“Let your family help you, Danny,” she said softly. “Trust that if Rob needs you for something, he’ll ask.”
When he nodded, she stood and brushed off the seat of her jeans. “Now, I’m going to go so you can clean up, put the maul away and do whatever it is you do with the tractor. Then you can get to work—youractualwork, not splitting two years’ worth of wood.”
For a moment it looked as if he was going to stand but changed his mind. That was probably for the best because maybe that look in his eyes had just been intense gratitude, but in the moment he looked an awful lot like a man who wanted to kiss her.
“Thank you, Kenzie. I mean it.” He smiled ruefully. “One of these days, I’m going to have a chance to helpyouwith something.”
“I bet you’d be great at waiting tables.”
The way he cringed made her laugh. “I mean, I can only carry one plate at a time so you might need extended open hours, but I’m here if you need me.”
She waved and walked away laughing because she knew lingering would only open the door to another awkward game ofdoes he want to kiss me or not?
Whether he did or he didn’t, that wasn’t a game she could win.
Chapter Twelve
Saturday turned out to be a blustery day for late spring, with the warm sunshine offset by a chilly wind. Kenzie didn’t mind at all because she wasn’t letting a rare day off from the restaurant be ruined by the need for a heavy sweatshirt and a warm hat. Once they were out in the woods, the trees would help block some of the wind, anyway, and at least it would keep the bugs down.
“Do you have your gloves?” Frank asked as he tossed his own pair on the seat of the utility side-by-side they’d be taking out onto the trails.
The machine had a bench seat and a dump bed on the back. During the winter it had a plow on the front, and it didn’t have the speed or comfort of the fancier machines, but it was a workhorse and it did what they needed it to do.
“I’ve got my gloves. The box of garbage bags are in the back, along with the chainsaw, shovels and rakes. The cooler. I think we’ve got everything we need.”
They played a round of Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would get to drive first, and Kenzie climbed in on the passenger side. They had about a fifteen-minute ride through a private shortcut to get to the field where everybody was meeting before breaking off into work parties.
It didn’t even surprise Kenzie anymore that the first person she saw when they broke out of the trees was Danny. Even though there were at least thirty or forty people milling around, something drew her gaze straight to the spot where he was standing with Rob and Hannah, talking to another group.
And it also wasn’t a surprise when he turned and found her right away, his gaze locking with hers as he smiled and lifted a hand.
“Looks like a decent turnout,” Frank said, reminding her that, no matter how it felt sometimes, she and Danny weren’t the only people on the planet.
“That’s good. We should be able to cover a lot of ground.” When she saw her uncle, she pointed in that direction. “Jim’s over there.”
Once they’d parked and gotten out of the UTV, Kenzie deliberately positioned herself so her back was to the Kowalski family and she was facing her own. It was the only way she’d be able to concentrate on what they were saying. She’d still know Danny was back there, but at least he wouldn’t be in her line of sight.
Her cousins Billy and Chris had joined Uncle Jim for the trail work, but Rhylee wasn’t with them. Nor were Aunt Karen or Billy’s wife. Not being a fan of off-road recreation, the three women had gone into town to see a movie. Rhylee had invited Kenzie, but she liked being out on the trails whenever she had the chance—which wasn’t often. And the trail system brought a lot of business to the restaurant, so she’d give back when she could.
There was a lot of the catching-up kind of talk, because it was rare they were all together outside of the big holidays, but then her dad grinned and waved to somebody behind Kenzie.
“Hey, Hannah’s here.”
“I met those two Kowalski brothers when I got here,” Billy said, also waving. “They seem like good guys.”
Kenzie knew that meant the three of them were on their way over, and she did her best to steel herself before turning around.
This close, she could see Danny looked tired. His eyes didn’t light up as much when he smiled, and there were hints of shadows under his eyes. “Looks like you guys are in our group.”
Frank laughed. “The new guys get to be the leaders?”
Rob shrugged. “The guy with the clipboard said so. And we’ve been riding these trails since I was on a little 50cc machine, so we know our way around.”
“I’m just messing with you. They usually try to group by experience and tools, and you guys know your way around a chainsaw. I don’t need to see the clipboard to know we’re being sent out to deal with the trees blocking the trail on the northern end.”
When Kenzie’s gaze flicked to Danny, he gave her an exaggerated grimace. Chainsaws again.
She didn’t really get a chance to talk to him at all over the next few hours. It was a long ride to get out to where the fallen trees had been reported, plus Frank would occasionally stop so Kenzie could jump out and grab some litter—mostly beer cans tossed into the snow by snowmobilers. It was often a mess when the snow finally melted.
