What It Takes: A Kowalski Reunion Novel

by Shannon Stacey

  She’d already learned that family was everything at the Northern Star and she respected that, but she was here to work. They were her employers, not her family, and it was best for her if she didn’t blur that line. And she’d had her fill of families in the last few years. Her family, other than Nola. Her in-laws.

  She’d been surprised when Josh invited her to the monthly meeting of the Northern Star ATV Club tonight, which was her reason for going to the house. She’d never even ridden one, but he’d explained it was a good idea for her to know what was going on since she would spend a lot of time interacting with campers who did ride. And some of what they would cover tonight would be relevant to her.

  Ben’s SUV was in the parking area, along with a half-dozen or so other vehicles, and she cursed the jolt of anticipation she couldn’t deny she was feeling. She wanted to see him again.

  Every time she looked at her pink Adirondack chairs, she thought of Ben. His face was more expressive than he realized, and she knew how badly he’d wanted to take over the project. But he hadn’t. He’d waited until she asked for help and then still kept quiet while she fumbled with the tools.

  It had been sweet. And then, when she’d asked him to do a final tightening on the bolts, he hadn’t looked smug or made a big deal of it.

  He was also easy to talk to. Almost too easy, she thought. She’d come very close to asking him if he’d like to come back after his meeting with Josh and try out one of the chairs. But she hadn’t for the same reason she’d panicked when he started talking about the diner.

  She wasn’t here to date. She had absolutely no interest in sharing her life with a man right now, even one as attractive and kind as Ben Rivers.

  Of course that didn’t stop her gaze from going directly to him when she walked into the living room, where she’d been told the meeting would be. The room was full, but Ben was leaning against the doorway to the dining room, his arms folded across his chest as he spoke to a man Laney didn’t know.

  Ben saw her and smiled, uncrossing his arms to wave to her. She waved back and then took a seat in one of the dining room chairs somebody had moved into the room. Looking around, she tried to guess who some of the visitors were.

  The man talking to Ben looked enough like Josh that she guessed he was one of his older brothers, but it wasn’t until a little girl ran up and hugged his leg that she figured out it was Mitch Kowalski. And the woman chasing the girl despite being even more pregnant than Katie had to be his wife, Paige.

  Andy was handing a little boy over to a man in a Whitford PD T-shirt, so she knew that was Drew Miller, his son. Rosie had told her their grandson had just turned one. And she’d laughed as she told Laney she was a double-grammy to little Jackson because she was Drew’s stepmother, but also because she’d practically raised Liz. After looking around the room, Laney spotted a woman with dark, curly hair and blue eyes who was talking to Rosie, but keeping a close eye on the baby. She guessed that was Liz Kowalski Miller.

  Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Laney pulled up the app on her phone in which she kept various notes relating to the Northern Star. It had a photograph of the task list Rosie had written out. She also had a list of the inventory it was her job to keep track of, along with other miscellaneous notes. Starting a new one with ATV Club Meeting at the top helped with the feeling of being overwhelmed. Nobody expected her to memorize every person in the town and family right off the bat. It would take her a while to get to know everybody, and right now all she needed to do was take note of anything during the meeting that might be relevant to her job.

  Finally, Josh called the meeting to order and everybody in the room quieted. They went through typical club business, like a treasurer’s report and reading minutes from the last meeting. There was talk of trail maintenance and a landowner who wasn’t thrilled a group of side-by-sides cut across his lawn. Then it was time for new business and Josh talked about how he and Ben were exploring the possibility of finding a few emergency-use-only shortcuts through the woods.

  Laney glanced at Ben when Josh said his name, and was surprised to find him looking at her. Their eyes met for a few seconds and then he turned his attention back to Josh. Flustered, and hoping nobody would notice, Laney looked down at her phone and pretended to read her notes.

  “And one last thing,” Josh said. “Some of you know this is happening, but for everybody else, Rosie and my aunt Mary decided to move the annual Kowalski family camping trip to the Northern Star this year. The invasion begins the Wednesday before the Fourth of July and they’ll be here for two weeks.”

  Laney still wasn’t sure exactly how many Kowalskis there were, but she knew there were a lot of them. She’d just started this job, and the place filling up with the bosses’ family members was a whole new level of pressure.

  “I’ll make you a list, Laney,” she heard Rosie say and even though everybody in the room laughed, she was pretty sure the woman wasn’t kidding. She liked lists.

  “The reason I mention it,” Josh continued, “is that it coincides with heavy traffic times on the trails, especially the holiday weekend. It’ll probably be best if we coordinate ahead of time who’s willing to do trail patrol and when so we can keep everything under control, even if Andy and I are spending less time than usual out there.”

  “I baked some goodies today,” Rose said. “And once the meeting proper is over, everybody who’s willing to volunteer some extra trail patrol time can come on in the kitchen and we’ll look at the schedule while we eat.”

  Laney joined in the laughter as they all recognized they were being blackmailed by baked goods. And if the welcome basket she’d found in her camper when she arrived was anything to judge by, it would work, too.

  “Oh, that wasn’t the last thing,” Josh said. “The actually last thing is a new face in the room. Most of you know Laney’s staying here for the season to help us out, so I want to introduce her because if Andy and I aren’t around, she’ll be taking care of things.”

  Laney smiled when everybody turned to look at her and gave a little wave in everybody’s general direction, but she was relieved when Josh announced they were done and there was a mad rush for the kitchen.

  She heard Ben’s voice as he walked out of the room with Rosie. “You know, technically I’m part of trail patrol 24/7, since I’m always on call. How many cookies does that get me?”

  “Does that count the two I know you stole before the meeting even started?”

  He laughed, and Laney felt her mood lift just at the sound. She loved his laugh. As she stood, tucking her phone into the back pocket of her shorts, he turned back to her.

  “You’re going to come have some cookies, right?”

  “I’d have a hard time doing trail patrol since I’ve never been on a four-wheeler in my life.”

  His eyebrow arched. “Never?”

  “Nope.”

  “There are ATVs all over this place. I can teach you.”

  Now it was her turn to raise her eyebrow. “Teach me what? How to ride one?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I don’t know if I’d like that.” Obviously she’d seen others driving them around the property since she arrived, including the guy who ended up underneath his, but she hadn’t felt any sudden need to try it herself.

  “You might not. Or you might love it. No way to know until you get on one.” He grinned. “Something new to experience this summer.”

  “You’re playing dirty now.”

  “Oh, I can show you dirty.” He paused and the tops of his ears turned pink. “Uh, mud puddles. ATVs in the mud. You get dirty.”

  Laney laughed to let him off the hook, though she knew it was going to be a long time before she could get those words out of her mind. “I’ll think about it.”

  “You know where to find me.”

  She definitely did, since it s
eemed like he was there every time she turned around. Or closed her eyes.

  “Hey, Laney,” she heard Josh call to her. “Come meet some people.”

  While she ate cookies and focused on trying to memorize names and faces and connections to the Northern Star, Laney couldn’t quite shake her awareness of Ben, even in the crowded kitchen. He talked with people and held Jackson for a while. Snuck a cookie to Sarah and got a stern talking-to from Paige. And the one time she dared look directly at him, he caught her looking. And he winked.

  Oh, I can show you dirty.

  She wondered how many warm, fresh chocolate cookies she could eat and still button her shorts.

  Chapter Five

  Ben wiped his hand across his face, but it did nothing but grind the dust and grit deeper into his skin. It was hot and humid for late June, and right now he wanted nothing more than to ride his quad out to the Northern Star and dive into their pool. But Rosie would slap him sideways if he jumped in as filthy as he was.

  Or Laney would.

  Oh, I can show you dirty.

  It was three days later and he still felt his face get hot when he remembered that moment. As soon as the words had left his mouth, he’d realized how it sounded and been afraid Laney would take it the wrong way.

  And maybe she had, but she hadn’t slapped his face. Or gotten tense and turned away. Something had flared in her eyes and her lips had curved into the hint of a smile as she looked at him. The unintended innuendo hadn’t offended her. It had intrigued her.

  And he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Even now, sitting on his ATV in front of the fire station with his helmet on his lap because he couldn’t summon the energy to get off the damn thing, he was thinking about that look on Laney’s face.

  “Hey, you planning to sit there until Whitford gets a takeout joint that’ll deliver?”

  Ben turned to see his brother Jimmy leaning against the brick wall of the station and remembered they were supposed to have dinner. “How much do you think it would cost me to have a pizza delivered?”

  “Considering the nearest place is probably twenty minutes away, time and the price of gas, maybe a hundred bucks.” After a few seconds of silence, Jimmy cocked his head. “You’re not actually considering it, aren’t you?”

  Ben laughed. “Not really, but it sure sounds good. I’m starving.”

  “Then get off the machine and we’ll walk over to the diner.”

  That was the plan they’d come up with, but Ben hadn’t been exhausted and so sweaty the dust was turning to mud on his skin. “I have to replace the supplies I used and bring the ATV inside before I can go.”

  “Then get moving. And no, you’re not getting a rain check. The boys are driving Chelsea crazy lately and you wouldn’t believe how hard it was to get a night out. I have to help her clean closets this week. And put up shelving in the basement for all the bulk crap she buys with coupons.”

  With a groan, Ben climbed off the ATV and hung his helmet off the handlebar. “I have to eat, anyway. The fact you’ll have to organize your wife’s shoes just makes it that much sweeter.”

  “How the hell did you get like that, anyway? Did you stop and roll around in the dirt on your way back?”

  “We responded to an accident. Family in a four-seater got hit by a guy on a quad. They were okay, but the mom got a dislocated shoulder because she saw it coming and reached back like she was going to brace the kids or something. But the guy took off and they said he was drunk, so we left Dave and the other guys to handle the mom and took off after him. Drew just put new tires on the PD’s quad and the tread was throwing up dust like a damn cloud.”

  “Who the hell gets drunk at lunch and then goes out on the trails?”

  “The same guy who’s eating dinner in a cell tonight because we know the trails and he doesn’t. We split up because we knew Matt was coming in from another direction and he ran out of places to go.”

  “At least it wasn’t worse.”

  Ben couldn’t begin to count the number of times he’d said that to himself over the course of his career. He knew what worse really meant, and today it definitely could have been worse.

  Even though the injuries had been minor, he still had to do the preliminary paperwork and a quick inventory. Then he backed the ATV down between the engine and the wall into a small space they’d cleared for it. Because of the drugs he was able to carry and dispense, the machine couldn’t be left unattended unless it was in the station, but the engine and the utility truck ate most of the space.

  Then he did the best he could do washing up in the sink and called it good. Jimmy had told his wife he’d try to be home in time for the bedtime routine, so it would take too long for Ben to shower and change. And Paige had built the diner’s business on being snowmobile and ATV friendly, so they wouldn’t mind a little dirt.

  When she’d bought the closed-down restaurant, Paige had redone the inside but kept a cool retro look. Black-and-white marble. Red vinyl. With good coffee, great food and friendly staff, it was no wonder she’d made a success out of the formerly dismal and ultimately abandoned establishment.

  Rumor had it she’d also invested in the Northern Star when the family realized the ATV trail access was going to not only save the lodge, but make money if they expanded. And her investment was separate from that of her husband, Mitch, who owned one of the top controlled demolition companies in the country. Ben wasn’t sure how much of that particular rumor was true, but he did know that the family had jumped through all the legal hoops to turn the Northern Star into a structured business, which then grew into the Northern Star Lodge & Campground.

  Tori was working tonight, he saw as he walked through the door. The pretty brunette was married to Max and they had a six-month-old daughter named Chessie, who’d be at home with her daddy. Max worked from home and Tori actually did, too, since she did some kind of graphics work with book covers or something. But she liked getting out of the house, so she’d picked up shifts at the diner before she and Max got together and she kept on doing it.

  Her cousin, Gavin, was cooking, and as soon as Ben saw a glimpse of him on the other side of the pass-through window, his mouth started watering. Gavin’d gone away for a while to cook in Kennebunkport, but then one day he’d come back and Ben didn’t know the story of why. But he didn’t really care. The man was an amazing cook.

  “Hey, guys,” Tori said, setting menus down in front of them. “Rough day?”

  Ben shrugged. “Could have been worse.”

  “Coffee or something cold?” They both asked for coffee. “By the way, Gavin made chicken parmesan tonight and that might sound boring, but you would not believe how amazing it is.”

  “Sold,” Ben said.

  “Ditto. We’re easy,” Jimmy said.

  “That’s not what your wife says,” she retorted, and she was laughing as she walked away.

  “Speaking of being easy, Mom says you’ve met Laney.”

  “Have you met her?”

  “No, but everybody in town knows they hired help for Rosie and her name is Laney.” Jimmy paused while Tori set down their coffee mugs and a dish of creamer cups, and then he leaned forward. “And according to Mom, she’s about your age, pretty and held your hand or something.”

  Ben rolled his eyes. “She didn’t hold my hand. She cleaned my cut.”

  He held it up so Jimmy could see for himself, and then turned it so he could see it. The lighting here was better than it had been in the station’s bathroom and he probably should have cleaned it better after it took a beating today. It was a little sore.

  “But the pretty part is true?”

  Ben nodded, then took a sip of his coffee to avoid saying more. But Jimmy just watched, waiting him out. “Yeah, she’s pretty. She’s also divorced and has no interest in getting involved with anybody rig
ht now.”

  “Huh. Seems to me a woman your age who was stuck in an unhappy marriage for a while would want to have a little fun.”

  “Well, she doesn’t,” Ben snapped, a little more harsh than he intended. But he’d spent too much time trying to convince himself he and Laney were a bad mix to want to listen to his brother joke about it. “And I’m not looking for a little fun at this point in my life. I’m almost forty, so if I have a relationship, it’s going to be with a woman who wants the same things I do, like a home and kids and maybe a dog.”

  “Jesus, my kids are up my ass about getting a damn dog. Chelsea already told me if I bring home a puppy, she’s going to set my pickup on fire and she may or may not let me get out of it first.”

  Jimmy kept going—something about garbage cans not being brought in—but Ben wasn’t really listening. And he wasn’t looking at him, either, because the view over Jimmy’s shoulder was of the door.

  And Rosie walked through it, with Laney right behind her.

  * * *

  Laney was so focused on what Rosie was saying, she made it halfway through the diner before she spotted Ben. Luckily, Rosie also stopped, so it wasn’t awkward.

  But Ben was rumpled and had sleepy eyes and was very, very dirty. And though she never would have guessed it about herself, Laney found it incredibly sexy.

  Or maybe it was the way he looked at her—with a directness and intensity that made her shiver—before he shifted his gaze to Rosie.

  “Good evening, ladies.”

  “Heard you had a rough day,” Rosie said to Ben after smiling a greeting to the other man.

  “Could’ve been worse.” When Rosie nodded, he looked at Laney. “Laney, this is my brother Jimmy. Jimmy, this is Laney.”

  He turned in the booth to smile up at her. “Nice to meet you.”

  “You, too.” The resemblance between the two brothers wasn’t as pronounced as it was in the Kowalski family, but they had the same smile.