Here's a new chapter of Runaway.
Thanks for the reviews, alerts, etc.
I own Marianne, Jack & Joseph.
Enjoy the chapter and remember to review!
It must have been all of the drama, or maybe the glow of the lantern, but Marianne slept like a log that night. She awoke to find that Heath had covered her with several blankets, while he wrapped himself in one. He had explained that he thought she would be too cold out in the hut, whereas he had slept there before and was used to the cold temperatures. For whatever reason, Marianne thought it was a very gentlemanly thing to do.
"Are you hungry?" Heath asked her once she had woken completely.
"Yes." She nodded.
"Here, I took some stuff from the farm yesterday." Heath replied, handing her some bread and an apple.
"Thank you." The New York native smiled as she took some bread.
"You're welcome." The redhead smiled.
Marianne smiled back. She felt she could understand Heath a lot better now that she knew more about his past. She couldn't help but feel sorry for Jack being left alone, and wondered if Heath had any idea that the older man was indeed his father.
Phillip Brooks was mad, no furious. He had expected to be on the way back to New York with his fiancée by now, but she had managed to evade him once again. Randal Orton had earned himself a black eye and a split lip for his trouble, but Phillip wasn't going to dispose of him when he could still be a useful pawn in his game. Of course he still had Joseph, but he wasn't quite sure what to do with him. All he knew was that as long as Joseph was alive, he had a much better chance of getting Marianne back.
"Gallows, I have a job for you." Phillip informed the larger man.
"Yes boss?" Gallows replied.
"I want you to go around the town and ask if anyone knows of a Marianne Addison." Phillip smirked.
"Ok, I'll go now." Gallows nodded.
Luckily, a certain brunette woman was way ahead of him. The previous day when they had gone to the farm, Mickie had gone to the locals and asked them to deny any knowledge of Marianne being in Greenwood. Layla and Stu had been glad to do so, as well as Michelle and her husband Mark. Adam had also promised to do so, after Mickie had explained a few things to him. She could only hope that most of the others would follow suit.
It had begun to rain again, leaving Heath and Marianne to sit in the hut and talk to each other.
"Why did you come here?" Heath asked, his brown eyes narrowing.
"Because I found out something I didn't like about Phillip." Marianne replied.
"Like what?" the redhead asked her.
"He killed someone." The New York native replied.
"Well, I get why you didn't want to marry him. Why not just say that you didn't want to get married?" Heath frowned.
"Because you don't say no to Phillip Brooks." Marianne replied with a serious expression.
"How did you come to be engaged to someone like him?" Heath asked her.
"Well he was a lot nicer in the beginning." Marianne explained.
"You mean he seemed a lot nicer." Heath corrected her.
"Fine. Can I ask you a question now?" the New York native asked him.
"I guess so." Heath shrugged.
"Who beat you up, when I found you in the barn?" the brunette asked him.
"You don't wanna know." The redhead shook his head and sighed.
"I do, please tell me." Marianne assured him.
"Randy." Heath replied.
"Orton?" Marianne gasped as her green eyes widened.
"That's why I didn't want you anywhere near him." The redhead nodded.
"But, why did he beat you?" the brunette frowned confusedly.
"Randy's a gambler. When he says he's on business he's just there for a big card game. He had lost a lot of money and I happened to make a wise-ass remark. Needless to say, he didn't take it too well and he beat me up." Heath sighed.
"A gambler?" Marianne frowned.
"I wouldn't put it past him to be the one who told Phillip you were here. If there's money to be had then Randy's there." Heath added.
"Then I'm obviously a terrible judge of character." Marianne shook her head and sighed.
"But you're a sweet person." The redhead smiled.
"Do you think so?" the brunette asked him.
"I know so." Heath nodded.
"Well you're a very good guy." she told him.
"If you say so." he shrugged.
Marianne smiled at him. She was extremely grateful for what Heath had done for her. She thought back to the brief night at the bar and the truck-driving lesson… She remembered the watering hole and the kiss… How he had disappeared and then reappeared that stormy night at the farm, and when she had been hiding in the barn and he had found her… Marianne thought of how much she wished he would realise that he wasn't as worthless as he had been made to feel after Barbara jilted him at the altar for his best friend…
"Do you think you'll ever get married?" Marianne asked him.
"What, after last time? I don't think so." Heath shook his head.
"But what if you were really in love with the right girl?" the New York native continued.
"I thought Barbara was the right girl." The redhead sighed.
"But she didn't love you really, did she? What if someone really loved you for being you? If they didn't care about what you did for a living?" Marianne asked him.
"Oh, and what kind of girl would marry me?" Heath shook his head.
"Plenty of girls." She replied.
"Name one." The redhead told her.
"Me." Marianne replied before she even registered the word leaving her lips.
"What?" Heath frowned and looked up.
"Me." She repeated.
"You don't mean that." Heath shook his head.
Marianne shook her head in reply before reaching out and cupping his face in her hands. His brown eyes stared into her green ones as their lips crashed together…
Hesitantly placing his hands on her waist, Heath kissed her back with an underlying desire as she ran her hands through his hair. Marianne stopped and pulled away slightly, looking the redhead right in the eyes. Opening her mouth to speak, she said what she needed to say...
What do you think?
Please Review! xxx
What's going to happen next?
Vote on my new story poll? Thanks! xxx