Chapter 15 #2
“Sure. If you want to. Wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t.”
“I’d love to.”
He playfully tapped her chin with his finger. “You’re crazy.”
“It’ll be an adventure.” She got up and folded the blanket that’d covered them.
“You don’t get out much if you think plowing snow is an adventure.”
Nikki laughed. “You’re very grumpy when it snows. I’m seeing a whole new side to you.”
“I need food and coffee. I’ll call in a pizza to Mario’s. What do you like on it?”
“I’ll eat anything.”
“Anchovies and hot peppers. Coming up.”
“No anchovies!”
“By anything, you mean anything but anchovies?”
“Exactly.”
Shaking his head, he smiled at her and called in the order while she brewed a pot of coffee and filled a thermos that she’d put in the pile to get rid of. They bundled up and headed out into the driving snow, laughing as they ran to the truck where the snow had begun to accumulate on the hood.
Riley scooped up a handful of snow and chucked it at her right as she turned to say something to him, resulting in the snow hitting her square in the face. As she sputtered with outrage, he lost it laughing and got in to start the truck before she could retaliate.
She got into the passenger side, wiping snow from her face as she glared at him. “That was mean.”
“I threw it at your back. You’re the one who turned around.”
“I see how it is. I’ll exact my revenge when you least expect it.”
“Easy, killer.” Riley turned the truck around and dropped the plow to clear the driveway as they moved through the snowy night.
“How can you see where you’re going?”
“Instinct. I know these roads very well.”
“There’s no chance of you driving me off a cliff at any point in this adventure, is there?”
“No chance at all,” he said. “You’re perfectly safe with me.”
Nikki knew that truer words had never been spoken, but now she feared that by sharing her story with him, she’d ensured that they might never get past the dreaded “friend zone.” Maybe she should come right out and tell him she wanted him to be her boyfriend or significant other, which seemed like a more grown-up term.
Whatever the word, as long as he came away understanding that she wanted to be much more than “just friends” with him.
He wanted her. The substantial evidence of his desire had been pressed against her back earlier. But would he ever do anything about wanting her after what she’d told him?
The roads were a mess, so it took twenty minutes to make the short trip into town. At Mario’s, Riley left the truck running when he ran in to pick up the pizza. Then he headed for the marina, where he was supposed to meet the others.
“Bust out that pizza,” he said. “I’m starving.”
“You can’t drive in the snow and eat pizza at the same time.”
“Wanna bet? That’s why I got two smalls instead of a large. Easier to eat small slices while driving in the snow.”
“Clearly, you’ve done this before,” she said as she put a piece of sausage pizza on a napkin for him.
“A few times.”
At the marina, Riley parked next to several other trucks with plows that had been left running. The garage doors to the marina restaurant had been thrown open, and the big space was lit up.
Nikki followed him inside, where the first person they encountered was his brother.
“Nicholas.”
“Finnbar.”
“Nothing better to do on a Saturday night than play in the snow?”
“Apparently not.”
A big, strapping guy came over to them with brown bags full of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies for each of them. “I’m Uncle Mac,” he said, shaking her hand. “Everyone calls me Big Mac.”
“I’m Nikki. Nice to meet you.”
“You, too. You’re one of Evelyn’s granddaughters, right?”
“That’s right.”
“She’s good people.”
“I agree. She thinks the world of you and your family.”
“That’s nice to hear.” To Riley, he said, “Auntie Lin made the cookies. She said to tell you guys to be careful out there.”
“Tell her thanks from us,” Riley said.
“Will do.” Big Mac moved on to talk to others, but Nikki found herself watching him and the way he interacted with family members and friends.
“He’s one of my favorite people in the whole world,” Riley said. “No one is more fun than he is.”
“He seems great.”
“When he bought this place more than forty years ago, it was a falling-down wreck that he transformed into a booming business. I have mad respect for what he’s done here. People come back every summer just to see him.”
“I love your family.”
“I do, too.”
Mac whistled to get everyone’s attention, updated them on the dire forecast and then handed out assignments and portable radios that they used only when it snowed. “Stay alert and take a break if you need it,” Mac concluded. “Let’s get to it.”
“It’s no fair that Riley gets to bring a girl,” Finn said. “I wanna girl to bring.”
While the others cracked up laughing, Riley smacked his brother upside the head. “Girls want nothing to do with you. You’ve got cooties.”
“Ha, bro,” Finn said, punctuating his words with a low, dirty laugh. “You know that isn’t true.”
“Dad, tell The Babies to shut up and get to work, will you?” Mac said.
“Boys, shut up and get to work,” Big Mac said, smiling as he delivered the order.
More pushing and shoving ensued with Finn nearly succeeding in knocking Riley off his feet, before Riley rallied and pushed Finn headfirst into a drift.
“You fucker,” Finn said, coming up sputtering.
Before he could charge after him, Riley grabbed Nikki’s hand and said, “Run!”
He had her safely in his truck and was getting in the driver’s side when he was hit square in the head with a massive snowball.
Nikki couldn’t stop laughing at the murderous expression on his wet face.
“That son of a bitch,” Riley said as he got into the truck, giving his brother the bird as they drove out of the parking lot.
“You guys are funny.”
“I am funny. He is a pain in the ass.”
“I hate to break it to you, but he’s funny, too.”
“No, he isn’t. You can’t like me and think he’s funny. It’s the law.”
“Good to know,” she said, biting back the urge to laugh, knowing he wouldn’t appreciate it.
This is fun, she thought. More fun than she’d had in years.
And they weren’t even doing anything all that special.
Turned out that driving around in the snow with Riley McCarthy was every bit the adventure she’d hoped for.
They listened to music, sang along to cheesy country songs, ate pizza and chocolate chip cookies, drank coffee and kept each other awake as the snow continued to pile up.