Maddie looked up from her desk when Tam walked into their office.
‘Is everything okay?’ she asked. Now that New Year’s Eve had passed, everything was getting back to normal again.
Tam nodded as she sat down at her own desk. ‘Yep, the deck and the painting inside the summer house are almost finished. If all goes well, we should be able to stain the deck tomorrow, or at least that’s what Dylan said.’
‘Then we’re on track,’ Maddie answered with a smile. ‘Which is just as well because if everything pans out like it should we’re going to be super busy all the way up until winter.’
Tam laughed as she crossed her fingers. ‘Hey, don’t jinx us.’
‘No need to worry,’ Maddie said. ‘As long as we’ve got each other, everything else will fall into place.’
Tam looked down at the papers on her desk. She was still tweaking the final elements for the summer house. Maddie always put a positive spin on things, or at least she tried to. Ever since she’d moved into the farmhouse, she’d done her best to keep everyone together and tried to give them a glimmer of hope for the future. It hadn’t always worked and she and Tam had had a couple of big arguments in the beginning. Tam wasn’t proud of it, even now she still felt a twinge of guilt whenever she replayed them in her head.
To her credit, Maddie had never once held those times against her or harboured a grudge. She seemed to accept that Tam was a troubled teen who was still trying to process her grief from losing her parents. Tam had always appreciated the fact that Maddie never tried to replace their parents, she was just there in her own capacity as a beloved aunt. Her kindness and patience had guided all of the Carrington children through the darkest period of their lives and eventually out the other side. At the end of the day, Maddie had sacrificed her own life to try to save theirs. Of course she would never admit it, and whenever Tam had brought the subject up, Maddie just waved her hand as if she were shooing a fly away and changed the topic of conversation.
‘Tam, can I ask you something?’ Maddie added now. ‘I know it’s none of my business, but I’m kind of curious.’
‘This doesn’t sound good,’ Tam answered with a nervous laugh.
Maddie carried on. ‘Are you seeing Dylan?’
Tam picked up the closest pen and fiddled with it. ‘Why do you ask?’
‘Just a vibe I’ve been getting off the two of you,’ Maddie said. ‘That, and the fact he couldn’t seem to keep his hands off you the other day.’
Tam sat back in her chair and stared at her aunt. ‘No one else saw that, did they?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Maddie said. Then she added, almost as an afterthought, ‘Although, Seb has brought the subject up.’
‘Damn.’ Tam slumped in her chair. ‘I thought we were being careful.’
‘So there is something between you?’
Tam nodded.
‘I thought so. I’ve seen the way you both look at each other when you think no one else is about. It’s a good thing, isn’t it?’
‘Yes … maybe,’ Tam replied.
‘Oh dear, that doesn’t sound promising.’
‘Oh, it’s not like that,’ Tam reassured her. ‘We’ve been keeping it quiet for the past year.’
‘A year!’ Maddie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. ‘I didn’t realise it had been going on for so long.’
‘Yeah.’
‘But you don’t seem … happy?’ Maddie replied.
‘Oh no, I love Dylan, I really do, but I’m not sure everyone will be ecstatic that we’re together,’ Tam explained.
Maddie regarded her. ‘You mean Seb.’
Tam nodded her head. ‘Dylan is his best friend, so yeah, it complicates things.’ She took in a deep breath before she continued. ‘Because, let’s face it, Seb and I rarely agree on anything these days.’
‘And that’s why it’s a secret?’
‘Partly.’
‘And the other part?’ Maddie asked.
Tam shrugged. ‘I don’t know, maybe I didn’t want to jinx it.’
The look in Maddie’s eyes seemed to say that she wasn’t buying it. ‘So no one knows?’
Tam looked back down at her desk. ‘Lix knows.’
‘He hasn’t said a word.’
The edges of Tam’s mouth curled up into a slight smile. ‘Felix always has my back—he’s my rock. I can tell him anything and he won’t judge me. He’ll give me his opinion and I’ll listen, most of the time,’ she said with a hint of laughter in her voice.
‘And you don’t feel that with Seb?’ Maddie asked.
Tam shook her head. She wanted to have a close relationship with Seb but it never panned out. He would always treat her like a child rather than his equal, his twin. ‘No, not in a long time. It’s like he has to control us all, so we don’t get hurt. Problem is that we’re all adults, or almost adults, now.’
‘Yes, it’s infuriating. I’ve had a word with him about him being a little over the top. He knows, he even agrees that he doesn’t handle things well, especially when it comes to you,’ Maddie explained. ‘We have to give him time to readjust or be prepared to call him out on it.’
‘I do,’ Tam replied. She let out a deep sigh as she leant forward on the desk. ‘But he doesn’t listen. I love him but the distance between us widens with each passing year. I don’t know how to fix it.’
‘That shouldn’t all be on your shoulders, darling,’ Maddie said as she reached over and picked up her teacup. ‘You both need to sit down and talk—and really listen to what the other one is saying. It might be uncomfortable but it’s the only way that the two of you are going to get on the same page.’
‘I’ve tried to talk to him, Maddie—you know that.’
‘Yes, but that’s usually during or right after a spat.’
‘You make us sound like children,’ Tam quipped.
‘Neither of you are, which is why you have to do the adult thing and work this out.’ Maddie took a sip of her favourite vanilla tea. ‘Even though you’ve both grown up there can still be traces of the wounded teenager lingering inside each of you.’
Tam nodded. If she was honest with herself, she knew that in the middle of an argument both of them could be petty and bring up things that happened years ago.
‘Just try and rein it in while you’re talking to Seb,’ Maddie said.
‘When did you get to be so clever?’ Tam asked with a grin.
‘Natural ability,’ Maddie said with a straight face before breaking into a laugh.
‘All right, I’ll give it a go and talk to him,’ Tam replied.
‘Good, but before you do, let me chat with Seb first.’
‘Why?’
‘Because I want to tell him the same thing that I’ve told you. Remind him to give you a chance to say your piece and listen.’
‘Do you think it will help?’
‘Maybe, at least it’ll be in his mind when the two of you sit down.’ Maddie placed her empty cup back on its orange saucer. ‘So what are you going to do about Dylan?’
‘I don’t know. Maybe I should tell Seb. Dylan was all for telling him as soon as we started seeing each other.’
‘So why the reluctance now?’
Tam shrugged her shoulders. ‘I think that Dylan wants more than I can give him.’
‘Can or will?’ Maddie asked.
‘I don’t know,’ she replied in a soft voice. ‘It’s kind of complicated and I haven’t worked it out yet.’
‘Tam, you have so much to give.’
Tam glanced up at her aunt. ‘Maybe, but sometimes it doesn’t feel like that.’