“Rosie had a first aid kit in the kitchen,” she said. “I’ll take care of it for you.”
Ben could tell her he’d been on his way to the kitchen already. He could tell her he was pretty well qualified to deal with a small cut on his hand. Instead, he nodded and gestured for her to lead the way.
“Wash your hands and then have a seat,” she said firmly before going into the pantry.
By the time he’d done as he was told and then sat down, Laney had found an ancient plastic storage bin marked FIRST AID in big letters on a piece of masking tape. She carried it over and popped the lid. “Rosie told me she’s had this box for thirty years because regular first aid kits weren’t enough for the Kowalski family.”
“She wasn’t lying.” He held out his hand, palm up on the table, so she could look at it.
“You’ve known them a long time, then?”
“My whole life. I ran with Josh’s brother Sean, mostly, since we’re the same age, but we all grew up together.”
“There’s something in this,” she said before rummaging in the box for tweezers. Then she opened an alcohol wipe and cleaned the slanted tips, which he appreciated.
“Probably a paint chip. The trailer’s seen better days. And before you ask, my tetanus is up to date.”
When she laid her fingers across his, holding them flat, Ben felt a frisson of awareness up the back of his neck. He was aware of how soft her hands were. That her hair smelled like roses. Her eyes were blue and she had long, makeup-free lashes the color of dark maple syrup.
Then she went after the paint chip and he hissed at the sharp pain. She paused for a second, then kept going. “I have to get it.”
“I know. I’m okay,” he said. But he liked the sound of her voice and wanted to hear more of it. “You should talk and distract me from what you’re doing.”
“I’m trying to concentrate. You talk and that’ll distract you.”
“Okay, so Josh said you’re not from around here, but he didn’t say where you’re from. Still New England, I’d guess from the accent.” She nodded, but didn’t say anything else. The corners of her mouth tilted up in a small smile, though, so he felt comfortable prodding a little more. “Yankees or Red Sox?”
She snorted. “Red Sox. How is that even a question?”
“Rhode Island, then?”
“Yes. Warwick.” She stopped poking at his cut to look up at him. “How did you guess that from a baseball team?”
“I’ve got a pretty good ear for accents, so I’d already narrowed it down to Connecticut or Rhode Island. Somebody from Connecticut would know why I asked the question, since they’re infected by Yankees fans from New York City, so I went all in on the Ocean State.”
“Good call. Okay, I got the paint out, so go wash your hands and then I’ll put some gunk on it.”
He chuckled as he walked to the sink. “Gunk? I take it you can get that over the counter?”
“It’s fancy medical terminology.”
Her laugh was cute and Ben was reluctant to turn the water on because it might drown it out. But he needed to wash the cut, so he grabbed the soap, gritted his teeth and got on with it. Wincing, he patted it dry with a paper towel, trying to think of something he could say to make her laugh again.
But when he turned back around, Laney wasn’t even smiling. Her cheeks were bright pink and her lips were pressed together. “What’s wrong?”
“I had noticed that your shirt says WFD on the front, but I didn’t realize what it stood for. But it says Whitford Fire Department on the back, withparamedicunder it in big capital letters.”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t suppose there’s any chance at all you bought that shirt at a yard sale or stole it from a Laundromat?”
That made him laugh, even though he had no idea what she was talking about. “No, it’s mine. Even though it was Josh—because he’s president of the ATV club—and Drew Miller, the police chief, who not only offered me the job, but talked me into taking it, I’m officially employed by the town through the fire department.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “So you’re a paramedic?”
“Yes. Is that a problem? You look...not happy about it and I can’t figure out why.”
“Maybe because I told you you’d probably spit on your cut and wipe it on your jeans and made you come in here and the entire time you’re actually a trained medical professional.” She rolled her eyes. “I feel kind of stupid right now.”
