Chapter Eighteen
T oday was a scorcher, and Evan had to remind himself it was the first week in October.
It wouldn’t stay this way. Most likely, he’d need his sweatshirt by the time he got home tonight.
Once the sun went down, so did the temps.
Maybe he could get Mercedes to snuggle up against him like she’d done a few nights ago. He’d been plenty warm then.
For now, he needed to clear a path and tamp it down for the backhoe to drop the drainage pipes into the ditch they’d dug yesterday.
This was a routine he’d done a few thousand times, yet he made sure to keep his eyes open.
No daydreaming about Mercedes when he was on the job.
The last thing he needed was to make a mistake that could injure someone or himself.
Though he wouldn’t mind tripping up Tyler enough to make him call out sick for a week.
The kid was nothing but trouble with this cocky attitude.
Mercedes had said Evan had one, but not when it came to his job. He took that very seriously.
Squinting through the bright sunshine, he spotted the kid. His job today was to help adjust the pipes once they got into the ditch. Hard, dirty work that required strength. Tyler had been bragging about his pumped-up muscles, so the boss had put him on pipe duty. A little bit of karma.
As Evan backed up, checking his rear view, then glancing over his shoulder, a flicker of something caught his eye.
Swiveling the skid steer around, he studied the scene.
Joe was operating the backhoe, lifting one of the pipes on a chain from the back of the truck to the ditch.
Evan shifted forward again and skimmed the ground underneath him to ensure it was smooth and wouldn’t unbalance the backhoe when it came this way.
The ground was packed firmly. Ahead of him, Joe drove the backhoe toward the ditch.
Oh, geesh! Of all the stupid crap. Tyler ambled toward the backhoe, unaware he was in a blind spot, and reached for the pipe. It wasn’t anywhere near where it needed to go yet. The kid was going to cause an accident for sure.
Evan pushed the skid steer as close as he could, then dropped it into neutral and lifted the safety bar. “Get back,” he yelled as he hopped out, hoping the surrounding noise didn’t drown out his voice. What was the kid doing? He was only supposed to guide the pipe once it was in the hole.
Tyler paused but didn’t stop his hand. He grabbed the end, and the pipe shifted slightly. To an outsider, it might not seem like much, but Evan knew that tiny imbalance could throw the whole thing into whack.
“Get back,” Evan yelled again as he ran toward them.
Tyler glanced over, but it was too late.
The small touch to the pipe had set it swinging on the chain, one side of the chain tightening, then the other.
Joe must have seen the imbalance, because the backhoe stopped moving forward.
He waved his hands from the cab, but Evan could get to Tyler faster.
Pounding his boots into the dirt, Evan raced toward the kid, grabbed his vest, and yanked him out of the way as the pipe swung back in their direction.
They both fell to the ground, Tyler shaking his head, face angry. He said something that might have been, “What are you doing?” Evan didn’t have time to figure it out. The pipe was still out of control and headed their way again.
“Move.” Evan pushed Tyler up and away from the backhoe.
The chain pulled taut, and one end of the pipe glanced off the ground.
Evan rolled to avoid it as it crashed, the vibration coursing through him.
A small section clipped his hard hat, knocking it askew and him sprawling toward the backhoe.
A sharp burst of pain lanced through his arm as he connected with the stabilizer leg.
His head pounded, and a bright flash crossed his vision as the scenery blurred. Crap.
Evan tried to clear his head, but shaking it only made the pain worse. As he pushed himself onto his knees, his hard hat tumbled off and rolled away. The ache in his arm was killing him.
Joe knelt next to him and tapped his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
The crew were all versed in signing those two letters, OK, to indicate things were good.
“I think so,” he mumbled, not really sure what was wrong. He was hurting in a few spots, though.
Joe pointed to his left arm. There was blood seeping from a three-inch gash right below his elbow.
That’s why it hurt so much. Taking a deep breath, he leaned against the backhoe legs and pushed himself to his feet.
The world tipped a bit, then righted. When he looked around, he saw that the entire crew were all gaping at him.
Great. He was the center of attention and not for a good reason.
Frank, one of the crew who had medical training, trotted over with the first-aid kit in hand. He waved for Evan to hold up his arm.
“It’s fine. I’m fine.”
Frank bent down and grabbed Evan’s hard hat.
There was a dent the size of a dinner plate in the side.
Frank frowned and dug through the kit. When he poured the hydrogen peroxide on the wound, Evan sucked in a breath and bit his tongue.
Man, that stung. Still, he’d done enough first aid training to know infections could start quickly if dirt got into the wound.
There was plenty of dirt out here. He sucked it up and stared at the rest of the guys.
Thankfully, most of them had gone back to their jobs. Except Tyler.
Phil, the foreman for this job, stomped their way.
He’d be ticked off that there was an accident.
He prided himself on his great safety record.
He stopped at Tyler, and Evan couldn’t read his lips from here, but he could tell Tyler was getting an earful.
And it wasn’t pleasantries. Would Evan get the same?
Another slash of pain shot through his head, and he squeezed his eyes shut to see if that helped.
It didn’t, though the lack of brightness from the noontime sun felt a little better.
Tyler’s expression of remorse and guilt did, too.
The kid stared at his feet and … was his lower lip trembling?
Had he never been reprimanded before? Evan didn’t have the energy to care.
Frank finished tying a bandage around Evan’s arm. “You need stitches. The cut is deep.”
“Really? Are you sure?” He hated the thought of going to a doctor for something like this.
Frank pointed to the bandage that was already turning crimson. “Yeah.”
Phil headed his way with Tyler in tow. Vince, the big boss, hurried along from the administrative trailer. Both of them frowning, Vince and Frank exchanged a few words. Tyler didn’t seem any happier. Evan actually felt bad for the kid. Kind of. Maybe if he wasn’t such a know-it-all.
When they got to him, Vince pointed to Evan. “He’ll be your new mentor.” Vince was always great about facing him and speaking clearly.
Evan frowned. “I thought I had another new guy coming. A Deaf one.”
Tyler rolled his eyes, which made any sympathy Evan had for him disintegrate. “How am I suppose to understand him?”
Evan read his lips easily.
“Same way everyone else does. Listen carefully or use your phone.” Vince scrolled through his phone and tapped away. Evan’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out.
—Sorry about this. You saved his life. He should be down on his knees worshiping you. His dad is friends with the owner, so I can’t exactly fire him.—
Evan bit his lip to keep from laughing. He’d wondered why Vince hadn’t used his voice-to-text app. He held his phone to his mouth now. Evan’s phone vibrated again.
—Or you can use voice-to-text. And learn sign language.—
Evan coughed to hide his amusement. Obviously he’d been speaking to Tyler when he’d sent the text.
“I’m not deaf,” Tyler complained, again speaking so Evan could lip read.
—None of us are. But with the noise of the construction site, we all need to learn some signs to be able to communicate.
If you have a problem with that, you’re free to go.
— Evan wasn’t sure if Vince realized his voice-to-text was still on.
He’d guess that he was aware. It was one of the reasons he liked his boss.
Tyler sent up a small glare but nodded at Evan. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Evan said as pleasantly as he could muster with his arm burning and his head pounding.
—Your next job is to take Evan to the walk-in clinic in Medford.— Vince was still using voice-to-text to let Evan know what was going on. He appreciated it.
Tyler’s eyes widened. “But I’m working.”
Vince glanced at Evan. “Give me your keys and I’ll have someone get your truck to your place.”
Evan shook his head, which was a mistake. It pounded harder than before. “I’m fine. I can drive myself.”
Vince indicated the dented hard hat and the bandage spotted with blood around his arm. Evan knew enough not to argue with the boss.
“Text me later and tell me what the doc says,” Vince ordered. “Take tomorrow off. Paid. No arguments.”
A free day off with pay. He’d take it and not have any complaints. He tossed his truck keys to Vince and followed Tyler to the foreman’s truck he’d been told to use.
Once in the cab of the vehicle, Evan leaned back and closed his eyes. He only peeked for a moment when they didn’t get started immediately. Tyler was putting the clinic address into his GPS. Ridiculous how many people didn’t even know how to navigate the roads around them.
Once they arrived at the walk-in clinic, Evan grabbed for the truck door handle. Tyler stopped him. “Do you need me to go in?”
The last thing Evan wanted was some spoiled, snot-nosed kid hanging on his shoulder, acting like he was too stupid to talk for himself. “I’m good. Head back to the site.”
The kid actually looked nervous. “How do you say ‘Thanks’?”