Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Bea
The next morning when I stepped outside my cabin, crisp October mountain air slapped me in the face.
I’d dressed in my Carhartt overalls with a moisture-wicking thermal turtleneck underneath, thermal socks, my steel-toe boots, a black beanie, and fingerless gloves. Steam rose from my nose and mouth as I breathed, preparing to address the crews gathering in the unpaved roundabout.
There were ten guys for each house and a crew of twenty to finish the cabins, plus a few specialty guys who’d be stopping by throughout the job to do whatever they’d been contracted for.
Brand had hired a masonry guy to come out and add some stone features to the cabins’ porches, just to pretty them up a bit, and he’d add fire pits to each lot.
Electricians had already roughed in, but they and the HVAC guys would be out in the next week to do final checks and tests.
My cabin had been finished ahead of time, minus the stone facade, but all the rest were still in varying stages of completion, all without appliances and finishing touches, so as soon as roofs and walls were up, that would all be delivered and finished too.
And then furniture would be delivered along with things like blinds and curtains, pots and pans, bedding, but I’d probably be back in Sheridan by then.
Guilt kept washing through me, making my stomach burn, because of what Bax and I had done last night. Although, after I drove him back to his house, I crawled into my bed and slept like a damn baby.
It wasn’t that I thought what we’d done was wrong in a general sense, but fooling around with him wasn’t the smartest idea I’d ever had because I knew I’d be leaving in a few weeks.
One-night stands weren’t a foreign concept for me, but this guy had a family.
He had a history of heartbreak, and I didn’t want to do anything to add to it.
So why was I already trying to find reasons to see him again?
But I had a job to do, so, gathering up all my girl power, I tried to forget the warm, chestnutty smell of Bax’s skin and bellowed into the morning, “Listen up!”
Some of the guys kept talking amongst themselves. There were always a few in every crew, guys who didn’t automatically defer to a woman in charge. But they were about to.
Lifting two fingers to my lips, the earsplitting whistle I let out seemed to bounce off the trunks of the trees surrounding the clearing we were congregating in. All eyes finally landed on me standing on the bed of my truck. It was the only way they’d all see me.
“Mornin’. I’m Bea. If you work for Brand Lee and Lee Construction, you work for me.
” A couple men snickered, but there were a few women in the sea of faces beneath me, and they nodded in solidarity.
“Yeah, yeah, I know. I’m a woman. I’m short, and maybe you think I don’t look like I know what I’m doin’.
You’d be wrong. I do. I can do any job on this site, and probably faster than you.
So don’t fuck around. Let’s get these jobs done and quick, before winter hits and we all have to go home underpaid. ”
More nods. People were starting to gear up. They were ready to work. Good.
“Alright, house crews, you should already know your jobs since you’ve been at this a while, but the new assignments are in your inboxes.
“Also, Brand wanted me to apologize again for the delay, and you should’ve received the bonus he set up for y’all. If you have any questions about the new crew configurations, my number’s in the email. You can call, but I probably won’t answer unless you blow up my phone. Text is better.
“And cabin crew”—I pointed to the southwest, to a small, unfinished structure Bax and his family would be using as a picnic area and community building for guests—“meet me by the rec building. We’ve got a few things to go over before I let you loose. I’ll be there in five.
“Giddyup, people,” I said, clutching my clipboard under my arm. “Let’s get to work.”
Everybody milled around for a minute, saying hello to their coworkers, but they all headed to their assignments quickly. In construction, the faster you got on the job, the faster you got off. If the sun was still up and high in the sky when your day was done, then it was a good day.
A stocky guy with a bushy mustache and a beer belly hung back by himself, away from the groups getting in the parked trucks on their way to their designations. He had a clipboard in one hand, too, and a huge Thermos tucked under his arm.
“You must be Clay Marveaux.”
“Yup, in the flesh.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, jumping down from my perch and extending my hand for a shake. “I’m glad to have you here to help me rein in the chaos.”
“You were pretty good with the guys. They respond to a firm hand.”
Whoa. Could it be true that Brand had found a nice guy for me to work with, one who didn’t try to step all over me and prove his manly dominance? Still, history would keep me appropriately skeptical until Clay proved me wrong.
“Thanks. Yeah, I’m used to it. It’s kinda my superpower. Should we head to the rec hall? We’ve got a lot to get to.”
“Lead the way, miss Bea,” he said. “By the by, you got a crew name?”
“A nickname?” I tried not to laugh. “Nope, sure don’t.”
With his black cowboy hat, brown suede jacket, rodeo belt buckle, and the toothpick stuck out the side of his mouth, I had a feeling this cowboy-turned-builder, Clay, and I had about zero things in common in our personal lives, but on the job, we’d get along just fine.
By the time lunch rolled around, a symphony filled my ears: hammers hitting wood, saws buzzing, people lifting and hauling and climbing.
The cabin crew called out to each other, asking for help, acknowledging the help given, checking measurements and dimensions, their voices singing lyrics to a song that sounded like home. I was in my happy place.
“Bea!”
I turned to the sound of my name from one voice that didn’t belong and saw Athena running toward me.
“Athena, what are you doin’ out here? You can’t be here. Not without a hard hat and your dad’s permission.”
She stopped in front of me, and her face fell. “Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No, you haven’t done anything wrong, but this isn’t the safest place for a kid.”
“I’m almost fourteen, Bea.” She rolled her eyes. “I’m not a kid.”
I laughed. Oh, the naivety of children. “Still, Athena, just to be safe.”
“Okay, I hear you.” She shrugged. “I like your outfit.”
“Thanks,” I said, scanning the dirt on my overalls.
I’d shed my gloves and beanie once the sun rose high enough to chase the chill out of the air, but my hard hat had surely left an ugly bump in my hair.
Athena confirmed it as I removed the hat and she looked at my hair and giggled.
I held the hat out to her, and she hugged it to her chest while I pulled my scraggly hat hair into a pile on my head and wrapped the scrunchie permanently attached to my wrist around it to hold it up.
“I like yours too.” I pointed to her light-purple puffer vest. I found a paint chip once that had the color listed as Old Dusty Lavender. “That’s my favorite color.”
Her lips lifted into the biggest smile, and she was so cute with her braid pulled over her shoulder and her adorable but semi-buck teeth gleaming in the sun. She’d worn some serious-looking work boots. The kid really knew her way around a farm.
“Really? Mine too!”
She looked around my work site and the future of her family’s new business venture, watching as my merry music makers paused their song and packed their tools away for the lunch break. “You’re really in charge of all these people?”
“Yep.” I cupped my hand around my mouth, hiding my lips from onlookers. “Don’t tell ’em I said this, but I’m like a female version of Gru, and they’re my Minions.”
I winked, and she laughed.
And then, just to prove my point, one of the crew walked up. From the scowl on his face, I got the feeling I wouldn’t like what he had to say.
He glanced at Athena but focused on me. His coveralls were cleaner than mine, his hair barely mussed from the hard hat I’d noticed he rarely wore.
I’d learned his name earlier in the day, but now it wasn’t coming to mind.
Wait, was it Jensen something? I only remembered his first name because one of the other guys had called him Jen, and he clearly had not liked that.
And, it seemed, he didn’t like to actually work.
I wasn’t surprised by that. It happened with new crews; they spent the first day feeling me out, seeing what they could get away with.
Jensen Linney? Loony? Lovey?
He didn’t start off in my good graces now.
“You scheduled HVAC for Friday?” he said.
“That’s a mistake. Cabins nine and ten are nowhere near ready.
You’re gonna cost the boss unnecessary money when they have to come out again next week.
” He looked me up and down, at the fountain of hair on the top of my head, like it wasn’t possible for little ol’ female me to know what the hell I was doing.
Here we go. “It’s Jensen, right?”
A curt nod was his only answer, and he fixed his hands over his hips.
He was attractive in a tattle-tale kind of way.
He had a young face. It was tanned from the sun, but his cheeks were pink from the cold, and his hair was too long, but not like a sexy guitar-player or a surfer.
The ends frayed around his neck and ears and hinted at an impending mullet.
I knew they’d come back in style, but on Jensen, it wasn’t a pleasing look.
It made me want to find some clippers and go at him like I was trimming a hedge.
A few of the guys had gathered behind him, maybe to cheer him on when he challenged me, or maybe they were waiting to see how I’d handle him.
“Well, thanks for sharing your concern, Jensen. I appreciate it, but they will be ready.” Where did this guy get off? I had more information than he did.