Chapter Twenty
Today was going to be fun, Rob thought while he waited by the big, four-passenger side-by-side. And by fun, he meant torturous and agonizing. But also wonderful. Apparently that’s how days spent with a woman one was falling in love with but would have to let go next month went.
The small cooler strapped in one of the back seats was stocked with cold drinks and snacks.
There was a line of helmets on the picnic table, waiting to be tried on.
His camera was in its ruggedized case and stowed in a bag hung between the front seats, as safe as he could make it.
It wasn’t his best camera, which was still in the house, but it hadn’t been cheap. All he needed now were his guests.
“You look like you’re waiting for your prom date to come down the stairs,” Brian told him as he paused on his way to the tractor. “And like maybe you’re afraid she stood you up.”
He chuckled. “I think I’m fifty-fifty on getting stood up.
Hannah would back out in a heartbeat because she prefers walking to the machines.
And Erika was very excited about it, but I got the impression from Hannah that the outdoors isn’t really her thing.
It wouldn’t surprise me at all to get a text message canceling. ”
“That machine’s bigger than you’re used to,” Brian said. “Do not roll it up in a ball with guests inside of it, please.”
“If it’s got wheels, I can drive it.”
“Pretty sure Dad’s riding lawn mower had wheels. And Joey’s dirt bike.”
Rob snorted. “Yeah, remember how Mom and Dad bought that old compact pickup for all of us to learn to drive in and to use until the next kid’s time to learn and by then we had to have our own?
I seem to recall you wrecked it right before I started driver’s ed class, so you have no room to talk.
It was supposed to go to me and I would have gotten to keep it, being the youngest.”
“I wrecked it because the wheel fell off because it was a piece of crap when they bought it, and by the time it went from Danny to Joey to me, it was held together by duct tape and zip ties. You should be thanking me.”
When Hannah and Erika finally emerged from the tree line where the dirt roads intersected, Rob’s pulse kicked up a notch.
“Huh,” Brian said. “My money was on you being stood up. I’ll leave you to it. But seriously, Bobby. That four-seater’s obviously longer, but it’s also wider, so watch the corners. I don’t want any of you getting hurt.”
Usually when one of his brothers called him Bobby, Rob bristled, but this time he could hear what Hannah was talking about. The people who really love you call you Bobby sometimes.
Sometimes they did it to annoy him, but this time, he felt as if Brian used it because to him, the little brother of their formative years and the one he shared all those memories with would always be Bobby.
It was Bobby that Brian helped right the riding lawn mower and fix the mower deck the best they could.
Then when Brian jumped in to keep Joey from actually hurting him when he crashed the dirt bike he wasn’t supposed to be riding, he was doing it for Bobby.
It was a perspective he hadn’t wrapped his head around until Hannah pointed it out, but now he could see it and he clapped his hand on Brian’s shoulder. “I’ll be careful, especially in the corners.”
“I’ll leave you to it, then.”
Brian didn’t actually walk away, though, because Stella wanted to say hello to Hannah and her friend. Erika was tentative about petting her, which confused the dog, but Hannah dropped to one knee in the dirt road to give Stella a good thorough belly rub.
When Stella got up and shook—sending dust from the road flying—Erika made a squeaking sound and stepped back, and Brian’s snicker drowned out Rob’s groan.
“Yeah, you have fun with this,” Brian said. “Come on, Stella.”
It took them almost fifteen minutes to find a helmet for each of them, but he finally found two that would work.
Most of the helmets belonged to the women in the family, and they’d all been thrilled to have another garage to store stuff in.
Since they primarily rode in that part of the state, they’d dumped ATV stuff off on the campground.
“I’ve never worn a helmet like this,” Hannah said. “I don’t know if I can figure out the buckle.”
“I’ll help you,” Rob told her, trying to sound nonchalant. Being so close to her made him feel anything but nonchalant, but he had to fake it because he wasn’t sure what—if anything—she’d told Erika about him.
He did notice, however, that Erika’s helmet was already fastened, which meant she’d figured out the buckle. And yet she made no move to help Hannah, but left it for Rob to do.
Interesting.
He had to pop the door panels open because they couldn’t figure out how and then Erika climbed in the back seat.
“You should sit in the front,” Hannah protested. “It’s your adventure.”
“I might be too scared in the front. You sit up there.”
Rob pointed at the cooler. “I can move that to the front seat if you want to sit in the back together.”
“Hannah gets carsick if she rides in the back seat,” Erika said before Hannah could speak.
He looked at her and she nodded, so he stood back to let her climb into the front seat.
That was something he hadn’t known about her, and he added it to the Hannah files in his brain.
Not that it was a piece of information he’d ever use, in all likelihood, but he wanted to know everything about her.
Once they were in and had figured out the seat belts, he checked to make sure they’d fastened them correctly. It was slightly awkward—especially with Erika—but he wasn’t going to take any chances with their safety.
“Okay,” he said once that was done. He pointed to the door panels, which had an opening at the bottom.
They were going to order nets or the full door panels for it, but hadn’t yet.
“Don’t, for any reason, stick your arms or legs out of the side-by-side.
There’s a bar in front of you called the oh shit bar.
If you hear me say oh shit or some variation of that, you grab that bar with both hands and don’t let go.
That’s to keep your arms from flailing and possibly being outside the vehicle if it rolls over. ”
“That sounds...not fun,” Hannah said.
“You don’t have to worry about it. I won’t be tearing it up today. But if something on the machine breaks or just a random accident, hold that bar and trust in the roll cage. It’s pretty rugged.”
“I was wondering why we had to wear helmets even though it’s like a car,” Erika said.
Rob sighed. “Definitely not a car.”
Hannah touched his fingers, getting his attention, though she withdrew her hand quickly. “Drive it like your mom and gran are in it, okay?”
He laughed. “You don’t want that, sweetheart. They may be Kowalskis by marriage, but they keep up. And if they’re in a mood, they lead.”
Hannah’s eyes sparkled with amusement and she looked like she was going to say something else, but Erika shifted in her seat. “It’s too hot in this helmet.”
“It won’t be once we start moving.”
Rob walked around to the driver’s side and, after putting on his helmet and buckling his seat belt, he hit the button to fire the engine. It roared to life, making the entire machine vibrate, and he glanced over to find Hannah staring at him with wide eyes.
He gave her a reassuring smile and put it in gear.
Thanks to the speed limit in the campground and on the narrow trail that connected it to the main system, they had time to get used to the feel of it.
A glance over his shoulder told him Erika wasn’t waiting for something to happen—she had both hands on the grab bar at all times.
If they went over a rock or hit ruts, Hannah would reach for it, but otherwise, she kept her hands in her lap.
When he finally hit open trail and could punch it a little, Erika squealed and Hannah laughed.
That was all the encouragement he needed.
He’d been riding this trail system for most of his life—from the small 90cc ATV he’d learned on, to the ATVs with major horsepower, to the side-by-sides—and he knew where to be extra cautious and where he could play a little.
It was hard to keep his attention fully on the trail in front of them, though, because he just wanted to watch Hannah.
He knew she’d only agreed to this because her friend seemed so excited about it, but she was having a good time.
He could see it on her face when he looked over, and every time she got nervous enough to grab the bar, he could hear her laugh.
He’d decided to take them up to the scenic overlook his family had visited every summer. It offered some shade, picnic tables and a breathtaking view that stretched into Vermont.
When they’d made it up the rocky hill and he parked, he could tell he’d made the right choice. They both hurried to get their helmets and seat belts off, though it didn’t do them any good because they still couldn’t figure out the door latches without his help.
As soon as he freed them, though, they went immediately to the edge of the clearing to look at the view. Rob grabbed his camera and went in the opposite direction, toward a cluster of boulders that had gathered earth and debris over the many years and had become something of a second lookout.
His intention in walking to the higher vantage point was to take some photos of Hannah and Erika with the view behind them so Hannah would have them. But he only took a few shots before lowering the camera and just watching them.
He couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but they were clearly having a good time. There was a lot of grinning and laughing and, on one hand, he loved to see it. This was why he’d brought them out to have the experience together.