Page 34 of What it Takes
“We can just seal the cracks again,” his dad said for the fourth time since Ben hit the bottom step.
“Our driveway already looks like it’s duct taped together thanks to years of that,” his mom argued. “I think we need to redo the entire thing. Ben, what do you think?”
He hated when she did that. In his mind, he heardwhich parent is your favorite at this moment, Ben?“What does Jimmy think?”
“We haven’t asked Jimmy,” she said. “And you live here, so you get a vote.”
He really hoped he wouldn’t be living over his parents’ garage for so long that the longevity of the driveway surface was relevant to him. “I think you should have some kind of cook-off and whoever wins gets to make the driveway plan.”
His dad scowled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You make those ribs that make grown men eat until they throw up and maybe some coleslaw. Mom can offer up some cornbread. Maybe a strawberry-rhubarb pie. Jimmy and I can judge and whoever wins...wins.”
“You just want ribs and pie.”
Ben shrugged. “Just trying to come up with a fair plan because I’m a good son like that.”
“What do you really think?” his dad asked.
“Honestly? It’s starting to look like a patchwork quilt, so either this year or next year, depending on your finances, you should consider having it repaved.”
“Maybe I should raise your rent,” his dad growled.
“Then I’d better to get to work so I can earn more money.” Ben kissed his mom on the cheek, seeing his opportunity for escape.
“We know you’re salaried,” his dad called after him, and Ben laughed.
Sam was at the fire station when Ben walked in, which was no surprise. Dave and Jordan were also there, hanging around. There tended to be a lot of hanging around in Whitford, which was a good thing, since people usually only called them when they were having a really bad day. But it was still an adjustment for Ben, who was used to spending most of his shifts on the run.
Now there were no shifts. If there was a problem, they showed up. Otherwise, they maintained equipment, trained and—in the case of some of the others—worked other jobs. For Sam and Ben, there was a lot more hanging around than anything else.
“Hey, Ben,” Sam said, once he’d had a few minutes to shoot the shit with the guys. “Got a second?”
“Sure.” There was technically an office, but it was more like an oversized closet with a cheap desk shoved in it, so they went outside. It wasn’t totally private, but the other guys were arguing about whatever was on the TV screen and not paying them any attention. “What’s up?”
“They’ll be a lot of traffic this upcoming weekend, what with it being a holiday and all. We’ll probably have more ATV calls than usual.”
“I figured as much. It’s the same in the city, except for the ATVs. A holiday means more parties, more driving under the influence. More accidents. And being the Fourth, more drownings and more injuries from fireworks and sparklers.”
“Rumor has it you’ve been spending a lot of time at the Northern Star lately.”
“Rumor has it, huh?”
Sam shrugged. “It’s a small town.”
“It’s a small town that needs to understand I’m not going to sit here twenty-four hours a day, staring at my phone and waiting to be called out.”
“Back it up,” Sam said, and then he chuckled. “That wasn’t a criticism. I know Sean’s back for a while, and Ryan’s up and lord knows Rosie must be cooking up a storm.”
“Yeah, she is.”
“I was just trying to get a feel for what everybody’s doing over the holiday weekend so when a call comes in, I have a rough idea of where everybody’s staging from. I had the same conversation with the other guys, too. So I’m just wondering if you’ll be spending most of the weekend there, that’s all.”
“Probably. During peak riding hours, I might hang around here, though.” He couldn’t spendallof his time at the campground because being around Laney that much would drive him crazy.
Sam shrugged. “As long as you’re not drinking and have your phone on, it doesn’t really matter if you’re at the lodge. The access trail out of town goes almost all the way there, anyway, so technically starting from the Northern Star would shorten your response time to the main trail system.”
That wasn’t helping, but Ben didn’t want to tell Sam he’d been fishing for a solid reason toavoidhanging out at the lodge. “Good point. I’ll text you whenever I think I might be out there for any length of time, so you’ll know. Otherwise, assume I’ll be starting from here.”
