The Girl in the Hard Hat (30 page)

She was thrown aside and as she hit the side of the desk and then the floor she felt a strange popping sensation in her shoulder before pain erupted, engulfing her like lava from a crater in the Bunya Mountains.

She screamed.

‘Goddamn it, Wendy!’ Gavin yanked away from Carl and threw himself on the ground, crawling to her side. He half-picked her up, holding her to his chest.

His heart beat like a gong against her flaming cheek. She moaned in pain.

‘I think she’s dislocated her shoulder,’ he threw at a panting Carl, who was now sagged against the back of a chair.

The door burst open. John Lewis and several other staff in the immediate vicinity came in, stopping dead in their tracks at the damage wreaked by the struggle. Carl’s torn safety vest, overturned furniture, Wendy cocooned in Gavin’s arms with a shaking body and deformed-looking shoulder.

‘Where’s the site medic?’ Carl rasped.

‘He’s on the wharf,’ John said quickly. ‘Some guy fainted this morning. Dehydration or something . . .’

‘Fuck! Couldn’t he have passed out tomorrow? Dickhead!’

Wendy vaguely heard his voice through the pain. Tears poured down her face.

‘It’ll be quicker to drive her into Wickham than to wait.’ Gavin stood up, lifting Wendy off the ground easily, as if he was picking up a baby. ‘We need to get a doctor to put it back in immediately.’

But through the throbbing mist, Wendy remembered something.

With effort she lifted her head from the comfort of Gavin’s chest, choking out the words with bull-headed stubbornness.

‘I . . . I’m not going anywhere without Carl.’

Carl looked at her in shock until his mouth slowly eased into a grin. ‘Fuck, Wendy! If I didn’t know any better I’d say you fucked your shoulder on purpose. Rest easy, girl! I’m coming with you. In fact, I’ll drive.’

‘No!’ she and Gavin said at the same time.

He held out his arms. ‘Then let me take her.’

‘You’re not touching her,’ Gavin spat at him. ‘And we’re going in my ute.’

The rest of the staff gave Gavin a wide berth as he stalked from the room carrying his burden.

‘Guess I’ll be leaving for a while then,’ Carl said gruffly to John. ‘Will you ring Bulldog and tell him that I’ve left site?’

‘Sure, Carl.’ John nodded and watched stunned as he followed Gavin and Wendy out.

Wendy looked up into Gavin’s worried face, fascinated by both the guilt and the concern she saw there. His hair was a mess from the fight and his shirt pocket torn. But he looked undeniably and irrevocably scrumptious. If she wasn’t in so much pain she would try to snuggle in further.

‘Tell me,’ she murmured, ‘did we make it?’

‘Make what?’

‘Make it on time?’ She gasped as her shoulder twitched.

‘Wendy, don’t talk, you’re aggravating it.’ But he glanced up at the donga clock as they left the building all the same. ‘With two minutes to spare, Sarge.’

‘Thank goodness.’

Gavin drove Carl and Wendy to Wickham Health Centre, which was a little more than five minutes from site. Carl’s brash voice and loud demands soon made their case an urgent one and Gavin carried Wendy into the office of a middle-aged male doctor.

The doctor wasn’t at all thrown to be confronted by two anxious and roughed-up men and one groaning female. Wendy suspected patients in fluoro vests must be a common sight in these parts.

‘A dislocated shoulder, I see.’ He rubbed his hands cheerfully as he examined her. ‘Doesn’t look too bad. I can pop that one back in place myself.’

After administering Wendy with a local anaesthetic to the injured area he lifted her arm and, bracing her shoulder, manoeuvred the bone back into place. She felt the popping sensation again but this time no pain – though that was hardly surprising, considering her whole shoulder was now numb.

The doctor arranged her arm in a sling and told her she would need to go immediately to Nickol Bay Hospital in Karratha to have some X-rays done, just to ensure the bone really was back in place and she hadn’t fractured it or any other part of her shoulder.

Wendy thanked him and then allowed the boys to escort her back out to the car with the doctor’s referral in hand. She leaned heavily on Gavin, protesting when he offered to carry her. She didn’t want to seem like a big baby when the injury was her own impulsive fault.

Forty minutes later they found themselves in another waiting room in Karratha and Wendy could see that guilt was really starting to catch up with Carl.

‘Listen,’ Carl ran thick fingers through his dark hair, ‘I’m real fuckin’ sorry about your shoulder, Wendy. I didn’t think it would come to this.’

‘You should be fuckin’ sorry,’ Gavin growled.

She reached over and squeezed Gavin’s knee with her good hand. ‘Don’t start. I’m going to be fine. I’m just glad that it’s not you two lying in beds in here instead. I thought you were going to kill each other.’

‘Could have, should have,’ Gavin agreed.

‘Would have,’ Carl added with a challenging sparkle in his eye.

‘Oh, for goodness’ sake,’ Wendy rolled her eyes. ‘If you must, take it outside this time.’

‘No.’ Gavin’s attention returned to her, guilt in his voice. ‘Here I am trying to protect you and you get hurt anyway.’

‘Protect me from what?’ She glanced at him in surprise.

He looked away and didn’t quite answer. ‘This is my fault.’

‘It ain’t your fuckin’ fault,’ Carl reprimanded him. ‘You were only trying to do what’s best for the project.’

‘Knocking Wendy across the room?’ Gavin shot at him derisively.

‘I think you both knocked me,’ Wendy corrected him. ‘If it was anyone’s fault it was mine for being so stupid as to try and break you up.’

‘Well, I’m not going to fuckin’ split hairs over blame,’ Carl sighed. ‘I just want to put this shit aside and move on.’

‘Then you’ll have to work from Wickham until I can get your licence sorted.’ Wendy glanced at him sternly.

‘I can’t do everything from fuckin’ Wickham.’

‘I’ll do the rest.’ Gavin nodded determinedly.

Carl snorted. ‘And why would I put you in charge?’

The cocky smile was back on Gavin’s face. ‘Come on, Carl. I’ve always had a fancy to be project manager.’

Carl looked heavenwards. ‘I wish to fuck I had better options.’

‘So you agree then?’ Gavin said quickly though Carl didn’t look at him. Instead he turned to Wendy.

‘You keep an eye on him. His fuckin’ ego is likely to take up too much space!’

‘Wendy Hopkins?’ A nurse came out to collect them.

Wendy raised her good hand. ‘Right here.’

After the X-ray was done and Wendy was cleared to leave, Gavin drove them to Carl’s house in Wickham to drop him off.

Sharon met them in the living room, her leg encased in a giant blue plastic boot.

‘Oh no! What’s happened?’

Wendy couldn’t resist: ‘I got in a fight.’

‘With
who
?’

‘Carl and Gavin.’

Sharon’s gaze swung straight to Carl. ‘What did you do?’

‘Why do you always assume I’ve fuckin’ done something?’ Carl replied sourly.

‘What were you doing fighting with Wendy?’

‘I wasn’t fighting with Wendy. I was fighting with fuckin’ Gavin!’

‘Who threw the first punch?’

‘What the fuck has that got to do with anything?’ Carl flushed.

Wendy put her good hand on Sharon’s arm. ‘Let him be. There was a bit of an ultimatum from the client. Carl took offence, Gavin and he got into a fight and, dumb idiot I am, I thought I was strong enough to break it up.’

Again, Sharon’s gaze zoomed in on a sullen-looking Carl. ‘What was so bloody offensive?’

Wendy quickly apprised Sharon of the full situation. ‘So you see, Carl can’t come back to site until he’s got his driver’s licence.’ She glanced around the room as though searching for a missing child. ‘Where’s Fish?’

Sharon’s face clouded. ‘I kind of kicked him out yesterday.’

‘Still leaving his fish guts in the sink?’

‘Worse,’ Sharon pulled a face, ‘much worse. Yesterday he caught this huge mud crab. He wanted to catch some more but this really big one broke the net. So he came home to get another net and put the captured mud crab – still alive, mind you – in our bathtub for safe keeping.’

Wendy covered her mouth and gasped. ‘He didn’t!’

‘Do you know what his defence was?’ Sharon did a very good imitation of Fish’s voice. ‘“Well, how was I supposed to know you hadn’t had a shower yet?”’

Wendy choked back her laughter.

‘I take it your shower is over your bath,’ Gavin drawled.

‘Yes,’ Sharon confirmed. ‘I nearly broke my other leg trying to get out of the tub before the snappy little thing nipped my ankles off.’

‘That ratbag,’ Wendy exclaimed.

‘It was so humiliating. Definitely the straw that broke the camel’s back.’

‘I don’t blame you.’

Gavin looked around at the group. ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ he rubbed his hands together, ‘but now that I’m acting project manager, I think we should make a plan for the future.’

‘Oh, you do, do you?’ Carl eyed him in annoyance.

‘Yes,’ Gavin said decisively. ‘Carl’s working from here, I’m returning to the wharf and I think Wendy should go on R and R.’

Wendy’s head spun around fast. ‘
Why?
’

‘Well you’re overdue, aren’t you, because of the audit? Now you’ve got a sore shoulder . . . perfect time to take a break.’

‘But there’s so much to do.’

‘Not that I can see. Take the leave and rest up. You need to.’

She glared at him. ‘My arm is fine. I’ll take the day off and tomorrow –’

‘You’ll fly home.’

‘I will not.’ She turned fully to him this time, her unslung hand on her hip.

‘You know,’ Sharon said thoughtfully, ‘I’m with him on this one.’

‘Yeah, he’s right,’ Carl nodded. ‘You’re fuckin’ done, Wendy, at least for the moment. You need a break. Look at you. Your right arm’s fucked. You’re not fit to do shit.’

‘But I’ve got follow-ups from the audit to deliver and cyclone prep stuff to do.’

‘Which will all still be here when you get back.’ Gavin smiled at her, making her fingers itch to slap him. ‘Come on.’ He put his hand in the small of her back. ‘I’ll take you back to your donga so you can pack. Chub will book the flight.’

‘See you, Wendy.’ Sharon waved cheerfully.

‘You did that on purpose,’ Wendy accused Gavin when they stepped out of the house.

‘Did what, Sarge?’

‘Ordered me off site in front of witnesses, so you could get a three to one vote.’

‘Okay, so I’m guilty of a little subterfuge.’ Gavin gave her his killer smile. ‘Did you only just notice that about me?’

‘Oh, good one.’ She rolled her eyes as he helped her into his ute, his hands on her elbow and waist, sending a buzz up her spine that had no business being there.

He walked around to his side, got in and started the car. ‘I just wanted to make sure that you rested,’ he said seriously. ‘Skipping R and R is not good for your health.’

It was so much of an echo of her own words that she had to gape at his audacity.

‘Wow. That’s pretty hypocritical considering you’re more overdue than I am.’

‘How do you figure that?’

‘You skipped your leave because of Craig and since he’s come back you haven’t shown any signs of heading off to Perth.’

He grimaced. ‘It’s not a good idea for me to go to Perth right now.’

‘Why?’ There was a weird expression on his face. Gavin did cheeky, sexy, mischievous and teasing very well. Dark and mysterious stood out like a gold button on a black coat.

His expression lightened suddenly, however, as he glanced at her with a grin. ‘Because the fish are biting at Exmouth not Perth. I was thinking of going there instead for my next break.’

‘Then go.’

‘I can’t leave now. I’ve just been made project manager.’ She couldn’t mistake the glee in his voice. ‘My career is on the rise, Sarge. You don’t turn your back on that.’

‘Hmm, don’t let it go to your head.’

He laughed.

‘What?’

‘Nothing. Just you.’ He pulled the car to a halt and she realised they were back in the camp car park. The air in the cabin suddenly seemed a tad thicker.

But as she went to open her car door he put a hand on her arm. ‘Well, I hope you have a good break and get to see your friends and . . .’ his expression was wistful ‘. . . your family.’

Yeah, because that’s going to relax me.

He saw her frown. ‘Did I say something wrong? Is this about the guy back home who hurt you? He’s not going to be around, is he?’

She shook off his hand as she stepped out of the car. ‘You’re wrong, Gavin. You’ve always been wrong. The last guy who hurt me wasn’t a boyfriend.’

‘Then who was it?’

‘My father.’

Her impulsive admission to Gavin shocked her. So much so that she hadn’t allowed him to question her further. After avoiding the eye contact he was obviously trying to make, she had excused herself and continued to her donga alone. Her discomfort stemmed mainly from the fact that it was the first time she’d said that to anyone
including
herself. Admitting that her father’s desertion at birth had caused her pain had seemed silly before. He’d never even known her. Perhaps he thought he was giving her a better life . . . she couldn’t know for sure.

On the other hand, he had impregnated a woman he supposedly cared about but hadn’t even stuck around to see what his son or daughter looked like. It seemed like rejection of the highest order.

Sitting on the plane the next day, she had ample opportunity to reflect on the discoveries and dead ends that she’d encountered on her journey to find the man who’d abandoned her. Being away from site and on her way home, the place where it had all begun, seemed to trigger that restless feeling in her again.

The
need
to know.

By the time the flight ended, she was resolved to at least question her family again. Not so much her mother this time though, as her adoptive father. She’d catch him alone and see if she could get further information out of him. Parry Hopkins was a withdrawn, shy man who tended to hide in his wife’s shadow. She was sure he knew more than he was letting on.