Lumberjill

Seven

Annie was sitting out on the deck enjoying a morning coffee when she saw Maddie making her way down the path to the main house. She had a little spring in her step that she hadn’t noticed before. Maybe Mark was good for her after all.
“Morning.”
“Morning cousin.” Maddie stepped up onto the deck, seeing her there. Taking a seat, she noticed Annie’s eyes on her. “It’s a bit warmer this morning.”
“It is. I didn’t hear you come in last night?”
“I got back about 9 o’clock. I didn’t want to disturb anyone, so I just headed up to the cabin.” Annie turned in her seat.
“Quinn hasn’t been here this weekend. Was your cabin warm?”
“Oh yeah, it wasn’t too bad. I saw her yesterday. She said she’d be back today sometime.”
“Ohm.” Annie gave her her attention. “Where were you guys yesterday?”
“Ohm, I went to see her at her uncle Bucks. I wanted to run an idea past them. Help her with her Lumberjack stuff and get me some work at the same time.”
“Things not going well in the city?”
“Yeah, they are.” Maddie ran her hand through her hair. She could smell Annie’s coffee. “I just needed something to sink my teeth into. Your coffee smells good. I might have to make one.”
Annie watched her get up. “The jug is still hot. About time you sunk your teeth into Quinn.” Maddie looked back at her, seeing her cousin smile at herself as she took another sip of her cup. Maddie headed inside. Did Annie know about Quinn’s crush?
“Morning!”
“Hey, morning, Noah.” She met her cousin coming down the stairs into the kitchen.
“I didn’t hear you come in.”
“Oh, I got back last night. Headed straight to the cabin, didn’t want to keep anyone up.” She returned the spoon to the coffee jar, reaching for the sugar. Noah stopped beside her, grabbing a coffee mug.
“Did Quinn top up your wood before she went? She hasn’t been here this weekend.” Maddie leant back against the counter.
“No, I was alright though. It was warm enough.” She watched him a moment. “How’s the old boys?”
“They’re alright. They’ve gone up to Jack Mullen’s place up the road. He’ll drop them off later on. So just us today.” He finished making his coffee and joined the two of them outside. Amy was coming back from the chicken coop. “How many today?” He asked as he took a seat on the deck. She held up the basket, stepping up onto the decking.
“About 8. I gave them a feed, too.” They looked up, hearing a vehicle on the loose gravel. It was Quinn. “She’s back early,” Amy said. Maddie caught her eyes on her as she walked past, heading inside. “I wasn’t expecting the two of you back so early.”
“The two of them?” Noah sat forward, joining the conversation. “Where were you two?”
“They were at uncle Buck’s place together.”
Annie’s eyebrow flicked, giving him a knowing look. Seeing the exchange, Maddie shook her head. “It was a business trip.”
“Sure, it was.” They were laughing when Quinn stepped onto the decking, seeing their eyes all on her. She scanned the room.
“Did I miss something?”
“Maddie, by the look of it,” Annie muttered into her drink.
“I thought you weren’t back till later. How’s things at your uncle’s?” Noah asked.
“Fine.” She walked past them, her questioning eyes falling on Maddie as she headed inside. Maddie hid herself in her coffee cup, realising she must have been the last one to know about Quinn’s crush, or Quinn thought she’d been talking about their day together. She gave Annie the evils but didn’t want her to believe she had hit a nerve or anything. Either way, Quinn knew she’d walked into something. She sighed. This nothing was becoming something, and that something was nothing at all.

Amy looked over her shoulder, seeing Quinn walk in the door. She put the egg basket back in the cupboard. “Wasn’t expecting you till later.”
“Mm,” Quinn opened the fridge, looking for a drink. “There’s some stuff I want to get done while it’s fine.” Amy heard the frustration in her voice. She turned around, leaning against the counter, waiting for her to notice her. Quinn looked over at her, hearing her silence. “Were you guys talking about me?”
“Mm, not really. We just noticed you came back earlier than normal.”
Quinn shrugged. “So?”
Amy ran her lip through her teeth momentarily as she crossed her arms. “You and Maddie had a good day yesterday? She got back quite late.”
“And?” Quinn turned around, wanting to avoid this conversation with Amy. She wasn’t ready to tell her how she just wanted to declare her love last night. But today, now she wasn’t so sure. Amy tilted her head. She’d had enough conversations with Quinn now about Maddie that her being on this sudden defence was new. “Hmm, well, our uncles aren’t here; they’re gone visiting, so...” She grabbed a coffee cup. “Join us outside for a while, okay.” She stopped in front of her, handing it to her. “You’re family, Quinnlee, just as much as I am. We can just all hang out together. Don’t forget that.” Watching her head back out, Quinn took the hint and made herself a coffee. It gave her a few minutes to refocus her thoughts on the tasks she wanted to get done today. Yes, Maddie was here, but she was just her cousin today.