He looked at the kid, trying to figure out what she meant. He was a little sweaty and flushed from the fast ride home. His clothes were definitely filthy. Even dirtier than his skin, although the dried blood from the puckerbrush scratches probably made his arms look worse than the clothes overall. He’d even managed to get a pretty good scratch on his cheek.
As far as Ryan could see, there was nothing wrong with him. “What do you mean?”
Lauren laughed and gave him a look that seemed to promise good things in the near future, then continued on to the dining room, shaking her head.
Nick elbowed him, distracting him from the delicious view of Lauren walking away. “Do I look as bad as you do?”
“Probably about the same.” He looked down at himself. “But your mom doesn’t buy my clothes, so you’re in more trouble than I am.”
“Since you can’t tell time, I invited Lauren and Nick to stay for lasagna,” Rosie said.
Andy laughed. “Actually she told Lauren she and Nick were staying for lasagna.”
“You, on the other hand, are welcome to go on home and open up a can of something for your dinner,” Rose told him.
Ryan couldn’t see Rose’s face because she was at the counter, transferring dinner rolls from a baking pan to a plate, but he could see Andy’s. The man definitely liked pushing the housekeeper’s buttons, and Ryan thought that was pretty ballsy for a man who’d spent several decades on the woman’s shit list.
Lauren took the plate of rolls from Rose and, by the time Ryan and Nick managed to get clean enough to eat, everybody was sitting around the dining room table. Josh sat at the head, as he had since their dad had passed despite Mitch being the oldest, so Ryan sat at the foot of the table. Nick pulled out the chair on the other side of Lauren, so they were both on his left. It felt right to him, having them there at his family’s dinner table.
Maybe it felt a little too right. It was so easy to picture them doing this every night, like a family. But this wasn’t his table. His was down in Mass, and Lauren had her own table.
“Get much cleared out there?” Josh asked him when they’d all filled their plates.
“A bit. About a quarter-mile from the brook now.” They’d have to build a bridge over the brook to preserve it, but they were hoping if they supplied the lumber, the ATV club would give them a hand with the construction.
“Excellent. I think we might be able to break through to the main trail before the snow flies. Won’t be in good enough shape to groom it for sleds yet, but it’ll be settled for spring.”
Ryan nodded, then pointed his fork at Nick. “You already know the kid’s a good worker, but he’s a hell of a rider, too. If you need a hand, you should give him a shout and see if he’s free to come over.”
Nick beamed, but Lauren didn’t look quite as pleased with the praise. “Umm...I don’t find my son being deemed a hell of a rider by a Kowalski very comforting for some reason. You weren’t going fast, were you, Nick?”
“Of course not.” The kid obviously wanted to deflect his mother’s attention, because he pointed at Ryan. “He was cursing in front of me, though.”
Ryan’s jaw dropped and, when Lauren turned to look at him, Nick mimicked pointing and snickering at him behind her head.
“You little rat.” He picked up his dinner roll and cocked his arm.
Rose slammed her hand down on the table. “Ryan Kowalski! If you throw that roll, you’ll be cleaning the entire kitchen, alone, every night for the rest of the time you’re here.”
“You do realize I can get in my truck and go home anytime, right?” She just kept giving him the look, waiting him out. He set the roll back on the edge of his plate. “Sorry.”
Everybody but Rose, including the miscreant who’d thrown him under the bus and the two guys he paid to respect his authority, laughed at him.
“It’s all right, kid,” he said to Nick. “Rose can’t save you forever.”
Then he winked at Lauren and went back to his lasagna.
By the time they were done eating and Lauren had helped with the cleanup over Rose’s objections, it was getting late and Ryan knew she had to get home. He’d rather have sat on the porch with her for a while, but he walked her and Nick to her car instead.
“I’ll call you tomorrow night,” he said, and then he leaned in through the open window to kiss her goodbye. “Have a good time with your dad this weekend, Nick.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
He watched until the taillights faded into the darkness, then went back inside to take a long, hot shower. Physical labor might be good for the soul, but keeping up with a sixteen-year-old wasn’t good for the body.
*
On Friday morning, Ryan realized they didn’t have enough flashing on hand, an oversight for which he thoroughly reamed Dill and Matt.
Of course, mentioning he was going to run into town real quick and grab some at the hardware store caused Rosie to remember she was out of half-and-half and she didn’t have enough eggs for baking, and ten minutes later he had an entire list. And Josh decided he just had to get a haircut.
“It’s tickling my ears,” he said when Ryan rolled his eyes.