Runaway: The Sequel to Secrets, a sexy and dramatic western romance (Finding Love ~ THE OUTSIDER SERIES)

by Lorhainne Eckhart

  “Diana, I don’t want to see him again, ever. I just want him gone and out of our lives for good.” Laura stepped back when Andy glanced up with those all-seeing hard blue eyes. At times, she’d swear they were etched in steel.

  “Laura, how he treated you was horrible. We know that, and we all agree with you, but you can’t keep avoiding him. He’ll find out.”

  Diana turned solemn blue eyes on her. She’d been a true friend who was always there for her, even with her husband recovering from surgery. It had been a miracle when he came through okay, and Diana had even told Laura that life was too short for regrets.

  “How does he know? You and Jed promised me you wouldn’t tell him,” Laura pleaded.

  “Yes, we did, but don’t forget that Andy’s been having you followed,” Diana said. “I have to tell you, Laura, my husband doesn’t agree with your decision. He’s honored it for now, hoping you’ll come to your senses. Andy does have a right to know where you are. You should know he’s offered to talk to Andy for you, too.”

  Laura felt a surge of anger shoot like a rocket through her as she processed what Diana had said. Her face felt warm, and beads of sweat popped out over her brow. She squeezed her fists. “He’s been having me followed? Are you kidding me? What kind of sick—”

  “Hello, Laura.”

  She didn’t hear him come up, and what made it worse was that he was carrying Gabriel, who, by the looks of it, had no intention of allowing Andy to let him down. She could see how her son worshipped Andy, and that infuriated her. She was standing beside Diana, and it wasn’t until Diana stepped back that Andy’s eyes widened and his brows furrowed with something dark and furious.

  “What the hell?” he said.

  Laura pursed her lips and struggled with those damn emotions, second guessing everything she’d done, and placed her hand over her own large, swollen belly just as the baby kicked.

  Chapter 3

  Laura could have heard a pin drop in that awkward second. Jed was now behind Andy, holding Danny, and for the first time today, Danny was quiet.

  “Could you give us a minute?” Andy said, his icy gaze never leaving Laura. But she knew darn well he wasn’t talking to her.

  “Jed, I think maybe it might be better—”

  “Diana, no. Come on. These two need to talk. It’s past time. Andy, just a warning: Laura is living here, and there is some pretty heavy shit between you two. I can only imagine how mad you are, but be nice.” Jed stepped around Andy until he glanced away from Laura. The look Andy gave him sent a chill through Laura that had her mind scrambling to find a way to leave. Andy could be a hard man, unforgiving, and she’d sensed that in him, but she now dreaded what was to come next with him, as it was sure to be nothing pleasant. She hated confrontations, and Andy was all about confronting everything, much like a bull in a china shop.

  “Jed, can you take Gabriel down with you? And your wife, too. Laura will be safe enough, for now.” He directed a heated look at Laura, and she wanted to step back as she swallowed, but she couldn’t, as she bumped the wall behind her.

  “Andy, I’m sorry. I know you were served earlier today, but as Laura’s lawyer…” Diana started toward Andy, but the look he gave her could have turned water to ice.

  Jed reached out and took his wife’s hand. “Andy, your wife will talk to you, but don’t blame Diana. There’s a lot to go around here in bad decisions, but you should know that Diana and I both insisted she tell you.”

  “Jed, right now I just want to talk to my wife alone.” Andy kissed Gabriel on the cheek and put him down, but Gabriel latched on to his leg.

  “No, Andy, up,” he said.

  “I’ll see you after I talk to your mom. Go on with Jed.”

  Gabriel didn’t look to Laura, and she was puzzled by the closeness he had now with Andy. When Gabriel had asked over and over where Andy was and when they could go home, she hadn’t realized he was yearning for Andy’s affection. After all, living in a big mansion had been comfortable, and she just thought he missed that.

  Andy watched the stairs as Jed, Diana, Gabriel, and Danny descended in a noisy clatter, and his gaze landed on Laura the moment the door closed. He didn’t take one step toward her. In fact, he appeared to pull away as he crossed his arms, which drew her attention to his wide, solid chest. The top two buttons were open, exposing the dark brown chest hair she loved to run her fingers through. He was a strong man, with solid pecs and six-pack abs, every part of him well muscled and lean. Unfortunately, Laura remembered all too well what it was like to be held in those arms, even if it had been for his enjoyment only.

  Laura instinctively placed both hands over her round belly. “Hello, Andy.”

  “So what is this? You were planning on divorcing me, disappearing with my kid? It is mine, right?” he snapped.

  Laura felt that slap, and her eyes burned as she blinked and looked away. “This is my child, Andy. You need not concern yourself or have any responsibility.”

  This was obviously the wrong answer. This time, he did step toward her, his hands fisted at his sides, and she could feel his rage barely contained, pulsing around him like waves of a returning tide.

  “I asked you if this is my child. Am I the father?” His voice was low and quiet as he asked her again, but this time his teeth were clenched when he spoke. He stopped right in front of her, so close that his breath was like a feather on her hair. She had to look up because he was so tall the top of her head just reached his shoulders, and staring at his chest rattled her.

  She briefly wondered if he was going to reach out and shake her. For a moment, she considered not telling him the truth. It would be easier, and he’d just go away, but she couldn’t do that. “Yes, you’re the father.”

  She was cowardly. When she looked away, she knew that, but she forced herself to look him in the eye. It was past time, but what she saw there took the wind out of her sails and made her doubt whether she had been the one who was wronged. He stared at her with tears in those icy blue eyes and inclined his head, staring at her as if he didn’t know who the hell she was.

  “Andy, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you.”

  “Laura, how could you? Don’t you know what a child of mine would mean to me? Did you know you were pregnant when you left?”

  “Yes, I did.” This wasn’t going well. She suddenly felt like an evildoer.

  “You had Diana file for divorce. Were you ever going to tell me I had a child, or did you plan to hide here at my cousin’s and just hope I never found out?” He was getting louder, and he was right in her face, so close she could reach up and caress his cheek, run her hand over the dark whiskers of a day without shaving, that unclean look that made him look so…dangerous. She loved that look and wished he’d spent more time showing it. It made him touchable, human, and damn sexy.

  “All I can say is that I’m sorry. But I didn’t want you to be part of our life and treat me as if I was nothing but an irritation to you. I would never want my child to see that. My God, look at your parents!”

  He leaned in, his nose almost touching hers, his eyes blazing with fire. “Don’t you ever bring my parents into this and compare their actions to what you did,” he said. She stepped to the side because she felt trapped. “You want a divorce, you can have it, but you’re not keeping my child and living in some hovel. I can’t stop you with Gabriel, but I can with this child.”

  This time, real fear hammered like bats beating their wings up her back. This was what she had feared would happen if he knew. “You’re not taking my child from me. I’m his mother!” she shouted.

  “Well, that’s where you’re wrong. You are not keeping me from my child. You’ve already had the courts take Gabriel away once, and it took me marrying you to get him back. You won’t win this, Laura.”

  She didn’t know where it came from, but she launched herself, fists flying, pounding his chest and screaming. “You’re not taking my child from me!” She felt a twinge and then a sharper pain t
hat had her stop and double over. “Argh!” she screamed out.

  “Laura, what is it?” He had his arm around her shoulder, then sliding down her back, and she vaguely heard someone racing up the stairs in the background.

  “What happened here?” Jed shouted.

  Andy didn’t wait as her abdomen tightened again, harder, and it hurt like hell. He scooped her up in his arms. “I’m taking her to the hospital. Get out of my way, Jed. She’s my wife.”

  Andy carried her down the stairs, and Laura slid her arm around his shoulder after the tightening stopped. She let out a shaky breath.

  Andy juggled her in his arms as he opened the door and slid her onto the passenger seat of his truck just as Gabriel came racing over.

  “Andy, don’t leave,” he pleaded, throwing his arms around Andy’s neck. When Andy bent down to a frantic Gabriel, Laura frowned, watching her son cling to the only man who’d ever shown him an ounce of caring.

  “Hey, hey, bud, it’s okay. Your mom just has to see a doctor. I’m coming back, I promise, okay?”

  Diana appeared and leaned in the truck to Laura. “Are you okay? What happened?”

  Laura shook her head as she rubbed her swollen belly. “I don’t know. That scared me. It’s too early for labor, Diana.”

  Diana reached in and took her hand. “Do you want me to come, too?”

  Andy was right behind Diana, but he wasn’t watching her with caring and concern, that love he’d always tried to hide. At one time, Laura had wished he’d look that way at her. No, he stepped back, holding the door open with that steely jaw set as waves of irritation rolled off him and toward Diana. Yes, he was spitting mad, and it wasn’t just at her. He was mad at Diana and Jed, too. What had she done?

  “No. Could you watch Gabriel?” Laura asked.

  “Yeah, of course.” Diana stepped back and Andy moved in, and Laura didn’t miss how careful he was not to touch Diana.

  What he did do was fasten her seatbelt for her. His face was so close. He glanced at her and asked, “You okay?”

  She flushed when his gaze took on a look of concern. For a moment, she wanted to believe it was for her. “I’m fine.”

  He stepped away and shut her door, and she watched her tall, ruggedly handsome husband walk around the front of the truck, uttering something to Jed. Then he slid under the wheel and started the engine. He was halfway down the driveway when he asked, “How far along are you?”

  “Thirty weeks,” she said as she stared straight ahead.

  “So what is that in months?” he asked as the earlier venom in his voice changed to awkwardness. Or maybe it was just her.

  “Seven months. Next week I’ll be eight months.”

  “So how long did you know you were pregnant before you left?”

  Her hand still lingered over her swollen belly as she remembered the positive result on the home pregnancy test the morning before Jed’s surgery. “I’d just found out the day I left.”

  He slapped his hand against the steering wheel. “Dammit, Laura, why wouldn’t you tell me?”

  This time, she studied him as he glanced from the road to her. “Andy, the day I found out, I couldn’t tell you. You treated me as if I was a nuisance. If I tried to talk to you, you brushed me off as you had more important things, Jed, Diana…oh, yes, Diana. You were more interested in spending time with her, being with her. I may be young, but I’m not a fool. I know you’re in love with her.” She didn’t like the jealousy that always crept into her voice, because it was ugly, awful, and made her feel horrible.

  “My cousin almost died. He barely made it through surgery, I had other things on my mind, so I’m sorry if I was distracted. I’m not proud of how I behaved.”

  “Would you have been happy then for us if I’d told you? Would you have then decided to have a marriage with me? Would you have then given us a chance for happiness?” She watched the range of emotions as he glanced away and as he reached for his dark glasses and slid them on. “Oh, I see. Well, I guess there’s my answer.” She glanced out her side window, blinking back the sting in her eyes, refusing to cry one more tear over Andy as she’d done every night in bed alone since she left.

  Chapter 4

  Stretched out on her side in the emergency room of the local Lakewood Hospital, Laura waited for the doctor on call. Andy was standing just behind her, as she’d rolled to her side, giving him her back for two reasons, one being she’d long since lost the ability to breathe while lying on her back, and the other being that she couldn’t face him any longer. The elastic in her maternity jeans was digging into her side. They were nothing fancy; she had picked them up at the second-hand store along with her orange flowered maternity shirt, but at least they were comfortable.

  She yanked on the elastic a second time, and it snapped. “Oh, great.” She held the dark elastic and then struggled to sit up.

  “Laura, what’s wrong?” He slid his hand over her shoulder, and she dropped back on her side.

  “I’m uncomfortable. Can you find me a safety pin for this?” She lifted the wide elastic, which was worn on both sides. “I need to sit up.”

  Andy helped her up. She slid her legs over the side and leaned back, pressing her hands into her lower back, which continued to ache as it had for the past few months. The curtain slid open, and a young blond-haired doctor wearing a white overcoat and carrying a chart stepped in.

  “Laura Parnell?” he said and glanced up at her. “I’m Doctor Avery. What seems to be the problem?”

  “She doubled over in pain.” It was Andy who spoke. “Her name is Laura Friessen, not Parnell. She’s my wife.”

  “Oh, I see, but it says Parnell,” the doctor said, glancing at Laura.

  “We’re separated. I never changed my name legally to Friessen anyway. It didn’t seem right to keep using it,” she spat out to Andy.

  “Okay, Laura, it sounds like you’re having some early contractions, because you’re only thirty weeks. Are you still having them?” the young doctor asked.

  “No. It only happened a couple times. I’ve been fine since I got here,” Laura said, feeling foolish now for sitting here. “I’m probably wasting your time. I feel fine now.”

  The doctor studied Laura and then Andy. “You know, having a baby can be stressful, but if you’re separated, I can only imagine the stress this is putting on you. Roll up your sleeve. I’m going to check your blood pressure.” The young doctor wrapped the cuff around her forearm and listened with a stethoscope as he pumped it up.

  “Hmm, okay. It’s a little high.” He ripped off the cuff.

  “It says here that your doctor is a Doctor Hays. I don’t recognize the name. Are you getting regular prenatal care?”

  “She’s a GP at the Hartford clinic. I see her regularly.”

  “That’s the free clinic, isn’t it?” the doctor asked.

  She didn’t need to look at Andy, because she could feel the man’s irritation again and knew he’d have a few choice words for her. “Yes, it’s the free clinic.”

  “Are you eating well, getting plenty of rest?”

  “Yes to all of it,” Laura snapped. She hated being judged, but she also noted the frown on the doctor’s face, and she glanced at Andy.

  “I’d like to get an ultrasound of the baby. Have you had one done yet?”

  Laura shook her head. “There’s been a waitlist.”

  When she glanced up at Andy, he scrubbed his face with both hands roughly and asked, “Who is the best OB around?”

  Dr. Avery glanced up from Laura to Andy. “Well, that would be Doctor Richardson. She has a private practice in Arlington.”

  “I’ll call her and schedule an appointment. You can take this other doctor off the chart, as I’ll make sure Laura has the best.”

  Dr. Avery raised his eyebrows and smirked, scooting off the stool as if realizing he really didn’t want to know much more about their situation. “Okay. I’ll have the OB on call come down and do the ultrasound. Also, the nurse will be in
to draw some blood. I’ve ordered a few routine tests, so relax for now.” He slid open the curtain and left, sliding it closed behind him.

  Andy studied Laura for just a second and then shook his head. He pushed the curtain open and called out, “Doctor Avery, could I speak with you a second?” Then he was gone, leaving Laura alone.

  She plumped the pillow and pressed it into her side. The curtain opened, and a woman wearing a lab coat and carrying a plastic bin filled with syringes and supplies strode in and set the bin on the side table.

  “Laura Parnell?” she asked.

  “No, it’s Laura Friessen.” Andy strode in again and set his hands on his very appealing hips. He stood in front of Laura. The woman with short brown hair looked confused.

  “Yes, that’s me. Parnell is my maiden name,” Laura finally said.

  “Okay, well, I’m here to get some blood.” The lab tech pulled out a piece of rubber tubing and tightened it around Laura’s arm, taking four vials. “Okay, that’s great. We’re going to need a urine sample, too.” She handed Laura a plastic cup. “Bathroom’s just around the corner. You can leave it on the shelf when you’re done,” she said before leaving.

  Laura set the plastic cup on the gurney and slid off to the floor. Andy’s hand was instantly there, helping her. Her pants slipped, and Laura grabbed the top, pulled the broken elastic out, and sighed.

  “I’ll get a safety pin. Will they stay up in the meantime?” Andy asked.

  “For now, I’ll hold them up with my hand.” Laura grabbed the cup and, holding her pants, waddled to the bathroom. Andy held the curtain open for her and followed on her heels.

  Laura left the sample on the shelf in the bathroom. Her name, she noted, was scribbled on the side. Andy was waiting outside the bathroom door and walked back with her to her little cubby and curtained-off area. He helped her back up on the gurney.