Page 33 of With Love

Marshall

I am usually the first one up in the morning. This morning, however, I’m woken to the sound of laughter floating up from the kitchen below. I look at the clock, worried that I’ve slept later than usual, but it’s 6:30, the time I usually wake each day.

Walking into the closet to grab some sweats and a t-shirt, I notice the box that I had out last night. My heart tightens as I pull my shirt over my head and turn to walk out of the room.

Travis is already working hard in the office. I’m convinced he never sleeps. He may even be a robot. I’m not sure. He’s been working hard to keep certain measures in place ensuring that Lock won’t be able to find us; especially after the close call the day that Owen was released from the hospital. A few days ago, he noticed someone who didn’t appear to be from around here leaning against a car in front of a diner a few miles down the road. It could be one of Lock’s men, or it could be nothing. He’s been working on keeping the CCTV cameras around here blacked out, but if there are people up here looking for us, then we need to make sure that we’re on our guard.

“Travis.” I state.

“Marshall, good morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Eh, I can sleep when I’m dead.” It’s the same response every time.

When I get to the railing that overlooks the main floor of the house, I see Adrienne and Owen in the kitchen making pancakes. Making a mess is more like it. They’re throwing flour at one another and licking batter off of their fingers. Having him here has been much harder than I originally thought it was going to be.

It’s been a month and I don’t know why, but I thought it would have gotten easier the longer he was here. Maybe because I wanted it to be true. For Adrienne. But all I can think about is how to get him out of here without causing a problem between Adrienne and I. Fortunately and unfortunately, he hasn’t done anything to justify me having to kick his ass to the curb.

I have to admit it’s nice seeing Adrienne so happy. I know that she would be even if it were just us and Lucy here, but the fact is, his wellbeing is a huge concern for her. As much as I hate it, to try and change her feelings would be to change the woman that I fell in love with. Nothing in the world would make me want to do that.

Travis walks over and mimics my stance at the railing.

“Find anything yet?” I ask him, softly.

“The basics. I tapped back into his IP, like we did when he got away with Adrienne. His history doesn’t show much, but I do see that he has a bank account open at Penn Trust. I got his log-in info and it’s not registered in his name.”

“Which name is it under? Anything alarming? Any other secrets come out of it?” I ask, hoping for another clue to something that he is hiding.

“No, nothing that stuck out. A basic name; John Hobart. It’s not hard for him to get a fake ID in the line of work he was in.

“I also got an acquaintance of mine to look into his military records. I got a brief history from the time that he was enlisted. His back story there checks out. Got in trouble for trying to help a local woman in Afghanistan. Went AWOL to escape the brig. Ended up in Lock’s employ. I am sure he was offered anonymity there.”

“Okay. Thanks, Travis.”

“I know that you were wanting more out of our search and I wish that I had more information to give you at the moment. I am not sure that there is anything else, but if there is, Iwillfind it.” Travis sighs and I know exactly what he is thinking; that this is a dead end. “I think he’s just a fool in love. I am not on his side at all, but I just don’t think that he anticipated ever seeing you again. He’s young and stupid, but I don’t believe that he is a danger to Adrienne.”

I take a deep breath as my gaze moves from my hands, clasped together and resting on the bannister overlooking the living room, and I stare directly into Travis’ eyes.

“It’sbecausehe’s young and stupid, that he’s a danger to Adrienne.”

Taking a deep breath my feet move me across the floor toward the stairs and I begin my descent to the floor below me.

Adrienne notices me as soon as my foot hits the bottom step. She immediately stops what she’s doing.

“Marshall! Good morning. We’re making pancakes.” She holds the bowl of batter up for me to see. Still stirring with her other hand.

“I see. It smells wonderful.” I answer.

A smile appears on her angel face as she turns toward the counter and places the bowl down. She grabs a mug on her way over to the coffee maker and pours a cup before placing it in front of me. When she turns back toward the refrigerator to grab the half-and-half I see Owen eyeing her up. His gaze moves over to mine, disdain dripping from it like heavy rain. He doesn’t like her ‘serving’ me. I don’t like it either, but she insists on it. When she first started doing it, it made me uncomfortable. I didn’t want her to think that she had to wait on me. She reassured me that she doesn’t mind and that something about it makes her feel in control. She pours the half-and-half in the cup and swirls it around with a spoon. My eyes find hers as a wide smile appears on my face.

“What time did you guys wake up? I’m used to being the first one awake. It caught me off-guard.”

This isn’t something that I would usually admit outright in front of Owen. But I wanted to see what kind of reaction I would get from him. Just as I suspect, a slight twitch of his lip tells me everything I need to know. He thinks I’m weak. He is waiting for the right chance to exploit that weakness before swooping in and attempting to prove that he’s better for Adrienne than I am.

“I woke up around 5:30. I’m not sure why I was up so early, but I couldn’t get back to sleep. I came down and made coffee and a few minutes later Owen joined me.” Adrienne explained.

Just then, I see Lucy walking down the hall, dressed and ready for the day, as usual.

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