You've Got My Heart

Chapter 60

It was now halfway through week two of their week at the cottage and the brother and sister were up bright and early that Thursday morning. "Smoothie bowls are ready!" Maddie shouted placing both bowls on the breakfast nook. "Thanks!" Max replied coming down the stairs dressed in a pair of gym shorts and a fry fit shirt.

"Want to go for a morning run down the road after breakfast?" He asked taking a seat. "Sure then we can pull out the paddle boards and kayaks when we get back." Maddie replied. "Sure, I'll get Zeus out on the board with me and we can go from there and maybe get a little morning fishing off the dock in too before the guys come up." Max said.

"Zeus!" Max called grabbing his leash off the hook. "Let's go for a run buddy!" He said as the dog sat in front of him and Max attached the leash to his collar. "Alright, let's go!" Maddie said as they left the cottage and began their run.

"Catch!" Max exclaimed throwing a bottle of water to Maddie before closing the fridge. "Thanks!" She replied opening the bottle to chug it down. "I'm going to change into my swim trunks. I'll meet you down at the water." Max said racing up the stairs to change. "Come on Zeus let's go down to the dock." Maddie called opening the patio door and heading down to the boathouse to get the kayaks and paddle boards out.

"Alright, which one do you want?" Maddie asked max who had just came down onto the dock. "I'll take a paddle board." He replied. "Okay, I'll take the kayak then. I suck at paddle boarding." Maddie replied grabbing her oar as Max began to paddle away with the dog on the front of the board. "Let me get a pic of this!" Maddie said grabbing her camera and capturing the picture of her brother and the dog.

"While you're at it, get the music blasting in the speaker!" Max exclaimed. "Already on it!" Maddie replied putting her country music playlist on and hopping into her kayak.

After an hour of paddling around, the two sibilants grabbed their fishing rods and the tackle box from the boathouse. "Max, can you help me bait the hook?" Maddie asked. "Yeah sure. Just a minute." He replied grabbing a worm from the tackle box and putting it onto his sister's hook. "Thank you sir." Maddie smiled. "Welcome." Max replied.

"Hello?" A voice came from up by the cottage. "Max?" Another voice called out. "Maddie?" A third voice followed. "Is that the boys? Are they here?" Maddie turned and asked her brother. Max turned around and looked up the path leading to the cottage. "Yep, that would be them." He replied. "Hey guys! We're down here!" She shouted greeting his three teammates and best friends.

"Hey Mads." William greeted. "Hey Will!" She replied getting up from the Muskoka chair and giving him a hug before greeting Felix. "Catch anything?" Felix asked. "Nope, not today. We were just about to start until we heard you guys arrive." Maddie replied before walking over to Aiden who was standing behind Felix with a big smile on his face. "There's my girl!" He said with open arms bringing Maddie in for a hug. "I missed you A." She said giving him a tight squeeze for a hug. "I missed you too love." He replied placing a kiss on the top of her head. "How has your sibling time been with the big kid so far?" He asked wrapping an arm around her waist.

"We've had a lot of fun. We go for a boat ride or two everyday. We did some paddle boarding and swimming. Then on the rainy days we worked on a puzzle, played some board games and watch some of our favourite movies." Maddie replied. "Man, I miss those sibling days I'd have with my brother when we were younger." Will said. "Well guys, let's get you settled in then we can go for a swim and a boat ride." Max said as they all made their way up to the cottage.

Once the three boys were settled in, the five of them were getting onto the boat to head out for a ride. "You guys want to go to the sandbar first or the cliff for some cliff diving?" Max asked starting up the boat and maneuvering it away from the dock. "Let's head to the cliff first." Aiden said. "Yeah I'm down for some cliff jumping!" Will agreed. "Okay, cliffs it is then!" Max said picking up speed.

"You going to jump with us?" Aiden asked looking down at Maddie. "Are you crazy?!? Last time I went cliff diving I almost hurt myself slipping off the edge." She replied. "If it makes you feel better, I'll jump with you." He smiled as Maddie looked at him. "Tell you what, give me the ride to think about it okay?" She said as Aiden nodded. "Okay."

A few minutes later, Max stopped the boat a few feet away from their secret jumping spot. "Here we are boys! Have at it!" He said dropping the anchor into the water. "I'm good for now, you guys go." Felix said. "You sure man?" Max asked. "Yeah, I'll stay on the boat with Zeus." He replied. "Mads you coming?" He asked his sister. "I um... Yeah I guess so." She replied. "But only for a couple of jumps! Then I'm coming back to the boat!" She quickly added looking at Aiden who smiled at her.

Once at the top of the cliff, Will had jumped into the lake followed by Aiden and Max. Maddie turned to look at Felix who was watching the guys from the boat. "Didn't you want to go?" He asked. "To be honest... Not really but I'm going to go jump twice just to make them happy and I'm done." She replied. "Tell ya what... I don't really want to jump either but I'll come and jump once with you once one of them come back to the boat. How does that sound? Fair?" Felix asked. "Okay, that's fair." Maddie replied before jumping from off the boat and into the water.

"You ready?" Aiden asked taking Maddie's hand into his. "Ready as I'll ever be." She replied. "On three okay?" Aiden looked at her for confirmation as she nodded. "One." He said. "Two" Maddie whispered. "Three!" Aiden exclaimed as the two ran and jumped off the cliff. "Woo hoo!" Aiden shouted on his way down before hitting the water.

"Yeah Mads!" Will cheered from the top of the cliff. "Way to go Maddie!" Max shouted as she looked up towards the top of the cliff and gave the two boys a thumbs up with a big smile. "How was it? Was it as bad as you thought it would be?" Aiden asked as the two shredded water for a couple of minutes. "Not as bad as last time but still terrifying as fuck! So I'm still not a huge fan." Maddie replied.