by June Kramin
~*~
Reggie didn’t remember when she had so many laughs over a meal. Her sides and cheeks hurt by the time they were done.
Ben dropped her off at her house right after dinner, not attempting to extend their evening together in any way, walk her to the door, or kiss her good night.
“The roofers are showing up tomorrow for a quote. So are the guys who will rip off the old siding to get it milled.”
“You move fast.”
“Again, I have connections. Pop over whenever you want and play supervisor.”
“I may do that. Thanks for the burger.”
“You’re welcome. Good night, Reggie.”
~*~
Reggie went over the next day, bright and early, to be sure the contractors Ben hired were up to the challenge of the restoration. He had told her that when he started looking into it, everyone tried to talk him into ripping the old roof off and putting up a more modern, simple pitch, but he stayed firm that he wanted it to remain the way it was. He did agree to tin instead of asphalt shingles, which Reggie was okay with, not that it was her decision, of course.
She assigned herself to the job of removing the nails from the old siding as the contractors dropped them to the ground. They had scaffolding up the entire side of the barn. Ben helped her with the process and carried the boards away as she was done, stacking them in the truck that would haul them to the mill.
~*~
Ben was surprised at how much he cared what Reggie thought about every aspect of the project. He realized that he shouldn’t be; she was the reason he was doing it. He loved working beside her, becoming distracted more than once then hitting his hand with the hammer.
“You’d better watch yourself, Bentley. You’ll need those hands later to make furniture and pay for all of this.”
“I’m gonna need my hands for something better than that later, if I have my way,” he said, under his breath.
“What was that?”
“Don’t you worry. I have this project covered. I’ve been planning it for a while,” he lied. He had to go to the bank and take out a small construction loan against his house. He looked over at her as she bent down to pick up another board. Yup. Still worth it.
The next few weeks went pretty much the same way. Reggie was helping where she could, correcting the contractors when they wanted to stray from her plans, and having a few beers with Ben when the day was over. He worked late nights after she had gone. He still had his furniture to put out, but he didn’t want to leave her alone with the wandering eyes of the contractors. He had, on more than one occasion, reprimanded a worker or two with a look that alone said it all.
Ben surprised her one Saturday night after everyone left. He brought her over to his back porch, leading her with her eyes covered by his hands. “Ta da,” he said as he removed his hands.
“A porch swing!” she squealed as she sat down on it. It was made the same way, with the round pine logs, as all his other pieces. It was free-standing, not attached by chains to the roof like the one at the front of his house. “It’s lovely, Ben. When in the world did you find time to do this?”
“It didn’t take that long. When I can’t sleep, I go out to the shop. I received an order for one so I made two.” He sat down next to her. “You really like it?”
“I really do. You’re really good. I should have you make me one when things slow down.”
“This one is for you.”
“No! Really?”
“Really.” She threw her arms around his neck. He accepted the hug and held her tight. “It doesn’t even come close to paying you for all the work you’re doing for me, Reggie. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no big deal, Ben.” She released him from the hug and ran her fingers across the back of it.
“Yes, it is.” He held her chin in his hands and kissed her.
Chapter 21
BEN PULLED UP TO REGGIE’S CABIN on the four-wheeler at one o’clock on Sunday afternoon. As usual, she headed him off at the pass. She came out the front door and closed it behind her as he was coming up the stairs.
“You hiding an old lover in the basement or somethin’?”
“No,” she said, crossing her arms. “It’s a mess.”
“You’ve seen my place, Reg. I hardly care.”
“Well, I do. What’s up anyway?”
“It’s a gorgeous day.”
“You always think it’s a gorgeous day.”
“I was working on the barn this morning. I was hoping you’d show up.”
“I picked up a book I started before we began working on the barn and I couldn’t put it down.” She lied. It scared her that she was getting attached to Ben. It was difficult for her to stop the kiss last night, but she did. She was grateful he let her leave when she claimed to be worn out from the long day.
Ben had taken everything she dished out, but he was still wonderful to her anyway. He deserved better. She wasn’t over Van by a long shot and was far from ready to move on. It wasn’t fair to Ben to continue to let him believe this was turning into something. It was especially hard on her that certain things he did reminded her of Van. It wasn’t fair to Van’s memory and it wouldn’t be fair to Ben to be compared to him.
Needing to put a little distance between herself and Ben; she decided she couldn’t go over there today. She should have known it wouldn’t stick.
He reached for her hand and gave it a tug. “Let’s go.”
As he tried pulled her forward a few steps, she planted her feet firmly. “I don’t want to go anywhere, Ben. Why do you always insist I need to go somewhere?”
He moved in close to her and leaned down, so he was eye to eye with her. “Because life is too short to waste a beautiful day.” He walked to her door and picked up her sneakers that were outside. Except over the winters, she still had her Hawaii habit and kicked her shoes of at the door. He dropped them at her feet.
“I see you’re giving me no a choice again,” she protested as she pulled them on.
“Nope.” A few seconds after he started up the four-wheeler, she joined him. Glancing down at her shoes, he said, “I hope that’s not a good pair.” He usually didn’t blast away full throttle. This time though, Reggie had to grab a hold of his waist to stay on.
They rode a few miles in silence. He drove fast on the straight-aways, but it didn’t bother her; in fact, she liked it. He maneuvered the trails in the forest like a pro. She felt safe with him even though she knew they should have been wearing helmets. They went so deep into the forest she thought she’d never find her way back if she found herself alone or needing help. Sounds of other ATVs could be heard off in the distance. When they reached the top of a hill, she could see at least a dozen machines below.
“Are they friends of yours?” she asked with a hint of fear. Suddenly she felt like they were the lone biker coming across a gang of Hell’s Angels.
“I recognize most of the machines,” he said before gunning it down the hill. Ben stopped at the bottom next to a camouflage green, very large machine that proudly advertised ‘Arctic Cat,’ and killed his engine. “When are you going to get a real machine, Carlson?”
“Kiss my ass, Bentley. I’ll take this bad boy over your Polaris any day.” He smiled at Reggie. “You’re far too good lookin’ to be with this bum.”
She blushed and dropped her head to his back.
“Brian, this is my neighbor, Reggie.”
“Nice to meet you, Reggie,” he said, taking off his glove and leaning over to shake her hand. “You buy Doc’s old place?”
She shyly nodded and answered with an “Uh-huh.” It had been a long time since she had been around the friendly banter of men.
“I’m about ten miles as the crow flies.” He pointed to the West. “When you get your own machine, don’t let this weenie talk you into a Polaris. You come see me. I’ll set you up right.”
“He’s an Arctic Cat dealer. What do you expect him to say?” Ben turned around to loo
k at Reggie. Only now did she realize that her arms were still around him. She let go.
“You hittin’ it or are you chicken?” Brian said to Ben, putting his glove back on.
“I know you didn’t just call me that.” Ben started his machine back up.
Reggie placed her arms around him again. “Chicken to what?” she asked as they drove away behind his friend.
“You trust me?” She put her head to his back again and sat still for a minute, then shook it ‘yes.’ “Hold on, don’t be afraid, and I’m sorry. Here’s why I asked about the shoes. You’re gonna get muddy, darlin’.”
The group gathered together again after a mile of winding trails and at least two miles on a dirt county road. Reggie had counted fifteen people in their “caravan.” There were two other women behind men, but everyone else was on their own four-wheeler and there was one dirt bike. They stopped at a huge pit. Half of it was dirt and small hills; the other half of it was completely mud. Ben stopped at the top of the small incline and they watched the other riders.
Everyone rode full bore around the course, but were mindful of each other. It was dusty, but the day wasn’t windy so it wasn’t that bad. You could avoid many of the dust clouds with a little effort.
“We’re going in there?” Reggie asked.
“Unless you really don’t want to, Reg.”
She reached her arms around him and held tight. “Go for it!” He placed his hand protectively over hers for a moment, then drove into the pit.
He took it easy on her at first, driving around the hills, but then surprised her when he began to climb one of the bigger ones. He didn’t stop at all when he reached the top; he simply leaned back a little and rode back down. A small scream escaped her, but it was one of fun. From the hill, he ran full-throttle over to a huge mud puddle and ran right through the middle of it. For a few seconds, Reggie thought the engine was going to die. It began to slow down and spurt. She suddenly felt like they were floating on water rather than driving through it. After another second, she discovered that was the case. It wasn’t a mud hole; it was a small pond. The front tires finally hit bottom, but they still weren’t moving forward.
Ben slid off the machine. “Scoot forward.” He had his hand still on the throttle. Reggie had never even noticed it was a small lever on the handlebar, not the whole handle like on a motorcycle. “Don’t let up on the throttle. Water will be sucked in and kill the engine.” She moved her hand to it and kept it held down. Ben ran to the back of the machine, taking him thigh-deep in the water and mud. He gave a few pushes before the tires finally gripped, allowing Reggie to drive forward. She could only go slowly, but they were soon out of the worst of it and Ben climbed on behind her. He put his hand on hers and gave it full throttle. She squealed as mud went flying and they drove out.
He let go of the throttle once they were completely out. She turned around, laughing. “You are insane, Mr. Bentley.”
“I could have told you that.” He reached up to her face to wipe away a spot of mud with this thumb, but then left his hand there for a minute. He held her gaze then cleared his throat and put his hand down. “You want to drive for a while?”
Her eyes had been glazed over at his stare; she finally snapped out of it as well. “You going to stay on with me?”
He gently brushed another chunk of mud from her other cheek. “I’m not letting you go.” He held onto her face and slowly brought his lips to hers.
Time froze as Reggie’s eyes closed. Her heart raced while they kissed. It was just a gentle peck, but she had gone weak. She had tried everything in her power to push Ben away. She didn’t think she’d ever want anyone again. As hard as she tried to fight it, she really liked him, and as horrible as she had been to him, he seemed to really like her, too. They stared into each other’s eyes then Ben went in for another kiss, parting her lips with his tongue. She returned the kiss and reached her hand behind his neck.
A horn blaring snapped them out of the kiss. Another ATV was coming out of the mud hole, right at them. Ben punched the throttle and moved them out of the way. When they were clear of the other rider he said, “All yours, Reggie. Have at her.”
~*~
They spent the afternoon in and out of the mud, up and down the hills. Reggie couldn’t believe how much fun she was having or how much abuse the machines could take. Ben drove over to the pair of couples and introduced her to everyone. They were all head to toe with mud. Reggie laughed at the sight of them before she realized she had to look the same way. They opened the front to one of the machines; she laughed when it revealed that it was a cooler full of beer. They offered her one and she accepted with a smile. Nothing sounded better. The second one went down just as good. She caught herself always looking Ben’s way as he talked to his friends. When he turned to her each time and smiled, she smiled back then quickly turned her head away, back to the girls. Am I flirting?
One of the women brought over a cooler filled with sandwiches and chips. Ben and Reggie sat together as they ate.
“I feel bad not contributing anything to the meal,” Reggie said. She was assured repeatedly not to fret about it.
“Cindy always bring too much,” Ben said, trying to make her feel better. “Poor Eric will be taking what’s left to work all week. We’re doing him a favor.”
After a couple more hours of riding and conversation, the sun was going down. It would be dark in about a half an hour. They had at least that far to go to get back home. Ben walked over to where she was sitting with the girls. “We’d better get going if we’re gonna get home by dark.”
“Still haven’t fixed that busted headlight?” Brian laughed. “Could have set you up with a deal if you’d gotten an Arctic.”
“Give it a rest, you Arctic snob.”
Reggie accepted Ben’s hand and he helped her up. After exchanging pleasantries and goodbyes with everyone, they climbed on his four-wheeler and headed home. It became cold fast. Reggie shivered and held Ben tight for warmth. She was cold, but she was also glad for the excuse. She couldn’t let things go further with him than the kiss that caught her off guard, but she enjoyed holding him. Breathing in deep, she had almost forgotten how good a man smells, even above mud, dirt, and gas fumes. Tucking her head closer to him, she shivered harder. He removed his hand from the handlebar and rubbed her arms. “Damn, you’re really cold.”
“I’m okay. I didn’t expect to get so wet, but it was fun. I’ll be fine.”
He stopped the machine and climbed off with the motor running. “Hang on a sec.” Walking around to the back, he opened up a small cubbyhole. She didn’t know it even had one. “Ah ha,” he said as he pulled out a gray sweatshirt with COLORADO across the chest in red letters. “It’s in need of a washing, but you’ll be warmer.” She accepted it with a, “Thanks.”
It was dark when they pulled up to his house. “Aren’t you going to take me home?”
“I don’t know if you realize how muddy you are. There’s a shower right off my mudroom. I’d hate to have you tromp mud all through your house.” She was still shivering. He rubbed her arms up and down trying to warm her up. “I’ve turned you into a Popsicle. You take a long hot shower; I’ll hose off outside then start a fire. Okay?” She nodded in agreement. “I can find something for you to put on to run you home when you’re cleaned up.” He walked her into the house and pointed to the spare bathroom.
She undressed and piled her muddy clothes in an empty basket in front of the washer and dryer. This spare bathroom was also his laundry room. After climbing into the steaming hot water, she stood there for a few minutes trying to warm up. After several minutes and attempts with his body wash, she decided she had finally removed all the mud from her body. She shampooed her hair twice with his bottle of combination shampoo and conditioner. Now pruney, she finally exited the shower and dried her hair off as best as she could with a towel since she couldn’t find a hair dryer in any of the drawers or cabinets. There was no robe or shirts so she wrapped the bigges
t towel she could find around herself and walked out into the living room.
Ben had been kneeling at the fireplace but stood at the sight of her. He rushed over and led her to the fire as if she needed assistance.
“I thought you drowned in there,” he said with a chuckle. Again he ran his hands up and down her arms trying to warm her up. “Better?”
“Much.” She knelt down on the soft furry rug in front of the fireplace, tucking her legs under herself. She ran her fingers through the long hair of the rug. “What is this?”
“I dunno. Alpaca I think. Got it in Mexico off some kid with big brown eyes, begging for a sale.”
“Softie. I like it. It looks nice here in front of the fireplace.”
“Yes, it does.” Ben said, but she could tell by his gaze, he wasn’t referring to the rug.
He had cleaned up as well and was in a pair of sweat shorts. “You cleaned up good for just using the hose.”
“I hosed off then jumped in the other shower. I’ll clean the wheeler tomorrow.” He knelt down next to her. “Did you really have fun today?”
“I really did, Ben. I know I was a pain in the ass…thanks for making me go. I really liked your friends.”
“They really liked you, too. They want you to come along next weekend.”
“You do that all the time?”
“Every chance we can. It’s great. You ought to get your own machine, but then…”
“But then what?”
“But then you wouldn’t be holding on to me.” He leaned in and kissed her. Reaching for her chin, he held her in a longer kiss. Her eyes closed and her heart raced. He stopped the kiss, leaned back and stared into her eyes. She surprised herself when she leaned forward and kissed him. He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her close. He kissed her again, using his tongue this time and she let out a small moan in her throat. They kissed fervently for several minutes before he stopped. He looked down and picked up the corner of towel that was tucked in above her breasts and pulled it out. When it dropped, she sat, unable to move.
