Page 52 of With Love

Adrienne

I am awoken from sleep by smell of coffee and the feeling of the bed dipping behind me. I roll over to see who is there.

Marshall. I sit up and scoot myself back to rest against my pillows.

“Hey, good morning,” I say, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all,” he smiles his sweet smile. “I know it’s early, but I have something planned today. We have a long drive and I wanted to get on the road as early as possible. Is that okay?”

“Sure. Yeah, sounds good,” I yawn checking the clock. It’s 5:30 AM. “I’ll hop in the shower.”

“Okay, I’ll let you get to it. You can pack light. You won’t need much.”

“Oh, we’re not coming home tonight?” I ask.

“No, I thought we’d stay in the city tonight. Hang out. Enjoy ourselves.”

“Sounds nice,” I respond with a small smile.

He returns the smile before turning to leave. Getting out of bed, I reach for the cup of coffee on my nightstand and take a sip, breathing in the blissful aroma.

“Marshall,” he turns. “Thank you for the coffee.”

“You’re welcome, love,” he winks.

* * *

“So, where are we headed?” I ask, my feet landing on the floor at the bottom of the steps.

“It’s a secret,” Marshall answers from his seat at kitchen island. “Here, I got this for you on my way home last night.”

He hands me an almond poppy seed muffin.

“Oh my god, my favorite,” I begin before my voice fades. Frowning, I sit down on the stool next to Marshall.

“Is it? Have I ever had one?”

“You used to eat them all the time. You’re right, they’re your favorite.”

Happy tears prick my eyes.

“All set then?” I hear Travis say as he descends the stairs to the main floor.

“Hey! I didn’t know you were here.” I get up from my stool and give him a hug. We’ve grown closer these past few weeks. He’s been helping with my defense training too.

“I came in last night with Marshall,” he smiles.

“Travis will be accompanying us this weekend, from a distance.”

“Are we going to be safe?” I ask, nervously.

“Yes. We spent all yesterday making sure of it.”

Relief washes over me. So that’s why he was gone yesterday! I take a deep breath and allow it to calm the anxiety that has been wrapped around me since yesterday morning.

“Do you mind if I go say bye to Owen? I don’t want him to wake up and wonder where we are.”

“No, of course not. You don’t have to ask.”

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