Danny gave Liz the side-eye and then nodded. “Good point.”
Liz slapped Drew’s knee. “I’m not that bad.”
“Honey, you’re not that good, either.”
Everybody laughed and, even though it was at her expense, it felt good to hear it and she hoped the better mood carried through the rest of the day. She really wanted, when everybody went their separate ways, for it to be on good terms. Or at least not bad ones.
*
As Mary had promised, once they’d eaten their last barbecued dinner as a family, the adults were free to go for a ride. After a very long day that included the pool, a water gun war and various other sports events of doom, most of them were content to sit by the campfire and supervise s’mores. But a few of the guys were going out.
Drew wasn’t quite sure where he stood. Things had become more normal between him and Liz’s family over the course of the day to the point he’d been pretty comfortable during dinner. But in a group made up of Joe, Kevin, Ryan, Josh and Mitch—with no women playing peacemaker—he might not be as welcome.
“You in, Miller?” Mitch barked as he walked by. “Five minutes.”
Good enough. He grabbed his gear and was ready to go by the time the other guys were. They all stopped on their way to the four-wheelers to kiss their women, so he did the same.
Liz was breaking chocolate bars into s’mores-size pieces in preparation for the evening when he stepped up beside her and kissed the side of her neck.
“I’m heading out.” He snagged a piece of chocolate and popped it in his mouth.
She slapped his hand. “Those are only for people having s’mores. And don’t forget, if you get too close to the other guys in mud, they will roost the hell out of you.”
Since he had no desire to come back covered from helmet to boot in mud thrown off their tires, he made a mental note. “Maybe I’ll roost them.”
“They’re not that easy to catch off guard.” She lifted her finger to the corner of his mouth and swiped at it. “Chocolate.”
“Let’s go,” somebody yelled.
“I’ll be back.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her goodbye.
Once they were clear of the campground, Kevin—who was in the lead—kicked it into high gear and they tore through the woods. Whenever they had to slow down for tricky terrain, Drew made sure he left enough space between him and Ryan so he wouldn’t get wedged in behind him in a mud puddle.
Eight miles out, he saw Kevin’s taillights get squirrelly through a break in the trees and then pull hard to the right. They all pulled in behind Kevin, who’d gotten his four-wheeler as far off the trail as he could.
“Think I punctured a tire,” he said.
“I’ve got a kit,” Joe called from the rear.
After inspecting the tire, the puncture was found and Joe opened up the plug kit. “This is going to take a while.”
Drew tossed his helmet and gloves on the seat of his four-wheeler and grabbed a water from the storage box. He also found a candy bar and it made him smile to imagine Liz sticking it in there for him while he was getting ready.
Mitch walked over to stand next to him, mirroring his position of leaning against the ATV. “Heading home tomorrow.”
“Yup.” Drew took a swig of his water.
“I’ll spend a couple of days at home playing catch-up on paperwork and email and shit, then I’ve got jobs to check on in San Antonio and Philadelphia. Back to the grind, I guess.”
“We’ll be getting ready for Old Home Day.” Drew hated the stilted conversation and the awkwardness between them.
“I’m probably going to miss it. Paige is a little disappointed, but it was more important to her I take this entire week off.”
“It’s a busy day for the diner, so she might work, anyway.”
Mitch shrugged. “Probably. She might go in and help out Liz and Ava if it’s busy.”
“They asked the ATV club to ride in the parade to celebrate the trails opening, so they might be even busier than usual.”
“Yeah. So...about Liz.” Mitch stole Drew’s water and took a long sip before handing it back. “Needless to say, walking in like that was a shock. You and her together didn’t make any sense in my head. But now that I know and I’ve watched you guys be around each other, she seems happy. You guys look like a couple and it’s less weird.”
Drew nodded, not sure what he should say in response. Needless to say, Mitch coming around and even giving his blessing, so to speak, would be the best-case scenario. But the entire family seemed to have hopped on some kind of relationship express train while he and Liz were still at the station, trying to figure out their destination.