And Josh didn’t seem upset at all by seeing Katie’s bag next to the back door. If anything, he seemed happy about the fact she was leaving, and Rose couldn’t understand that at all.
Andy walked into the kitchen, probably looking for coffee. “Uh-oh. You look like you want to slap somebody upside the head with a shovel.”
“I’m trying to think of a good excuse for Katie to stay.”
He slid an arm around her shoulders and kissed her before reaching past her for the coffeepot. “You’re back on your feet now, and that’s the only reason she was here. It makes sense she’d go home.”
“Maybe if I cough a few times, she’ll stay.” When Andy gave her a stern look, she laughed. “I was kidding. But why does Josh seem so okay with her going? I thought he was falling for her, but if he was he’d want to keep her here.”
“Privacy.” He blew across the top of his coffee and then took a sip, closing his eyes as he savored the brew. “Josh can, uh…visit her there instead of in a houseful of people.”
Rose hadn’t thought of that, but Andy had a point. Maybe spending time at Katie’s apartment, where he could totally relax and enjoy her company, would strengthen their relationship more than continuing on in the routine they had now.
Before she could say anything else, the door to the basement opened and Katie emerged. When she saw them standing there, she smiled and then blew out an exhausted breath. “All the bedding’s downstairs. First load’s in the washer.”
“I could have done that, honey. I really do feel better.”
“I know, Mom. But I figured I’d get it all downstairs for you before I leave.”
Rose couldn’t help herself. “Why don’t you stay for dinner and then go home after?”
Katie gave her a sweet smile, as if she knew her silly old mom was just trying to keep her there a little longer. “Because it’ll take a few hours for my apartment to come back up to temperature and I don’t want to crawl into a freezing bed. Where’s Josh?”
“He went for a quick ride,” Andy said. “One of the guests said there was a tree down across the trail. They had a few guys, so they were able to hold it up enough to pass all the machines under, but it needs a chain saw. Would’ve given him a hand, but he was ready to go and I wasn’t. Said it wouldn’t take him more than a half hour.”
As if they’d summoned him just by talking about him, they all heard the whine of his snowmobile cutting across the yard, heading toward the barn.
Katie picked up her bag and shoved her feet into her boots. “I’m going to head out, then. You call me if you need anything, Mom. And you’re still on semilight duty, no matter how good you feel.”
“I won’t let her overdo it,” Andy said.
Rose shushed him and hurried forward to kiss her daughter’s cheek before she went out the door. Then she watched through the window as Katie walked to the barn and waited while Josh took off his helmet and put the chain saw away.
They were easy together, smiling and happy, and Rose forced herself to relax. They were still okay, she thought. Her pneumonia had thrown them together and now all she could do was see if it stuck.
“I think you’re right,” she told Andy as the kids disappeared in the direction of Katie’s Jeep. “Being under the same roof was the kick in the pants Josh needed, but now they’ll have a chance to build a real relationship.”
She smiled as he slid his arm around her waist and kissed the back of her neck. “You’re good at this matchmaking thing.”
“I am, aren’t I?” she agreed, and then she turned her head toward him so his next kiss was a proper one.
* * *
Movie night, held on the first Saturday of each month, was a longstanding tradition for some of the women of Whitford. The hosting duties rotated and this time it was Jilly Crenshaw’s turn.
Katie was partial to movie night at Jilly’s because Gavin usually put out some of his incredible food for them before he and his dad left for Max’s to watch whatever sport they could find on the television.
Tonight the movie was the new romantic comedy on the block, which didn’t do much for her. Gavin’s buffalo-chicken dip, however, would have been worth sitting through The English Patient again. She was hesitant to try it, but once she did she wanted to bury her face in the pan and devour it like she was in a no-hands pie-eating contest. She needed that recipe.
Luckily, there was plenty of dip to go around, because attendance was light. The forecast had hinted at the possibility of sleet, which kept some of the less adventurous drivers—including Rose—at home. Paige wasn’t giving up a Saturday night with Mitch, especially since he’d be traveling again in less than a month. Hailey had gone to her sister’s house in Massachusetts to have a belated Christmas with her family.
But Fran was there, and Jilly. Tori, the part-time waitress who was Jilly’s niece, was sitting at one end of the couch, looking a little lost. There were a few others there, too, and she waved to them as she sat on the other end of the couch, balancing a plate with crackers and dip on it. Jilly sat between her and Tori, picking up the remote.
Holding the plate in one hand, Katie fumbled with her phone, switching it to vibrate before the movie started. She tucked it under her thigh and used a throw pillow to help balance her plate.
“I heard you and Josh are a thing now,” Jilly said, leaning close to her as if every other woman in the room wasn’t listening.
“Yeah, I guess we are.”
“That’s awesome. Everybody knew you guys belonged together, so we’re all happy for you. Plus, the Kowalskis throw great weddings, you know.”
Katie felt her eyes widen and shook her head. “We’re not there yet. Not even close, actually.”
Jilly patted her leg. “You’ll get there. Don’t worry.”
“Okay, Jilly, I’m ready,” Fran said as she lowered herself into Jilly’s rocker and set her knitting basket on the floor next to it.
Jilly hit the play button and Katie sat back with a sigh of relief. At least the attention was off her and onto the television where it belonged. They were already talking about a wedding?
Ten minutes into the movie, Katie found her attention wandering. The romantic leads had no chemistry and the plot was ridiculous. She consoled herself with the knowledge it was her turn to pick the movie next, and trying to narrow down the choices was a nice distraction. Something with action, she thought. And explosions. Less witty banter and more shooting.
She wasn’t even sure why she still showed up for these things, other than having an opportunity to hang out with Hailey. At least she and Josh had the same taste in movies, and she’d always enjoyed watching with him more than all the women, even before there was sex involved.
Katie dredged another chip through the dip to keep her focus from shifting to sex with Josh. All that would do was make the movie seem that much more endless. She should have texted him before she’d arrived to see if he was going to be busy later in the night, but she hadn’t thought of it then and now it was too late.
When her phone buzzed under her thigh, Katie looked around to see if anybody had noticed. They were all focused on the television and nobody even glanced in her direction. Reaching down, she pulled the phone out enough to read the text message from Josh.
Blow off the movie & meet me at your place.
Blowing off the movie was one thing. Blowing off Gavin’s buffalo-chicken dip was another. Keeping the phone down beside the pillow, she was stuck using only her right thumb to text back. Can’t. It’s movie night.
Only a few seconds passed before she got a response. I’ve made you come on the office floor and in the barn. Imagine what I could do in a bed.
Stop. There’s a no texting during the movie rule, she sent back. Fran had instituted the rule months ago when women texting with their men had ruined her something-hundre
dth viewing of Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Tell them your stomach hurts.
He was going to get her kicked out of movie night. Stop. I can’t.
She tried to ignore the vibration when he responded, but she couldn’t. Too bad. I wanted to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of your Tootsie Pop.
Katie tried to disguise a quick snort of laughter as a cough, hoping like hell there wasn’t a tearjerker scene on the television at that moment. Later.
Limited time offer. Sure it was.
“Katie’s texting,” Jilly said, and her voice was loud during a quiet moment in the movie. “And look at her face. She’s texting Josh.”
“Gimme the phone,” Fran said, pushing herself out of the rocking chair and advancing on Katie with her hand held out.
“I don’t think so.”
“You know the rules. You’ll get it back when the movie’s over.” When Katie crossed her arms, effectively hiding the cell phone in her armpit, Fran narrowed her eyes. “Katherine Rose Davis, you give me that phone right now.”
That had been the drawback to running with the Kowalski kids growing up. She’d gotten in trouble often enough that every woman of her mom’s generation knew her middle name. “Middle-naming me isn’t going to work, Fran. I’m an adult and I’m not giving you my phone.”
She yelped when Jilly reached under her elbow and snatched the phone out of her hand. Before she could get it back, Jilly tossed it to Fran. “Sorry, Katie. It’s a rule and, since it’s my house, I have to help enforce it.”
Unfortunately, when Fran caught it, she hit the button to wake up the screen—which was still showing the text messages—and she watched the older woman’s eyes get big. Katie was surprised she didn’t melt into a puddle and disappear between the couch cushions when Fran looked at her.
“Oh, honey, you have to go. I didn’t know your stomach’s upset.” Katie froze, wondering if it was a trap. But Fran’s eyes danced with mischief as she held the phone out to her. “You should definitely go.”
Katie stood up and grabbed her coat out of the pile by the end of the couch. Then she approached Fran, who was still holding Katie’s phone. She tried to take it, but the older woman resisted for a few seconds so she could lean in close.
“Katie, honey, there are some things a woman should never refuse.”
Her face burning, Katie took the phone and nodded, her cheeks burning. Then, with a small wave in the general direction of the women behind her, she fled while the fleeing was good.
Chapter Fourteen
The phone call from Mitch came out of the blue, while Josh was about to change the oil in his sled, and almost knocked him on his ass.
“We’ve had an offer to buy the lodge.”
It took a few seconds for Josh to wrap his mind what his brother had said. “An offer? To buy it?”
“I was surprised, too. I figured if we ended up selling it instead of hiring a manager, it wouldn’t be for a while yet.”
Josh put the gallon of oil back on the shelf and sat sideways on his sled. “I don’t get it. It’s not even on the market yet.”
“You had a married couple there two weekends ago. Older, plenty of money?”
“Yeah, I remember them. Asked a million questions about the house and they kept going for walks around the property. I didn’t think anything of it because a lot of people love the house.”
“They fell in love with the place and called a Realtor in the city to arrange making an offer. The real estate agent called the town office for contact info and they called me. And now I’m calling you.”
“I must have made it look too easy if the inmates think they can run the asylum,” Josh joked while he tried to wrap his mind around this development.
Mitch was silent for a few seconds, then he cleared his throat. “It wouldn’t be a lodging establishment anymore. Just a private home.”
But it’s been in the family for four generations and the Northern Star Lodge for three. The thought screamed through his head, though he managed not to say it out loud. He couldn’t very well tell his family he wanted to get rid of the place and then come undone when a chance arrived.
“We’ve worked so hard to connect to the ATV trails,” Josh said. “The access was going to help out other Whitford businesses, not just the lodge.”
“Like my wife’s diner, yes.”
Josh closed his eyes, trying to fend off the guilt. The Trailside Diner was doing really well. It wouldn’t live or die based on this decision. “I guess it must be a decent offer if you’re bringing it to the table.”
“It’s a generous offer,” Mitch agreed. “Although I have an obligation to bring it to the table even if it was only a hundred bucks. It’s a family business.”
“So…what now?” Besides figuring out why the possibility of having what he’d wanted made his gut twist into knots.
“We need to get together and have a discussion as soon as possible. And we’ll have to call Liz and put her on speakerphone or something, since we can’t make the decision without her. I’m going to send a group email so we can nail down a time to discuss it. Hopefully this weekend.”
He had a full house for the weekend, but the family had their own rooms, so it shouldn’t be a problem. “I’ll be here, so whenever.”
“You should probably tell Rose.”
That wasn’t something he wanted to do. “Okay.”
When the call was done, Josh got up and walked toward the house. He wasn’t into changing the oil now and there was no sense in putting off the conversation. Rose sometimes checked the lodge’s email account and if Mitch used that address instead of Josh’s personal one, it could be an unpleasant surprise for her.
He found her in the living room, dusting. When he sat on the couch, she gave him a questioning look and he patted the cushion next to him.
“You look unhappy,” she said, taking a seat. “What happened?”
“I’m not unhappy. I just…Mitch called. We’ve had an offer from somebody who wants to buy the lodge. They want to make it a private home.”
It broke his heart to watch her expression change. Confusion. The realization that, if they accepted the offer, she would need a new home. And the resolution—she’d deal with it when the time came because that’s the kind of woman she was. “So you haven’t talked to Ryan, Sean or Liz yet?”
“No. He wants us all to get together, with Liz on speakerphone. Sean, too, if he can’t make it here in person.”
“When?”
“Hopefully this weekend.”
“I’ll make a big lasagna, then, and put it in the freezer so it’ll be ready whenever they come.” Before he could say anything else, she stood and went toward the kitchen. “Speaking of which, I need to start the ham for tonight. And put some laundry in the dryer.”
He let her go because he didn’t trust himself not to be too choked up to speak. What kind of selfish bastard was he? The woman had pretty much devoted her life to taking care of the lodge and five kids who weren’t even her own and now she didn’t even get a say in what happened to her?
There was no doubt in his mind she was hiding her true feelings about the lodge being sold so he wouldn’t feel guilty. Not only would she not want to influence the family’s decision, but she knew him better than anybody. Even better than Katie. So she knew how he’d felt trapped by obligation for years, and she wouldn’t hold him back.
Josh leaned his head against the cushion and closed his eyes, hoping to ease the throbbing already starting at his temples. He wanted to go—no, he needed to go—but he loved Rose. He didn’t want to hurt her.
And what about Katie?
It had been easy enough to tell her, the day they’d gone to Brookline, that she and the lodge were two separate things, but they weren’t. Selling the
lodge meant leaving Whitford. And that meant leaving her.
They’d always been friends. Granted, they’d fallen into a friends-with-benefits deal, but it wasn’t like they’d talked about marriage. She hadn’t even hesitated when it had come to moving back to her own place, and most women, if they were hoping for a ring, would have clung to living under the same roof. Even if he left, they’d still be friends.
But he didn’t know how he could look her in the face and tell her he was leaving town.
* * *
Katie was having one of those days. She’d somehow run low on small bills in the register, which was a problem since most people in Whitford still operated on a cash-only basis. After writing a note that she’d be back in fifteen minutes and the time she’d left, she’d locked up the shop and driven to the bank. Normally she would walk, but she usually did her banking when the shop was closed and she could take her time.
Of course there was a line at the bank and the minutes seemed to tick by on fast-forward, so she ended up rushing back. She was halfway there when the blue lights flashed in her rearview mirror.
“Please don’t be Bob Durgin,” she said as she put on her blinker and pulled as close to the sidewalk as she could get without being on it. Officer Durgin hated the Kowalski kids and she was close enough to be lumped in with them, as far as he was concerned.
Luckily it was Drew Miller who got out of the cruiser, and she rolled down her window as he approached her door. “Hi, Drew.”
He sighed and shook his head. “You guys are never going to catch on. You’re supposed to call me Chief Miller when you’re in trouble.”
“Even if it’s just a little bit of trouble?”
“You think seven miles over on the main street is a little bit of trouble?”
She gave him her best smile. “Sorry?”
“What’s really sorry is that I just busted your boyfriend on the other end of town doing the same damn thing.” It tickled her a little to hear Josh called her boyfriend. She could get used to that. “But he gave me a shitload of attitude, so I wrote him a ticket.”
All He Ever Dreamed (The Kowalskis) Page 15
