Chapter 2
August
I couldn’t get to my SUV fast enough. I email Addie’s teacher consistently, met her once at Open House, and have seen her around town a handful of times, but being in her proximity was a shock to all of my senses.
Again. Just like it was at the open house.
Ms. Jake smells like peaches and cinnamon, walks around town like a ray of sunshine, and grinds my gears.
I can’t handle when someone tries to pretend like they understand what it’s like to worry about a child, when they don’t have kids.
No one else could fathom the depth of fear and pressure that suffocates me, making sure Addie has the best of everything, and that includes her education.
I might have failed her terribly in choosing the best mother for her, but I won’t drop the ball on Addie again, even if that means being just a little pushy with Ms. Jake.
Honestly though, I really enjoy being pushy with Ms. Jake.
Something about her just makes me want to be argumentative.
Like I just want to rile her up and see some feisty side come out.
She’s all professional, but I can tell there’s a playful side to her.
I shove all of that way down though because my sole purpose and focus is Addie.
I don’t need to give her mom one more thing to complain about even though she’s contributing next to nothing to Addie’s upbringing, let alone education.
Pulling my door a little harder than necessary, I pull out my phone to start my favorite playlist of acoustic early 2000’s covers in an attempt to calm myself down on my way to work.
Missing the beginning of the work day was less than ideal, but I needed Addie’s teacher to understand how serious I am about filling in the gaps of her education.
Tapping my fingers in beat on my steering wheel, I head out of our disastrously small town to the logging company my family established when we immigrated from Germany.
I was only two years old, and even though that was almost thirty years ago, my parents quickly made our family an integral part of the fabric of Pine Lake, much to my chagrin.
While I may not love living in “Small Town, USA,” nothing beats the drive to work as I head out of the city limits to the base of the mountain where our company, Von Logging, is situated.
A gorgeous two lane highway, framed with evergreens, should be distraction enough from my meeting this morning but it fails and I’m confident my employees will end up getting the butt end of an attitude they didn’t cause.
I honestly hate myself for already knowing the brute I’ll be when I walk in the doors. I’m self-aware enough to know I have a temper, but jaded enough to not do anything about it. Luckily for my employees, I mostly work solo.
The logging industry has taken a new shape in the last few years and I personally made sure Von Logging was at the front of innovation and competition. I developed what is actually a sister company of our business that focuses on drones in forestry.
In short, I get to spend my day outside, alone, with technology.
Truthfully, the royalties I receive for my patented forestry-specific drone is enough for me to sit at home and twiddle my thumbs, but after Larissa left me, the last thing I want is idle time to think about how incompetent I am as a husband and father.
Droning keeps me busy, focused, and alone. Just like I prefer.
Pulling into work, I recall that old adage.
“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
” When does that also become rude, seeing as I tend to err on the quiet side so much that I avoid most people?
I jump down from the driver’s side of my SUV and walk through the double doors of our all-glass single story headquarters.
I am greeted by two of the happiest people I know, Reid Vance, our accountant, and Thea Torres, our receptionist. By their tan complexions and red hair, you’d easily mistake them for siblings, especially given their upbeat personalities, but they’re absolutely not.
“You’re a little late, boss man.” Reid jests while making a happy beat on Thea’s desk with his hands.
He might be the closest thing I have to a friend, but he knows I certainly don’t answer to him or anyone except my younger sister, Alana.
She took over the CEO position when our parents died about seven years ago.
“Funny. And how much are you getting done while you distract Thea from her work?” I continue to stride by them not really hoping for a response to my seemingly rhetorical question. But apparently Reid takes my acknowledgment as an invitation to join my walk to my office, anyway, his coffee in hand.
“Well,” Reid continues, “most of us have already been here for an hour or two and are legally promised a fifteen. You, on the other hand, are not. What kept you?”
A sigh deflates my chest while I tilt my head back before responding.
Man, I’m in a mood today and honestly, I don’t know why.
“I had Parent/Teacher Conferences with Addie’s teacher this morning, so I missed a great time of day to map and shoot.
I also had to skip out on picking up my morning coffee.
” I respond while simultaneously plucking Reid’s coffee out of his hand and drawing a gulp before throwing it in the trash as we pass by it.
“You owe me tomorrow. Black, with room for cream.” Reid groans. Of course I was already going to replace it, but I need to keep up my bossy appearance and truthfully, that single pull of coffee needs to get me through to lunch. Can’t say much about it helping my nerves, though.
“Have the quarterly statements been published? And has Ash sent in his reports for the app’s earnings this quarter?
” With it being October, this all should have been finished last month and should be published this week, but Ash is no stranger to procrastination.
In truth, most days I wish Alana would fire him.
But Ash does bring a lot to the table in app development and maintenance, even if it’s always at the eleventh hour.
“Done and done, boss man. You know Ash got those reports to me last week after all of our hair turned gray. He may not take things very seriously, but that guy has the brain of Einstein. He’ll get it done.
” Reid is loyal to a fault and the level-headed one in every situation, so it doesn’t surprise me to see him come to Ash’s defense.
The difference with me, is I would happily–and have–said all these things to Ash’s face. The kid needs to clean it up.
We finally reach my office and I pull open the door hoping Reid will realize it’s time for this conversation to be over. But he slides in behind me before I can close it, wearing that moronic grin he has. He knows he’s driving me up a wall.
“Reid, is there anything else I can help you with? I have a lot of mapping to make up for from this morning and I can already feel your weak, creamer-filled coffee wearing off.”
“August, I love you man but you need to lighten up. I’m good.
Let me know if you need help estimating the costs for what you’re able to map this morning.
” He finishes abruptly before turning around to head out the door.
Man, I kind of brought Reid down a happy peg and that, along with the meeting from this morning, does not sit well with me. Everything feels…heavy today.
I walk over to my equipment cabinet to pull out my backpack, drone, topographic maps, laptop, and extra batteries.
I work my drone through the forest surrounding our town to find prime spots for thinning and harvest. I do my best to make sure our forest stays in optimal health.
We work to reduce the risk of fires, and mindfully use timber for wood production.
I fully intend on skipping lunch and staying out in the forest just a little bit longer before picking Addie up from her nanny’s house.
Between Addie, work, Larissa, and for some reason, Ms. Jake with her chestnut hair and sapphire eyes, there’s a lot on my mind that the trees are going to be stuck hearing about today.