Cami
“Just cast a bit more light toward the far end of the roof, Daniel!” I shouted as the men tried to set up the floodlights.
“Cami this is pure madness, you’ve got to come down from there,” Joseph Canne yelled. He was seated in the back of his truck with the tailgate down looking up at me like a parent scolding a child.
“Don’t you take that tone with me Joseph Canne,” I yelled back down to my scowling co-worker, “I’m older than you by two years boyo!”
Instead of answering he adjusted the tripod in his truck that held the floodlight, but I could tell he was grumbling to himself. As the rain came in a fine mist, I wondered just how bad of an idea this was. It was after six and God bless me crew because they had gotten two buildings completed before Finn’s deadline, thankfully that only left me this last building. The problem being the pitch black night, due to cloud cover and rain that was alternating from pelting rain to a misting drizzle, was going to make finishing this roof without breakin’ me neck, a bloody miracle.
Still, when Finn showed up about ten minutes ago with his smug, cheeky grin, I was more determined than ever to get those bonuses for the crew. I counted the boxes of shingles that Daniel had placed up here earlier in the day, we had left this building for last because it was the smallest and had a slightly flatter rooftop. As it was, I was straddling the roof like a horse with me boots braced on each side of the slope to make sure I didn’t lose me footing. I was used to roofs like this and I could manuever just fine without losing me balance, but I had never put on shingles at night nor in the rain. Of course, Daniel had insisted that I tie off. Basically that means that I place an anchor bolt in the roof and use a sort of harness that clips to it, this allows me to move about the roof but if I slip, I won’t fall to the ground and crack me noggin’ like an egg. It’s sort of like the equipment rock climbers use when they are face climbing large cliffs.
Checking to make sure me harness and anchor bolt were solid, I continued with me nail gun and shingles. “Seriously, you lads should go home to your wives before you miss supper.” I hated that they were all standing about, some looking like I was mad, the others looking at Finn like they wanted to gut him.
“We’re not leavin’ you here, you stay we stay, but honestly ya need to come down. Harness or no, this is not smart,” Paul Collins shouted from down bellow. Paul’s wife just had twin girls, his wife had quit work to stay home with the babies so I know that bonus means a lot to him and his family.
I ignored the grumbling and warnings from the crew and concentrated on me task. After awhile I got into a rhythm, place the shingle, pop four nails in each corner, place the next shingle, keep moving, keep working, make the rows neat and make sure each overlaps just right so that the roof will be leak free. It was an easy rhythm once I had it, it helped to focus on that rather than the fact that I was so cold me teeth were beginning to chatter.
Three hours or so in and I had about one-quarter of the roof finished. It was hard to drag the boxes of shingles along with me without help, and the rain was turning the boxes to mush, meaning I had to get up and go get shingles and walk back to where I left off. Luckily, despite almost nailing me thumb twice, I still had all me digits but I could feel the fatigue in me arms slowing me down and making me a little clumsy. I had slipped twice when the rain had picked up, but the harness had kept me from plunging to the ground. At that point, the boys decided I was comin’ down like it or not, but I told them to wank off. Daniel had moved toward the ladder that I used to climb up and I knew if he got up here, Finn would call the bet off and they would lose those wages. In a move of pure desperation, I kicked the wood ladder apart with me legs and the back of me claw hammer and sent it spiraling to the ground. Since Walt was cheap, I knew they didn’t have a second ladder at the ready. It would pose a problem when I was finally ready to come down, but I would cross that bridge when I came to it.
“Dammit girl, how the hell are you supposed to get down? Ya busted the only ladder we had!” Daniel yelled up at me, he was giving me a hard glare.
“Well, maybe you should talk to Finn about getting some new ones then, one ladder for a crew of twelve to twenty men is inadequate and a cheap wood ladder to boot!” I suggested while trying to keep me rhythm going.
I heard Daniel curse but I paid him no mind at all, Finn had left when the weather got worse, but he left one of his minions behind to watch. The creepy fellow sat in his shiny BMW, drinking coffee and scrolling through his phone. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, trashing the ladder, but I knew Daniel was coming up here to haul me off this roof and that just couldn’t happen. Yet, looking at how much I had to do, I wasn’t sure how I was going to finish it on time.
Dalton
I had spent the majority of the day getting the base of the gazebo completed. It had taken me some time to go through the shed to make sure all the supplies I had needed were there. Jack told me that Camille had made sure all the things I had asked for had been there and she even left me all of her best Dewalt tools to work with. God, could the women get any better? She owned a complete set of high quality, Dewalt power tools! That and the fact that everything I needed was already here would make building the gazebo a snap. Once I had the bottom frame done, I had stepped back and imagined how it would look once it was completed. It was the largest gazebo I had ever built, it was approximately 20x20 in size, give or take a bit because of the octagon shape, and Camille had designed it perfectly.
It had started to pour rain about seven and since the lights that Jack had set kept falling because of the wind, I decided to tarp what I had done and call it a night. I had been so busy I hadn’t even given Camille’s whereabouts another thought. I assumed she was in the house avoiding me again. I wasn’t surprised that I had lost track of time. When I was working on a project I always got lost in it. Even though I ran my own crew I still loved getting out there on the job site to help the team. I still enjoyed watching the framing of a home go up, seeing the beginnings of the house that someone would love and cherish, and I got to be a part of that. It was my favorite part of owning a contracting company.
I had been so lost in my work that I had missed dinner until Kathyrn came out and fussed at me until I sat down in the shed and devoured the lamb stew and cornbread that she brought me. Jack for his part brought me coffee, real coffee with just cream and sugar, throughout the cold day.
Still, I felt good after I had showered and felt dry for the first time today. I walked downstairs and noticed the clock read after nine. I looked around, amazed that Camille had managed to avoid me for a whole day.
“Hey Jack, did Camille come home from work yet?” I asked the man sitting on his couch watching Bass fishing on television.
Jack looked at the clock and then to me and then back to the clock, “Kathryn! Where is Camille?” The tone of his voice and the sheepish look on Kathryn’s face told me I wasn’t going to like what she said.
“She’s at the pub in town, she works there three nights a week,” Kathryn said as her eyes darted everywhere but never stopped on Jack. She was hiding something, I could feel it. Apparently Jack felt it too because he jumped up from his sofa, an impressive feat for an older man like him, and put his hands on his hips glaring at Camille’s mother.
“Out with it, Kathryn, she doesn’t work tonight at the pub and I seriously doubt she’s out on a date, not without coming home and changing first, what gives woman?” Jack barked at Kathryn making her jump.
I felt sorry for her, but I kind of didn’t, wherever Camille was I was sure Jack wouldn’t like it and one look at Kathryn’s face told me she knew it too.
“She’s stayed late to help the lads finish up,” Kathryn spoke slowly as if she was thinking about each word carefully before she said it.
“Katy!” Jack yelled using what was, apparently, her nickname, “It’s past nine, it’s raining and it’s dark! What the hell has my beautiful, yet stubborn daughter got herself into now? And I don’t care
if she swore you to secrecy on the holy cross woman, you will tell me!” His tone left no room for arguing and the fact that Jack had called Camille’s mother by a nickname, showed me he was pissed. This, of course, made me nervous because if Jack was this worked up it had to be bad, very, very bad.
“Finn set a deadline for the crew. If they don’t finish by midnight they don’t get their bonuses. You know she won’t leave them, she didn’t want you to worry,” Kathryn explained. She looked right at me when she spoke, which told me it wasn’t Jack that Camille was concerned about, it was me! The little minx didn’t want me to know what she was doing? Why? Why would I be worried about her sitting in an office, waiting for a work crew to finish? I mean it wasn’t like she was out there in the dark, in the rain working alongside them right? It took me about three seconds for reality to set in. FUUUUUUUCK!
“Jack I need the keys to your car and directions or an address that my mapping app can find! I’ll go get her if I have to drag her back.”
“Would ya be needing more ties, Dalton?” Kathryn asked. She looked entirely serious when both Jack and I turned to look at her, “What? She can be very stubborn and I’m sure this time you don’t have neck ties laying about to strap her to the seat,” she finished as she walked away like this was an absolutely normal conversation.
Jack tossed me his keys and took my phone from my hands and put in the directions so I could map out a route to the site. “This has Walt or that mini-me, twit boy of his written all over it! You bring that girl back here Dalton and if one hair on her head is harmed, I’m going to rip that boy's spleen out through his throat!” Jack promised as I pulled my jacket on, shoved my feet in my work boots and took off.
After about thirty minutes of potholes, cows crossing the road and being reminded by angry Irish drivers that I was driving on the wrong side of the road, I turned where the mapping app directed and what I saw had me hitting the brakes so hard the car practically fishtailed.
What. The. Actual. Fuck? There were three buildings, two about the same size and one slightly smaller and it consisted of only one story instead of four. There we at least half a dozen trucks, a few cars including Camille’s all parked in the muddy parking lot. I tried to count how many scowling Irish men were pacing in the lot. With the dark and the rain I think there were at least ten. They were all looking up at the roof of the smaller building, some of them angling lights toward the top and a few were off to the side working on what seemed like an old wooden ladder.
That’s not what had me hitting the brakes like a maniac or jumping out the car before I even had the damn thing in park. You can’t even guess what had my heart in my throat. She didn’t, she wouldn’t, there was no way I was staring at a dripping wet, Camille McDougall-Patrick, straddling a freaking roof in the rain, in the dark, by herself, while a bunch of grumbling Irish men stood around and watched from bellow.
“No! No fucking way Camille! I mean, I know you said you worked for Walt, but this is fucking unacceptable!...Grrr…Get the fuck off that roof right, the fuck, now!” I bellowed in my no nonsense, Navy SEAL, alpha male voice. It was the voice I used in Afghanistan when some idiot was reaching for a gun when my own gun and those of my SEAL brothers were already pointing at least twelve at him. Usually it got results. Usually it got obedience, this time, it got me the finger from a stubborn little hellion, who apparently didn’t care for my take-charge tone.
A guy looking to be in his late forties raised one questioning eyebrow at me as I glared at Camille. I ignored the look and marched toward the building Camille was perched on. I could see the outline of a tie off harness and mentally took a breath, at least she had taken some precautions. Turning from Camille for a moment, I looked around that the crew of workers who were staring at me. They averaged from about the mid- twenties to late forties, all big guys, all of them scowling at me, all of them about to get their asses kicked for letting her climb up there in the first place.
Taking a deep breath, I looked right at the older guy that had raised his eyebrow at me, he seemed to be the one in charge of this circus, “What the hell is she doing up there at night, in the rain, or at all?” I asked reaching for my inner Zen, unfortunately even my Zen was freaking out.
“The name’s Daniel, I’m the former foreman and just who the hell are you yank?” came his thick Irish accent.
Deciding I needed these guys on my side if I had any chance of getting crazy pants off the roof, I thrust out my hand and plastered a smile on my face that I didn’t feel.
“I’m Dalton Hudson, my brother is marrying Camille’s cousin. I have my own contracting business in the states and I came here to build a gazebo for the wedding,” when he raised his brows again I added, “I’m also a friend, a very concerned friend and I promised her father I would bring her home.” I stared right into those Irish blue eyes and deadpanned him. I wasn’t about to let him think for one second that I was leaving this work site without Camille, willing or not.
The giant smiled and grabbed my hand in a bone crushing grip, “Damn fine to meet you, lad, Camille talks about her cousin all the time but before your britches get out of sorts, you best know that it wasn’t our doin’ that got the bird up there.”
Daniel spent the next ten minutes introducing me to the crew and explaining why Camille was up there, how they had tried to talk her out of it. He went on about how he had tried to climb up and drag her down, but she had damaged the ladder and the guys were trying to fix it so they could have another go and get her off the roof. Looking around, I could tell these guy cared about her, they saw her as one of their own.
I couldn’t believe that Walt actually had his own daughter working on a construction crew. Now wait, before you get all woman’s rights on me and stuff, I will have you know that I served with many awesome, ass-kicking female soldiers in the Navy! So, I know that women are more than capable of performing any job function. However, contracting can be a dangerous profession and it can be a hard, grueling, physically demanding job, so unless Camille secretly loves hammering nails, getting sweaty, and working in rain, sun and any other weather element, I can’t imagine this being her dream job.
Even if she did, it didn’t change the fact that while Camille trying to stand up to Finn and get the crew bonuses was admirable, she was still likely to break her neck, or nail her hand from exhaustion.
“How much time does she have?” I asked nobody in particular.
“She has a few hours left, until midnight. Then, that stupid wanker in the BMW over there is going to report to Finn if she finished the roofin’ or not.” It was the man named Paul that spoke, and he pointed to the shiny car sitting off to the side with a chubby, dark-haired man sitting in the front seat.
“She’s already slipped twice and I can see her shivering from down here! We told her we didn’t care about the damn money, but she won’t see reason!” the one called Michael chimed in.
Sighing I asked Daniel, “the deal is that none of the crew can help or that nobody can help?” I asked trying to see how much wiggle room I had on technicalities.
“He specifically said none of the crew can help, which means if any of us even climbs up to hand her a damn sandwich, the wanker in the car will tell Finn and it’s over,” Michael grumbled, I could tell the guy really didn’t like this Finn guy or Finn’s BMW driving buddy.
I walked up to the building and looked at what I had to work with. Let’s see, I have a stubborn female that has decided to take on the evil of the world, that evil being Finn, so there was no doubt she wasn’t coming down willingly. Next, I have a dozen or so men who were biting their nails with worry because one of their own was turning into a frozen popsicle in a desperate bid to save their wages. Last, I had one way up to that roof and it would require a boost from the Irish powerhouse, Daniel.
“Okay, give me a tool belt with a damn nail gun, then I need a boost on that lower edge over there. Oh and find me another tie off harness, I’m not looking to get thrown off the roof by an angry,
Irish woman,” I told the group. I watched one guy run for the trailer and another took off his belt with a nail gun attached and handed it to me.
I looked up at Camille, but her back was to me while she pounded away at the shingles. Part of me wanted to climb up there, drag her down and lock her away in her room where she could never put herself in danger again. The other part of me respected the hell out of her for taking a stand against Finn and for standing up for her crew.
“What’s yer plan yank?” Daniel asked coming to stand beside me while I eyed my path up to the roof.
I smiled at the man and clapped his shoulder, “I’m going to scale the tower, save the princess, fix the roof, and hopefully climb down the ladder that those guys have about an hour or so to fix.”
“Good luck with that man, Cami’s not the damsel in distress type ya know.” He gave me a wry smile as he locked hands and gestured for me to step up.
“That’s okay Daniel, I’m no one’s knight in shining armor anyways,” I answered as I stepped up and jumped for the edge of the slick roof.
I heard Daniel mumble, “Looks like a right proper knight to me,” as he stepped back with the crew.
I pulled up, using my arms and thanking myself for staying in top shape. As soon as I had myself pulled up enough, I swung one leg onto the roof, cringing when the cold wetness seeped into my jeans. If I was this cold after a few moments, I could only imagine how cold Camille was. Hoisting myself to where I was completely on the roof, I carefully made my way to the anchor bolt where Camille was tied off and latched my hook there.
Camille still hadn’t looked at me. She was working furiously and I couldn’t decide if I wanted to kiss her or help her. Deciding that I didn’t want a nail in my testicles, helping won.
Lucky Charms: A Hudson Family Series- Book 3- Dalton and Cami Page 10