“I’m in construction. I like women who aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty.”
He didn’t say it in any kind of flirtatious way, but she felt herself blush a little. “I grew up in a hardware store. I don’t think I even had fingernails worth breaking until I left home.”
“I remember.”
“True.” Sometimes she had a hard time connecting this adult, sexy man with the kid she’d grown up with.
Paige stopped by to take their orders, and they both asked for coffee and burgers. She wrote it down, then pointed her pen at Ryan. “I meant to tell you, I was up at the lodge yesterday and I can’t believe how much work you’ve done on the outside. It’s going to look great for the wedding, so thank you.”
“Dill and Matt have worked pretty hard on it, so I’ll pass your thanks along to them. They’ll head out Thursday night, since the family’s coming Friday morning, and they’ll put all the sawhorses and scaffolding and stuff in the barn with the tools before they go.”
“I can’t wait.”
“I hope you realize you owe us a movie night,” Lauren said.
“I had to cross movie night off my calendar to write in my wedding,” Paige confessed. “I was hoping nobody would notice.”
The first Saturday of every month was movie night in Whitford. A bunch of the women took turns hosting it and the host got to pick the movie. There were also snacks and no shortage of drinks.
“When you get your new house, you’re going to have to throw an epic movie night to make up for it,” Lauren teased. Paige’s trailer was so tiny, she’d never been able to host the other women.
“Guess I’d better buy a television then.”
“Mitch hasn’t bought one yet?” Ryan asked. “I’m surprised.”
“He hasn’t been home a lot. And, trust me, he’s TV shopping. I think he’s waiting for me to pick a house so he can measure the living room wall.”
The bell rang, signaling food in the pass-through window, so Paige had to run. She was back a minute later with their coffees, but couldn’t chat anymore.
“So tell me about your life since you moved away,” Lauren said as they fixed their coffees. “I hear little bits and pieces, but not a lot.”
“You know the part where I landed a job with a Boston builder when I graduated from college.” He’d told her that the day he’d asked her to divorce Dean and leave with him. “I worked my way up with him, got married, kept working, got divorced, started my own business, worked a lot more, built a house in Brookline...more work. And I’m here. Working.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “I suspect that’s the abridged version.”
“That’s pretty much the only version. There’s not a lot more to it than that.”
“Was your divorce a bad one? I mean, all divorces suck, but did you fight?”
He shrugged. “Not really. We drifted apart and both came to the conclusion about the same time that we didn’t really want to be married anymore. Last I heard she’d married a guy from Rhode Island. I think. Or maybe it was Jersey.”
“I guess, with no kids, it’s easier to move on. At least there’s no custody battle and child support and visitation schedule to fight over.”
He stirred the spoon in his coffee cup, staring at the swirling liquid. “On the flip side, though, I have no kids.”
There was something in his voice that made her sad. Her divorce had sucked. Since the marriage’s death blow was her finding Dean in bed with Jody, it had been ugly. And there was no putting him behind her, or being so over it that she wasn’t even sure where he lived. There were smiles past clenched teeth and arguments over who had to pay for what and holidays spent alone because it was dad’s turn.
But she had Nick. He made everything—from being married to Dean to going to work every day to smiling at the current Mrs. Carpenter—worth it.
“Okay,” she said. “Leave it to me to sit here across from a great guy, drinking good coffee on a beautiful day and bring up divorce.”
He grinned at her over the rim of his coffee cup. “You think I’m a great guy?”
“I don’t think that’s a secret. You Kowalskis are all great guys.”
The grin faded. “But I’m greater than the other ones, right?”
“Are you serious right now?” She laughed at him.
“Of course not.” Then he held up his hand, his thumb and forefinger about a quarter-inch apart. “Okay, maybe a little serious.”
“Fine. I think you might be a little greater than your brothers.”
He winked at her. “That’s what I like to hear.”