Shifting Intentions: Shifting Hearts Book Two

by Ivy Hayes

“You’re welcome.” She walks off and heads back towards the bar.

  The wine is delicious, and I find myself finishing the first glass before I eat any of my food. I find Paige, meet her eyes and point at the glass, indicating that I would like another. She nods. While I wait, I take a bite of the dish in front of me. I am not very hungry, but I know the dangers of drinking on an empty stomach. I am not so reckless to place myself in bad situations.

  I have a few bites down before Paige appears with my new glass.

  “What is going on, Gwen?”

  “I just found out everyone has been plotting my future and lying to me about it.”

  “I see. Do you want to talk about it?”

  “Not particularly. I just want to be mad and have a chance to think.”

  I take a sip of wine, Paige adds, “You should slow down, drunken thoughts are not usually the best ones.”

  “I agree, but they will dull my emotions, which is something I desperately want right now. I am too angry for my own good.”

  “When it slows down, I will come sit with you.”

  I can tell she won’t take no for an answer, it is obvious she is worried about me. Paige has no doubt seen trouble for women in taverns when she worked in Westhaven, but she doesn’t need to be, Cliffden is different, people are kinder and respectful here. Even if they are mostly travelers, there are enough locals to keep trouble at a minimum.

  “I don’t want you to get in trouble with Nash.”

  “He won’t mind.”

  “Okay, fine.”

  She looks relieved before she walks away. Since I am going to have a babysitter, I don’t have to hold myself back as much. I enjoy this glass quicker than the last. Instead of getting Paige’s attentions again, I walk up to the bar myself to get another round.

  “Can I get another, Nash?”

  “Are you sure?” He looks hesitant.

  I snap at that, my anger of everyone trying to control aspects of my life comes to light, “Yes. I am sure. I am a grown woman, I can make my own decisions.”

  Nash looks startled by my outburst, but pours me a drink anyway, “Just take this one slower, okay?”

  “Fine.” I march back to my table, feeling slightly bad for yelling at him, but the guilt is quickly dulled by the numbing effects of my drinks.

  Sitting back at my table, I finally feel relaxed, so I lean back and let the tension leave my body. I can feel the warmth from the wine building up in my chest and I feel a tease of a smile fall onto my face, pleased to be feeling better than I had the last hour.

  I am halfway through this glass when a handsome stranger approaches my table. He is taller than me by at least half a foot, strong, lean and has dark hair and deeply tanned skin. Everything about him is gorgeous, so when he finally reaches my table, I find myself smiling at him. He is the sort of man I could love, and I bet he wouldn’t lie to me either.

  “Hello?” I prompt.

  Up close, I realize that he looks very similar to Parker, well except for his eyes, they are blue, not a deep amber.

  “Hi,” he grins a lopsided, slightly toothy grin at me, “is this seat taken?” He points at the other seat at my small, round table.

  “And if it is?”

  “Then I will stay standing, but I am afraid I won’t leave quite yet, I want to talk to the most beautiful woman in the room.”

  I blush, but feeling bold from the wine, I respond, “Well than, since I won’t be able to get rid of you, help yourself.”

  “Thank you.” He sits with a flourish then adds, “I’m Tyler.”

  “Gwen,” is all I respond with, not wanting to offer any additional information about myself.

  “So, what is a lovely young woman doing in a seedy place like this?”

  I wave my hand, as if brushing off his question, “Seedy? Don’t let Nash hear you call it that, he prides himself on this place.”

  He laughs, it is deep throated and louder than I like, “Thanks for the tip, I won’t let him know my thoughts. So, you’re a local?”

  “Born and raised.” I take another drink. “Where are you from?”

  “That’s hard to answer. I follow the work, so I spend lengths of times in different towns. Most recently was Harpersville.”

  “Is that south?” I ask.

  He nods, “About five days walk.”

  The conversation lulls for a few seconds, I take another drink to fill the silence. My glass is almost empty, which Tyler notices.

  “Can I buy you another?”

  “Um. . . I don’t think that is a good idea, I have already had more than I usually do.”

  “But you’re having so much fun. What’s the harm, you are from here, you will make it home okay.”

  At least he is right about that, Nash has been keeping a close eye on me since Tyler sat down.

  “Alright, why not. Just one more.”

  FIFTEEN - PARKER

  I sat outside her room for nearly an hour before I gave up. Obviously, she was not going to let me in tonight, I will just have to find a way to get her alone tomorrow. She looked so hurt by the revelation, and I know our day today only made it worse. If I had known my cousin would be here tonight, I probably would have told her the truth about the arrangement this afternoon.

  She was just starting to trust me, and I slapped that trust right back in her face.

  The last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. I should have stayed away from her, not tried to court her or get to know her, but she was impossible to resist. I am enamored by her, and the longer I am around, the stronger my attraction to her is.

  I feel trapped inside, being under the same roof as her, but not being able to comfort her, so I decide to go for a walk, hoping it will clear my head and at least allow me to sleep. I aimlessly walk towards town, no destination in mind so I lead a slow pace.

  I am lost in my own world, I don’t notice the other person on the road, heading my direction until we are nearly on top of each other. It’s Paige, the barmaid from Nash’s.

  “Paige, where are you off to this late at night?”

  “Parker, I can’t talk, sorry. I need to get to the manor.” She tries to hurry past me, but I reach out an arm to stop her.

  “Why?”

  “It’s Gwen. She is at Nash’s drinking and we are worried about her. There are a lot of men eyeing her. I have to go get her brothers.”

  I shake my head, “No, I don’t want them to see her like that. I will take care of it.”

  She hesitates, “Nash told me to get them.”

  “She had a really bad night, I don’t want it to be worse by them yelling at her.” My voice is pleading.

  In reality, I don’t think they would yell at her, but this is my chance to talk to her alone and hopefully make her forgive me.

  “Okay. This is faster, anyway. I want to get her out of there.”

  “Let’s go.” We take off at a fast pace and make a beeline for the bar.

  What I see when I walk in is nearly enough to send me on a rage. Gwen is very drunk, she can barely hold herself up, which she doesn’t need to do because some stranger has his hands all over her, providing the support she needs to stay upright. His hands are close to places he has no business touching.

  I am across the room in no time at all, but instead of ripping the man off her, like I desperately want to do, I approach calmly. Too much of Gwen’s weight is on this man, if he were suddenly gone, she would fall to the ground.

  He notices my approach before Gwen does, I nod, “Hello, I thank you for looking after Gwen.”

  I try and move in closer to get a hold on her and remove her from his arms, but he blocks my path with his body.

  “It was no problem, her and I are having fun, aren’t we, Gwen?”

  She looks up and seeing me, she immediately answers, “We are.” Her voice is slurring, it sounded more like, “We oar.”

  “I am afraid the fun is over, Gwen, I am going to take you home now.” She doesn’t even respond to this,
which means she is far more gone that I thought. Thank god Nash sent Paige for help when he did.

  The stranger responded, instead of Gwen, “I will take her home later, don’t worry about it.”

  Like hell, that is the last thing I will let happen, there is no telling what this stranger will do to her on the way. I immediately want to punch him in the face, but I can’t risk Gwen.

  “No. I will be taking her, right now.”

  “No.” I can tell he isn’t afraid of me, no doubt counting on his size as an advantage.

  I say through clenched teeth, holding in my anger until he lets her go, “Just give up, I am not leaving her alone with you.”

  His face flashes with irritation, “I think you will.”

  He readjusts Gwen, so her weight is supported by the table, then stands up, hoping his size will intimidate me. Little does he know, I have been taking down men much larger, for much longer. Now that Gwen is safely out of the way, I don’t hesitate to give him what he deserves.

  Gwen sees the tension building between us and looks at me with drunk, frightened eyes. I give her a flash of a smile, hoping it will reassure her then I start to back up.

  I feign hesitation and fright, hoping it will encourage him to follow me. I need to lead him further away from Gwen, so she won’t be anywhere near the fight. I see Paige in the background, so I know she is ready to swoop in and help Gwen. Now I won’t have to worry about her safety and can focus fully on taking care of the threat.

  It starts. He sends a forceful punch in my direction, hoping to take me down while I am still scared and backing up. I parry the punch as if it was nothing, then answer his with a jab of my own that lands squarely across his jaw, his head snapping to the side.

  It takes him a second to steady himself and his face is filled with irritation. Once balanced, he comes at me again, faster and harder. His anger makes him sloppy, so I dodge and let himself tire himself out while waiting for my opportunities to strike. I get a few more punches in when I sense someone approaching me from behind. I swoop down and barely avoid a bottle hitting the back of my head, instead it slams into my shoulder.

  So, he has friends and they play dirty.

  I turn and take in my new attacker, pleased that it is only one man. I back up slightly, so I can keep my eyes on them both. The first one comes at me with the same sloppy fury he is perfecting, this time I don’t waste any time on ending the fight. I allow him to connect a punch to my gut but use his momentum to hit him hard in the temple. He drops like a rag doll.

  The second man is on me in the next second, swinging his bottle towards my head. I lift my arm, blocking the strike. The bottle shatters against my arm and I feel a sudden burst of pain, telling me it broke skin, I don’t let it slow me down. Now, instead of a blunt object, he has something sharp that could do real damage. I get in my fighting stance and prepare to defend myself when something hits him from behind.

  The man falls to the ground, lifeless and Nash is standing right behind him, holding a big stick. He looks down at the man and says, “Only I get to sneak up from behind in here.”

  I let out a thunderous laugh at his sarcastic comment.

  He gives the man a kick and says to me, “Get her out of here, son, I will take care of these two.”

  “On it. Thanks for the help.”

  “Anytime. Nobody messes with my people.”

  Paige is now holding Gwen up entirely, it seems she passed out during the short time I was dealing with that man. She looks pleased when she seems me approach, and gladly releases Gwen into my care. I carefully swoop her up and cradle her in my arms. It will be a long walk back, carrying her the whole way, but I need to get her home, and this is the only way.

  I am sweating and exhausted when I make it back to the manor. I glance at the stairs, then back down at Gwen’s sleeping form and I can’t bring myself to wake her up to only climb them herself, so I start my slow trudge up. I keep as quiet as I can, not wanting anyone to come investigate the sounds. No one needs to know Gwen made such a reckless decision tonight, one she would likely be embarrassed about when the morning rolls around.

  At the top of the stairs, I remember that her door is locked from the inside. Not confident enough with my ability to select the right room from the outside, I decide on the only path that seems logical to me, she will have to sleep it off in my room.

  Setting her down gently on the bed, I head across the room and fill a glass of water then calmly try and rouse her.

  “Gwen, wake up. I need you to drink this glass of water.”

  Her eyes barely open, enough to see the glass I have held in front of her which she eagerly takes and gulps down.

  “Can I have another?” She asks, softly.

  I hurry across the room and fill it again, which she gulps down just as fast. I take the glass from her and she falls back asleep a few seconds later. I fill up a third glass and place it at the nightstand table by her head, knowing she will wake up thirsty.

  With Gwen sleeping soundly, I silently make my way to the washroom and clean the cuts on my arm. They are shallow and superficial, so I just rinse them off and wrap a small cloth around my arm, staunching any further blood flow.

  Back in the room, I see my options for a bed tonight are either the rug by the fireplace, or the couch that is much too small for me to stretch out. Opting for the space, I grab a pillow and extra blanket then stretch out on the rug. It’s not too bad, more comfortable than sleeping on the ground when I travel, but still far less comfortable than the bed I gave up.

  SIXTEEN – PARKER

  I wake up at sunrise with the blankets tangled around my legs and my body drenched in a layer of sweat, it was much warmer than I expected being this close to the fireplace. Gwen is still fast asleep on the bed, looking innocent and charming with her hair tangled and flung all over the place.

  Her hangover is doubtless going to be horrible and I know she will be angry with me for waking her up and exposing her to the worst of it, instead of letting her sleep through it, but I must. Today is Friday and I know for a fact she would not want to miss her class. I just hope it won’t take her too long to forgive me for this irritation, along with all the others.

  I look down at her and I am not sure how to proceed. Do I shake her awake, or will she be infuriated that I touched her? Do I speak her name, or will that scare her? The playful part of me wants to throw a pillow at her, but I that definitely will not go over well so I decide on the second option.

  I start softly, “Gwen, it’s time to wake up.”

  She sits upright, suddenly and yells, “What are you doing in my room!” Then the pain of her headache overtakes her from the loud noise she created, so she grasps at her forehead and moans. I can’t help but chuckle.

  “I am not in your room, Gwen. You are in mine.”

  Her voice is quieter and icy, “Care to explain what I am doing in your room then?”

  “You wouldn’t remember, would you.” I smile at her then sit on the bed next to her, “What is the last thing you remember from last night?”

  She looks pensive and takes a second before she adds, “Um, I remember drinking my glass of wine and talking to Tyler. No, wait, I remember some sort of fight at Nash’s. Oh my god, am I okay?” She frantically feels all over her body and face, trying to find any injuries or bruises.

  I reach out an arm to stop her, “You are fine. There was a fight, but you were nowhere near it. You were passed out by the end of it, so I carried you back home. That is why you are in my room, yours is locked, remember?”

  “You carried me all the way back?” She looks surprised.

  “I did,” I grin at her, “I would hope that earns me at least some forgiveness points?” I look at her expectedly, but she frowns.

  “I wouldn’t have been in that position if it wasn’t for you though.”

  I shake my head, “That is not true. You were in that position because you freaked out and wouldn’t let any of us talk to you. You acted out
and made a rash decision.”

  “I acted rash? Do you honestly think I would have wanted to talk to you after finding out you have been lying to me this whole time? After I started to trust you and you slammed that trust into the ground?” She puts a hand on her head again, grimacing at the pain of her headache.

  “I can’t do this right now, Parker. My head hurts and my thoughts are jumbled.”

  I don’t want to stop, I need her to forgive me, but pushing her is not going to achieve the results I want, so I respond, “Okay, fine. Promise we will talk about it later?”

  “Maybe tomorrow.” She tries to brush me off, but I won’t let her.

  “Tonight, Gwen. This conversation should not wait.”

  “Fine. Now, if you would please excuse me, I need to get into my room and wash.” She rises, but immediately sits back down. “Oh god, what if anyone sees me leaving your room?”

  “I will scout it out. How are you planning on getting back into yours, though?”

  “I will have to get in the same way I got out, I guess, by climbing up the side of the house.”

  “I can do that for you.” I offer, the last thing I want is her falling to her death.

  She immediately looks relieved, no doubt worried about herself in this state as much as I am.

  I add, “You’ll have to come outside with me though, I am not sure which room is yours from the others.”

  She nods, “No, you wouldn’t,” then stands up and adds, “let’s go then.”

  I watch her for a weary second before we leave, she looks pale and nauseous, but to my surprise, she shakes it off and sets forward with a determined look on her face. It looks like, among other of her great attributes, she is not frail.

  Not for the first time, I desperately hope I can fix things between us.

  Thanks to the early hour, we make it outside without being seen. Gwen points to her window, so I start to climb, she heads back inside to wait for me to open the door. I make easy work of it and am in her room in no time. It has a similar layout to mine but is far cozier and obviously lived in. She has plush blankets and pillows around the room, different pieces of art and a variety of books and Knick Knacks. I find the eclectic-ness of it fits her personality, like she is unashamed of the things she likes, and it does not matter if nothing matches. Except, everything does, in an odd way, despite how different the pieces are.