Learnin' The Ropes (2 page)

“Hey, bro, good to see you,” Nate said, loosening his tie and unbuttoning his shirt.

“You, too, man.” Ty smiled at his brother-in-law. “No luck today?”

“No. You either?” Nate looked up at Ty as he carefully brushed off his suit jacket and hung it in the hall closet.

“Maybe.” Ty leaned against the wall between the kitchen and the rest of the open apartment so both Beth and Nate could hear him.

“What’s that mean?” Beth asked, sticking her head out of the kitchen to spear Ty with an inquisitive glare. “Care to expound on that?”

“I fired off an inquiry for a mechanics job in Harney County. The requirements were pretty vague, so I’ll see if I get a response.” Ty answered with much more nonchalance than he felt. If he didn’t find a job, soon, he might give in to his growing desperation and do something regrettable.

“Harney County? Isn’t that somewhere in Eastern Oregon, in the middle of nowhere?” Beth asked while Nate changed his clothes in the bathroom.

“Southeast Oregon, I think,” Nate said as he reappeared, wearing faded jeans and a sweatshirt. “What would you be doing?”

“I’m not exactly sure. Do you have yesterday’s classifieds?” Ty asked as Beth brought a basket of hot rolls to the table. The steam escaping from around the edges of the napkin caught Ty’s attention and he shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from snitching one.

Nate pulled the paper out of his briefcase and gave it to Ty. With a flick of his wrists, Ty snapped it open and scanned down the column of ads. He placed his finger on the one listing for a mechanic. “This one,” he said, handing the paper to Nate.

“That is vague,” Nate said after reading the ad twice. “Based on the qualifications, you shouldn’t have any problem. You’ve been a certified mechanic for what, eight years?”

“Nine. I got my certification the day I turned twenty. It was quite a celebration.” Ty shot his sister a cocky grin.

“I remember that.” Beth smacked Ty on the arm. “If Mom had known about your little after-party antics, she would have boxed your ears.”

“Yeah, she would have, but you were always good at keeping me out of too much trouble,” Ty said, waiting for Beth to sit down before he took his seat at the small table. Scrunched into the corner by the kitchen, the table was laughably small when he and Nate, both over six-feet, sat around it. They’d gotten into the habit of extending their legs in opposite directions to keep from bumping knees under the table.

Ty studied his sister as love and tenderness tugged at his heart. Two years older, Beth had always mothered and protected him. Their mother, Toni, was wonderful and loving, but she worked multiple jobs to keep a roof over their head and food on their table.

From information he and Beth pieced together over the years, their mom fell in love with a no-good loser. He was a good-looking, bad-boy type, oozing charm and telling her whatever she wanted to hear. Toni married him, thinking he would settle down and change his ways as they started a family. He played at being a husband, but preferred drinking, gambling and carousing to acting like a grown up. After Beth was born, he attempted to be a father. But when Toni announced she was pregnant with Ty, the jerk disappeared. They never heard from him again.

Ty thought that might have been part of why Beth waited so long to start her own family. She wanted to make sure Nate was going to stick around, but he was one of the good guys. Despite their current financial situation, Nate would take good care of Beth and their baby.

“This job description says you must like animals. Have you ever been around animals?” Nate asked as they enjoyed the delicious chicken soup Beth served for dinner.

“One of my friends had a dog. Once, Mom let us keep a stray cat. I liked them both just fine,” Ty said, buttering another warm roll. He’d have to find a way to buy more groceries to pay back what he was eating tonight, but the food tasted so good.

Nate nodded his head. They went on to discuss places they applied for jobs that day. Ty lifted the last spoon of hearty broth from his second bowl of soup when his phone buzzed. Hastily swallowing the bite, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, surprised to see a text message in response to his inquiry about the job.

Thrilled by the message, he grinned.

“What’s that about?” Beth asked, curious.

“It’s about that job. They want my full resume and references by tomorrow morning.” Ty tried to tamp down his excitement. He glanced at Nate. “May I use your laptop for a few minutes?”

“Sure, man. Let’s help Beth with the dishes and then you can prepare to dazzle these people with your extensive experience and credentials.”

Ty laughed and helped himself to another roll.

After the dishes were washed and dried, Beth sat on the couch working on a baby blanket she was crocheting, while Nate and Ty sat at the table with the laptop computer. Since they’d gone through the routine multiple times before, Nate created a folder on the computer for Ty so he could easily attach his resume and references to emails. Ty could have done it all from his cell phone, but it was a lot easier to sit at a computer and compose a cover letter.

When he finished, he asked Beth to read the letter. She suggested a few changes that he implemented before sending the information to Lex Ryan of Riley, Oregon.

“Maybe this will be the one,” Beth said, placing a warm hand on Ty’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.

Ty nodded. “I hope so. Although I’m not so sure I want to move too far away from you, especially with the baby coming soon.” He had no idea how far this job would be from Portland, so the three of them pulled up a state map and found Harney County. By zooming in on the map, they finally located the tiny dot that marked Riley. It was really out in the middle of nowhere.

Concerned, Beth pointed to the map. “Good grief, Ty. That looks like a lot of open country. What if you get eaten by a bear?”

Ty and Nate both laughed at her dramatics.

“I don’t think I need to worry about wildlife or bear encounters. I’m not going to the wilds of some third-world country. Besides, let’s see if I even get an interview before you get all hysterical.”

“Good point,” Nate said, hugging Beth to him. “How about a game of Clue?”

As Ty sat playing the board game, he realized being destitute really changed his attitude about many things. At twenty-nine, he never pictured himself crammed into a corner chair playing a silly board game with his very pregnant sister and her husband. He certainly never would have imagined how much he’d enjoy it.

One good thing he could say about being broke and without resources was that it made him appreciate the people who loved him.

Beth talked Ty into spending the night on their couch. It was too short for him to stretch out, but better than trying to sleep in his pickup. It was also a lot warmer. The next morning, he peeked out the miniscule balcony window, shocked to see a frosting of snow covering everything.  Beth was right once again.

Mindful that Nate and Beth still slept, Ty quietly took his things to the bathroom and enjoyed a hot shower. Hastily dressing, he bundled into his coat and headed outside. He walked down the street to a bakery and bought muffins and hot coffee, returning to the apartment just as Beth came out of the bathroom, dressed for work.

“Told you it would snow,” Beth said triumphantly as Ty set the muffins and coffee on the table. He grinned and helped her get plates and napkins. By then, Nate was up and the three of them ate breakfast before Beth left for work.

“What are your plans today?” Nate asked as he sipped his coffee and ate another muffin.

“I thought I’d try going to some of the bigger car dealerships again to see if any positions have opened up since the last time I checked,” Ty said, slowly drinking his coffee. It was too early to start going door-to-door and too cold to sit out in his truck for any length of time. “How about you?”

“I heard a rumor that a new facility is opening in Woodburn. Thought I’d drive down and check it out. If I can get a contact name, maybe I can get my foot in the door before they fill all the positions,” Nate said, finishing his coffee and rising from the table. He and Ty washed the breakfast dishes and left them in the drainer to dry.

The two men moved to the door where Ty shrugged into his coat. He thumped his brother-in-law on the shoulder with a grin. “Thanks for letting me crash here last night. I might have frozen outside.” Ty opened the apartment door.

“Thanks for coming in. You know Beth worries about you. You’re always welcome, bro,” Nate said as Ty waved and hurried down the hall.

Before he had a chance to make the dealership rounds, a friend called and asked Ty if he would come over to do some work on a car.

Ty arrived at Jeff’s house to find a car dead in the carport. It didn’t take long to determine the problem. He called Jeff and shared an estimate on the cost of parts. Jeff told him to do whatever he needed to get it running. Ty purchased the parts with his credit card and had the car back together and running smoothly by the time his friend arrived home for lunch. After taking the car for a quick test drive, Jeff paid Ty for the parts, throwing in a nice bonus for his labor.

They visited over lunch before Jeff headed back to work.

Ty deposited the cash needed to cover the credit card expenses into his bank account then pocketed the rest, planning to buy groceries for Beth and Nate. He was waiting behind a line of cars to leave the bank parking lot when his cell phone buzzed with a text message.

Swiftly pulling back into a parking space, he read the text from Lex Ryan about the job in Riley. Lex was impressed with his experience and references, and wanted to conduct an interview.  Ty needed to call someone named Swede at four o’clock if he was interested. Lex was sending a list of questions to be completed and e-mailed back before four, if that was possible.

Ty quickly changed his plans and drove to the library. Inside, he sat down at an empty computer station, opened his email account, and completed the questionnaire from Lex.

At first, the questions didn’t seem like anything out of the ordinary, but toward the end of the document, a few of them caught him off guard.

Confused and somewhat unsettled by the questions, he answered them as best he could.

Are you afraid of dogs?

     No

Do wide-open spaces bother you?

     No

Can you live without access to modern conveniences?

   
Yes

Ty didn’t know how he could have access to any fewer conveniences than he did living in his pickup, but decided it was best not to offer that opinion.

Are you willing to relocate to a rural atmosphere?

    
Yes

How bad could it be living in the country? He’d gone for many drives in the rural communities around Portland and enjoyed the gentle rolling hills of farmland. It seemed peaceful and nice. He could adjust to that, no problem.

The final question, however, Ty classified as downright bizarre.

Will it bother you to live in a house with the rest of the employees without access to nightlife or eligible young females?

   
 No

A man living in his truck doesn’t have a night life or dating scene. Heck, he barely had a day life since he gave up his apartment. No eligible female with a brain in her head wanted to hang out with a homeless man. It didn’t bother Ty in the least to answer that question honestly.

However, the reason behind the question did give him a moment of pause before he hit send.

Desperate to land the job, he decided if Mr. Ryan had a few quirks, so be it. He’d learn to deal with the man.

Ty found a quiet corner and pulled a small notebook out of his coat pocket as he waited for time to pass until he needed to make the call. He used the little notebook to keep track of all sorts of information and wanted to have it handy in case he needed to take any notes from the man named Swede.

At two minutes before four, he punched in the number. A man answered the phone on the first ring.

“Rockin’ R Ranch,” said a voice that sounded like it chewed gravel for breakfast.

“This is Tyler Lewis. Mr. Ryan requested I call this number at four today to speak with Mr. Swede,” Ty said, using his best professional phone manners.

“I’m Swede and yer right on time. And it’s jes Swede, no mister needed,” Swede said. “The boss asked me to interview ya, since I’m the one ya’ll mostly be workin’ with, so let’s git ‘er done.”

Swede asked Ty a number of questions about his skills, experience and training. Ty got a little worried when the man asked if he’d ever worked on farm equipment. Ty honestly answered he had not, but added that he could fix everything from lawnmowers to semi-trucks.

A pleased grunt sounded over the line then Swede went over the list of questions Ty answered earlier that afternoon via email.

“Are ya sure ya can live somewhere thet’s remote without much in the way of a social life?” Swede asked. “It’s all guys around this place and it’s a long way to town if yer lookin’ for some Saturday night action.”