Protector (The Brannock Siblings Book 4) (12 page)

"Aye, you're a dope, brother," Colin said strangely.

"Excuse me?"

They stopped just several feet in front of Isabelle who was
giving her attention to Mary. Liam watched her neck redden and her eyes crinkle
again when his mother patted her cheek adoringly.

"I said you're a dope. You've gone and met yourself a
woman you cannot keep. Not a chance she'll stick around with
you
after
she sets her eyes on
me
. If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll
get."

Liam smacked Colin on the back of the head a little harder
than normal. "She doesn't need a boy. She needs a man."

"I can be anything she wants."

Colin moved quickly this time, avoiding another smack on the
head and snickering as he moved to stand in front of Isabelle.

Liam had to admit, a small part of him worried that Colin
was right. Liam could charm a lot of women, but Colin had a gift.

His young brother slapped his hand over his chest
dramatically, gripping the material of his shirt directly over his heart.
"I've died, Ma. I've died and gone to heaven. I know it now."

Izzy looked up with a bemused expression. She had no clue
what was happening but Liam already told her all about Colin. There was no
expecting anything less.

Liam's mother shook her head, glancing his way with a shrug.
Colin was about to lay it on thick.

"Me heart's stopped beatin' and I can nah
breathe," Colin added, exaggerating his speech just a bit too much for
Liam's liking. It was another thing Colin always said the girls loved. The
accent was his shoe in for anyone visiting from another country.

Izzy looked back and forth between the two of them and Liam
simply shrugged. People who didn't know Colin were always a little nervous
about his warped sense of humor until they realized that it was just... him.

Izzy stood slowly and grinned at Colin, holding her hand out
for him to shake. "You must be Colin. I'm Isabelle. Your brother has told
me a lot about you."

Colin took her hand and dropped to his knees in front of
her. "Aye, beauty. I am Colin. The one and only. Are you ready to marry me
then, my love?"

Izzy threw her head back with a laugh while Colin pressed
his lips to the back of her hand. Liam shook his head and decided that his
little brother was a little too close for comfort, especially since he started
to place quick kisses up her wrist.

"Hey now!" He tugged his brother up by the collar
of his shirt. "Keep your kisser off her, we don't know where that thing
has been."

"You jammy bastard," Colin smiled without the
slightest hint of shame. "I'm actually jealous of you, brother. She's
beautiful."

Liam playfully shoved Colin towards their mother, who was
ready to smack him on the back of the head. "Watch your language in front
of the ladies, Colin. Isabelle does not need your foosterin' at the
moment."

She pulled Colin away and started asking him about Cara and
Jerry. Liam wanted to listen in to see if Colin had already made a mess of
things, but he couldn't take his eyes off of Isabelle who was still laughing.
His father was even gawking at her with awe.

She was a sight when she laughed like that. Her shoulders
shook and her slender throat tensed magnificently. That neck was a place he
could burrow into for ages.

"Your brother is something else."

"Aye, he's warped. But he seems to enjoy the reactions
he gets."

"I'm going to go make sure your mother doesn't eat the
boy's head off," his father said before patting Liam on the back. He gave
his son a wink and walked away.

"Your mother is wonderful and your father is a
charmer," Izzy said.

Liam nodded in agreement and with a straight face asked,
"Where do you think I got it from?"

She rolled her eyes, but before she could argue with him, Liam
took her hand and lead the way through the crowd.

"Where are we going?"

"I want to show ye something. Finny will be waiting for
us."

He pulled her through the booths and groups of people, steadying
her when she stumbled and stopping on occasion to say hello and introduce her
to those who were curious enough to ask. She took it all in stride. Isabelle
was not the type of woman to flaunt herself in a crowd and her clumsiness only
endeared her more to those around her.

When he lead her into the forest of trees on the other side
of the field, Isabelle hesitated.

"I promise I'll not kidnap you, Izzy," he said
with a reassuring smile. "My sister spends her time at a grove along the
river. She'll be there with her friends."

Isabelle continued to follow him, tightening her hold on his
hand as the path became narrower. Suddenly, the trees opened up and she looked
up to see the small world he knew she would love.

"It's beautiful, Liam."

He moved his hand to the small of her back and guided her
over to a circle of several young girls with his sister in the middle.

"Liam!" Fiona shouted and sprung up to give him a
hug.

"Finny, I see you've started without me."

"
You
are late," she scolded him. Her blue
eyes shifted to Isabelle and widened. "Is this her?"

He nodded.

Finny dropped out of his hold and set her feet firmly on the
ground in front of Izzy. "I'm Fiona Brannock," she said shyly.

Isabelle crouched down in front of her and took Fiona's
outstretched hand. "I feel like I've been waiting a lifetime to meet you,
Fiona. Your brother talks about you a lot."

Finny's cheeks reddened and she smiled up at her brother
proudly. "He does?"

"Yes. And he told me you were taking care of some
puppies. I would love to see them one day."

Finny nodded her head enthusiastically. "You must. Can
we go
now
?"

Liam chuckled and playfully rubbed the top of Fiona's head.
"We will tomorrow, Finny."

She only pouted for a moment before taking Isabelle's hand
and pulling her to the group of girls who had been watching the whole
encounter. They stared at Isabelle with wide eyes and whispered to each other
until she was standing directly in front of them.

Fiona introduced Izzy to her friends. It was when they all
stood to shake her hand that Isabelle noticed what had been in the center of
all of them. Liam rubbed his hand over that tight spot inside his chest when he
saw her face light up. That tautness was happening more and more.

A blanket, covered with all kinds of food, was laid out and
a bouquet of flowers sat in the middle of it all. Finny did a wonderful job and
Liam would have to make sure he gave her a little extra money for her hard
work.

"Liam wanted the flowers to be all different colors. He
said you loved them all, so we picked them all."

The pressure in his chest released when Isabelle looked his
way. Their eyes locked and he almost told her right then and there how much he
wanted her to stay.

"Thank you," she whispered, looking back down at
Finny. "I love them. It's all so perfect."

"It was my brother's idea. He planned all of this and
asked us to pick the flowers and put it all together. Does it look nice?"

"Yes," Izzy answered immediately. "It's
wonderful." She turned to Liam and rose up to her tip toes to place a
light, hesitant kiss on his cheek.

Worth every second!

"Can we eat with you?" Finny pleaded. "We
don't want to go back to the festival. It's so boring."

Izzy laughed and let Fiona pull her down to the blanket.
"I don't mind at all. I think I could spend all day here."

He couldn't take his eyes off of Isabelle and his little
sister. Fiona smiled and giggled whenever Isabelle asked her a question. It
wasn't long before he could pretty much guarantee his role as his sister's hero
had been taken over.

They sat in that grove for the next couple of hours, young
girls coming and going often, all of them asking Isabelle an endless amount of
questions.

His mother finally came through the trees with Brian on her
heels. "I didn't think you would be here this long girls. Your mother's
are searchin' for you."

Fiona's friends pouted and said their goodbyes to Isabelle,
giggling as they passed Liam. He usually avoided these kinds of situations
since he could only take the giggling for so long, but Izzy seemed to be enjoying
his discomfort so he'd let them stay.

Liam introduced Izzy to Brian who looked like his eyes were
about to pop out of his head.

"Colin wasn't lyin'. You
are
a jammy
bastard!"

His mother moved to smack Brian in the back of the head, but
he moved quickly and hid behind Isabelle. "You boys will be the death of
me, I just know it," she said to her sons. "Brian, get your arse back
here before I tell Izzy to clatter you for me."

Isabelle laughed when Brian started to run away, his mother
chasing after him with a big smile on her face. "You're coming to Dublin
with us, Izzy," he shouted to them before disappearing through the trees.

Mary turned back to them and waved, "Bring her for
supper tomorrow, Liam." Then she disappeared through the trees, too.

"I'm going to tell Ma you're coming to see the puppies
tomorrow," Fiona said and took off after them.

Liam let out a long sigh. His family was something else.

Looking more than a little anxious, Izzy sat back down on
the blanket. She tugged on her ear and chewed on her bottom lip. Watching that
pink lip plump even more was like a bolt of lightning to his stomach and down even
further.

"What's in Dublin?"

"Brian's birthday is the day after tomorrow. We are taking
him to a pub in Dublin to celebrate. They have music and dancing. It's a lot of
fun. Would you like to go?"

He stretched out on the blanket beside her and waited for
her answer. She seemed to be deciding what to say and it was making a line
appear between her brows.

"I don't know."

"It really is just a bunch of friends sitting around a
table trying to talk over each other. Cara was supposed to come with us, but I
imagine she'll be spending that time with Jerry."

She still didn't look convinced.

"I'll not leave your side the entire time we're
there."

She sighed and shrugged. "Okay then. That sounds
wonderful."

He shook his head with a soft laugh.

They stayed in that grove for another hour, talking and
relaxing. The crackle in the air whenever she looked his way was the only sign
he had that she was feeling the same pull as he was.

Izzy pointed out that they were missing the festival
completely and he reluctantly gathered the blanket and basket of food before
leading her back through the trees and into the thinning crowd.

Finny came running up to them only to pull Izzy away from
him to show her the ducklings wandering around the tree line. It was as he
watched them fawn over the small babies that Maggie walked up to him with a
grim expression.

"What is it?"

She sighed and watched Finny pass one of the ducklings to
Izzy. "Your family will get attached, lad. Already have."

"And?"

"You think it will be easy to say goodbye to the bird?
She'll leave and what then? Will you pick yourself back up or will you question
what could have been?"

"We're friends, Maggie."

"Aye, you are. Friends. But more. You care for her and
it shows in all you do. Your mother thinks there's a wedding coming and your
father isn't talking her out of it. Finny looks at her like she hung the
moon."

Liam shook his head and tried to keep his voice level. "What
are you saying, woman?"

Maggie raised an eyebrow and stared back at him. "I'm
saying that if you don't discover why Isabelle looks like she has the weight of
the world on her shoulders, then you'll
never
know and you'll wonder if
you could have done something differently. I'm saying that we all see the love
you have for that girl. Are you prepared to fight for it?"

Liam looked back at Isabelle. She was saying something to
Finny that made the small child smile like she'd just been told Christmas was
more than once a year. Maggie's words echoed in his mind and he couldn't shake
the feeling that she was right.

"Aye, I'm always right, Liam," she sighed, reading
his mind. "Doesn't mean I necessarily enjoy it." She patted him on
the shoulder and walked away, leaving Liam to wonder what he was going to do
next.

He was in love with Isabelle.

So deeply in love that he couldn't see past her. In just ten
days he'd discovered so little about her life back in America, but so much
about
her
. He knew she was compassionate and patient. She loved to laugh
and he'd taken every opportunity to
make
her laugh. She wanted her
independence so much that she risked coming to a country of strangers just so
she could take a breath.

She loved flowers that weren't necessarily beautiful and a
simple gesture of chivalry made her breath catch. She loved that yellow sundress
she wore and she never put on the makeup so many girls plastered on their faces
these days.

In such a small amount of time, he'd found a woman that was
worth
the trouble of losing his heart.

And she wasn't going to stay much longer.

"You look like you're about to vomit, brother."

Colin sidled up to him with his hands in his pockets. He
smiled when he watched Finny start chasing the ducklings to get a hold of one.
Isabelle was laughing as she watched his little sister squeal with excitement
when one finally stopped long enough for her to pick it up.

"Be honest with me, Colin. Do you think I could make
her stay? Do you think she... feels something more than friendship for
me?"

Colin turned to face Liam and frowned. This wasn't a normal
conversation that he would have with his brothers, but if Colin was as
observant as he claimed to be, Liam needed to ask.