Page 50 of What it Takes
“Hey, new arrivals.”
Sean turned at the sound of Laney’s voice and found her looking at the piles of belongings. “Hey, Laney. This is Joey, Danny, Stephanie and Nick. Guys, this is Laney and she’s the boss.”
He pointed to each of them as he named them, and she gave them a group wave. “I’m more like an underboss. Everybody answers to Rosie.”
“Do you know how to put up tents?” Danny asked her.
Sean shook his head and she must have caught it out of the corner of her eye, because she shrugged. “Nope. Sorry. I bet you’ll figure it out, though.”
When she moved over to where he was standing, Sean leaned close so he could keep his voice low. “Watching them put up tents is going to be the best entertainment we’ve had all week. We might have to make some popcorn.”
“What do you think the chances are they’ll give up and beg rooms from Rosie?”
“I think if they end up in rooms, it’ll be because they’re uncomfortable in the tents. But they’re all stubborn enough so they’ll get them up. Especially if we’re heckling them.”
“It’s good that they were all able to get the long weekend off and come over.”
Sean laughed. “What Mary and Rosie want to happen usually happens. But, yeah, they all work for good people. They can’t have the entire two weeks off, but one weekend with everybody together is good enough.”
“Tomorrow will be crazy,” she said.
“That it will.” Tomorrow they’d be having thebigbarbecue with not only the entire family, but there had been an open invitation to friends. Once it was dark, they’d be having a small fireworks show for the kids, and then it would be campfire time.
“You are not even going to believe how much food will be cooked tomorrow,” he added. When she smiled, but didn’t say anything, he realized that no matter how often they dragged Laney over to eat with them, she wasn’t the kind of person to assume she was always invited. “You know you’re joining us, right?”
She laughed. “I am?”
“You don’t have to, of course, but I think you already know what’ll happen if Rosie or Aunt Mary finds out you’re not eating with us.”
“I spent some time with Rosie and Mary making lists and figuring out who was making or bringing what. Rosie might have mentioned that I’ll be joining in on the food and fun, not just helping out.”
Sean spotted Emma walking toward them and he lifted his arm so she could slide up next to him and loop her arm around his waist. He squeezed her shoulders. “Did you come to watch the tent debacle?”
“Don’t you think you should distract Johnny so he’ll leave Steph alone for two minutes?”
“Nope.” He laughed. “It’s more fun watching him help her.”
When Johnny took the instruction pamphlet for Steph’s tent and ran off toward the campers, Sean laughed. But Steph was getting frazzled, so he took pity on his young cousin and went after his son.
“Run faster,” Emma called after him. “He likes to flush papers down toilets.”
* * *
Laney wasn’t sure they could fit any more people on the Northern Star property if they had to. It seemed as if everybody in town was there, including a lot of people she hadn’t met. When Rosie had told her it would be abigbarbecue, she hadn’t been exaggerating.
But there were enough people she did know so that there was always somebody nearby to talk to, including Nola, who was wandering around somewhere. The only people notably missing were Ben, Drew and Matt. She’d seen Matt’s wife, Hailey, with their daughter and Bear, and obviously Liz and Jackson were there. The paramedic, police chief, and game warden all being gone meant there was a problem somewhere.
“You look worried,” Josh said, and Laney turned. She hadn’t even known he was standing there.
“Not worried. I was just noticing the three people I expected to be here and aren’t are people who respond to emergencies.”
“Yeah, they are. A woman rolled her four-wheeler on a rocky hill and they think her hip is broken. And she couldn’t have been any further from a decent extraction point if she’d tried on purpose. It’s a slow, painful ride out in the basket for her. Last I knew, they were bringing an ambulance in as close as they could get, which is about four or five miles, and then the ambulance would get her to a helicopter.”
“I...” She stopped, not sure what she could say. “That sounds awful.”
“It is. Accidents happen, unfortunately. But she was wearing a helmet, so at least they can fix her up. And because we have Ben, she doesn’t have to make that trip out without something to help with the worst of the pain.” She must not have looked convinced because after a short pause, he kept talking. “Everything we do in life has risks. Driving a car. You can go sledding in the backyard and run into a tree. With four-wheelers and snowmobiles, you need to be taught well, wear safety gear and know your limits. I think because you and Ben are friends or whatever, you’re focused more on the few accidents and not the thousands of people safely enjoying the sport.”
Friends or whatever.“Maybe you’re right. I’ve gotten to know your family pretty well, and I know they wouldn’t take their kids out on them if they weren’t pretty sure they’d be safe.”
