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“Wife?”
“Girlfriend.”
“So,” He leaned forward on the counter across from him. “What in the hell are you doing here?”
Wolfie exhaled, “On the island, they don’t like a lot of conflict. I met Juniper in January and a few months later her dickbag of an ex followed her, so they both had to leave. Well” He corrected himself, “She chose to leave to prevent him coming back and so I followed her back here. The pilot will be here at the end of July.”
“Hm, I had some people scheduled to rent the place for the Fourth of July weekend, I’ll cancel them.”
Wolfie felt bad he was canceling and didn’t know if his family struggled to get by, wondering if he rented out their family cabin to make ends meet, “Can I pay for the time I’ve been here?”
Patrick laughed, “No. This is a family cabin, it's as much yours as it is mine. Wolfgang Killabrew bought it back in the day. My parents, your mother, Amy and I all spent summers up here growing up, my kids did too and now I have five grandkids of my own.”
“So,” Wolfie paused, watching him open the carton of eggs to crack them one by one into a pan, “Why didn’t you go with Amy and my parents?”
He chuckled, “I thought they were nuts, I still think they are but I assumed they would be back in under a year. By the time Amy left, I had grown roots and Sylvia was completely against it.”
“How did the family feel about them leaving?” The coffee machine beeped, Wolfie stood and grabbed the cups from the drying rack.
“My parents were heart broken, Amy was only eighteen when she left. I couldn’t let my daughters go like that, and they’re full grown with their own lives. It hurt them more that they couldn’t reach out to them ever. Not even on their deathbed.”
Wolfie placed a mug next to Pat, “Would you like to reach out to her or Amy now?”
“They get technology finally? Brigham was good at that.”
He smiled, “Yes, it sounds like it's better than the governments here. The only way I found Juniper was by the chip in her hand.”
He set the spatula down, “You mean to tell me that you tracked your girlfriend like a damn sea turtle?”
“Uh yes sir.” Wolfie pulled his lips from the mug.
“Quit with that sir shit and ya’ll are all chipped? Hell no. The government can go touch electrical wires before I let them do that to me.” Pat turned the stove off and pulled the bacon out of the oven, “Grab some plates will ya?”
He turned, reaching above the coffee maker, grabbing three plates, “It’s just the way the system works there.”
Wolfie stood with thought, setting the plates down, “Pat?”
Pat looked over at him, “Yeah?”
“Can I meet my cousins and my aunt?”
“Sylvia isn’t going to believe this story already, and if you didn’t ask, she would have. She always loved your mother. I’ll set up a time, when's good for you? Anytime before you leave?”
“Yeah,” Wolfie smiled, “We don't have any prior engagements.”
Juniper
Juniper woke up to the smell of bacon for the first time they had been there and could hear two men having a conversation. She glanced over the railing seeing Wolfie with another man sitting at the kitchen table and tiptoed down the stairs with Zeppelin in tow. Hitting the bottom step and entering the living room Wolfie stood, “Juniper, this is my Uncle Patrick, my mom's brother.”
Juniper approached surprised as they had two mugs sitting between them, with empty plates. “Oh, it's nice to meet you.” Her feet padded towards Wolfie, unsure of the uncle.
“Grab yourself a cup of coffee, the bacon and eggs are fresh.” Patrick Invited her to sit with them. She noticed the pantry open and grabbed a cup, feeling his uncle's eyes following her. June sat with a question while Zeppelin made his good morning rounds. “How did you know we were here?”
“My neighbor lives up here full-time, sent a message to me almost a week ago, letting me know there were some people in my cabin longer than usual. He assumed you were squatters.” He cleared his gravel voice, “I do rent this cabin out from time to time, but only for a few days here and there. I didn’t have anyone booked, so I came up to see what was going on. Never expected to find my sister's only child.” His eyes twinkled towards Wolfie.
“I don’t think we expected to run into you either.” She pulled the fatty part of her bacon off, dropping it to the dog.
He smiled at her, “I don't hate that you did.”
