Stubborn Hearts

CHAPTER NINE

It was already late in the morning when Kassie got out of bed, the sun’s rays were already blazing through the curtains to her room.

She was so caught up with her outline last night that she stayed out late just to draft through a couple of chapter summaries, established the setting and listed down her main characters. She smiled, content. It was a great start. The peaceful, sleeping night made her thoughts more energized and she took advantage of it.

On another note, in between her moments of contemplation, she could not help but notice that the loud playing had subsided somehow. So, the marching over to his cottage turned out to be a small talk, which she hesitated and thought was impossible at first, made it work.

She recalled seeing him again with no shirt on, face to face, which made her feel uncomfortable that she thought of just retreating to her room and hide under the soft, white quilt. It was hard looking up straight to him when her eyes could not avoid the toned mass of muscles in front of her. When she made it past the 5-minute mark she gave herself, she wanted to clap her hands.

It was too early to tell but she considered he could make a good friend.

Just a friend? Are you sure, Kassie?

Her mind was taking over again. She’d better make herself some coffee to wake the sense out of her.

She got herself a hot cup and sliced apples, then went back upstairs to continue her work. She turned on her computer and while it was starting to load, she took one sip.

“Ah! Thank the heavens for coffee farmers!” She exclaimed as the coffee slowly soothed her system. 

Taking her file from the drive, she dove into the screen and started typing.

A couple of hours later, her stomach growled, her thoughts suddenly interrupted. Checking the time, it was already past noon. She made sure she saved her work before closing her laptop. She stood up, stretched a bit and delved into her closet for her staple white tee and jeans before going down.

She had no plan on cooking and decided to take a trip back to Danny D’s. Checking out the other cottage, the truck was nowhere in sight.

“Well, yeah. Of course, it’s a Monday and people work. Gosh, Kassie,” she mumbled, scolding herself. 

Though it was just a few months since she quitted her job, she became quite accustomed to having her own free time that easily. Maybe it was the kind of therapy she needed for so long. Giving herself too much to her job entailed too little breaks into hardly having a time for herself and her family most often. But she did try to squeeze in her visit to home when possible.

Those years when her life revolved around work...and Nick.

She snapped from the thought. She was not going there. Instead, she pictured the diner’s pork steak and another muffled noise escaped from her tummy. She should better be walking fast.

The diner was not so crowded as the last time when she got in, but fair enough to keep the kitchen busy.

Kirk was serving another table when he noticed her come in. He smiled and waved at her. She waved back, then went to the same seat at the corner. She glanced at the cashier expecting to see Marcus manning it, but instead, a woman was in-charge this time.

If she’d be honest with herself, she felt a bit disappointed for some reason she could not point out yet. Well, one part was a relief so her thoughts would not be wandering again.

“Hey, Kassie!” Kirk greeted as soon as he got to her table. “How is it going?”

“Oh, hi Kirk!” She returned, smiling. “I’m good, thanks. How about you?” 

“Well, same old but good,” he cheerfully answered and handed her the menu. “So, what would you like for today?”

“Hmmm, I think I would still go for your specialty pork steak, mashed potatoes on the side,” she told him then added, “And raspberry juice, please.” She handed the menu back. 

“Great. These should be ready in 5 to 10 minutes,” he advised, then took the menu from her. 

After a minute, he was back with a cold glass of water.

“You seem a bit flushed,” he said. “You walked all the way down from the cabin?”

She furrowed her brows, thinking why Kirk knew where she lived. He caught her confused look.

“We kind of grilled Marcus on it earlier,” he explained rather shyly. “You know, I kind of just asked him if he knew you personally since he drove you home last Saturday. Marcus is a cool guy but he is one who never talks about personal things. So I got curious.”

“And what did he say to you?” She asked. Now, she was the one being curious.

“Not much really. But Marge,” he replied, paused for a while then looked up to the cashier. When he spoke again, his voice was hushed but he was smirking. He was referring to the woman behind the cash register. “She came up to us and started the interrogation. Marcus would not win over Marge, so he was forced to tell us that you were neighbors and did not add anything more to that. That man is really tough. So yeah, that’s how we know you’re staying at one of Mrs. Arving’s cottages.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Nothing much to know, really,” she said. Marcus was not a talker but she already figured that out herself.

“Sure. Right, I’ll be back with your order,” he uttered, then left.

She glanced around the silent crowd, wondering where Marcus could be. She whisked the thought and grabbed her phone from her pocket. 

She was fumbling mindlessly into her phone when her order came. She smiled at the sight of the food when Kirk placed them on her table.

“Here you go,” he said. “I’ll just be around if you need anything, ‘kay?” 

“Okay, thanks,” she replied, then remembered something. “Oh, by the way, would you know who I can talk to about camping by the lake?”

“Well, I live outside town but I know that area is protected by the community so I believe you just have to ring their office so they are aware when you plan to camp,” Kirk offered.

“I see. Thanks for the advice.”

“No problem.” Kirk was about to leave but suddenly turned to her. “Or, would be a lot easier if you ask Marcus. He sometimes volunteers as a ranger, so perhaps it would be better to consult him first.” 

Another interesting detail. Where else could Marcus not be in this town?

“Oh, is that a fun fact?” She remarked which made Kirk chuckle.

“Just saying,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Right. Thanks, still.” 

“Sure. Enjoy.”

She was left to her food, savoring the same expected taste. Or maybe better than the last time. God, she was in fact, really hungry.

When she was finished, Marcus was still nowhere in sight. She wanted to stay a little bit longer but her pending work was waiting for her back in the cottage. She got up and walked towards the cashier.

Marge glanced up to her and sweetly smiled.

“Hi,” she greeted. “You must be Kassie?”

“Yes, I am,” she returned a smile.

“I am Marge,” she said, offering her hand. She took it. It was warm and soft. She seemed nice, she thought. “I heard you’re new here. Thanks for visiting the diner. I hope you enjoyed your food.”

“I did. It was delicious. My second time now,” she replied while Marge was punching on the cash register.

“Oh, my Danny would love to hear that,” she laughed softly. “He always takes pride when someone not from here appreciates his cooking.”

“He deserves the credit. Must be why you nearly run out of empty tables here every time,” she considered, looking around, noticing new customers coming in.

“Yeah, we’re lucky we got patrons who are always hungry,” her vibrant mood was infectious, so she laughed with her.

“A bit late for lunch,” Marge stated while Kassie handed her the payment.

“Yeah. I was caught up with something I forgot about the time.”

“Well, looks like you have some catching up to do with food,” she quipped, then handed her a calling card. “That’s the line here. You can give us a ring anytime if you don’t feel like cooking. I can have Marcus send it over.” 

She was shocked with the gesture. These people were really kind.

“Oh, thank you,” she told her and offered a grateful smile. “But it’s fine. I don’t mind coming by if I need to.”

“All right. Keep the card just in case,” she responded. “Care for some dessert?” 

Before she could respond, Marge took a box of fruit tart and gave it to her.

“That’s in the house,” she continued. “And welcome to Muskoka.”

And she had never felt more welcome than she did now.

She could just add this up to the list of things she was grateful for when she decided to take a big leap and chose this town as her temporary shelter.

That really felt great.

She thanked Marge for the sweets and waved to Kirk before leaving.

Marcus had just parked when she got out of the door. She was about to approach him when she noticed he got company. Her smile faded.

At the passenger’s seat was a red-haired, gorgeous woman who was beaming at him. And my, she was smitten. They looked comfortable with each other.

She suddenly felt a pang of jealousy seeing the closeness. It did not occur to her that Marcus might already be with someone. She surely forgot about their first meeting. Maybe he had a date with that woman and him being late made him irritated that time.

The memory was back and she was just angry with herself. 

What were you thinking, Kassie? 

At one point, Marcus’ eyes met hers. They seemed shocked at first but were back to beaming blue. She faked a smile, nodded in recognition and quickly turned around.

Her strides were bigger, not looking back, could not bear to stay longer but more afraid of why she was becoming so affected by what she just witnessed. 

This was one of those times when she wished she could fly.