The Island Curse

Change of Plans

Shopping with Ewan turned out to be an experience- one of the best I'd had since arriving on the Island. He was goofy without overdoing it, often pulling laughter from myself and those around him in the stores. One liners and quick grins that did funny things to my stomach- the boy was a package.

"What about this one?" he asked, holding up a pea coat in a lurid shade of green.

"It's a bit more formal than what I'm looking for," I replied gently, just in case he actually liked the hideous coat.

"Yer right. I think my granny has one just like it."

"I don't know if I find that offensive or not."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean you just suggested I buy a coat you've seen on your grandmother. Does that mean I remind you of your grandmother, or that I have terrible style?"

"Are you saying my granny has terrible style?"

"N-no," I spluttered, hastily hiding my face behind the puffy jacket I'd picked up. It was cute- charcoal gray with a white faux fur lined hood.

"Crivens, I'm joking. My granny was a decade out of style when she was our age, and it never got any better. But she also looks like the wrong end of a donkey, so it might be why she never bothered."

"Ewan!"

The ladies around us started laughing, and I flushed. One of them, a woman likely a granny herself, leaned over and whispered, "He's just havering. Why, Myrtle Stewart was as bonnie as they come and still doesn't look a day over sixty. She's seventy-five as of her last birthday."

"Mrs. Campbell, yer ruining my fun."

Mrs. Campbell winked and squeezed his cheeks before turning her attention back to her shopping companion. I paid for my coat and pulled it on as we stepped outside. Ewan kept sneaking glances at me, and I ignored them, enjoying the panic building on his face.

"Are you mad at me?"

I shrugged and peered at a store's window display, using the glass to spy on him. He was rubbing the back of his neck, and staring at me with open frustration. My lips twitched, and just as I was about to put him out of his misery, he scooped me up and spun me around.

"Whoa, hey now!" I shouted, locking my arms around his neck to keep from falling over as dizziness washed over me.

"Ach, lass. You can't be mad at me. I wouldnae have teased about ma granny if I'da ken you woud've been so angry. Sometimes I'm a clarty bastart, and I'm sorry."

"I don't know what half of that meant, and if you think you can thicken your accent just to get an acceptance out of me," I pretended to fume, narrowing my eyes at him for good measure, "then you're right."

"You forgive me?" He whooped and spun us again. When he stopped, his grip tightened, and I felt his laced fingers rest against my lower back.

"There was nothing to forgive," I whispered, wiggling to free myself. He resisted for just a moment, but finally, he unlaced his fingers and slid his hands around to my hips. Then he stepped back and waited for me to continue. "You're not the only one who can tease."

"Ach," he said, his voice thick, "but yer teasing me in ways I don't think you understand."

"Well, isn't this cozy."

"Murphy, why don't you bugger off to somewhere yer wanted."

Kieran didn't bother responding to Ewan. He was staring at me, his expression unreadable, but his body was tense. Tara and Al stood just behind him- neither of them bothering to hide their dislike of my companion.

"Isla, we need to talk."

"She doesn't wish to speak with you."

"She," I growled at Ewan, "can speak for herself."

"Have a cup of coffee with me at the Steaming Sailor? Please."

Everyone waited for my answer. Ewan looked ready to start swinging his fists, something that bothered me. How quickly he'd exchanged his jovial demeanor for menacing thug. It was a good reminder that I'd yet to uncover his full story, and I needed to put some distance between us. The flirting wasn't going to help matters.

"Will you be selling me the same stories? Or do I get the truth this time?"

I didn't miss the look Tara and Al exchanged. But Kieran didn't see it. His face paled, and the cold hardness in his eyes thawed. "I'll answer what I can."

"I don't know if that's good enough," I said, pulling my new coat around me, but it wasn't the cold that made me tremble. "I know we don't know each other very well yet. Any of us. But the little I do know is that you're comfortable looking in my eyes and lying to me. How can I trust you?"

"Don't people deserve second chances?"

"Come on Isla," Ewan said, grabbing my hand and tugging. "Kieran is good at weaving tales about others. It's all garbage."

"Really," Kieran snapped, looking at the other boy for the first time. I shrank in my coat, overwhelmed by the fury radiating from his body. He might not possess Ewan's bulk, but I had no doubts that he could hold his own if this broke out into a fight. "I doubt anything you've said to her since you've met her has been honest. Have you told her about Lorna? About how you helped her?"

"Those are filthy lies. She wanted to mess around a bit, but when she got sick from all the drugs and alcohol, she was embarrassed. So she told everyone I tried to take advantage of her."

"Shut yer gob," Tara hissed. Wet, silvery tracks streaked down her dark cheeks. Her yellow gloved hands were clenched together, and Al put his arm around her protectively. "Lorna didn't drink or do drugs. The only reason she was even at the party was because you flirted with her for two weeks. She told me she thought you really liked her. Wanted to date her. You just wanted in her trousers, but when she didn't go along for the ride, you made sure no one would believe her."

"That's yer story," Ewan said. "Not mine."

Kieran stepped closer to me, whispering so that Ewan wouldn't turn his attention from Tara. "This is the guy you want to hang out with?"

"You want me to judge him without proof," I said. Already, I felt off kilter with Kieran standing so close. Just a trace of his scent could undo me in a way Ewan's touch couldn't.

"His lack of remorse doesn't bother you? Maybe yer blinded by his pretty smile, but he's dead in the eyes. If he cared so much about Lorna, he wouldn't have gone to such lengths to make her disappear."

"What did you say to my sister?" Al pushed Tara behind him before shoving Ewan.

"Come with me, please?"

I looked down at the hand Kieran offered. He hadn't grabbed me. Hadn't demanded. I still didn't trust him. Not anymore than I trusted anyone here, but I was tired of being bossed and bullied. I placed my hand in his, relishing in the heat that flooded through my body.

"Lead the way."