Chapter 10
Joel was back at Timber’s place now, after running errands.
This crew was trying to finish the last touches on the interior of the bunkhouse.
They had a long list of small items to knock off, and these were satisfying in some ways because they could do something minor, then be on to the next item.
They could see each finished tiny project with satisfaction.
They had plug covers and light fixtures and sink taps and various gutter pieces to install. Everything was going pretty smoothly, and very soon this building would be finished. He knew that Timber was looking forward to getting something major marked off that lengthy project management list.
Shirley handled the project management planning and tracking and was brilliant at it.
She kept everything running very smoothly.
Joel didn’t even think that was possible here, what with four hundred and counting acres and just about that many projects, planned and unplanned.
Yet she did it with grace and a big smile, knowing perfectly well that some would not appreciate anything that she said.
Yet very quickly items were getting taken care of.
Joel stopped in the kitchen in the main cabin for dinner. He saw her rewriting the project list on a regular basis. At one point, he had wanted to say something but had decided that it was probably prudent to stay out of it. Today she handed Timber a marker, telling him to go ahead, take it off.
He eyed her, then turned to the whiteboard, looking at the one big item and all the smaller elements listed beneath, and he grinned.
He put big Xs through everything as he ticked off each entry to confirm everything on this particular project had been completed.
Then he picked up the big eraser from the whiteboard and just wiped it completely off.
“The bunkhouse is done,” he announced to everyone gathered at the big dining table nearby.
Cheers went up from all around the dining area.
Timber asked Shirley, “Are you keeping track of the animals too? We’ve got some over at Sterling’s farm, where he will be training some of them, possibly returning others? Or is that too much on you now?”
Shirley smirked and pointed to the backside of one of the other whiteboards. “It’s all here. Right now, we’re just beginning with this Sterling training program, so it’s simple to keep track. Until later …” Again she smirked.
Timber nodded. “Thanks. So what’s the next priority?”
“We have a couple priorities that should be next,” she replied. “However, one project that would be faster than some of the priorities would be to finish the medical clinic. It involves about thirty to forty small things, easily managed, that could be done fast and then call it quits.”
Everybody immediately called out, “That one. Let’s do the clinic.”
She laughed and transferred over all the items on the medical clinic to-do list that needed to be done.
Everybody crowded around behind her, sipping coffee and munching cookies, discussing who could do what and when.
By the time she had most of it all written up, somebody else was putting names beside all the different chores to be handled.
She hadn’t even gotten it completely filled out, and the guys were already nodding, each saying, “Okay, we’ll get right after this. ”
Everyone studied the clinic projects to complete. After talking among themselves, one asked, “What? Two, three days?”
Shirley nodded. “I figure three.”
“Three and a half,” someone else clarified.
Someone behind the crowd piped up, “Four if we have trouble getting supplies.”
“Always seems supplies hold us up,” Timber noted, with a wry smile.
“It does, but we also have animals coming in tomorrow afternoon too,” Shirley reminded Timber. “So that’s where your focus will need to be.”
“Agreed.” He nodded. “So, let’s get as much of this knocked out as we can over the next three to four days.
It’s late Tuesday, but we can potentially see this one done by the weekend.
” He seemed positively thrilled. He glanced back at Shirley.
“As you know, I wasn’t at all sure about having you take over the project management role.
Still, man oh man, it’s paid off. We are really getting somewhere. ”
She smiled. “Most people don’t really like their project managers because we hound and bug you to get stuff done.
However, when people actually take heed and follow the plan,” she pointed out, with a big smile, “it’s amazing just how fast people can complete projects.
It’s really been nice to have everybody on board and working together. ”
“You’re right,” he admitted. “You’ve made a believer out of me.
” He looked around at the guys and called out to them all, “As soon as you are through with dinner, confirm you’ve got the parts and pieces you need for your respective projects.
Do what you can tomorrow with the supplies on hand, but, most important, let’s get a handle on anything we’ll need to get from town to complete this project. ”
Lots of murmured replies were shared, and the men began to move.
Timber added, “As we all know, daily trips to town will happen for food anyway. So let’s get as much of what we’ll need to finish off this project at the same time when errands are done daily, starting with tomorrow.”
And, with that, everybody headed off, more than happy to be moving on to something different, encouraged that another big job would be completed and wiped off the list in a matter of days.
Joel looked over at the pair of them, still making notations on the whiteboard, and said, “You guys have done an incredible job with all this.”
Timber nodded. “Shirley’s the one keeping me on my toes by handling all the scheduling. And the accomplishment is thanks to guys like you.” Timber eyed Joel intently. “Have you put any thought into your future?”
“Lots, but I haven’t really come up with any solid answers.”
With a grin, Timber nodded. “So, how much of that will be determined by where Chelsea ends up getting a job?”
“She’s been told she’ll be getting a formal offer for a job here in town at the hospital,” he shared, with a smile. “So there’s a good chance she’s staying.”
“Now that would be excellent,” Timber declared, with a nod. “I know Sterling would be pretty happy.”
“Yeah, they seem to be getting along really well,” Joel added. “I think Sterling is thrilled to have some family after all this time, and she’s thrilled to have family that’s not her mother.”
Everybody winced at that, and Timber nodded. “Sometimes the best family relationships we have are those we share a friendship bond with too, right?”
Joel laughed. “Isn’t that the truth. We haven’t had any updates on her mother’s murder case either—unless you’ve heard something.” Joel turned to Timber.
“No, I haven’t heard a thing. I’ve had a couple of talks with Richard though. He’s feeling a bit better now that some sort of truce has come about through his aunt and Chelsea. Still, I need to speak to his superiors and call the hospital admin as well.”
“I haven’t heard anything about a truce,” Joel noted in surprise.
“Yeah, I don’t know what level of truce it might be, but I guess he’d gone in and taken quite a beating from the sheriff over our group as well. Sounds like that’s been causing him quite a bit of trouble at work.”
“Of course it was causing him trouble,” Joel declared, followed by a groan. “Why can’t people just be decent? Why can’t people just do their damn jobs?”
“Some people are just lazy as sin.” He shrugged at his own comment. “Then there’s decent and decent,” Timber replied, laughing. “Everybody has a different idea of what that means too.”
Joel nodded. “Right, especially when family gets involved, and everything gets ugly.”
“In this case, with Gladys, at least it was pretty minor—not that Chelsea would think so, being a long-term victim to that woman. Still, Gladys didn’t commit murder, so we rank her crimes as minor.
As long as Richard can make a way forward to protect Chelsea, to prosecute Gladys—and Penny—to find the murderer of John Peacock, then I’m happy. ”
“Yeah, getting caught sucks. Gladys lied to the security guard who watched it all happen.”
Timber laughed. “Gladys has to suffer the consequences of her own actions. You’re the one that I’m wondering about. What are you up to these days? I know you’re helping the group of guys at Sterling’s place as well as here. You are double-booked, it seems.”
“Well, I was planning on staying here for a couple days at least, helping you get the medical clinic off the list.”
“That would be absolutely amazing if it happens,” he replied warmly. “I really appreciate all the help.”
“I know you do, and, as long as we have the skills, we might as well put them to use. I don’t know where and what I’m doing after this,” he admitted. “I was a mechanic in the military. I could certainly work at that or even open up a shop of my own, but I’m not sure I want to do that anymore.”
“It’s probably worth finding out what you really want to do first,” Timber suggested.
“Maybe, or maybe it’s just taking one step forward and see where I end up,” he shared. “I’m not exactly sure how the world will look when I get to the edge of whatever this is.”
“It doesn’t have to look any particular way, does it?” Timber asked, with a glance over at him.
“Maybe just see what comes up and how you feel about it,” Shirley pointed out, adding more to the whiteboard list, but now putting down the marker and looking at him intently.
He smiled at her. “That’s what I was thinking.”
“You don’t need to be shy about going after what you want,” she reminded him, her tone teasing. “We’ve already seen a fair amount of people getting hitched around here.”