Protector (The Brannock Siblings Book 4)

by Jessica Wilde

  "My brother speaks highly of ye, Isabelle. I can see that ye think highly of him as well," she muttered and poked her elbow into Isabelle's side.

  "I do."

  "Then ye better get in there before he changes his mind."

  A white shirt and pair of black trousers were placed in Izzy's hands before Cara took off towards the rope swing dangling from a large tree right next to the boys.

  Izzy wasn't sure what Cara meant by that statement, but about a million possibilities flooded her mind.

  "Ye might want to go into the trees, Izzy," Colin said with a wink.

  She stuck her tongue out at him and stomped off back into the trees, hearing his laughter behind her.

  Once she was changed and her dress was carefully folded and placed on a nearby boulder, she slowly made her way to the water. Finny was splashing Cara while Colin and Jerry were at the rope swing discussing the best possible trick to be done.

  Liam was staring at her.

  She hesitated before stepping into the brisk water and with a little coaxing from both Finny and Cara, she dove under the water only to come back up and sputter from the cold.

  The girls cheered and started splashing her until Liam pulled Finny away and tossed her through the air. The giggles were endless and Isabelle found herself forgetting everything but the moment in front of her.

  "Oy! Liam!"

  They all looked toward Colin who was now swinging through the air. He let go of the rope and twisted his body, attempting to flip, but landing on his back in the water.

  A collective hiss rang out between all of them just before Colin came back up with a triumphant look on his face. "One and a half!"

  Liam shook his head and started for the bank. "I'll show ye how it's done."

  Isabelle heard Cara snort and swam towards her.

  "It's the master!" Colin shouted and clapped as Liam approached the rope swing.

  "He's a mighty show off, is he not?" Cara muttered to Izzy. "The last time he and Colin had a go at this, trying to up the other, he cracked his noggin on that limb over there." She pointed to a branch of the tree jutting out in path of the rope. "Ye must avoid that at all costs if ye do nah want a jug o' water down yer throat from the shock. These two get so busy competing, they forget it's even there."

  "Will he be alright?" Izzy asked, worry saturating her voice.

  "Aye, he's smarter these days and I imagine he would rather spend the day with ye than in his bed with a headache."

  They watched Liam swing through the air and release the rope at the perfect moment as he twisted his body. He made two full rotations before diving head first back into the water.

  Colin jeered when Liam came back up. "Yer form was all wrong!"

  Liam laughed and shook his head, making his way back to Izzy before calling back to his brother. "Form doesna matter when ye can make the double flip."

  Colin went running to the rope swing, determined to try again. Liam swam right up to her and stood in front of her. Her feet were barely touching the bottom so she had to keep her arms moving to balance.

  "That was quite impressive," she said.

  Liam's shoulders were well out of the water and he grinned down at her. "Ye look like yer strugglin'."

  She shook her head, only to let out a yelp when Liam scooped her up in his arms and tossed her through the air. She came up sputtering for air and glared at him. He was already swimming towards her and she screamed, trying to swim away. He was too fast, though, and she was laughing too much to really concentrate on swimming.

  He grabbed her ankle and tugged her back through the water, turning her in the process. She shrieked again before he pulled her against him and without thinking, Isabelle wrapped her legs around his waist as he kept them above the water.

  It could have been the dead of winter and she wouldn't have felt the cold. The heat of Liam's body against hers threw her stomach into a fluttering frenzy.

  "That's better," Liam whispered.

  Their faces were inches away and Izzy could feel his breath on her chin, cooling her wet skin. One of Liam's arms came around her and he kept them afloat with his legs, treading the water and ignoring everyone else around them.

  Izzy could barely breathe.

  "I don't think I can stop myself from kissing ye, Isabelle, so if ye don't want it, tell me now. Because there's no turning back if I do."

  Isabelle's mind went completely blank. She couldn't quite process the rest of the words after he said 'kissing' and it was in that hesitation that Liam came closer. His lips touched her chin so gently, waiting for her permission to move higher.

  A loud splash from someone dropping into the water finally broke through her empty thoughts. Maggie's words came rushing back to her once more and with it, a devastation she didn't think was possible to feel.

  She pushed away from Liam so slowly, unwrapping her legs and praying he didn't take the rejection badly. "I'm sorry, Liam. I just can't..."

  He let her go an instant later, but the playful grin on his face wasn't natural. He was playing it off as nothing and she felt a piece of her heart jaggedly split.

  "I better go make sure Ma doesna need anything," he stated. His accent was almost too thick for the first time since she'd met him. He spoke quickly and swam away, not looking back as he climbed out of the water, gathered his clothing, and stepped through the trees.

  Isabelle was still treading the water when Cara swam up to her with a sympathetic frown. "Do nah worry, Izzy. He's a strong man. Yer reasons will be plenty."

  She faced Liam's sister and knew right then that she would not be leaving Ireland with her heart intact. This family had each taken a piece of it and Liam had the rest.

  "That's just it. I shouldn't have a reason."

  Cara nodded solemnly. "True. But we all have reasons. Some a little stronger than others. The secret is to decide which of them actually matter."

  Cara stayed right next to Isabelle and Finny swam circles around them as they watched Jerry and Colin compete more on the rope swing. They only stayed in the water for about ten more minutes before Mary called for all of them to come inside.

  "I'll wait for ye to be dressed and then I'll show ye the puppies," Finny said excitedly as they all walked back to the house drenched and out of breath.

  "I'm completely foundered," Colin stated, shivering as he moved past them and bolted for the house. Finny was right on his heels.

  There was no sign of Liam as Cara led the way through the house to her bedroom.

  It wasn't a very large house and for having five kids inside, she could imagine there wasn't a lot of room to move around some days. But it was cozy and warm and felt like a home. The walls were covered in artwork; most of them were children's work. Izzy smiled as she passed by the different memories each of them represented.

  Cara quickly changed into some dry clothes and Izzy thanked her for letting her borrow something to swim in. Cara waved it off dismissively. "It's the least I could do. Ye've made my brother a happy man these last weeks and I thank ye for it."

  Another blow to the chest.

  It was getting harder and harder to not cry and she was so tired of crying.

  Cara gave her a quick hug and stepped out of the room, shutting the door behind her. Isabelle could hear everyone in the house talking and laughing and she just couldn't bring herself to go out there. How was she going to face Liam now?

  Would he hate her or would he change his mind about spending time with her?

  She had come to Ireland to be on her own and see a place she'd always wanted to see, but those plans quickly changed when she met Liam. The need to be with him was so strong and her entire world disappeared when she was next to him.

  In just a short while, Liam Brannock knew more about Isabelle than her own mother did and he had just dived into her life blindly. There was no deal to be made, no benefit to either one of them except a new friendship that she would cherish forever.

  So why then did she suddenly feel lik
e that was the answer to all her questions?

  "Oh dear Lord, I'm a fool."

  She stripped out of the wet clothes and slipped her favorite yellow sundress over her head. The dress she was wearing the first time she ran into Liam. That day changed everything for her.

  She reached for the door, but stopped when she heard deep voices on the other side. She didn't realize she'd been sitting in that room for several minutes longer than necessary and hoped they weren't waiting on her.

  "I see it in ye, boy. We all see the way ye look at her. Yer days of wandering around are over now. Why not grab onto it?"

  "She is nah staying, Da. She's supposed to marry another man."

  Isabelle gasped at the sound of Liam and his father's voice. That little bit of information was out there, but she hadn't expected his parents to really find out about it. Liam hadn't said anything to Maggie and she assumed this was the first time he had even said it out loud.

  "Is that so?"

  "Aye, one that doesna deserve her."

  "No man deserves a woman like that, son. They earn the right. But supposed to and going to are two very different things. She's going to marry the man she loves, of that I've no doubt," his father stated. "That woman isna going to let anyone tell her what she is supposed to do."

  She heard Liam sigh, knew it was him since she was now pressing her ear against the door.

  "That I don't know, Da."

  "But ye do, son. Why do ye think ye can nah keep yer eyes off her for longer than three seconds?"

  Silence.

  It dragged on until Isabelle was sure they had walked away.

  "She has another life."

  "Aye, she does. Doesna mean she wants that life."

  Isabelle pressed closer to the door, hearing them start to walk away. They kept speaking, but she couldn't make out the words. She stomped her foot and raked a hand through her still wet and tangled hair.

  Once again, she had lost her chance to make a choice.

  Fool and coward were not strong enough words to describe the way Izzy was feeling about herself right then. She was no different from the woman who left her family and Christopher behind two weeks before.

  "Time to accept it, Izzy."

  There was too much baggage on her shoulder and too many issues. It was better this way.

  She'd made the right decision by avoiding Liam's kiss. She kept telling herself that over and over as she made her way to the kitchen where the entire Brannock family was waiting for her.

  Then why do you feel like you just lost yourself completely?

  Chapter 9

  Izzy

  The drive to Dublin the next night couldn't have been more awkward.

  Izzy sat between Liam and Brian in the cab of Liam's truck for over an hour while they made their way to a pub in Dublin. Brian's friends were meeting them to celebrate his birthday and the anticipation of conversing with new people didn't help Izzy's nerves.

  They had to go to Dublin because it was the closest pub around that would let the women in to have a drink, according to Brian, and he'd invited a few women.

  That wasn't helping either.

  She and Brian made pleasant conversation, asking plenty of questions back and forth. He wanted to know if she had ever been to New York, which she hadn't. He went on to tell her all the stories about his friends and their trip to New York two years before.

  Liam stayed quiet almost the entire time they were sitting in that truck, his shoulders tense and his expression blank. The distance he was mentally putting between them felt like a lot more than a couple of inches.

  The night before was torturous. Once Finny was satisfied that Izzy had seen enough of Gwinny's small puppies, they all sat down to eat. Mary and Cara asked her question after question while the men talked about anything else. Liam sat beside her, but she may as well have been in a completely different house. He was pleasant to her, but it wasn't the same.

  She couldn't help but feel like she'd completely destroyed any kind of friendship they might have kept and it distracted her so much that Mary and Cara had to pull her aside to find out what was wrong. Of course, Cara already informed her mother about what happened in the river, to which Mary said, "He's a man, dear. He'll certainly try again."

  Izzy tried to explain herself, but it was impossible to do without telling them every dark secret she carried with her. Secrets that Liam had kept for her this whole time.

  Sleep eluded her the entire night and she didn't see Liam all day until it was time to leave. Nausea crept up on her the moment Liam came to her door with Brian, and it was only getting worse. Every attempt she made to speak to Liam was met with a head nod or grunted answer.

  His leg would brush against hers and her entire body would go on alert. Her leg would brush against his and it was as if he was away in another world altogether. He just drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and kept his eyes point forward.

  He was distracted and upset and he had every right to be. She should have kept her walls up from the very beginning, but he had a way of making her forget everything else and in those moments, he inched his way closer and closer to the center of her heart every day.

  It was when - in order to fill the silence - Brian asked her about her social life back home that Liam finally spoke up. "Tis none o' yer business, Brian." Then his jaw set and that was it.

  Brian glanced skeptically at his older brother before looking to Izzy for an answer. When she looked just as clueless as he was, he shrugged and propped his chin on his hand to stare out the window.

  Once they arrived at the pub, everything just became more awkward.

  Brian made an attempt to find out what was wrong with Liam, but Izzy told him she didn't know and was wondering the same thing herself.

  "I have a feeling it's because of something I did," she admitted, watching Liam make his way to the back of the building where the live music was playing.

  "Don't worry yerself o'er much, Izzy. If it was something ye did, it will be resolved quickly. Liam is easy to forgive and can nah hold a grudge even if he wanted to," Brian explained. "Would ye like a drink? I'm fixin' to get bolloxed before the night is through."

  "I'll just have a water, please."

  Brian gawked at her for a moment before shrugging and going in search of a glass of water for her and a pint for him. She didn't see Liam until Brian returned and it was only for a brief moment. She was desperate to try to get through to him and apologize for possibly leading him on.

  God, she wanted him, but it just couldn't happen. Not like this. Not when there was no guarantee they would ever see each other again after she left in two weeks.

  And she had to leave. Didn't she?

  Liam stopped by their table on his way to the bar and Brian asked him something that Izzy couldn't quite hear. Liam shook his head angrily and walked away.

  Her shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry if I've caused trouble on your birthday."

  Brian gave a dismissive wave of his hand and said, "It's nah a birthday without some trouble. It's just usually a different kind of trouble."

  Moments later, a group of young boys and girls ran up to their table and surrounded them. Brian hugged each of them before introducing his friends to Isabelle. She would never remember their names, but she certainly made an attempt.

  Two of the girls bombarded her with questions while the other, a blonde with way too much make up, eyed her like she was a piece of garbage in the middle of everyone. It was the same way her old friends back home looked at her now and it made her want to shrink away, but she refused.

  They don't know me and I don't know them, she kept telling herself and straightened her shoulders. She tried to make pleasant conversation with all of them but the blonde, she soon found out was Hannah, brushed her off easily and fazed her out of every topic.

  Izzy wasn't sure what to think, but she didn't really get a chance to do anything about it because Brian and his friends started whatever party they'd been planning for his
birthday. She couldn't help but smile at their celebration. They were all close and seemed to have a lot in common. Even though Brian seemed a bit more conservative and bookish, he could sure let loose when he wanted to.

  When Liam finally sat down with them, everyone was lost in conversation and Izzy didn't have a chance to talk to him either. He barely even looked at her. Hannah certainly got some attention from him, however, and Izzy wanted to throttle her. The girl looked like she wasn't even out of school yet and she was all over him. He talked to her and that was it, but her advances grew stronger for every minute that passed.

  It would only take a matter of time before a girl like that got through to a man. They could only take so much. It made Izzy wilt, but she told herself it was for the best. It would just make it easier to leave knowing he had everything and everyone he needed right here.

  The two flirted mercilessly, but Liam gave Izzy a passing glance now and then and she just couldn't watch it any longer. She leaned over to take Brian's third pint away from him and gulped it down.

  What have I gotten myself into?

  Brian snorted and gave her a lopsided grin before sliding another mug her way. All the while, her eyes stayed away from Liam and the wench, whose constant giggling was starting to make her see red.

  How dare Liam do this to her? She was only trying to protect him when she didn't let him kiss her. She was only trying to do the right thing by not taking their friendship too far, and it almost destroyed her. He was being childish with no regard to how badly he was hurting her. Izzy had felt a piece of her heart rip out of her chest every time he looked at her these last two weeks, every time he touched her, every moment they'd spent together since the beginning.

  Until now.

  Now there was nothing left to give him and he was carelessly stomping on that heart with every crooked smile he gave to the witch.

  That smile was supposed to be hers.

  She nibbled on her bottom lip a little harder than normal and breathed through the pain. The minutes dragged by and all the initial excitement to spend time with people her age and have some fun, was a forgotten concept. Fun just wasn't something she ever had a chance to do back home, especially since Christopher came into her world. This would probably be the last time she ever did anything for herself and she tried to make the most of it.