Chapter Thirteen
When Ben finally pulled into the clearing behind the Northern Star, he was exhausted. The calls had started shortly after Laney dropped him back at the station, and except for late-night and early-morning hours when people weren’t supposed to be riding, he’d pretty much been on the run.
Luckily, most of them had been overreactions or minor injuries, but the last call had flipped the switch from tired to utterly drained. Jordan, the fire department’s youngest volunteer, had ridden Ben’s ATV behind the side-by-side so Ben could ride with the patient. She’d been in excruciating pain and he’d been afraid to give her too much for the broken hip because she’d seemed mentally altered, too. Mildly, but even with her helmet on, she might have suffered a concussion and he needed to be able to monitor that, as well. Her crying had been heartbreaking and it had taken a toll on all of them.
But as he’d done for years, he did his best to take the incident and mentally file it away as he parked his four-wheeler alongside the others. He needed food and some laughs, and he needed to see Laney’s face.
It would have been easier to find her face if Rosie hadn’t invited the entire town, he thought. He wandered around the crowd, saying hello and making small talk. He deflected all the questions about the calls he’d been on, preferring to focus on the happy vibe running through the gathering.
He finally found her near the food tables, where she was helping set up the condiments. Her face lit up when she saw him, and it felt like a weight tumbled off his shoulders. “Hi, Laney.”
“You look exhausted,” she said, frowning as she moved closer to him. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. It’s been busy, so I’m hoping to get enough downtime to eat some of this food before my phone goes off.”
“Do you think it will?”
“I hope not. I’m going to tell myself all the riders are back at wherever they’re staying, barbecuing.” He shrugged. “It’s a holiday weekend and that’s how they go. Are you having fun?”
“Yeah. It’s getting a little hectic now that it’s time to set up the food, but it’s been fun so far. Are Drew and Matt here, too?”
“They will be. Matt needed to take some pictures and make sure the ATV is taken care of and Drew went back into town to deal with somebody setting off fireworks in their backyard, and then he’s driving over.”
“That’s good. Can I get you anything?”
“No, I’ll go grab some lemonade and wait my turn for food.”
When she smiled and went back to the table she’d been setting up, he tried to tell himself she was just busy, but that wasn’t the vibe he’d gotten from her.
Laney was holding back. He wasn’t sure if she was upset about something specific or she was trying to put some distance between them after they’d made love in his apartment, but she was definitely trying to keep him at arm’s length. He hadn’t expected her to kiss him in front of everybody, but she hadn’t so much as touched his arm.
And he’d go along with it. For now. The sex had been incredible and maybe that, combined with the fact they’d grown close enough so she’d been worried about it, had been too much for her. He knew she was still trying to regain her footing after being married a long time and an ugly divorce, and that would take time.
Right now he would just remember the way she’d smiled so brightly in the instant she first saw him. Before she put her guard up, for whatever reason.
Once the food started coming off the grills—steak, burgers, chicken and hot dogs—to be set out with the most astonishing array of potluck dishes he’d ever seen, Ben filled his plate and found an open spot at a picnic table. Conversation went on around him, mostly about sports, but he focused on eating. He needed the sustenance.
Once he’d cleaned his plate, he realized he should get up and move around or there was a very real possibility he’d go to sleep sitting there on the picnic table bench. He tossed his plate and went to refill his cup with lemonade. Maybe a little sugar would help.
Rosie had just finished dumping more iced tea in a dispenser when he got to the beverage table, and she gave him a long look. “You know you can go find yourself an empty bed in the lodge and get some rest. Somebody will make sure you wake up if there’s an emergency.”
“Thanks, but I keep telling myself if I hold out a few more hours, everybody should be off the trails for the night and I can actually sleep.”
“You know you’re welcome to sleep here. The older kids didn’t move into the lodge like I expected them to, so there are beds already made up and everything.”
What he really wanted to do was crawl into Laney’s bed, hold her close and fall asleep breathing in the scent of her shampoo. “You know, I might take you up on that, Rosie. I’m pretty beat.”
Her eyes widened. “You must be if you’re admitting it.”
He chuckled and leaned over the table to refill his cup. “I’m not as stubborn as some of the men you know.”
She rolled her eyes. “And thank the heavens for that.”
A half hour later, he was reconsidering her offer of a place to nap when Laney turned up next to him. She was close, so she could keep her voice low. “Can you walk with me for a minute?”
“Of course.” He tossed his empty cup in the garbage and followed her. She didn’t walk toward her camper, but toward the field instead.
“I’ve had so much anxiety about seeing you again,” she said. “I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
