Stubborn Hearts

CHAPTER SEVEN

Reaching his kitchen, Marcus helped himself with a simple tuna sandwich and an ice-cold beer he thought he might need to clear his mind for a minute.

For a guy who worked at a good resto, he never really had to worry about breakfast or lunch or dinner – he could just grab anything from Danny’s kitchen. Unfortunately, going home at this hour was not in his agenda, nor even in his daily routine. He would usually stay for a couple of minutes in the diner after closing to help out, then he would go straight to Old Greg’s Pub, a bar he also invested his capital in, located in the town center. Danny’s older brother Gregory owned it and they became partners just a year ago.

But today was different…in so many ways.

He saw Kassie entered the diner earlier as he was manning the cashier for the past two hours or so. With her were the grocery bags he could barely see through what was inside of them, but he figured she bought products from the market – the bunch of flowers she tucked in her arms gave that away. She stood by the entrance for a good 30 seconds embracing the place while searching for a vacant spot. It was just enough time for him to silently study her from afar.

She wore a gray hoodie jacket over her white V-neck shirt that had a small sunflower print on it, paired with fitted denim jeans and white sneakers. Her dark brown hair was on a high ponytail, with some strands falling loose and were carelessly swaying along the frame of her heart-shaped face.

Kassie looked pretty simple for a city girl – a few bits he got from Ginger when she asked him a favor of waiting for her to arrive yesterday. He got curious as to why a young and reasonably professional woman from Boston would spend months in a small and quiet town like Muskoka. So he asked, and Ginger shared the details, with a promise from him to keep them confidential.

There was something soft about her, not the typical confident girl he expected. Perhaps it was her dreamy eyes, which mirrored her pensive thoughts. He saw her as guarded and reserved, but he could sense her easy self was trying to break free. Despite that and her small frame, he was surprised she could throw in some fancy word fights at him and was really up for it.

And she seemed to have been pushing herself, seeing her carry those three bags with the best of her strength to the corner table. That made him decide to give her a ride home. Only that, he missed to consider their exchange yesterday – it was a bit too soon for being friendly. So, he had to do it in a no-fuss-Marcus fashion, tantamount to ‘you can’t do anything about it’, which just meant he had to force it to happen, no questions asked. That was his way of things.

And it worked. And he found out he was ‘moose guy’.

He chuckled. He liked the sound of it.

Then he snapped. Like? Tsk. Not now.

Wrapping up his thoughts, he finished up on his meal. Not contented, he took a quick shower, put on a loose black shirt over the same faded jeans he wore today and carried along a comfortable hoodie for a cold night’s drive. He made sure to steer slowly and silently as much as he could passing by Kassie’s cottage. All lights were out which meant she was already resting. To prevent further thoughts, he scurried away to the gate and was on his way to the pub for his weekend gig.  

The crowd was still manageable when he reached the bar. The instruments were already set up on stage with his g**g doing some fine tuning – Andy on the lead guitar, Johnny on drums and Allen on the keyboard. He handled the rhythm – the acoustic guitar, and at the same time, the main vocals. Music was something he was born with and was very passionate about, something his family could only perceive as a pastime, if not, a waste of time.

“Hey, man! What’s up?” Greg greeted him with his usual side hug. “Everything good?” He asked, referring to him cutting out early last night.

“Yep, all good,” he answered. He looked around then continued, “You got a good crowd tonight.”

“Most weekends, yeah,” Greg agreed, looking at the group of people spread across the room, filling the air with their indistinct chatter. “I notice it’s been like this since you joined the band. You brought the crowd, and need I mention that these are mostly women – young and old alike?” He teased, laughing.

He laughed, shaking his head. Though he could see Greg’s point, he always thought it was because of the atmosphere and music and all the reason there was for people to hang out on weekends. There were attractive women, yes, some aggressive and suggestive.

He would share a drink or two, but he never took advantage nor dated any of them. Because of that, he was eventually tagged as ‘the little heartbreaker’ or ‘the handsome snob’ by his bandmates.

“Nah. I guess they just love the Old Greg,” he playfully replied. “I’d better be with the guys. Don’t want to keep your patrons waiting.”

He got onto the stage and picked up his guitar to do his own fine tuning. In a few minutes, they were to start their first session for the night.

Old Greg introduced the guys to him a couple of months after they sealed their partnership. The band had been a constant guest at the bar, but when their main vocalist flew to the United States to further his career as a soloist, they stopped playing for a few months, until he joined them.

They were a group of contented, young married men with varied interests but came together for the love of music. He was some years younger than them, so they had a common ground on the genre which made them click right away. Then, they went on exploring some more.

For Saturday nights, it would be for slow alternative. They normally got more of younger audiences on weekends, thus the music of choice. On weekdays, they would normally go for country, old hits and some soft pop.

Sometimes, they would entertain special requests from the crowd and would also encourage two to three of their audience to jam. And girls would just love to be up on stage and request for a duet with him. He would oblige, of course. And it was fun. He always felt alive when he was playing, and he liked that – being who he really was, outside a perfect, affluent and prominent family he was from, where the only living rule was to obey.

KASSIE HAD A GREAT, RESTFUL sleep and as always, she was left amazed at the lovely sight of an early Sunday morning. She took a good, solid five minutes to embrace the fresh air and bask in the little warm rays of the sun seeping through the tall trees to her open terrace.

Once satisfied, she decided to go for a quick stroll, so she put on her jogging outfit and headed out to the same trail she took yesterday.

She went further from where she’d been and made sure she kept track of the path so she would not get lost. A little deeper in, she could not help but feel so calm and free – it was all refreshing. She learned that there was a lake nearby and with the help of the sign boards along the trail, she just found a gem. It was breathtaking!

It was wide and tranquil, its surface glistening from the rising sun. Trails of luscious pines paraded along the edges, and she could just barely see what was beyond the other side. She also learned that there were campsites further down and a ramp set up where it was safe for people to take a dip. She bet there would be some rangers roaming from now and then to ensure that nobody would just go down and jump into the water unattended.

She mentally noted she’d inquire about the camp site. Maybe she’d try and ask Marcus? He seemed to be very familiar with everyone and everything in this place. She smirked.

Yeah, why not?

It was a good run and a great start of her day. She went back to the cottage and indulged herself with a nice shower. She headed downstairs hungry and got herself her usual morning coffee and toast, took them out to the waiting benches on the patio outside.

Skimming on her f*******: messenger, she found her sister’s profile and pressed the video call button. A few seconds later, her sister’s sleepy face popped on her screen.

“Hello, pretty!” She greeted cheerfully. Kayla was definitely not a morning person and she just loved to annoy her with early morning calls.

With her face still buried in the fluffy pillow, she groaned, “I hate you.” Then flipped on the other side of the bed, her eyes still half-closed.

“I know. I missed you, too!” She teased, which earned her a smile.

“What’s your business calling this early?” Kayla asked, now cuddling another pillow to anchor her hand which held the phone. Her straight dark brown hair, which seemed to have never budged during sleep, flowed carelessly over her fair shoulders, her flawless face as bright as the morning. Kayla was always strikingly beautiful. And she adored her in all that and more.  

They said, the youngest ones were most likely more attractive than the eldest. She believed it was true for so many reasons she could not enumerate.

“Just wanted to check how’s everything going with you,” she stated sweetly. Kayla just grunted.

“I don’t even want to think about it,” she sighed. “Jake’s parents are coming here for lunch. I could imagine her mother would squeeze me out on the details, else, she would hand me her handbook with a long list of things to do.”

Kayla and Jake were already engaged for a little over a month now. Who would have thought that they would be hopelessly hooked with each other for so long and now, for eternity? Nevertheless, they both were happy and that was all that mattered.

“I already told you, it’s more practical to hire a wedding planner,” she advised. “And besides, it’s still like eight months to go. All you need to do is find the best one and you will just be sitting more prettily.”

Her sister’s face softened.

“Why of all the time, you chose to be away when I needed you here.” She was becoming emotional. They had been through this conversation for so many days before she hopped onto her flight.

“Oh, Kayla. Please, not this again,” she pleaded. Her day was just too good and she could not afford such discussion at this time. And her sister understood.

“Okay, sorry,” she apologized, then changed gears. “So, tell me, how you’ve been? Is that the cottage behind you?”

“Yep, it is. I’m outside, relaxing at my little patio,” she was more than happy to brag. “Okay, here’s a little preview.” She set her phone for the back camera and slowly moved her hand around to capture the whole yard.

She almost choked when the camera passed Marcus’ cottage. He suddenly emerged from the door, on his porch, with tousled hair and was only wearing a pair of gray sweatpants, which fell a little lower from his hips.

Confirmed in broad daylight: Marcus’ body was also a lovely sight. More lovely than sunrise.