The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots (31 page)

‘I’ll bet.’ Lena grinned wickedly.

Sharon swat her arm. ‘We talk too,’ she replied defensively and leaned back against the wall of the donga. ‘Sometimes for hours.’

‘Hours?’ This had Lena flabbergasted. ‘Seriously? What on earth about?’

‘Just stuff.’ Sharon’s reply had her even more flabbergasted. ‘I’m telling you, Lena, there’s a side to Carl you haven’t seen. He’s so cute when he’s out of his element too. Under that big tough manager hat of his, he’s really not that cluey when it comes to women and he’s so desperate to do the right thing.’ She laughed fondly. ‘I mean, I don’t think he’s really had a long-term relationship before.’

Lena pounced on this. ‘So it’s serious then?’

Sharon reddened. ‘I think it’s heading in that direction.’ She paused. ‘I really like him, Lena. I mean,
really
like him.’

Lena hugged her. ‘Good for you. Hell, good for him. Good for both of you.’

‘Thanks.’

‘You know,’ Lena began tentatively, ‘I don’t think it would matter if the guys knew about you and Carl. Fish’s nose is going to be put out of joint but everyone else would be fine with it.’

‘Well, it’s early days,’ Sharon explained. ‘Carl doesn’t want us to have spectators and gossip to deal with until we’re ready and sure.’

Lena smiled, but was soon worrying over her own situation again. Sharon was right: she needed to see Dan. And come the next evening, that was exactly what she was going to do.

Lena rocked up to work the next morning and felt like she’d never left. Fish was in the kitchen microwaving his shirt again. He came over to her cubicle afterwards to welcome her back and also borrow her stapler. When she assented, he began to staple the front of his shirt together. It looked as though constant microwaving had ruined the buttons. That wasn’t the weird part, though.

‘Fish, why are you wearing boardies with your shirt instead of pants?’ Lena pointed at his rainbow-coloured surf shorts.

‘Forgot to dry my pants last night too.’

She laughed. ‘So why not just microwave them as well?’

‘Metal zipper,’ he said seriously. ‘Everybody knows you don’t put metal in the microwave.’

‘You’re kidding me, right? That rule you get.’

‘Well, aren’t we all high and mighty this morning?’ He turned up his nose at her. ‘It’s not like you can talk with that roo sitting on your computer.’

She stuck out her tongue at him.

Shortly after lunch, she decided to make her routine inspection of progress on the skids. The boys stopped work and came
up on deck to chat with her. No teasing, just good old-fashioned talking with undivided attention and respect. Maybe there was something in being project hero after all. She savoured the moment and the view. As she gazed out over the ocean at whales and dolphins frolicking in the waves, she couldn’t imagine how she’d ever considered the Pilbara barren.

The only circumstance that had Lena a little freaked out was Mike’s behaviour. At first he hung back, a sour expression on his face. But then he joined the group, to listen, but not to comment. He kept looking at Lena as though he had something to say but it never quite came out. The boys simply ignored him.

After half an hour she decided to take him aside. ‘Look,’ she got swiftly to the point, ‘I heard what happened at the arbitration and I just wanted to thank you for squashing the rumours – for whatever reason.’ She cleared her throat. ‘In fact, I hope we can have a better working relationship from now on.’

He met her eyes briefly and just nodded.

That was it.

No smart remarks, no goading about how she’d got everything she deserved.

‘Do you have anything you want to say to me, Mike?’ she prodded him.

He looked at her and his sour expression seemed to deepen. ‘I have not enjoyed working with you on this job.’

Lena snorted.
Here we go.
‘I haven’t enjoyed working with you
either
, Mike.’

‘Yes, but despite that, despite everything I –’ He changed tack, saying in a firmer voice, ‘You got things done. Better than done sometimes.’ With a sigh, he looked out at the ocean again. The whales seemed to calm him. The creases on his forehead flattened, his tight mouth relaxed and his narrowed eyes opened languidly. Both their hands were resting on the handrailing and, while she watched him in confusion, he
reached out and briefly patted one of hers. ‘It’ll be better from now on.’

Her voice gurgled in her throat as she struggled to reply. ‘Er, thanks, Mike.’ She followed his gaze out to sea, marvelling that it had actually come to this. Mike was apologising. Well, that was as close to an apology as he’d ever come and to have him of all people manage it . . . Well, quite frankly, it had her worried. What on earth had Dan said to him?

After five minutes, the bus rolled up and she climbed down from the skids back onto the road.

‘You look philosophical,’ Sharon mused as she completed her jump on board.

She shook her head. ‘Too many questions and no answers.’

That afternoon passed extremely slowly as Lena counted down the minutes to knock-off. Around three o’clock her phone buzzed and she pounced on it like a hungry cat.

‘Hello?’ Her voice was breathless.

‘Hi, Lena! How are you?’

At first she didn’t recognise the voice, only registering that it wasn’t Dan’s.

‘I hope I haven’t caught you at a bad time.’

Finally it clicked. ‘Ivan?’ It had been mere months since she’d last spoken to her city boss but it felt like years.

‘Yes, it’s me. Just ringing to touch base. I’ve been hearing a lot of promising feedback about you from Cape Lambert. How are you enjoying it?’

A quiet smile curved her lips. ‘Very well, thank you.’

‘Good to know. Good to know.’

There was no hint of sarcasm or condescension in his voice at all and Lena had to wonder if The Tone had finally vacated the premises for good. She could only bite her lower lip with hope.

‘Anyway,’ he continued, unaware of her silent question, ‘you’ve been on the Pilbara for twelve weeks, which is pretty much as long as we’d planned to spare you.’

Lena’s chest seized as she realised for the first time that she didn’t want to go back. She had too much to do here. How could she leave halfway through truss installation? She wanted to see the new jetty when it was finished.

Not to mention the fact that she still had unresolved business with Dan.

But Ivan was still talking. ‘As you know, we like to rotate our graduates through different experiences and projects in their first three years with us so that they can work out where they fit. I have someone on standby here waiting to take your place and we have a couple of great options for you too depending on where you’d like to try next.’

I don’t want to try anything else. I want to finish what I started.

But the man wouldn’t let her get a word in. ‘The new St James Hospital Project we won is assembling a team of design engineers. It’ll be city based, of course. Or if you’ve got a taste for the outback, the Dampier job is in full swing. That’s another great project. Different from Cape Lambert. Bigger, I’m told.’

‘Ivan,’ Lena rubbed her temple. ‘This is happening rather fast. I –’

‘Yes, you’ll probably want some time to think about which project to join next. There’s heaps of info on our site if you want to read up about them.’ He paused. ‘Just so you know, Lena, you’re the only graduate we’re giving a project choice to. You’ve really earned your stripes on the Pilbara: well done.’

It didn’t sound like much of a choice to her. She heard muffled conversation coming through the phone as she tried to recover from the grenade he’d just dropped in her lap before Ivan said, ‘Look, I’m needed in a meeting right now. Take some time, think about it. I’ll call you in a few days.’

And then the dial tone sounded in her ears like the knock of that Supreme Court judge’s hammer. She listened to the sound for what was probably an unnecessary amount of time before carefully replacing the receiver.

‘Wow, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,’ Gavin said cheerfully as he walked past her desk. ‘Anything the matter?’

‘Nope.’ She immediately dropped her head, focusing on the page in front of her but not the words. She needed some time to digest the news before she told anyone about it.

The final two hours of her afternoon were extremely unproductive. Her mind kept bouncing between Dan and her impending departure from the Pilbara. She didn’t know which to be more upset about.

At five o’clock, Sharon discreetly dropped a pair of keys in her lap and she finally made off to the yard to take Carl’s ute. The drive up to Dan’s office was accomplished in two short minutes. As she was hopping out of her vehicle another pulled up beside her. It wasn’t a TCN ute but a blue Nissan with floral seat coverings and a couple of stuffed toys peering out the rear window. Lena watched in horror as a tall, leggy blonde in a black singlet and denim skirt alighted from the driver’s seat.

The woman threw a friendly wave in Lena’s direction before walking off towards the TCN office donga. Lena watched, gobsmacked, as the blonde entered the offices. Now she had all the answers she needed. Dan had a date after work and she had almost interrupted it. With stiff limbs she scrambled back into Carl’s ute and drove out of the car park as fast as the speed limit permitted. Tears welled but she blinked them back with iron determination. He didn’t deserve her grief. Thank goodness no one else had seen her.

She headed straight to camp as the arrangement was for Carl to collect his car from there. Sharon was meeting her in the mess later so they could exchange the keys. In the meantime she made for the showers, hoping to clean the day from both
her mind and body. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done.

She had put so much faith in her own judgement – not quite trusting the rumour until she’d seen evidence with her own eyes. Now it seemed impossible to believe anything else. Her chest tightened. How could she have been so wrong about Dan’s commitment to her?

She lay down on her bed in her donga for an hour, staring at the plasterboard ceiling, trying to make sense of it all. But couldn’t. Eventually the dinner hour ticked around and she decided to go to the mess. Better to keep busy than dwell on how gullible and naive she was.

The mess was full and rowdy and Sharon hailed her immediately from across the room. She headed to the buffet first, however, and filled a plate with spaghetti. On her way back, she recognised Dan sitting unaccompanied at a table closer to her. Involuntarily, her feet slowed. What was he doing here? Wasn’t he supposed to be on a date?

Her ribcage swelled. Maybe it
was
all just a big misunderstanding. Without thinking about the consequences of her actions, she went over to him and sat down.

He looked up when her plate suddenly appeared next to his. A faint stubble lingered on his chin giving him a predatory edge that immediately pulsed the blood in her veins. The intensity of his gaze had not abated one iota.

‘Hi,’ she said, trying to keep her voice low and casual. Her ears picked up the murmur that rippled through the mess. There was a lot of nudging going on.

‘Are you sure this is wise?’ Dan’s eyes flicked sideways as he dabbed his mouth with a napkin. ‘You’re creating a stir.’

She picked up her fork. ‘Is it bothering you?’

‘Not yet.’ He returned his attention to his meal, and his indifference unsettled her.

‘What do you mean not yet?’

He didn’t look at her as he spoke. His voice was dull, bored even. ‘I took a lot of trouble to make sure you came through
this whole site scandal unscathed. I wouldn’t want to see my efforts overturned for nothing.’

‘Yeah, I heard about your
efforts
.’ She couldn’t keep the derision out of her voice and his eyes narrowed on her.

‘Have I done something wrong, Lena?’

‘Wrong?’ she said. ‘No, of course not. After all, we never said anything about not seeing other people while you were waiting for me to sort myself out, did we?’

He stopped eating. ‘What on earth are you talking about?’

Lena dropped the cool facade. ‘I don’t know. How about the hot blonde you picked up at Point Samson while I finished my R and R?’

The confusion on his face abruptly cleared and a slight smile curved his mouth. ‘I assume you’re talking about Wendy, Mike’s niece from Karratha. I gave her a job in exchange for his testimony.’

‘You . . . you did what?’ Lena faltered.

‘I gave her a job,’ he repeated matter-of-factly. ‘Wendy is in occupational health and safety but has been unemployed for the last two years. I said I’d give her a job if Mike denied what he saw in the spa.’

‘But I saw her today at your offices after work today, dressed to party,’ Lena blurted and Dan’s smile broadened.

‘Been spying on me, have you?’

‘No.’ She dropped her gaze to her pasta and became immersed in twirling it around her fork. ‘I just happened to be in the area.’

‘Really?’

‘Look,’ she continued, trying to ignore the feel of her face going red, ‘it doesn’t matter where I was. I’m just trying to make sense of what is going on here.’

His eyes were sparkling with mirth but he let it go. ‘Well, it’s really quite simple. Mike introduced Wendy to me at the pub and, after a short interview on the spot, I said I would hire her. I took her contact details before she left the bar. As for this
evening, she came around to pick up her TCN uniform. She starts work tomorrow.’

Relief washed through Lena. Her instincts had been correct. He hadn’t moved on with someone else. She put her head in her hands. ‘I should have known,’ she groaned. ‘Especially when Mike all but apologised to me today.’

‘He did that?’ Dan’s eyebrows raised in surprise. ‘Maybe I was too hard on him about his behaviour. But I couldn’t resist suggesting that he should imagine Wendy being treated in the same way you were.’

‘You definitely pricked a nerve.’ She nodded and was silent for a moment, unsure how to go on. Embarrassment kept her focused on her dinner. It was hard not to be ashamed of the fact that while she was busy jumping to conclusions, he was doing nothing but protecting her again. ‘You didn’t honestly think I could get over you that quickly, did you?’ Dan enquired softly.

Her breath caught in her throat as she raised shy eyes to his. Words tumbled out. ‘I got back yesterday morning and you didn’t come find me and it’s been almost two days and I couldn’t help but feel that things might have . . . well . . .
changed
since we last spoke in Perth.’

A muscle twitched above his jawline. ‘Why would they?’