Eunice pulled the van up to the back door of McGinty's. She threw it in park and jumped out. Dolly was sliding the van door open as she was opening the back door. Romeo was the first out of the van followed by Smecker then Connor. Connor turned around and held his arms out. Murphy moved Scarlet back into his arms and climbed out of the van. Dolly shut the door and jumped back into the van and drove off.
"Welcome back, boys," said Doc as they walked into the pub. "What h-h-happened?" he asked seeing Scarlet.
"She's cold," said Connor. "The room still got the heater in it?"
"Yes," said Doc.
Connor nodded his head as he disappeared up the stairs with Scarlet. Romeo and Murphy were right behind him.
"Move the mattress near the heater," said Connor.
Romeo grabbed one end of the mattress and dragged it next to the kerosene heater. He lit a match and turned the heater on and up to full blast. Connor walked over and laid Scarlet down on the mattress. She was still shaking, just not as much. He sat down behind her, next to the wall, and pulled her close. He looked up at Murphy.
"Go get something hot to drink from Doc," said Connor. "And some food."
Murphy nodded as he disappeared out the door.
"So that is the hottie who came to visit you," said Romeo.
"Yeah," said Connor looking down at her. "She was done up more when I met her, though."
Romeo nodded his head. "So what all do you know about her?"
"She's an only child. Her favorite color is blue and she doesn't like sports," he said moving hair from her face. "She's never left the US before and wants to before she dies. She also despises horror movies and won't watch them. She's a hopeless romantic and wants her own fairytale to come true, but I've got no idea what that is.
"She doesn't talk to her mum and hasn't seen her in a few years. Her da lives in Nantucket and she goes to see him for every major holiday and birthdays. She's been to California and wants a winter home there because she doesn't like the cold. She was born in Tennessee and moved here when she was five."
"Wow," said Romeo. "that's a lot of information. How long you two been talking?"
"About five months. It was about forty letters between the two of us. Hers would be two pages or more," said Connor.
"Here is some tea," said Murphy walking into the room. "He said to let it cool a bit before she tried to drink it. Smecker and Bloom are coming up with the food in a bit."
Murphy leaned against the table next to Romeo and stared at his brother and the girl. "She going to be okay?" he asked.
"I hope so," said Connor looking down at her.
"She's pretty," said Murphy.
"Aye," said Connor.
"Knock, knock," said Eunice walking in. "Help me, will ya Murphy."
Murphy stood up and walked over and grabbed the tray of food from her. Romeo spread out one of the cloths on the pool table as Murphy sat the tray down. Smecker had another tray of food while Doc had the alcohol.
"Come eat," said Eunice. "She will be fine next to the heater."
Connor nodded and slipped out from behind her. They all stood around the table and looked at each other. Murphy was the first to speak.
"I thought you were dead," he said looking at Smecker.
"Had to leave the country somehow," he said.
"It's good to see ya," said Murphy.
Connor nodded as well.
"Eat before it g-g-gets cold," said Doc.
Everyone grabbed something and started eating.
It had been three hours since they had gotten back to the pub. The food had long been cleared away, as well as her tea. Connor was leaning against the pool table and watched her. She had moved closer to the heater. Murphy and Romeo were passes out on their own mattresses asleep. Connor had long since pulled his shirt off. He was starting to sweat it was so hot in the small room. He set down the shot glass and walked over to the bed. He laid down beside Scarlet. He was there no more than a minute before she rolled over and laid her hand on his stomach. Connor held his breath. When she didn't move he relaxed. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Scarlet opened her eyes. She was very hot. She tried to push her blanket off but it wouldn't move. She tried to sit up but couldn't do that either. She opened her eyes again and sat up as much as she could. She was in the storage room above the bar. She frowned as she tried to remember the night before. She remembered running through the woods and then seeing the road. That's when her mind went fuzzy.
She shook her head and looked down at the bed she was lying on. There was another body in the bed with her, and it was a man. He had his arm draped across her stomach and was lying face down on the mattress. Her first reaction was to scream. And scream she did. Bloody freaking murder!
Murphy and Romeo were in a deep sleep when someone started screaming. They both jumped up. Murphy lost his balance for a bit as he looked around the room. Connor was also in a dead sleep. When Scarlet screamed he rolled over and jumped up. Scarlet had moved from the bed to the other side of the pool table.
"What the hell is going on!" shouted Smecker running into the room.
Eunice knocked the door open more and giggled. Murphy and Romeo were staring at Connor who was staring at Scarlet, who in turn was freaking out and looking between all three men.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" shouted Scarlet then immediately regretting it.
Scarlet grabbed her head and groaned. Eunice walked over to her with a glass of water and an Aspirin.
"Come on honey. Take this," said Eunice.
"What the hell happened yesterday?" asked Scarlet turning around to lean on the pool table.
"What do you remember?" asked Eunice frowning.
"Running through the woods," said Scarlet. "After that, nada."
"Well…" said Eunice turning Scarlet around. "They're out."
Scarlet looked around the room. "Oh, my…"
"Scarlet," said Connor. "I…uh…wanted to uh…thank you…for uh…well…ya know…"
"You nervous or something?" she asked trying not to smile.
"What?" he said looking up at her.
"You're shifting, you nervous?" she said cracking a small smile.
"Right," said Smecker. "We need to find somewhere to stay because this will be the first place they will look."
"He's got a point," said Scarlet.
"Duffy said that all the safe houses are out of question," said Smecker. "We can try going back to the loft."
"I know a place," said Scarlet.
"No, we can't go to the loft," said Murphy. "They will look there. And we need somewhere where we can plan for longer than a day."
"Yeah. I can talk to my uncle César and see if he can find a place," said Romeo.
"I know somewhere y'all can go," said Scarlet.
Eunice walked over to Romeo and started talking to him. Scarlet frowned as Connor turned to talk to Smecker and his brother. She looked over at the pool table and saw an empty bottle of tequila. She grabbed it and hurled it at the wall. The bottle smashed and the pieces fell to the floor. All conversation stopped and everyone turned to look at her.
"Now that I have your attention," she said. "I know somewhere y'all can go. It's a bit out of the way, but it's still on the coast."
"Look, love," said Murphy. "it's not that we don't appreciate the help, but you might be a bit in over your head."
"Fine. Have it your way," she said grabbing her shoes. "Find someplace close to Boston that you can hide that the cops won't find you and send you back to jail."
Scarlet walked out of the room and down the stairs to the main floor. She walked into the bathroom and washed her face. She slipped her shoes on and pulled her hair back into a better ponytail. She walked out of the bathroom and walked behind the bar and grabbed her apron before she disappeared into the kitchen.
"What the hell was that about?" asked Romeo.
"Don't know," said Murphy shrugging his shoulders.
"What did ya say to her?" asked Connor.
"Told her she would be in over her head if she helped us," said Murphy.
"She helped break us out of prison, Murph. She's already in over her head," said Connor disappearing out of the room.
Scarlet was leaning on the back bar. She had a glass of scotch next to her. She could hear them walking around above her. She heard someone walking down the stairs. She was surprised to see Connor.
"Hey, you haven't left yet," he said walking over to the bar.
"Can't," she said.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Got to work," she said gesturing to the empty building.
"Work? As in the pub you work at? As in this is the pub you work at?" asked Connor.
"Yeah. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't know it was you," she said.
"Wow," said Connor sitting down.
'What?" she asked.
"Murphy and I had a loft apartment a couple blocks from here," he said. "This was our favorite hangout. We definitely would've been coming here if you were working back then."
Scarlet blushed and shifted her position.
"You nervous?" he said chuckling.
Scarlet looked up and laughed. "No, just tired. It was really hot up there."
"Yeah. You collapsed on the side of the road last night in the rain. I was trying to warm you up," said Connor.
"So you climb into bed with me?" she asked chuckling.
"I was tired, and you can't blame me," he said.
"Really? And why is that?" asked Scarlet.
"Well, look at ye," he said gesturing to her. "You're beautiful."
"I doubt that," she said looking at her feet.
"What were you saying earlier about a place to stay?" asked Connor.
"Nantucket," she said. "Dad's gone off on holiday and the house is empty. And will be for the next two months. It's about three hours out of the way, but it would give you time to plan whatever it is you are planning."
"I'll talk to them about it," he said nodding his head. "And thanks, again."
"For what? You never told me," she said smiling.
"For writing me," he said. "It's gets old talking to the same two people for six months."
Scarlet chuckled. "No problem. It was like having a shrink. And I only had to pay forty-four cents."
Connor smiled as he stood up to leave. Scarlet watched him head over to the stairs.
Now or never
"Hey Connor?" she said calling his name.
"Huh?" he said turning around.
Scarlet had moved across the floor in the time it took for him to turn around. She leaned forward and kissed him. Connor stood there for a moment before he kissed her back. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she brought hers up to his neck. She ran her fingers through his hair. When the need to breath became too much, she pulled back from him.
"Um…yeah," she said turning around.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"No reason," she said. "I've wanted to do that for a while."
Scarlet turned around and disappeared into the kitchen. Connor smiled as he walked up the stairs.
i know murphy comes off as kind of an ass in this chapter, i didn't mean for that to happen but it works. please review and let me know what you think! ~kat