“I mean, maybe it could have worked,” Danny muttered, instinctively reacting to the confirmation Kenzie wasn’t the one for him.
“Don’t mumble, Daniel. You just told me yourself all the reasons it can’t work out.”
“But it’s not like I’d have to sell my house tomorrow. I could stay at the campground with Rob and Hannah. I know they wouldn’t mind, and Brian and Siobhan are having a baby in November. He doesn’t stay up there over the winter anyway, because the campground’s closed. Kenzie and I would have months to spend more time together.”
“Can you be happy long-term with a woman who can’t really be a part of the family? You told me yourself you didn’t want to come to every family function alone because she would have to be working.”
“That’s how it is now, but nothing says that’s how it has to be forever.” He was talking faster now, leaning toward his grandmother. “It’s been her and her dad for ten years, and here I come asking her to make me a priority. But at some point, she’llwantmore time off, and then the three of us can figure it out together. I don’t think she’d let me pay a server, but maybe we could have a savings jar, and when we have enough, we pay somebody to take her place for a few days.”
“And the kids whose mother goes to work before they wake up and doesn’t get home until after they’re in bed? Maybe you should trust your gut on this one, Daniel.”
“It wouldn’t be easy. But the restaurant closes at two three days a week, so we’d have family time. And I could bring them to have lunch with her there. Even if she didn’t find a way to cut back her hours, we’d find a way to be a happy family.”
She sighed, holding up her hands. “It sounds like maybe it could work out, after all, if you actually tell her what you’re feeling.”
Weeks’ worth of tension eased in his body, and he collapsed against the back of the chair as the realization really took hold in his mind.
It wasnotimpossible. It wouldn’t be easy, but it would be worth it.
A sly quirk of his grandmother’s lips caught his attention, and he narrowed his eyes. “Gram. You are a devious woman.”
She beamed. “Thank you. At least you got the message. Sean, I actually had to take the wooden spoon to.”
He chuckled, imagining Gram giving her nephew a good whack with the spoon. Kowalskis could definitely be hardheaded, and it was probably a good thing because they were love taps, but it was still a wooden spoon.
The urge to run out to his truck and start driving north was overwhelming, but he stayed in his chair. He’d finish his lemonade and the cookies with his grandmother, and then he’d spend the rest of the day helping his grandfather with those piles. He’d probably still be there when Joey showed up after his workday ended so they could fill Leo’s truck for a dump run. Gram would want to feed them.
Tomorrow, though. Tomorrow he was going to see Kenzie and do whatever he had to do to make her see they were not impossible.
* * *
Kenzie was sitting in her favorite chair on the front porch with a coffee on the table next to her and a book in her lap at ten o’clock in the morning. It still felt decadent to her, especially after sleeping in until seven.
She was better at sleeping in than her dad was. Since they’d started closing on Tuesdays, he’d gotten in the habit of meeting one of his buddies for some early fishing. The first couple of Tuesdays, Kenzie had felt compelled to fill the days with stuff she felt as if sheshouldbe doing, like weeding out her closet and vacuuming the drapes.
Eventually she’d accepted it was okay for Tuesdays to be lazy days. She worked hard, and soon enough it would be too cold in the mornings for front porch sitting, so she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.
The book in her lap today was closed. The story hadn’t been good enough to distract her from memories of sitting with Danny on his back porch, and she’d given up. It was getting easier each week. The first Tuesday morning she’d sat out here, the yearning to be with Danny had been so strong, she’d cried for an hour before making herself get up and clean something.
She didn’t give up, though, and made herself sit there the next Tuesday. After only crying a little bit, she’d dried her tears and opened her book. She’d loved this front porch before she met Danny and his back porch, and she was going to love it again.
A vehicle pulled into the driveway, and she looked up with a smile on her face, expecting it to be her dad, home with more fish stories.
It wasn’t the beat-up old Ford Frank’s buddy drove, though, and she was confused. They rarely got lost tourists turning around in their driveway, and there was no other reason for somebody to pull in.
Then it clicked, and as soon as her brain registered the truck as Danny’s, tears filled her eyes and her pulse quickened. She blinked, swiping at her eyes with a trembling hand while he got out so he wouldn’t see the tears.
She took slow, even breaths to calm herself as she watched him walk toward her. He really needed a haircut. And some sleep. When their eyes met, she could see the hint of shadows under his, matching her own.
“Hello, friend,” she said when he stepped onto the porch.
His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Hi, Kenzie. Can I sit?”
She waved her hand toward the other chair. “Sure. Are you up to help out at the campground, or are you working on another book?”
“I haven’t been to the campground yet. I went straight to the restaurant, but the sign said you’re closed Tuesdays now. I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah. There’s so much more four-wheeler and snowmobile traffic these days, we talked about it and decided we could afford to take a day off each week.”
