Lumberjill

Three

Maddie was pacing back and forth in the family home lounge. It had just gone 8am, and Amy was not far from serving breakfast. She’d already been up to check on her father, but he would come down in his own time, leaving her with the nervous wait for Quinn to arrive for breakfast. It had been a restless night, and she’d already seen the look her cousin Annie had given her this morning. Why did she feel like they were all in the know about something she wasn’t.
“Breakfast is ready!” Amy yelled out, trying to reach all corners of the house. They heard Noah and Kylie come running down the stairs. Annie came from downstairs, and the two old boys turned up at the top of the stairs. Chewing her nail, Maddie looked up to see her father holding the rail.
“Hang on, Dad!” She ran up the stairs, taking his arm. The older gentleman smiled to himself.
“You could stay, you know.” She guided him over to the table.
“I have to get back to work, Dad.”
“There is plenty to do here.” He sat, Maddie, pushing his chair in.
“I need the money, dad.”
“What for?” He asked, picking up a napkin and draping it across his thighs. “There is enough here to provide you well.”
“Yes, I know dad.” She caught Noah’s eyes on her. “I’m just not ready to come home yet.”
“That’s a pity.” He reached for a bacon. “Quinn could do with the help.”
“Where is Quinn anyway?” Annie asked, pouring her Uncle William a juice across from them. She had noticed her absence.
“Yes, where is our adopted cousin?” Noah questioned, dishing Kylie’s scrambled eggs. “I noticed it was a bit quiet this morning.”
“She’s not here.” Amy piped up between bites.
“She’s not?” Maddie found slipping out of her mouth. Amy’s knowing eyes fell on her.
“No. This morning, she got a phone call from her cousin on her dad’s side. Her Uncle wanted to see her.”
“Oh.” Maddie returned to her meal, feeling the eyes on her. “Is he okay?” She asked, thinking she had once seen her dad’s brother on one of his visits.
“I think so,” Amy added. “She has been spending some time with him the last few weeks. Think they have some things they are working on.”
“Well, good.” Noah butted in. “She needs to get out of here every now and then. She needs a life, and she isn’t gonna get it hanging out here.”
“True.”
“True,” Maddie muttered to herself. That meant they wouldn’t see each other again before she returned to the city this afternoon. She sighed. Hopefully, they can start again the next time they see each other.

~~~

Exeter Township, Michigan

Quinn brought the axe down between her feet, another large chip of wood flying off.
“Good, good, keep going!” She raised the axe again, turning around to the other side and swinging it deep into the log. Her Uncle Buck watched on as his niece chipped away at the log. Her time getting closer to qualifying for the Timberworks Lumberjack competitions in a few weeks. Quinn turned around, setting her swing, driving the axe head into the wood.
She’d been to the Stihl training camp a few months before and attended the continuation camp a few weeks ago. She was really enjoyed this discipline.
Quinn’s final blow broke the log in two.
“Time.” She stepped off, her breath heavy in her chest.
“57 seconds.”
“Really?” She wiped her brow. “That’s better than last week.”
“Sure is. Under the minute mark.” Her Uncle laughed, slapping her shoulder as she placed the guard back on her axe. “That means you’re ready.” He took the axe from her hand, placing it with the other couple of handles from his collection. “So whatever it is driving this kind of power in your strike, harvest it. It will get you to the finals.” As she watched him line up his axes, an image of Maddie came to her thoughts.
“Typical.” She rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Just when I was trying to get you out of my head. Thanks, Maddie.”

~~~

Detroit, Cadillac Lane,
Limeade Graphic Design Studios

Maddie signed. Ahh, who was she kidding! She hadn’t got herself kicked into work mode again since being at the homestead. She had to find a project for her company to invest in. They needed more exposure and more clientele. She threw her pencil down and picked up her cold coffee, walking over to the window, looking at the MidWay signage with its bright abstract colours. Maybe today, it would help inspire some ideas. Get her creative juices flowing. Her eye fell on another billboard when there was a knock on her studio door.
“Maddie. You have a phone call on line 3.”
“Oh, thanks.” She acknowledged Mandy, the intern, who is doing her studies here at the Limeade Graphic Design Studios. She picked up the line. “Maddie Campbell, how can I help?”
“Maddie.” A little smile came to her lips, hearing his voice.
“Hi, Mark.”
“So you’re back, huh? How was your aunt’s funeral.”
“It was alright.” She turned, leaving him on speaker. “It’s always good going home. I miss my dad.” The thought played on her heartstrings a little.
“So now that you’re back, you wanna catch up tonight? We can have dinner at that new place just up from Marty’s. What do you think?” Her eye fell on her cold coffee cup, the smell still a comfort. She had enjoyed Amy’s cuisine the last few days but was craving some seafood.
“Tell you what, if they have a good seafood selection, I’m in!”
“Great!” Mark’s enthusiasm was evident in his voice. “Let me know when you are done for the day, and I’ll pick you up, say around eight?”
“Yeah, sure sounds good.” She lied. She’d enjoyed having meals at the homestead around 6.30pm. This eating late in the city life had taken a while to get used to. It was just the norm.
“Alright, catch ya later, beautiful. Love you.”
The corners of her mouth twitched. It hadn’t taken him long to start saying those words so quickly. It had only been half a year, but she could tell he was pretty set on her.
“You too, bye.” Those three words didn’t come naturally. As she heard him hang up, they still didn’t fit in with their relationship. Mark was an architect. They’d met at a gallery opening a few months before they started going out. He was tall, lanky, and handsome in his own nerdy way. But they enjoyed their conversations about design and graphic pieces. He was good at bouncing ideas off. She walked back over to her messy desk. Her sketchpad page was filled with drawings without meaning, and she had no real clue about this task. She needed some ideas. Maybe she could pick Mark’s brain tonight while she dived into some creamed prawns and scallops. But right now, she needed a fresh coffee.