"You've got to be kidding, that's great. So, you know all about it," he enthused.
"Well, they did that in their teens. Granddad ended up selling his boat and was retired by the time I was old enough to know about commercial fishing. But he kept a small boat for fun, and my brothers and I would go out with him all the time. We loved it."
"Hey, wait a minute, did you say dads?" Ben asked in a curious voice, which was when a waitress finally walked up to take their breakfast order.
"Hey, Ben, you want the usual?" she asked.
"Yeah, that'd be great, Florence. Do you know what you want, Kara?" Ben asked.
"I'll take the number two with extra bacon, crisp, please," Kara said.
"What would you like to drink?" Florence asked.
"How about OJ and coffee," Kara stated.
"Sounds good. It'll be a few minutes, we're backed up. I'll bring out some biscuits with your drinks, to tide you over. I'd hate for Ben to get grumpy because his blood sugar drops," she said with a wink.
"Hmm, biscuits, are they homemade?" Kara asked Ben.
"Yep, they melt in your mouth," Ben assured her. "And they come with honey butter."
"Oh, don't tell Lacy, but I think I'm coming here for breakfast from now on."
"You haven't run the gauntlet yet," Ben warned. "And here they come," Ben looked up as a man who looked a great deal like him came to the table, wearing his long hair in a braid that stretched down his back. He was holding Alice and had a smiling woman standing next to him. "Kara, I'd like to introduce you to my brother Randy, his wife Selma, and you've already met Alice."
"Kara sculps," Alice announced, "and she draws purdy pictures." Alice wiggled to be let down, and her dad gently placed her on the floor so she could stand next to the table where Kara and her uncle sat. "Are you eating breakfast?" she asked.
"Yes, button, we are," Ben said with a sweet smile for his niece.
"We had breakfast, too. We had pancakes, them's good." All of the adults looked at the little girl, completely charmed.
"Are you in town for long?" Selma asked Kara.
"Just for a week," Kara explained, not surprised to see the slight frown flit across the other woman's face. She was obviously feeling protective of her brother-in-law, and didn't want to see him get hurt by a woman who was clearly passing through. "Ben is just being kind enough to spend a little time with me this weekend until I get back to work on Monday. This is a working vacation. I think he's trying to avoid doing the quarterly taxes," Kara explained, and watched as Selma immediately broke into a relieved smile. Kara slid a sideways glance over at Ben and realized he had caught the byplay between the two women.
"Well, have a good breakfast. Alice is right, it is good," Randy assured Kara. "It was very nice meeting you." He shook her hand. Kara watched as her hand was swallowed in his. When she thought about it, her hand had been swallowed in Ben's, as well, but that hadn't been intimidating. It had made her feel safe.
They left just as Florence brought the biscuit, honey butter, and drinks. She also brought some homemade jams. Kara was in heaven. Ben watched her orgy of eating, and he had enough sense not to interrupt, which she appreciated. Despite the fact that Florence had brought the biscuits for Ben, Kara ate three of the five, and Ben was lucky to get two.
"So is it safe to say you like food?" Ben asked with a grin.
"Yes, that is a safe bet." Kara grinned back. "I grew up with three older brothers, so I know how to grab fast and early."
"I noticed," he said dryly.
"This jam is to die for. What is the orange jam?" Kara asked.
"It's salmonberry. The berries grow wild all over. The blossoms are a bright reddish purple, and then the fruit looks like a blackberry only they're salmon color."
"Gotcha. It's delicious, so tart, and so good."
"My mom makes it better. She adds apples," Ben confided. Florence walked up with their breakfasts, and there was silence at the table as they tucked into their food. They were halfway through when a young girl walked up. She was very pretty, with light brown hair and a curvy figure that she showed off in very short shorts and a tank top. Kara guessed her age to be about sixteen or seventeen. She would have called her beautiful if her expression hadn't been so sour as she stood over their table.
"Who is she, Ben?" she asked rudely.
To his credit, Ben smiled and was very polite as he introduced Kara to Shannon Bagley, whose brother worked on one of their fishing boats. "What are you doing with her? I didn't think skinny and flat chested was your type."
Ben exchanged a quick apologetic glance with Kara, and she immediately understood. Shannon might be dressed like a sexpot, but she was really just a young girl. "Shannon, that's rude," Ben said firmly but without heat. "You need to apologize to my friend, right now." Just like that, Kara saw all of the wind go out of Shannon's sails. Obviously, she thought the world of Ben, and she didn't like him upset with her.
"I'm sorry," she mumbled.
"Actually, Kara is an artist." And Kara saw the child in the woman's body bounce back to life.
"Really? That's what I want to study at UAS, I mean University of Alaska Southeast. I mean Art History. Did you study in school?" she asked in an excited voice.
"Yep, I got a BFA at Arizona State."
"Ben says you're an artist, so do you do something? Do you do, like, graphic design or something? That's what I want to do," Shannon said, smiling brightly, having changed her mood in that mercurial fashion of teenagers.
"Shannon! We've got to go!" Shannon turned around and saw a woman waiting impatiently near the door.
"That's my mom. Gotta go, it was nice meeting you, Kara. Sorry I was a bitch." She smiled and waved good-bye, leaving Kara a touch bewildered.
"So you have a fan club," she said to the very good-looking man sitting across from her.
"Not nearly like the one you've managed to acquire since sitting down. I don't know if you have noticed, but the male to female ratio here in Alaska is slightly skewed, and you are definitely on most of the available men's radar, Ms. Johansen." Kara glanced surreptitiously around the restaurant and felt heat spreading from her chest to her neck, all the way to the top of her forehead. Ben was right. There were a lot of male glances aimed her way.
"But I'm sitting here with you," she objected, looking at him for an explanation.
"Honey, I'm with them, I would be staring, as well. You are what I would term ‘eye candy.'" Kara threw back her head and laughed.
"You are full of shit, Shotbrook. I like that." Her smile was broad.
"Oh my God, you don't see yourself at all, do you? Are you done with your breakfast?" Kara looked down and saw her plate was empty, so she nodded. "Let's get out of here, so I can convince you of your appeal." If that included kissing, Kara could get behind that. She watched as he threw some bills down on the table, not waiting for the check. "Thanks, Florence," he yelled out as he ushered her out the door.
"Bye, bro," Levi called out after him. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Brothers-gotta love ‘em or shoot ‘em," Kara quipped, and Ben laughed. She waited for him to open the truck door for her.
"So, what have you done since you've been here?" Ben asked as he climbed into the truck.
"I fished the second day with my brothers. Since then, I've been working with Nate and sketching around the lodge."
"How about doing some hiking, biking, and whale watching?" Ben asked.
"I say yes, to all three," Kara said enthusiastically.
"I know a great place to hike that ends near a waterfall, where we can have a picnic. What do you think?"
"I think that sketching at that tide pool the other day was a great idea," Kara said with a wide smile.
"Do you know what I think?" Ben asked. Kara shook her head. "I think that agreeing to babysit Alice that day might have been the best decision of my entire life." He reached across the bench seat, unbuckled her seatbelt, and brushed his lips against hers, making the ends of her hair tingle. When he drew away she managed to arch an eyebrow at him.
"I'm sorry, did I give you permission to kiss me?"
For just a quick moment he bought into her teasing, and then he rallied. "I prefer to beg for forgiveness, rather than ask for permission."
"That kind of thinking could get you into trouble."
"I don't know, are you still willing to go on a picnic with me?"
"Absolutely." She grinned.
* * * *
Ben picked her up in front of the lodge well before 10:00 a.m. Lacy came up and knocked on Kara's door when he arrived.