Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64419 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 258(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I paused, my hand on the doorknob. This next encounter was likely to be as great a failure as the previous one. More than anything, I had wanted to stay and talk with her. I had wanted to see her smile, to know that I had been the one to make her smile. Unfortunately, I was too awkward and unaccustomed to small talk.
I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Just as I had imagined, Aly was seated behind the desk. She had a small stack of papers in front of her and was entering information into the computer. She paused when I stepped inside, looking up with those striking coffee-colored eyes. After a beat, she smiled.
“Good morning, Linc,” she said. “Porter’s gonna take you around, but he’s got a few phone calls to make first. You can have a seat.” She gestured to the couch.
I sat down, grateful to have been granted another five minutes of her company. “When do you get in?” I asked. It was the first thing that came to my mind, even though it was a lame excuse for playful banter.
“Eight thirty,” she said.
“You like the job?”
“Yeah,” she said. “Porter’s real nice. He’s like family.”
“Do you know Gina?” I asked, suddenly comfortable asking real questions.
“Yeah.” She eased into the conversation, shifting her attention from her work to me. “Gina and I go out sometimes. I also have dinner with their family once a week.”
“The family?” I asked. “So, you’ve met the baby?”
She nodded. “Seth.”
“Seth,” I tried.
My nephew. I hadn’t really thought about having a nephew or having a family. The baby was something that had happened to Gina and didn’t involve me. Now that I considered it, the idea of being attached to a family made me feel simultaneously nervous and optimistic. Maybe there would be someone around who would miss me, who would look forward to seeing me and wonder where I was when I was gone.
And that was a problem. The more attachments you had, the more vulnerable you were. To protect myself and my family from the specter of insurgents, I had to remain constantly ready. That meant no family barbeques, no sleeping in beds, no letting my guard down.
My soon to be brother-in-law arrived a moment later, cutting my time with Aly short. I stood up, smiled at her, and followed Porter up the stairs. I felt my leg twitch but ignored it. This was my first day on the job, my first day on any job since the injury. It was going to be a long one.
“There’s a bit of paperwork,” Porter said, motioning toward one of the chairs in his office.
I sat down gratefully.
“First, I’m gonna take you on a tour and introduce you to everyone you’ll be working with. I’ll drop you off with Danny. He’s our seasoned driver. For the rest of the week, you’re going to be going on deliveries with him. We’ll see how that works out and move forward from there.”
I nodded. “Sounds good.”
“Your dad’s going to drop by around noon, so I hope that you’ll feel comfortable having lunch with him.” The comment was almost apologetic.
I drew in a deep breath. I had to expect that the old man would want something in exchange for his generosity. Hell, Mrs. Washington wanted the same thing from me just for keeping my rent low. I supposed they were old and in need of companionship.
“And if you can end up with Aly around three, that should give you time to fill out all the paperwork, okay?”
“Right,” I agreed. Lunch with Dad at noon and finish up the day talking to Aly. I had something to look forward to after the trial of the first day. While I could have done without another heart-to-heart with my dad, the prospect of two hours alone with Aly had my blood racing with anticipation.
Porter took me out of the house, and we walked the rows of stacked lumber. He pointed out various types of wood. “Here’s pine. That’s the cheaper variety. Over here is oak. We have some walnut and maple but that’s indoors.”
He didn’t walk slowly or wait for me to catch up. Either he had forgotten I was injured or just didn’t care. I kept up, but by the end of the tour, my leg was throbbing. We wound up behind another building in a larger parking lot that was designated for staff vehicles and deliveries.
“This here is Danny.” Porter waved at an older man with a pot belly who was cleaning out the cab of a sturdy pickup truck. “Danny, this is Linc.”
I held out my hand. Danny emerged from the truck, a cup of coffee and a candy wrapper in one hand. He offered the other to me and we shook. Danny swung the truck door shut, his face sunburnt and wrinkled.