by Jenny Frame
When they got out of the car she heard Penny’s little dog barking. “Your little pal is awake, anyway.”
Quade walked up to the door, took a breath and lifted her hand to knock. Before she did Quade heard a cry of pain and a bang.
She knocked quickly. “Penny? It’s Quade. Are you okay?”
Quade heard shuffling and then the door opened. She tried to speak but she was too transfixed by Penny. She was wearing a pink unicorn onesie with the hood pulled up. The hood had a yellow horn and two eyes, while Penny’s gorgeous hair tumbled out the sides of the hood.
Quade had never seen anything like it, or anything like Penny. She would have imagined the woman she met yesterday to wear silky designer nightwear, not this. Penny obviously had a playful side.
As Quade stared, Penny said, “Have you never seen anyone in a unicorn onesie or something?”
“Honestly, no I haven’t.”
“Well, I’m glad I have broadened your horizons.” Penny gave her the smallest of smiles and Quade’s mouth went dry.
“So, how can I help you, Quade?” Penny said.
Quade shook herself from her thoughts. “Oh yes. Sorry, I thought I would bring you over some firewood, and then I heard you shout. Is everything okay?”
Penny was cradling her hand. “I was trying to light the wretched fire and burned my hand.”
Quade immediately wanted to react, to take control of the situation and help, but she remembered her conversation with her friends last night, and the problems that coloured Penny’s reactions.
She took a moment and then said carefully, “Would you allow me to help you?”
Penny narrowed her eyes and gazed at her. She clearly wasn’t expecting that question. After a few seconds she said, “Yes, I could use the help. Come in.”
When Penny turned, Quade saw there was a tail swishing at the back of her humorous onesie, but instead of smiling, the sight and the sway of Penny’s hips and the cute tail made her stomach flip, which caught her by surprise.
She didn’t get long to think about that as Princess ran at her and Dougal excitedly. Quade reached down and stroked the dog’s head as Dougal greeted her too. “Hi, Princess.”
Princess was dressed in little pink pyjamas, and Quade shook her head disapprovingly. She wasn’t going to say anything and get on Penny’s bad side when she had just got in the door.
When she looked up, she saw that Penny was walking with difficulty on her sprained ankle and again had to stop her instinct of going to her aid.
“How’s the ankle?” Quade asked.
“Painful, but I can move around, which is the main thing,” Penny said as she led Quade into the cottage front room.
The room was chaos. All sorts of what looked like photography and video equipment was strewn over the table by the window, across the coffee table, and throughout the room. By the fireplace there was a small video camera set up, pointing directly at the fire, for some reason.
Penny sat on the couch and held out her hand. “I burnt my hand on the bloody fire. It’s so cold in this old place.”
“Do you have ice?” Quade asked.
“I suppose. My assistant had the place stocked up before I got here.”
Penny cradled her hand and watched Quade stride off into the kitchen, and of course Princess ran after her. “What is she, the Pied Piper of dogs or something?”
Penny was secretly pleased Quade came back today. It gave her the chance to apologize for yesterday. Last night as she lay awake, in pain and quite alone in this empty cottage, all she could do was think and replay the memories of falling and making a fool of herself.
Quade had only tried to help. She never laughed or made Penny feel silly, but Penny realized she’d been in one of her moods and taken it out on her new neighbour.
When something like that happened, the shutters of protection came down, and she knew she could be defensive and prickly.
Quade came back with some ice wrapped in a tea towel. Instead of handing it to her, Quade knelt in front of her and said, “Give me your hand.”
Unusually for Penny, she did as she was told and held out her hand. Quade wrapped the towel around her hand, and she hissed with pain.
Quade covered her hand with hers and looked up at Penny with what she could only describe as dreamy blue eyes. Oh my goodness.
Quade held her gaze and her hand silently, affording Penny the time to study the chiselled features in front of her.
When she first saw Quade yesterday, before she made a fool of herself and everything got out of hand, she had taken her breath away. In her social circle, butch had almost become a bad word, and those women who tended towards the masculine end of the scale did not look like the woman before her.
Quade looked like the butch characters whom she had read about in the romance novels she so adored. The kind of butch who strode on to the scene with extreme confidence, swept the girl off her feet while defeating the bad guys, and made lesbians hearts flutter.
Quade was this. She was authentic and, Penny suspected, lived authentically.
“What’s wrong?” Quade said.
Penny looked down and Quade was still holding her hand. “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”
Quade gave her a smile that made her stomach loop the loop. “Well, I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone like you, Penny, so that’s makes two of us.” She pointed to the fireplace where the two logs that refused to light sat. “Would you let me show you how to make a fire?”
There was the question again, just like at the door. Would you let me? Would you allow me? Why the change from yesterday? Yesterday Quade just steamed in and took charge. She had definitely changed her attitude for some reason.
“Yes, please. I was freezing last night.”
Quade started to roll up the sleeves of her checked shirt and said, “How could you be cold in that fluffy unicorn get-up?”
“It’s freezing here. Mind you, I’m always cold,” Penny admitted.
Quade went onto all fours and crawled a few paces in front of the fire. Penny forgot about the pain in her hand and her ankle instantly. Wow! Just look at that muscled bum. Talk about eye candy.
Penny was used to observing and being generally sexually frustrated. She was always seen with the right people at social events—actresses, singers, businesswomen—but that was as far as she got with anyone. Her carefully constructed image meant everyone assumed her sex life was full and one to be envied. No one, not even her family, knew the truth.
“Penny? Penny?” she finally heard Quade say.
She’d been caught looking, and looking was all she ever could do. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“Why have you got a camera set up here?” Quade asked.
“So I could film myself lighting my first fire. To share on social media.”
“I don’t understand. I thought you were into cooking,” Quade said.
Penny rolled her eyes. She forgot she was in Axedale, where the wonders of the internet age had yet to penetrate, it seemed. “Cooking and lifestyle. My followers want to see my life,” Penny said.
Quade narrowed her eyes and said slowly, “Okay.”
Penny watched as Quade cleared out the mess she had made trying to light the fire. Maybe now was a good time to make peace.
“Quade? I wanted to say sorry for being so bad tempered yesterday. I felt a fool and—”
“That’s all right,” Quade said generously and gave her a big smile.
“Oh, I…” Penny wasn’t expecting to be let off that easily. No one was that easy-going and nice, were they? “Thanks. I was actually bringing you a box of muffins to make up for the tip misunderstanding.”
“Don’t worry about it, really. Let’s get you warmed up, eh?”
Penny was already warming up in Quade’s company without the fire. Princess and Dougal were sitting by Quade’s side, as good as gold. They made such a sweet picture.
“Oh, can I film you? I’ll remember how to do it t
hen.”
Quade raised her eyebrow. “If you like.”
Penny reached over to the camera and pressed record. “Go.”
“To begin, you have to start out with a clean grate. So I’ll brush this out. It hasn’t been lit in a long time,” Quade said, picking up the hard brush sitting amongst the fire tools at the side.
A billow of dust puffed up into the air as she brushed out the fireplace. Penny felt even worse about yesterday, considering how kind Quade was being.
“Thank you for this. Once I’ve seen you do it, then I’ll be able to do it myself.” Penny was reassuring herself as well as telling Quade. She hated to get help for anything, but after this she would be self-sufficient.
“You’re welcome. It’s what we do in the country. Help each other.” Quade gave her that disarming smile again. The kind that made her heart beat extra fast.
She decided to change the subject. “Tell me about your job. Is it your farm, or do you work for someone?”
“No, it’s mine. It’s been in my family for generations.”
“Dairy or—”
“Beef,” Quade said.
Penny could just imagine what kind of cattle. If social media and the internet hadn’t penetrated in Axedale, she doubted organic farming had.
Quade finished cleaning and picked up some sticks of wood from a holder by the side of the fire and broke them into various lengths. “Okay, the two most important things about making a fire are fuel and air. These little bits of wood are your fuel, called kindling.”
Penny watched as Quade piled small sticks on the grate. “The other thing a fire needs is air, so space between the kindling is essential. Fuel and air make fire, okay?”
“Fuel and air make fire.” Penny imitated Quade’s deeper voice and laughed gently.
“Exactly. Now you put the logs on top, facing lengthways so they don’t roll onto the carpet.”
Penny was just fascinated watching Quade teach her, and she could watch and listen to her all day. Of course it helped that Quade was so good looking. Penny was really surprised not to see a wedding ring on her finger.
Quade continued, “Next, you add paper.”
There was a pile of old newspapers by the side of the fire, and Penny had wondered what they were for. Quade ripped them into strips and piled them under the grate.
“More fuel to get the fire going. And lastly, you light the paper.” She used a fire lighter, and in seconds the fire was consuming the paper, and then spread to the pile of kindling on the grate, and finally to the logs.
“That’s beautiful,” Penny said. The fire danced, crackled, and popped, and already the cottage felt cosier. “Thank you, Quade.”
Quade felt her chest puff up with pride. Penny was actually being nice to her, and it made Quade happy to help the damsel in distress.
“No problem. A fire makes all the difference in a home.”
She prodded the fire with a poker a few times. Quade saw a flash and looked up. Penny was pointing her phone at her, taking her picture.
“Great picture.” Penny smiled and turned the phone to show Quade what she’d taken. “Would you mind if I shared this picture?”
“Shared it with who?” Quade didn’t quite understand.
“Shared it online with my followers.”
Quade narrowed her eyes. “Why would they want to see me?”
Penny rolled her eyes. “Because I share my life, I document my life. My followers want to see what I do with my day.”
“Why?”
Penny sighed in frustration. “Is that all you can ask?
Quade went back to tending the fire. Clearly Penny was quick to anger, and from experience she knew not to antagonize someone like that. Her aunt had been similarly temperamental, a fiery Irishwoman, but the most loving you could find. Her uncle was very laid-back and he took it all in his stride. Luckily Quade took after him. Nothing much fazed Sam McQuade.
“Sorry, I don’t understand all this social media stuff. I heard you were a cook, but can you explain how you do that online?”
Penny looked as if she had been ready to say something pithy, but the wind had been taken from her sails by Quade’s open, non-confrontational question.
“Well…”
Quade looked up and smiled. It appeared to make Penny falter.
“I run my own company, Penny’s Kitchen, a cooking and lifestyle company. It’s a multimedia platform. I have a website, a blog, a YouTube channel, and Facebook, Twitter, all that kind of thing.”
“And people watch your cooking demonstrations on YouTube?”
Penny nodded. “Sometimes Facebook too. I’m a lifestyle brand—the videos and pictures are part of that.”
Quade stopped prodding the fire. “You’re a brand? How can a person be a brand?”
“Dear God,” Penny said with a sigh, “I’m a brand because my followers buy into the way I live, my philosophies of life.”
Quade couldn’t help but laugh. “Your philosophies?”
Penny’s face went red with anger. “Don’t laugh at me. My philosophies are clean eating, intuitive eating, non-processed foods. Only eating meat from quality organically fed sources.”
“Okay.” Quade hadn’t a clue what clean eating or intuitive eating was, but she wasn’t going to ask and appear stupid again. She placed the fire poker in its holder and stood up quickly. “Do you want me to make the fire in your bedroom?”
Penny sat up sharply. “No, no one goes in my bedroom.”
That was a strange thing to say. No one goes in her bedroom?
“Okay. How’s your hand?” Quade asked.
Penny pulled off the ice and waggled her fingers. “I think it’s less stingy. Let me get you those muffins before you go. To say thanks.”
Penny started to get up gingerly, and Quade offered her hand. “Let me help.”
“No, I’m fine,” Penny said.
Bridge and Harry were so right about Penny. She was the most stubborn woman she had ever come across, even when they were being nice to each other.
Penny walked towards the kitchen, and Dougal and Princess ran ahead, followed by Quade.
The cottage kitchen had more equipment spread out, and there didn’t seem to be much room for what Penny had in mind. It was a lot smaller than her farmhouse kitchen.
Penny picked up a box of muffins and handed them to her. The label showed a picture of Penny holding a mixing bowl and spoon, with a dazzling smile. Something Quade hadn’t seen in real life yet, but wished she had.
“I hope you’ll like these, Quade. They’re made from non-dairy products, all organic and gluten free,” Penny said.
Quade read out the quote printed on the box. “Clean, healthy, and delicious.”
“Yes, that’s my catchphrase. That’s my brand identity.”
Finally, Quade saw the beaming smile in real life, and her heart skipped a beat. Penny seemed to come alive when talking about her business.
“And you can buy these in the big supermarkets?” Quade asked.
“Yes.” Penny’s eyes appeared to sparkle with enthusiasm. “I have a range of foods in the supermarket now. Including these.” Penny reached behind her and picked up a second box. “This is for Dougal.”
Quade’s eyes went wide when she saw it was a box of dog treats with a picture of Princess on the front. “Dog biscuits too?”
Penny reached down and picked up Princess. “Not just any dog biscuits. Quality organic dog biscuits. Isn’t that right, Princess?” Penny kissed her dog’s little nose.
“You really are a big businesswoman,” Quade said.
She remembered her conversation with Bridget last night.
She’s a lesbian and just your type too. We’ll need to set you up, Quade.
Bridge, she’s a city girl, and a Huntingdon-Stewart. I’m a farmer.
Add to that successful businesswoman, and it created yet another barrier between them. Not that she had ever taken Bridge’s suggestion seriously, but seeing Penny this
morning in her unicorn PJs had only amplified her attraction. She could tell there was a sweet, beautiful girl in there, underneath that stubborn shell.
“Thanks. I’m sure Dougal will love them.”
Penny put Princess down and said, “Come here a second.”
Quade was confused when Penny reached out to touch her cheek. “You have a smudge of ash from the fire.”
She held her breath while Penny rubbed her cheekbone with her thumb. Penny looked into her eyes, and a warmth spread from Penny’s fingers onto her cheek and throughout her body.
Penny’s rubbing thumb became a caress, and Penny’s lips parted. They looked silently at each other, Quade seeing everything she had ever dreamed about in Penny’s eyes.
When Penny’s fingernails gently scratched the short hairs above her ear, Quade shivered, and Penny snatched her hand away.
Quade felt an awkwardness between them now. She looked down at Dougal playing with Princess and her ball.
“Looks like they’re getting on well,” Quade said, trying to make conversation.
Penny was cradling her injured hand, with her arms crossed defensively across her body. Something had changed.
“So it seems,” Penny said flatly.
Great. Miss Attitude is back. Time to go, Quade thought.
“Do you want me to take Princess for a walk for you since your ankle is in a bad way?”
“What? No, Princess doesn’t like to walk.”
“Of course she likes to walk. She’s a dog—she was made for walking. I can call for her tonight, if you like?”
“If she needs to be walked, I can walk her. I don’t need anyone’s help.”
“Maybe if you didn’t dress her like a doll and put shoes on her, then maybe she’d remember she was a dog.”
Penny’s face was like thunder. She walked back into the living room and said, “Thank you for your help with the fire, but I mustn’t keep you.”
Quade let out a breath and said to Dougal. “Come on, pal. We’re going.”
When they got outside, Penny slammed the door shut. Quade looked up at the sky. “Why did I say that.”
It wasn’t like Quade to react in anger, but Penny was making her hot, in more ways than one.
Chapter Four