He was whistling when he walked into the kitchen and he stopped to sniff the warm air. “Are those my special apple pies?”
“Of course.” Rose pointed to where they were cooling on the rack. She made little individual pies, pinched off at both ends, like they did at fast-food restaurants. She’d wrap them in foil he could peel back as he ate while driving. “When’s the last time you groomed the trails without my apple pies?”
“You’re too good to me, Rosie.” He kissed her cheek, but when he reached for a pie, she slapped his hand. “Still too hot. Go take a shower.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Do you want me to heat up some beef stew before you go?”
He shook his head. “I’m picking Katie up and we’re going to grab something at the diner before we head to the clubhouse.”
“You make sure you share those pies with her.”
He grinned at her over his shoulder as he left the kitchen. “Maybe, if she’s nice to me.”
It was already quarter after five when he pulled up outside the barbershop and beeped his horn. He wouldn’t have been late, but halfway there when he’d realized he was so intent on seeing Katie after several days without her, he’d forgotten the pies. He had to turn around and go back for them.
He smiled when she stepped out onto the sidewalk, juggling stuff while making sure the door locked behind her. She’d remembered to dress in layers. It could be hard to regulate the heat in the groomer, because keeping the windshield clear sometimes meant overheating the cab. But other times it could get chilly and if, heaven forbid, there was a problem, she also had be prepared to stand out in the cold for hours at a time. The groomer had died on him a few years back out in the middle of freaking nowhere in a cell dead zone and he’d worked on that sucker for five hours before a passing sledder finally stopped, then rode for help.
She shoved her snowmobiling gear and her heavy sweatshirt in the backseat of the truck, along with her hat and gloves, then climbed into the passenger seat. Before she even got the door closed, he leaned over to kiss her.
“I missed you,” he said, and her face got that soft, gooey feminine look that probably should have scared him, but didn’t.
“Missed you, too. I didn’t think it was ever going to stop snowing.”
The diner parking lot was more full than he’d expected. Probably a bunch of people suffering from cabin fever after the storm had felt the need to get out. In Whitford, after business hours, there weren’t that many places to get out to.
“They’re busy for a Tuesday night,” Katie said as he backed the truck into an open spot. “Either people were sick of being inside or Gavin’s cooked up one hell of a special.”
It wasn’t the special. They overheard grumbling before they even got to an open table, and Ava looked cranky as hell when she slammed two coffee cups on their table. “The special’s some weird, tropical chicken thing. It has coconut, Josh, so don’t order it. Katie, you might like it, but fair warning—it comes served over rice, not with mashed potatoes. I swear to God, if a man in these parts doesn’t get mashed potatoes with his flippin’ supper, you’d think he was being starved half to death! Now…Josh, what do you want to eat?”
He gave her the charming Kowalski smile that usually worked pretty well on highly annoyed women. “I’ll have whatever you think I should have, Ava. And I’ll like it.”
She laughed and rested her hand on his shoulder. “I’ve always liked you boys.”
“And, if it’s not too much trouble, if you could brew a pot of coffee for the thermos, I’d appreciate it.”
“Grooming tonight, huh?” When he nodded, she tapped her pen on the order pad. “I guess you’ll be wanting a double dose of the meat loaf, then?”
“That sounds perfect. Mashed and extra gravy, and you can keep whatever the veggie is.”
“Katie, what’ll you have?”
“I’ll have a single serving of the same, please.”
Ava nodded and started to walk away, but then she leaned down to squeeze Josh’s shoulders. “I’m awful glad you’re not leaving us, Josh.”
“I hope people find somebody else to talk about soon,” he said when Ava was out of earshot. “I hate being the center of attention.”
“I’m glad you’re staying, too, you know,” Katie said quietly. “I mean, if you’d sold the lodge, I would have been happy for you, but not so much for me.”
“It’s a moot point now, anyway. I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sometimes it seems like you’re okay with that and sometimes it doesn’t.”
He didn’t see much sense in lying to Katie. “Because sometimes I am and sometimes I’m not. But mostly I am. Hey, I get to hang out with you, right?”
“Is that enough for you?”
The question hung between them, the conversation suddenly a lot more serious than he liked to have. Especially in the middle of the Trailside Diner. “For now.”