“Sounds good.”
Ryan climbed down from the roof and went into the barn to get the keys. He fired two of the machines to let them warm up for a few minutes while he grabbed the chain saw off the shelf and secured it in its rack on the front of the bigger ATV. Then he grabbed a couple pairs of work gloves and branch cutters and threw them in the cargo box.
By the time Nick came out of the house, Ryan had scrounged up a few helmets for him to try on. “You go four-wheeling with your dad, right?”
Nick looked confused, but he nodded. “Yeah. Not a lot anymore, but sometimes.”
“I thought we’d go cut some trail today, if you’re up to it.”
“Yeah. Cool!”
Once Nick had a helmet on, Ryan led the way into the woods. At first they were on established trails he’d ridden since he was a kid, but out toward the back corner, a new trail cut off.
Part of the plan to connect Whitford to the ATV trails was an access trail that cut across the lodge’s property, and that of several other landowners. The hope was, of course, that direct access by ATV to both the food and gas in town and the trail system would build up year-round business for the Northern Star. But it was up to them to cut the trail.
The new path was still pretty rough, so Ryan kept a close eye on Nick, but the kid was a good rider. He kept a steady pace and it wasn’t long before they reached the spot where the fresh trail dead-ended into the woods.
Ryan killed the engine and grabbed the gloves and cutters out of the box. “See how it’s marked?”
Josh had been out several times with members of the ATV club and a guy from the state and they’d used orange flags and spray paint to mark where the trail needed to be.
Nick nodded. “Everything between the orange markers has to go, right?”
“You got it.”
They worked side by side, cutting away brush and moving rocks. Occasionally Ryan had to fire up the chain saw and take down smaller trees. A patch of puckerbrush almost got the better of them, but they managed to clear it with only minor scratches.
There was one large pine they skipped over. “My brothers and I will come out and deal with this one later.”
“What about the stumps?”
“We’ll deal with them later, too. Some weekends the guys from the ATV club come over and give a hand, so it’s not too bad.” Ryan pulled off his glove and wiped his arm across his forehead. “You know, you can come over and go riding sometime. With me, of course, or one of my brothers. You can’t be running around alone out here.”
“Sure. Thanks.” He didn’t seem too excited about the offer. “That’d probably make my mom happy.”
“I’m not sure why, since I didn’t invite her.”
Nick shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “You know, ’cause we’d be bonding or whatever. Because I’m her son and you’re her...you know, whatever, so that would make her happy.”
Ryan had to laugh. “I guess since I am her you know, whatever, it might make her happy if I bonded with you, but that’s not why I made the offer. When I was your age, I wanted to live on my four-wheeler and it doesn’t sound like you get a lot of seat time right now.”
“Not too much. But Alex and Adrienne are getting older now, so we might ride more.”
“It’s hard with little kids.” While he had his glove off, Ryan pulled out his phone and looked at the time. “Oh, shit.”
“What?”
“Don’t tell your mother I said shit.”
“Pretty sure I’ve heard that word before.”
“Yeah, but as her you know, whatever, I have to be on my best behavior with you. As it is, it’s later than I thought and she’s probably at the lodge waiting to kill me right now.”
They packed up the tools and hit the trail, with Nick leading this time. He’d have to look back when they reached intersections so Ryan could point in the right direction, but he was comfortable on the machine. Not reckless, but confident, and Ryan had to admit Dean had taught the kid well.
He wasn’t surprised to see Lauren’s car parked in the drive when they came out of the woods. Hopefully, Rose was keeping her distracted so she wasn’t fuming over the fact it was already getting dark.
They parked the four-wheelers and put the chain saw and keys back in the barn. When they went through the back door into the kitchen, everybody turned to look. The four guys—Dill, Matt, Josh and Andy—were crowded around the sink, washing up. Rosie was at the stove and Lauren had been on her way to the dining room with a stack of plates.
She looked at Nick, then at Ryan with one eyebrow raised. “What did you do to my son?”