Chapter Sixteen
M ercedes braced herself, wondering what Evan’s mood would be tonight.
He’d gone with her dad to a Red Sox game a few nights ago and had come back in high spirits.
It seemed like the two of them were now bonded as besties.
She thought she was his bestie for a while.
Had their proximity destroyed that? Was asking Evan to move in with her a mistake?
It hadn’t seemed like it at the time, but things had gotten a bit awkward every now and then between them.
Like the almost kiss?
Why was she still calling it an almost kiss? The first one, yes, but the second one? It was a kiss. Full lip contact with another pair of lips. They hadn’t stayed together as long as she’d wanted, but they’d certainly touched.
Tonight, they’d scheduled another reading session.
She made sure not to call it a lesson, because it was apparent he was embarrassed by the fact he needed help.
She hated that she couldn’t help him overcome that.
He was so confident and successful in many things, this one shouldn’t matter. But it did to him.
His truck rattled into the driveway, and she shot off the couch to make sure the food in the crock pot was ready.
As happened every night, Evan stomped onto the porch, kicked his boots against the threshold to get the dirt off, then came in.
Footsteps sounded down the hallway and into his bedroom.
Moments later, softer footsteps padded toward the bathroom and the shower turned on. She could set her watch to him.
She pulled down two large bowls and scooped some of the pot roast, potatoes, and carrots into each one. By the time she placed them on the table and set utensils next to them, Evan had popped his head into the kitchen.
“That smells delicious.” He gave her one of his winning smiles that probably turned women’s heads everywhere. She’d certainly seen a few double-takes when they’d been out together.
After he’d shoveled in a mouthful, he signed. Tastes delicious, too. Not surprised. Everything you make is yummy. Thanks.
“I’m glad you like it.”
They ate in silence for several minutes, only occasionally signing a question or comment about work or someone they knew.
“My dad texted today and was really happy you went to the game with him. My mom isn’t huge into sports, and Jonas prefers football.”
His expression grew excited. “I had a blast. I can’t believe how close our seats were. You could see the sweat on the player’s faces.”
“You enjoy seeing sweat?” she teased.
He laughed. “When it’s not mine, and it means my team is playing well. That last home run with the bases loaded was outstanding. Can’t believe I was right there to see it. Your dad is great.” When he said this, his cheeks colored.
“What’s that look for?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Pretty sure you just blushed. I want to know what made the cocky Evan Jameson get embarrassed.”
“There you are saying I’m cocky again.” He smirked.
“And you’re getting off the subject. What did my father say that made you uncomfortable?”
His gaze slanted to the side for a second. “Well, he mentioned that he wasn’t a fan of your old boyfriend, Callum. I thought he’d love the guy since he’s a book nerd like you.”
Mercedes rolled her eyes. “Not all book nerds are interesting people. Why were you talking about my old boyfriend anyway?”
The color in his cheeks darkened. “Some girl was flirting with me, trying to sign, though she only knew a few of the basic ones. He asked if I was seeing anyone.”
“Are you?” She kind of knew the answer but wanted clarity in case she was wrong. When he’d moved in, he’d said he hadn’t dated anyone lately, but he certainly could have started.
“Have you seen me bring any girls over here? Or go out other than work or Deaf Night Out or my parents’?”
“I don’t keep track of where you go,” she lied.
His smirk killed her. It made him look too adorable, and that was dangerous, especially if there was no chance of them ever being anything more than friends.
He laughed but didn’t say anything. He simply dug into the rest of his food. When they were done, he did the dishes. Mercedes had to admit she much preferred cooking to cleaning up afterward. This arrangement was the best of both worlds.
As Evan wiped down the kitchen table, she set her book bag on the coffee table in the living room and pulled out a few of the books she’d gotten from the library. Some were for Evan and some were for her.
When he joined her on the couch, he flicked through the books and scowled when he saw the children’s picture book about road construction vehicles.
He held it up, then tossed it on the cushion next to him. “This is insulting. I know what these machines are. I work with them every day.”
“I know you do. Those are for me.” She tried not to respond to his anger with anger of her own.
“I have no idea what the vehicles are that you work with, and if I’m going to help you with your Heavy Equipment book, I need to learn.
I also got one on the history of road construction, figuring it might help me understand what you do a little more. ”
The tension eased away, and his crooked smile crept back on his face.
“I can teach you all about the equipment. Let’s start with this easy one.
” He picked up one of the books and opened to the first page.
“This is a dump truck. It’s used to put debris in after we excavate a site.
Or sometimes we use it to haul fill to put under the new roads. ”
She stuck out her tongue at him. “I know what a dump truck is, you fool. What about this one? It says it’s a skid loader. What does it do?”
“It’s also called a skid steer,” he fingerspelled the word. “There aren’t always signs that go with each piece of equipment, though I’ve kind of created a few myself to use with the guys on the crew.”
“Oh, cool. Can you teach me what they are, and we’ll use those during our sessions?”
His confidence seemed to shine brighter now that he was teaching her something as well. It hadn’t originally been part of her plan, but she liked how this worked out.
“So a skid steer moves dirt or gravel, and we use it for clearing debris or grading small areas. It maneuvers in a tiny space by skidding its wheels. It can actually spin in place, so it’s useful when you can’t get a bigger machine in.”
“Okay, great. What vehicles do you work with most? Let’s start there so I get a feel for what you do.”
“I use the skid steer, bulldozer, backhoe, wheel loader, and compactor most of the time, as well as drive the dump truck. It depends on the job and who else is working that site. You have to be trained and certified on the machines to use them.”
She pointed to the training book he’d left on the coffee table. “So that’s to help you get certified on more equipment?”
“Some, yeah. It’s also got training for measuring sites, interpreting drawings, grading and laying pipes. Also math formulas to get area and volume correct. My grandfather helped me a bit with that when I was down for your parents’ party.”
“That’s excellent. I’ll bet he’s a great resource.”
Evan nodded. “He helped me to get past the first test and into the job I’m in. I started doing all the grunt work and clean up, then worked my way up to doing more. I can continue doing the job I’ve been doing, but it would be nice to learn some new equipment and make more money.”
“So each vehicle gets you a higher pay?”
“Yeah. You have to train on them plus pass the test. Each certification bumps you up in pay. I wouldn’t say no to that.”
She winked at him. “Who would? What’s the next machine?”
Evan turned the page and pointed to the picture. “Wheel Loader." He described the piece of equipment and what it was used for, like clearing debris.
She looked at the front of the book. “Doesn’t a bulldozer also clear debris?” There seemed to be so many pieces of equipment that did similar jobs.
“You can use it for that. Absolutely. A bulldozer will also push any fill into holes as well as level the ground. Some of the vehicles have several functions, and we use what’s available and close by.”
“Well, that makes sense. Like this backhoe. It lifts stuff like the front loader.”
He nodded approvingly. “The backhoe scoops and pushes like some of the others, but it also has this back arm.” He pointed to the picture. “This is for digging holes or removing stuff we don’t want to be there.”
She loved how knowledgeable he was. Obviously, this was his job. He should be, but he really seemed to understand the intricacies of the equipment.
She repeated the name and job description of each machine several times and had Evan give her some examples of what he’d done with them. It was nice getting a clearer picture of exactly what he did all day at work.
“Now that we’ve gone over all the level one machines, should we take a look at that Level Two book?”
Evan growled but reached for the manual. He tossed it in her lap and frowned. “Go ahead. Teach me everything.”
She skimmed the table of contents and figured the chapter on safety would be easy enough to do.
As she read the text, she interpreted for Evan.
Most of the time, he made a face as if to say, “I know all that.” He even pointed out other safety rules that needed to be followed and why they were necessary.
“I know it doesn’t say it there, but we had an incident where …”
His stories proved his point about additional precautions that would make the job safer. She was glad he was aware of these because she’d be devastated if anything ever happened to him on the job.
“That’s how I knew something was wrong with the front loader down the Cape. It didn’t feel right. I’ve been around them long enough to sense when something isn’t functioning correctly.”
When they’d been working together for a few hours, she sat back and sighed.
They’d made a lot of progress, not only on the Level Two book but on Evan’s reading skills.
She’d taught him a few tricks for deciphering words and using the context of the sentence or paragraph to figure out the meaning of a word he didn’t know.
“I’m not sure how much help you needed,” she said. “You seem to know a lot of this already.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I didn’t realize. Tons of this is what I already do on the job or what I’ve seen other members of the crew work on. I appreciate you going over it with me. It makes it a little easier.”
She grinned impishly at him. “I think I’m getting to be an expert at this. Maybe I can become a road construction worker, too.”
Laughing, he signed. “Sure, I can be your boss.”
“Oh, no. I don’t think I’d like that.”
The gleam in his eye made him even more handsome. “I might give you special attention on the job, especially if you’re still cooking delicious dinners for me every night.”
The idea of getting special attention from Evan definitely appealed to her. Was there a way for her to get his attention without becoming a construction worker?