.

“I promise, I’m good.” I force a smile and stare back at the television. With both of my guys snuggled into me, a calm washes over me. But then, it isn’t just that, is it? I can almost sense her. Like my mother is with us, watching over me. I wish she were really here. She deserved to watch the man who took her life away be taken down. Still, the peace I feel right now, just feeling her in my heart, it’s enough to bring me back and soothe me.

“Tell me, why are you in hiding? We had to arrange to do this interview with you over Skype because you didn’t trust that you could share your location with our crew,” the lady on the screen asks me. “Please, explain what could be so bad that you’d walk away from your career, your family, your friends, and change your appearance. Obviously you’re a woman who has gone out of her way to stay hidden. What are you hiding from?”

I drink another swig of my beer and watch the screen as the shot cuts to my face. I’m surprised how clear I look despite the fact I was using the office computer to talk to her.

The emotions dance on my face for a moment while I collect my thoughts. I can see my chin quiver just for a second and then I take a deep, cleansing breath. On the television, I blink hard and sit a little straighter. “I can see how it might look that way. That I ran away from my life and the opportunity to watch my star rise in Hollywood. From the outside looking in, it must look strange for me to disappear on purpose and change my hair,” I begin to mumble.

“Then tell us what it looks like on the inside. Is it not strange from where you’re sitting?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t see it as running away, or even hiding. Not in the way you mean, anyway. I see it as finally having my own life. My own chance for happiness. One that my father made sure I never experienced when I was there.”

I drink my beer and listen, already knowing the words that are going to pour out of me like a confession. We listen as the story unfolds. Well, it’s a story to the people watching. To the ones at home who were scratching their heads and wondering how I could ever be so foolish as to willingly walk out of my life. The pieces of the puzzle are put into the place as I spill all my father’s secrets. About how he used me for money, how he used my mother as bait, about how he stole my happiness, stole my childhood, and almost broke my heart so badly it could never feel love again.

I swallow hard and let myself feel Travis’s and Holden’s arms around me. I close my eyes and can almost feel my mother’s gentle hands playing with my hair. I can almost hear her beautiful song in my ears again.

He almost took it all away, but he didn’t win. I overcame. I got out and started a life I’m proud of living. I took the heart he stomped on and left twisted under his heel and let these guys brush it off and heal it.

I found love.

The rest of the segment goes by in a blur as I nurse my beer and feel a strength grow inside me I’ve never known before. By the time she’s on screen thanking me for my interview, I feel pretty near invincible.

I did it. I’m finally free.

Since I gave Sixty Minutes my exclusive interview a few days ago, I contacted the FBI. They sent a couple agents out to the ranch and I assured them I am of sound mind and willingly here. I got a couple raised eyebrows about Holden and Travis, but if they suspected that I’m more than just the maid, they didn’t press it.

“After we conducted our interview with Ms. Lawrence, we did a little digging and found out that her father is still in control of her finances. To this day, Roger Lawrence is keeping the money his daughter earned on the set of such Hollywood hits as Cinderella locked in a trust fund she can’t access until she’s twenty-five. The only exception to this is a clause stating that if she were to marry before that age, she could access the trust early.” The blond woman stares unblinkingly into the camera as she explains my financial situation to the world.

Holden lifts the remote and clicks off the television. “Did you know that?” He looks at me.

“No.”

“Well, I think it’s pretty clear what I need to do then,” Travis interrupts and clasps my hand. “You and I should get married. Then your father won’t have anything anymore. The trust fund will be yours, right?”

“It would be.” I twist my lips down and think about what that life would look like. More importantly, what it would feel like.

“You? Come on,” Holden scoffs. “Obviously she’s gonna marry me.” He shakes his head.

“Oh? What makes you so sure about that, huh? Why would she marry a surly old man like you, when she can have a fun-loving stud like me?” Travis waves his hand over his torso and flexes his muscles exaggeratedly.

I can’t help but giggle.

“Old? I’m literally two months older than you.”

“Well, those two months might as well be twenty years, bud.”

“Listen.” I hold up my hands and they both settle down. “I’m not marrying either of you.”

“What?” Holden squints at me.

“Why?” Travis scratches his head like I’m hurting his brain.

“Because I don’t care about the money. My whole life it’s always been about how much I could earn for my father. How many jobs I could get. It’s always been money, money, money, and guess what?” I look from Holden to Travis and then down at my hands.

“What?” Travis murmurs.

“It did nothing but make me miserable. Every single dime just piled another layer onto my misery. And now, I barely make anything…”

“Well, not nothing. I mean, it’s the going wage out here,” Holden interrupts, and Travis and I give him a look that shuts him up.

“Okay, I don’t make a lot compared to what I used to earn then,” I clarify, “but I’ve never been happier in my life. I finally have everything I’ve ever dreamed of—peace, freedom, and love,” I whisper the last word. “With both of you. And if I can’t marry both of you then I won’t marry either of you. Fuck that trust fund and whatever money is in it. I’ll wait it out.”

“I love you too.” Holden softly kisses my lips and I melt into him.

“I love you so much,” Travis agrees, cupping my face and giving me another slow, gentle kiss after Holden and I stop.

“That’s all I need. It’s all I ever wanted. And I have that with you two.”

Holden and Travis stand up and tug me off the couch. I feel secure and light as they lead me up the stairs where I know we’ll spend the night making love and then where I’ll settle into sleep between them. Their strong arms around me. Their love keeping me warm. Giving me a life and joy money could never buy.