What It Takes: A Kowalski Reunion Novel

by Shannon Stacey

  “Okay.” He typed out a response for his uncle, mentally cursing his cousin Kevin for deciding Leo needed a cell phone in the first place. “Is our riding gear in the pile?”

  “Everything that was on the list is in the pile.”

  He could hear the rising annoyance in her voice, but he couldn’t help himself. “Okay. Was our riding gear on the list?”

  “Sean, really?” She stepped back so she could put her hands on her hips—phone still clutched in one—and glare at him. “Feel free to take your grown ass over there and look at the damn pile.”

  Grinning, he closed the space between them and, cupping the back of her head, lowered his mouth to hers. He kissed her until the tension eased from her body and she moved a hand from her hip to his.

  “Sometime during the next two weeks, we’re going to sneak away. Just the two of us. There’s a spot we can get to, mostly on legal trails, that I want you to see.”

  “Mostly legal? Your brother is president of the ATV club. Your sister’s married to the police chief. You need to behave.”

  Before he could respond, they heard a horn and turned to see an RV coming up the drive. It wasn’t huge, since it was only Cat and Russell and they didn’t want to tow a car, but it would be plenty of space for the three of them. The pile, he wasn’t as sure about.

  “Grammy and Papa,” Johnny yelled, pointing at the RV. Then he grabbed a bag from the pile and started dragging it toward pavement.

  Sean sprinted across the yard and scooped up his son, bag and all. “Not so fast, kid. Let them park.”

  “I want Nana Rosie.”

  “Me, too, but we have to wait until tomorrow. You’re going to sleep in your bed tonight and when you wake up, we’ll have breakfast and then go to Nana Rosie’s.”

  He felt as anxious to be there as Johnny did. They hadn’t been to Maine as a family since a quick trip over during the Christmas holidays, and he was looking forward to sitting by the campfire with his family.

  He’d hated the lodge growing up and had gotten out of Whitford as soon as he was of age. But when he’d gotten the call it was in trouble a few years back and then seen for himself the state it was in, he’d realized how much it really meant to him. Saving it had renewed the close bond with his siblings he’d lost, and he didn’t feel the old resentment anymore when he thought of the Northern Star. And as Johnny got older, Sean was looking forward to taking him back and watching him experience the adventures he had as a child.

  Russell, Emma’s step-grandfather, walked over and they shook hands. Then the older man looked at the pile in the yard. “What did you do wrong and when’s the bonfire?”

  * * *

  “You’re not going out by the Northern Star tonight by any chance, are you?”

  Ben glanced over at Drew Miller who, as the police chief, was often buried in paperwork. That appeared to be the case today, since there were mounds of papers on his desk and he was crankier than usual. Ben had stopped by his office to drop off some papers from Sam, which hadn’t made Drew happy as he already had enough of the stuff. And now it looked like Ben was going to get shuffled off on another errand.

  To the one place he’d been avoiding for a week and a half.

  There was a connection happening between him and Laney. It was that connection that had compelled him to turn back to her before he walked out of the diner, and was the reason she’d been looking at him when he turned. That quick smile and wave goodbye had felt like the most natural thing in the world to him.

  But he knew Laney wasn’t looking for a connection, and the last thing he needed to do at this crossroad in his life was fall for a woman who had no idea what she was going to do—or probably where she’d even be living—come the changing of the season. So he’d stayed away from the lodge, hoping that the budding connection would fade with a little time and distance between them.

  Judging by the jolt of excitement he felt at the thought of having a solid reason to head out there, he’d been wrong.

  “Wasn’t planning on it,” he replied, thinking Drew would say never mind and he wouldn’t have to rely solely on his own self-control to keep him in town.

  “Because you were too busy planning to sit in my office and drink my coffee all day?”

  “I’ve only been here fifteen minutes. But yes, that’s my entire plan. I even wrote it in big letters on my calendar so I couldn’t fit anything else in.”

  When Drew sighed and scrubbed his hands over his face, Ben felt his resolve weaken. He looked stressed and tired. “I need my dad’s signature on a few papers and they have to be original, not scanned. And Liz has classes online all evening, so Paige has Jackson, but she runs out of steam early now that she’s so pregnant. Two toddlers are a bit much, especially because Jackson doesn’t stay where she puts him anymore.”

  Liz was taking some kind of business marketing course online so she could take over the website and social media for the lodge. The family had been paying the woman who handled the website for Mitch’s demolition company to do it, but the lodge’s needs—and the money being paid out—had grown with the expansion and Liz taking it over worked out best for everybody.

  “I can run them over,” Ben said, relenting. He’d find Andy, get the signatures, and get out.

  Maybe. It would probably be rude to leave without at least saying hello to Laney. And it had been long enough so it wouldn’t hurt to check the bolts on her Adirondack chairs and make sure none had loosened up. She might not think to do that.

  “I owe you one. Liz has been trying to get a lot of her work done in advance because her family’s coming tomorrow and she doesn’t want to spend their entire vacation on her computer, so I’ve been trying to juggle all the balls this past week.”

  Ben wondered if Laney would be busy, with the extended Kowalski family showing up the next day. But knowing Rosie, they’d probably been ready for days. “I’ve got a few more things to do and I don’t want to stray too far because Dave had some kind of an appointment this afternoon, but then I’ll take a ride out there. You need them back tonight?”

  “No, but by ten tomorrow morning at the latest. I can swing by the station in the morning if you’re going to be there.”

  “Sounds good.” He took the manila envelope Drew fished out of the pile.

  “Sean will be expecting you to stop by. He’s mentioned it to Liz a few times.”

  Ben’s first thought was how much he was going to enjoy kicking back and catching up with one of his oldest friends. Right on its heels, though, was more time with Laney. “Yeah, I’ll be around. Especially if there are s’mores.”

  “I’ve been camping with this family. Trust me, there will be s’mores.”

  When he left Drew, Ben walked back to the fire station and put the envelope on the passenger seat of his SUV so he wouldn’t forget about it. It wasn’t likely, if for no other reason than he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone an hour without Laney crossing his mind, but he didn’t want to drop the ball.

  Once Dave texted him to let him know he was back in town and available for calls, Ben went home to grab a quick bite to eat. That led to him helping his dad change the HVAC filters in the basement, so then he needed a shower. So maybe he didn’t exactly need one and it only meant extra clothes in the laundry hamper for the day, but he almost managed to convince himself it had nothing to do with Laney and the fact he’d probably be seeing her.

  And the anticipation he felt was almost scary, he realized as he pulled out of his driveway. His plan had backfired and instead of the attraction he felt for her fading, he was even more anxious to see her.

  If he was smart, he’d pull up to the lodge’s door, get Andy’s signature on the papers, and then drive away before he was tempted to do something stupid.

  * * *

  The Northern Star was as ready as it could
be for tomorrow, and there was literally nothing left for Laney to do. After making sure Rosie didn’t need her for anything, she’d decided to go for a walk to clear her head. She’d begun walking a little bit each day, treating it like a form of meditation, and it was quickly becoming a favorite part of her routine.

  With peace, quiet and plenty of area to explore, she got a chance to sort through her thoughts and just enjoy being by herself. Usually she went out a little earlier in the day so she could eat dinner before doing her evening chores. But there were no guests tonight, so she’d waited until it cooled off. It meant more bug spray, but less sweat.

  But now her feeling of serenity was slipping because up ahead she could see a fence with a brightly colored mailbox she didn’t recognize.

  Laney didn’t think she was lost, since she hadn’t turned off the road or taken any forks, but she should have paid a little more attention to what she was doing. She’d walked a lot further than she’d intended to and the sun was definitely getting lower in the sky. Not that she was afraid of the dark, but she’d rather not have to find her way back by the flashlight function on her phone. And she wasn’t sure she even had enough battery life to get there.

  She was almost back to the path that cut from the main road through the woods to the ATV trail, which had an access into the back of the lodge’s property, when she heard a vehicle coming. It was still light out, but the sun was low enough so it would be a lot darker in the woods, so she’d decided to stick to the asphalt until she got to the main driveway. But for a second, she thought about ducking into the trees, anyway.

  The vehicle passed her and at the moment she recognized it as Ben’s SUV, the brake lights lit up. After it stopped, the backup lights came on and, hugging the shoulder of the road, he backed the SUV to where she stood.

  She crossed the street as he put the window down, unable to keep from smiling at the sight of his face. He hadn’t been around for a while, and she’d only thought about him a few dozen times. Per day.

  “Hey, Laney. Nice night for a walk.”

  “Yeah.” She was close enough to smell his aftershave through the open window, and to see the top of an aluminum can showing from a koozie in the cup holder. “I walked a little further than I meant to.”

  “I’m on my way to see Andy. Want a ride?”

  “No, thanks. It’s good exercise.”

  “It’ll be getting dark soon. And you just said you didn’t mean to walk so far.”

  “I’m okay, really. I only accept rides from sober drivers, but thanks.”

  “Ouch.” His eyebrow shot up and he took his drink out of the cup holder. Then he slowly slid the foam koozie off, revealing a soda can. “You know what they say about assuming things, sweetheart.”

  She felt her cheeks grow hot, and she wasn’t sure if it was from embarrassment or a reaction to the way he called her “sweetheart” in that low voice of his. She’d object to the term if he used it again, but for now she let it go. “Sorry. I’ve listened to too many country songs over the years, I guess. They’re always cruising down back roads with a cold one in the center console.”

  “Yeah, I’m not really country song material.”

  She didn’t agree, regardless of his beverage choices or lack of cowboy boots. “Can I change my mind about the ride?”

  “Of course.”

  She walked around the front of the SUV and, after he stuck an envelope that had been sitting there above his visor, she climbed into the passenger seat. It looked like any other huge, fancy four-by-four, except for the bags in the backseat. The back cargo area, though, she’d bet was a different story. Once she was buckled, he put the vehicle in Drive.

  “I’m sorry I thought you were drinking and driving,” she said. “I have a way of putting my foot in my mouth when it comes to you.”

  He glanced over at her, grinning, before turning back to the road. “If I’m on vacation or officially off the books for the night, I might have a couple of beers, but otherwise I rarely drink. Never when I might be driving. I’ve responded to too many of those calls to take a chance.”

  “I always thought people used those koozies to hide the fact they’re beer cans, not sodas.”

  “Some probably do. I use them because they keep my soda cold longer and I hate when it’s hot and the cans sweat and I get condensation on my hand and in the bottom of the cup holder.”

  She bit back the apology that sprang to her lips. She’d already said she was sorry and Ben didn’t seem all that perturbed by it.

  “Ready for the big day tomorrow?” he asked, and she appreciated the subject change.

  “As ready as we can be, I guess. Although, every time I turn around, Rosie thinks of one more thing. Maybe that’s why I walked so far.” She chuckled. “Earlier today, she remembered the inflatable pool she’d bought online for the babies. She put the box in the barn, but forgot to put blowing it up and filling it with water on any of her lists.”

  He was wearing shorts tonight, she realized. And the sun might be on its way down, but there was still plenty of light for her to appreciate the well-toned curve of his calf muscle. She’d seen him in jeans and in navy cargo pants, but this was the first time she’d seen his legs. Her fingers practically itched to skim over the light sprinkle of hair, so she turned her gaze back to the windshield.

  “You haven’t been around much,” she said, and then she wanted to slap herself in the forehead. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

  “I’ve been busy, I guess. And I’ve been helping my dad with some yard projects my mom’s been after him to get done.”

  “Do you live close to them? I mean, I know Whitford’s a small town, but it seems to have a lot of land area and the houses are spread out.”

  “I live in the apartment over my parents’ garage.”

  She smiled, but didn’t tease him about living with his parents. She wasn’t sure her teasing would come across as that, and she’d already stumbled with the drinking and driving thing.

  “I guess that makes you a handy yard work assistant,” she said. “Being so close.”

  “Too handy sometimes.”

  When he turned on his blinker and started braking, she realized they were already back at the lodge. The realization they’d be parting ways in a few moments made her wish she could think of something to say, but nothing came to mind. Instead, they drove in silence until he pulled up to the side of the barn and killed the engine. Then, as she got out, he took the envelope from the visor and did the same.

  “Thanks for the ride,” she said. “I’d still be out on the trail in the woods if you hadn’t come along.”

  “You would have been fine.” He turned and smiled at her. “But it was nice to have company for a few minutes.”

  She thought that would be the end of it, but when she started walking, he fell in beside her. “You don’t have to walk me to my camper. I promise it’s safe, and it looks like you have business in the house.” She waved a hand at the envelope.

  “Oh, I know you’re safe. I was thinking, though, that I should check the bolts in your chairs. Sometimes they loosen up during initial use and it’s a good idea to give them each an extra tightening just to be sure.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t even thought of that. “They’ll just loosen up on their own?”

  He shrugged. “They don’t necessarily loosen up, but sometimes they seem fully seated until you use the chairs and the boards shift. It’ll only take a minute.”

  When they reached her camper, she went inside to grab her tool kit, and when she went back outside, she found him sitting in one of the chairs. He had his head tilted back and smiled up at her.

  “They’re surprisingly comfortable,” he said.

  “Yes, they are.” She wondered how long he would stay and talk if she sat in the other chair. But he’d tossed the m
anila envelope in that seat and, when he saw the tools in her hand, he pushed himself to his feet.

  It only took him a couple of minutes to check the nuts on both chairs. There were a couple he tightened, and then he held the socket and crescent wrenches out to her.

  “They look good,” he said. “Now I don’t have to worry about the chair collapsing under you because I didn’t tighten them enough the first time. It’s been bugging me, so I’m glad it’s taken care of now.”

  The visual of landing on her butt in a pile of pink wood made her smile, even though a small part of her was recognizing that Ben didn’t just take care of people who were having medical crises. He was just the kind of guy who took care of things—and people.

  Don’t you worry about it, Laney. I have everything taken care of.

  The last voice she wanted in her head right now was her ex-husband’s. Yes, he’d taken care of everything. He’d handled everything to the point it took Laney a lot of years to realize he wasn’t taking care of things out of love and concern for her. He either didn’t believe her capable of taking responsibility or he’d wanted to ensure he had total control over all aspects of their lives. Either way, once Laney recognized she’d become a shell of the woman she’d once been, she’d tried to take back control over her life. Patrick had resisted and so she’d divorced him.

  On the surface, Ben and her ex-husband appeared to have nothing in common. But the idea of being taken care of again scared her. Especially since she was enjoying taking care of herself so much.

  Then she took the tools from him and their hands touched, and she forgot about that voice inside of her who was leery of Ben Rivers.

  As her fingers curled around the metal, his fingertips skimmed up the side of her hand until they got to her wrist. Then he gave her a gentle tug—so tentative it was almost an unspoken question—and she answered by moving forward.

  Her body tensed in anticipation of his kiss, and she closed her eyes as his mouth covered hers. One of his hands was still holding her wrist, but the other cupped her face. His mouth wasn’t forceful against hers, but it wasn’t too sweet, either. And as he kissed her, a rush of desire she hadn’t felt in many years swept through her.