Chapter Seven
Laney was seriously regretting her choice not to sacrifice any of her camper’s precious refrigerator or cabinet space to alcohol. She didn’t drink a lot, but if there was ever a time she deserved a reward cocktail at the end of a day, it would be the extended Kowalski family’s arrival day.
It seemed as if every time things calmed down, another vehicle rolled in. Multiple vehicles, actually, since there were not only the campers, but also trucks pulling trailers loaded with four-wheelers.
There were alotof four-wheelers, which made sense due to the fact there was alotof family.
Leo and Mary had arrived first in a big diesel pusher that looked to Laney like an RV version of a luxury yacht, and she was thankful they hadn’t shown up last. The vehicle didn’t really have a tight turning radius. Other than helping Andy in making sure he didn’t run over any electrical or sewer hookups, there wasn’t much for Laney to do other than meet them. She knew Leo and Frank—Josh’s father—were brothers, but Leo had ended up settling in New Hampshire with Mary.
As the rest began trickling in, Laney was thankful she’d taken a copy of the campground map and marked down names and a few notes so she could sneak a peek as they arrived.
Josh had already spoken to her about Joe, who was Leo and Mary’s oldest son. He was some kind of famous horror author, and she’d had explained to her in no uncertain terms that he was an extremely private person and that what happened at the Northern Star stayed at the Northern Star. He and his wife, Keri, along with their five-year-old daughter, Brianna, would be staying in one of the cabins.
Terry, Joe’s twin sister, and her husband, Evan, had an RV. Mike and Lisa, with their two younger sons had another. And Kevin and Beth, with six-year-old Lily and two-year-old Gabe rounded out Leo and Mary’s kids. They had an RV, but it was smaller and at the last minute, they’d opted for the second cabin to give the kids more floor space.
As for Josh’s siblings, Sean and Emma would be arriving with their son in a big RV at some point. His brother Ryan and Lauren, his wife, would be coming up from Massachusetts and taking one of the guest rooms in the lodge. And Rosie had decided to keep the other rooms open for the family who lived in Whitford. Mitch’s wife was very pregnant and they had a two-year-old, and Liz had one-year-old Jackson, so they might want a place to have nap time or change after the pool. Rosie also wanted the beds empty in case anybody had more beer than they’d anticipated and shouldn’t drive home.
Laney also had a list of the older kids who had jobs and social lives that got them out of spending two entire weeks with their family. Ryan and Lauren’s son, Nick, and Stephanie—Terry and Evan’s daughter—plus Joey and Danny, who were Mike and Lisa’s two oldest boys, would be showing up just for the long Fourth of July holiday weekend and planned to stay in tents. Rosie had warned her that once it started getting dark and their phone batteries started getting low, they might try to sneak into the lodge for the night—especially Stephanie—and that it was okay.
“Overwhelmed yet?”
Even before she turned, Laney recognized Leo’s voice. He wasn’t a big man, but he had a very big voice. He also had the pretty blue eyes both sides of the Kowalski family shared, while Mary had given her kids her dimples.
“A little bit,” she admitted, since he wouldn’t believe her if she denied it. “But you guys don’t seem to need me for much, anyway.”
“We’ve been camping a long time,” he said. After a few seconds, he snorted. “Camping. My old man would cuff us upside the head if he heard us call what we’re doing camping.”
“Your RV definitely isn’t primitive. But itisin a campground, so technically...”
He laughed. “Sometimes the wife and I joke about living in the RV and renting out the house because it’s a lot nicer. I think we’re joking, anyway. So who are we missing?”
That made her laugh, since it washisfamily he was asking about. “Sean isn’t here yet. And, according to Rosie, Ryan and his wife should be here any time.”
“It’ll be good to be all together here at the Northern Star. My brother would be damn proud to see what the kids have done with this place.”
Leo was proud. She could hear it in his voice. And she hadn’t seen it during the rough years, of course, but she could see how much work and love had gone into making it the place it was now. “I’m sure he would.”
Two little girls ran up to Leo, each grabbing one of his hands and talking at the same time. “Come see what we made!”
They looked close in age to Laney, and both had dark hair and blue eyes, but she could tell them apart by the dimples. Brianna, who was Joe and Keri’s daughter, didn’t have them while Lily, who was slightly older and belonged to Kevin and Beth, did.
“My granddaughters don’t waste any time,” he said. “It was nice talking to you, Laney.”
“You, too.”
Once the girls had dragged Leo away, Laney decided to duck into her camper for a quick break. Everybody was visiting and putting the final touches on their sites, so she didn’t think they’d need anything from her for a while. She’d gone through the lodge a final time that morning, making sure everything was clean and ready for guests, so until it was time to help guide Sean and Emma into their site, there was nothing for her to do.
Of course, thinking about Sean’s imminent arrival made her think about Ben. And thinking about Ben made her think about that kiss.
She’d be seeing him soon. Maybe tonight or maybe tomorrow, but he’d be stopping by and she was going to have to pretend she hadn’t been thinking about the kiss since last night. No staring at his mouth. No blushing when they made eye contact.
After grabbing a can of mixed fruit from her fridge, Laney opened the shopping list app on her phone and typed inchocolate. Maybe it wasn’t quite the reward a cocktail was, but she didn’t think alcohol and Ben would be a good mix for her.
Emma
“I want Nana Rosie.”
She’d lost count of the number of times Johnny had said that since they left their driveway, but since they’d just passed theWelcome to Whitfordsign, Emma smiled at her son. He’d turned to see her the best he could, since his car seat was buckled into the shotgun seat, and she was behind him on the RV’s couch. “Just a few more minutes, buddy.”
