Page 58 of What it Takes
Chapter Fourteen
Ben was in the process of reaching over to hit snooze on his phone for the fourth or fifth time when he realized it wasn’t the alarm. The phone was ringing and his mom’s face was on the screen.
He pulled the charger cord free before he answered so he could roll onto his back. “Hey, Mom.”
“Good morning. Did I wake you up?”
“Nope. I was awake.” Somewhat. He’d been awake a few times already, but he kept falling back to sleep. “What’s up?”
“I’m making Swedish meatballs in the slow cooker for supper, and they’re Jimmy’s favorite. And you’ve been so busy this past week, we’ve barely seen you at all, so I thought a family dinner might be nice.”
“A family dinner on a Tuesday?” He didn’t realize he’d said it out loud for a few seconds and, when he did, he hoped it hadn’t come out too harshly.
“You told me Tuesdays and Wednesdays are your least busy days, and I know your father and brother’s schedule, so this is a night when everybody’s free. Plus, like I said, it’s his favorite meal and I always make too much when I use the slow cooker. You know that.”
Since he still had too many plastic containers of chili and beef stew in his freezer to count, he definitely knew that. “Swedish meatballs sound good, Mom. I’ll be there.”
“Only if you don’t have any other plans, of course.”
Of course she waited until after he’d committed to give a token way out. Or she’d heard something around town and was fishing for details. “I don’t have other plans. And they might be Jimmy’s favorite, but you know I love your Swedish meatballs, too.”
“I’ll see you for supper, then.”
Once he’d hung up, Ben threw his arm over his eyes and thought about going back to sleep. The holiday weekend had been brutal and he’d made it clear that unless a situation came up that was literally life or death, his ass was not getting on a four-wheeler today.
But he was awake now, so he hit the button to make coffee happen and jumped in the shower. Then, mug in hand, he turned on the morning news and sat at his small table to open his laptop. He made the usual rounds—his calendar, the weather forecast, the Facebook account he mostly ignored other than using it as a way to keep track of birthdays—and then, once the caffeine started kicking in, he checked his email. He was waiting for information about the continuing education hours he needed for his license renewal, which still wasn’t in his inbox. Clicking over to his to-do app, he added following up on that. Changing his ATV’s oil and cleaning the air filter were still unchecked and he made a mental note to get to those this week. Or maybe today if he got bored, since it was a long time until supper.
Then he clicked back over to Facebook, since he’d accidentally mentioned it while talking to the teenagers and he’d gotten friend requests from several of the Kowalskis in the last couple of days. And they liked to post pictures, so he clicked through those. There were a lot of photos of the kids, which was to be expected. And a lot taken out on the trail.
Then he came across some from the big barbecue on Saturday. Those he scrolled through more slowly, until he came to one of him and Laney. They were away from the others, facing each other as they spoke. It was a nice picture of them, except he knew that at that moment, she was telling him she wanted to hit the brakes on what was happening between them.
And then he’d had to leave and he hadn’t seen her since then. He’d been too busy and, when he wasn’t busy, too exhausted. They’d exchanged a few text messages, so he knew their friendship was still intact.
But he wasn’t so sure about the more-than-friends they’d become.
Rather than mope over the picture, he closed the laptop and scrambled up a few eggs for breakfast. After laying some cheese slices over the eggs to melt, he popped an English muffin in the toaster and, when that was done, he ate standing up at the counter.
He was about to give up on being lazy and go do the maintenance on his four-wheeler when his phone chimed. It was Laney.
Are you busy right now?
Just finished breakfast. What’s up?
He stared at the little bubble that showed her typing for what seemed like forever before her response came through.Not much. I haven’t seen you, so I thought I’d see if you’re recovered from the holiday weekend.
I’m glad it’s over. What are you up to today?
I have the day off, more or less, because they all went on a big family ride with a picnic lunch and Rosie and Andy are watching the kids. I’ll probably sit in my pink chair and do nothing.
He should tell her to enjoy her day off and leave it at that. She wanted to hit the brakes, and he had to respect that. But she’d reached out to him, so maybe she didn’t want to stop their relationship in its tracks, but just slow it down a little.
You have two chairs,he typed into his phone.Want some company?
He figured if she really wanted to slow everything down, she’d tell him she was planning to read or something, and maybe another time.
Sure. I don’t have much for lunch stuff, so you can bring something or we can raid Rosie’s kitchen.
Turkey sandwich from the diner?
