Chapter 21 #2
By the time we headed back toward the cabin, Lucy was hungry again.
I fed her while we drove back. He didn’t accelerate rapidly while I fed her, but as soon as I laid her back in the box at my feet, his foot pressed down on the gas, sending us speeding down the interstate.
Part of me enjoyed the thrill, the other part was terrified.
As soon as we got closer to the cabin, Quinn’s truck and another truck were in the driveway.
We parked behind his truck. Callie came out of the cabin and immediately started helping carry groceries in.
Beau, Delilah, and Graham also joined in carrying everything in.
I carried Lucy in, putting her in the chair, and then went to the sink to wash her bottles.
As I finished washing the bottles, another vehicle came down the drive. All of the men walked outside, leaving Callie and Delilah in the cabin with me.
“Must be Bellamy and them,” Delilah said.
“Oh, I haven’t seen them in ages. Probably since before we left,” Callie said.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“Oh, they are our cousins from Uncle Lenny and Titi Maybelle’s,” Delilah said.
“There’s Bellamy, Nash, and then Minnie, and Witten are twins,” Callie said.
“How many people are comin’ tonight?” I asked.
“I think that’s it,” Callie said.
“Oh, I think Kai is coming,” Delilah said.
“Kai? Seriously?” Callie said.
“Who’s Kai?” I asked.
“He’s one of Quinn’s oldest friends. He always hung out with him when he came back here for the summers… he’s annoying,” Callie said.
“Damn, Callie, tell us how you really feel,” Delilah said.
“Always do,” Callie said.
“What makes him annoying?” I asked.
“Oh… you shall see… and hopefully Quinn doesn’t knock his teeth—”
The door opened, and Quinn and his six cousins came in. The noise traveled with them inside, all of them in conversations. It was like their own reunion with Callie and Quinn being there. Callie’s energy was contagious. I stayed mostly quiet while they all gushed over each other.
The sound of a vehicle coming down the road drew all of our attention to the door.
We all walked out the door and onto the lawn.
A black Transam with a gold Firebird on the hood pulled in behind the other vehicle, and it wasn’t just one person.
One person in the passenger seat, and one in the backseat.
Now, thirteen of us were in a little cabin.
“I thought you were coming alone, Kai?” Graham said.
“Julie insisted on coming, and of course, she’d bring her friend, Scarlett, with her,” Kai said.
“The more the merrier,” Beau said.
Quinn stared at all three of them, lips pressed closed, brows furrowed. Callie didn’t say much either. I was clearly missing something.
“What are we drinking tonight?” Kai called out.
“Quinn went and got us some choices… and a fruity drink,” Beau said.
“Sounds delicious to me,” Julie said. She stared at Quinn with a slight smile on her face.
“Well, anyway, y’all haven’t met Zalayuh, so Zalayuh this Kai, Julie, and what was your name?” Callie asked.
“Scarlett,” she said.
“And who is Zalayuh?” asked Julie.
“A friend,” Quinn said.
“Only a friend?” Julie asked, tilting her head slightly toward me.
Quinn stared at her, blinking his eyes slowly.
“Well, let’s get the fire, food, and drink going!” Callie called out after a brief moment of awkward silence.
“Yes! Let's,” Julie said.
Everyone walked inside. I stood in the yard, staring toward the river. One of the eagles was prowling low, looking for dinner. There were two eaglets, but I hadn’t actually seen them.
“Are you okay?” Quinn whispered.
I startled, before looking his way. “Yeah, why?”
“You look… bothered,” he said.
“No… It’s just a lot of people… in a small space. Where are they going to sleep tonight if they are all drinking?”
“Graham doesn’t drink, so they will pile into the truck bed, and he will deliver them to their homes,” he said.
“Oh, thank the lord,” I said.
He laughed.
“Don’t feel obligated to hang out, you can always hide in your room, if you want, no hard feelings,” he said.
“Oh, and miss the fun… not hardly,” I said.
“Come on then,” he said, motioning his head to the door.
I followed him into the home. The living room and kitchen felt smaller with all thirteen of us standing in there. Julie and Scarlett took a seat in the two high-back chairs. Callie and Delilah were sitting at the tall table, with Minnie and Bellamy standing next to them.
“So, this is your place, Quinn?” Julie asked.
“Um… yeah, but then again, you knew I owned a cabin out of town,” he said. His tone reminded me of his coldest days in the cell.
“It’s nice, a little small for you and Callie, though,” she said.
“Oh, I don’t stay here,” Callie said, and then let out a laugh.
Julie's eyes narrowed, and she looked around. She stopped on the small pile of romance books I had read, and then on the pink blanket that was folded onto the back of the chair.
“Zay stays here,” Quinn said.
“Only a friend, huh?” she muttered.
“Mmmhmm,” he said.
She crossed her arms. There was definitely something between the two of them. Quinn walked to the fridge, grabbed the steaks and fish.
“Still a vegetarian, Minnie?” Quinn asked.
“Yes… I’m not eating precious cows,” she said.
Everyone laughed but her. She stared at us all like we were crazy until we quieted down.
“Oh, she’s serious,” Scarlett said.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Minnie deadpanned.
Delilah and Bellamy started to laugh hysterically. I was confused; clearly, they had some inside joke going that I didn’t understand.
“Anyway, we’re going outside to start building a fire and to start grilling,” Quinn said.
“Graham, can you help Beau get the grill out of my truck? Witten, Nash, and Kai, can you get some wood and bring it to that small firepit on the side of the house, here?” He pointed to the side yard, next to the living room.
“Yep,” they all said in sync.
All six of them walked out the door, leaving us girls in the house. I decided I’d go check on Lucy, as it was probably time to feed her. I went into my room, scooped her up, and walked into the kitchen. Julie and Scarlett had gotten up and were standing next to the others at the table.
“Aww, what a cute kitty,” Scarlett said.
“Lucy is the best little baby,” I told her. Lucy stared up at me with her little blue eyes.
“You have a cat… in Quinn’s cabin?” Julie said.
“She’s an orphan bobcat, and he didn’t really have a choice,” I said.
She let out a little laugh. “So, how do you guys know each other?”
“From Wears… it’s… Um, complicated,” I said.
Callie let out a loud laugh before turning toward Julie. “He’s actually holding her prisoner here.”
Everyone turned their head to Callie and stared at her with wide eyes, including me. I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Should I correct her? Let the whole room believe it. Lucy had finished the bottle, so I turned and walked to the sink. The silence was deafening. Then the door swung open.
“Hey! We got the fire going, if you ladies want to come and hang out,” Beau said.
“I’ll be out in a minute, gotta get Lucy settled,” I said. All of them but Callie got up and walked out the door. She walked over to me.
“You could have corrected me,” she said.
“Honestly… you caught me off guard, but I’m sure they know you’re joking,” I said.
She let out a laugh. “Well… probably not Julie or Scarlett, but who cares?”
“What’s the deal with Julie?” I asked her.
“Oof… That’s not my story to tell,” she said.
“Her and Quinn?”
“Yeah… tragically,” she said.
“Oh,” I said. A knot formed in my throat.
“I’m gonna head out there,” she said, motioning her head toward the door.
“I’ll be right behind ya,” I said.
She walked outside. Once I got the bottle washed and on the rack, I went over to the floor in front of the fireplace.
I placed her on the floor. She stumbled around, something between a crawl and a walk.
She was getting there. Her little eyes were looking around.
I often had to scoot away from her because she usually crawled right back into my lap.
It was a little game. I’d put her down and scoot back, letting her walk to me.
My finger instinctively found my pendant, a reminder of the baby who would never walk.
“I’m gonna grab the corn on the cob,” Quinn said from the other side of the door. He walked in and shut the door behind him. He walked over and knelt next to me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered in my ear.
“Yeah… why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.
“I don’t know… you’re sitting in here,” he said low.
“Lucy needed to stretch a little, plus I need to do her bathroom stuff,” I said.
“Do you want me to make you a drink?”
“Sure,” I said. I was afraid to turn my head. He was right there, and our lips might meet again.
“Don’t mind Julie,” he whispered.
“Sounds like it’s a you problem,” I said.
He stood up and went into the kitchen. He opened the oven and checked on all the potatoes he started earlier. He smothered them in seasoning and oil, baking them low and slow. He pulled out the ingredients for the drink and the bag of corn cobs. I watched him from the corner of my eye.
He grabbed the large glass drink dispenser we’d gotten from the store earlier.
He poured the entire bottles of Vodka and Blue Curacao into the pitcher.
Then he took out the lemonade, filling it up.
One-third liquor and two-thirds lemonade.
It was gonna be stout. He filled up two glasses, bringing me one.
Then he walked out with the bag of corn and his glass in the other hand.
I took a sip. Shit. I’d have to nurse this. I hadn’t drunk in over five months.
I could hear them all chattering outside, but couldn’t make out what was being said with the radio playing and them trying to talk over each other.
Lucy crawled into my lap and fell asleep.
I carried her into the bedroom, placing her into her makeshift bed on the floor next to my bed.
When I wasn’t in the room, I didn’t place her on the bed anymore, after she’d nearly crawled off earlier this week.