by Jillian Dagg
Loretta emphasized the word, pleasure, making it sound distinctly naughty. Everyone tried to control laughter. Cally figured the entire scene was caused by leftover tension from Rick's afternoon accident.
She could feel the rage emanating from Luke. His large body was hard with restraint. She knew, if they burst out laughing at him, Luke would explode and who only knew what might happen then. Life on the crew might not be worth living.
"I am most definitely not, Garner. I'm here to control you. I thought you were all supposed to be adults.”
He pushed back his chair and rose abruptly to his feet. “If I see or hear of anything untoward, the person, or persons involved will be out of here pronto. And I mean it. Goodnight."
Cally swivelled in her seat to watch Luke stride from the restaurant without a backward glance.
Watching him leave, she felt the similar strange torn feeling she should be racing after him as she had this afternoon when she had wanted to comfort him after Rick's accident.
Chapter Two
To try and hide her emotion, Cally turned her attention back to the others. “He's mad,” she said.
"Mad as a hatter,” Karl said, his voice imitating a cartoon character. “Don't do anything untoward, gang."
Laughter erupted, finally releasing the tension from the afternoon. But Cally didn't join in.
"It's not funny,” she said with an unaccustomed irritability.
"It's funny,” Don retorted. “Stanford has no right to shoot off his mouth. As if he's never had a woman."
"I thought he was married,” Loretta said.
"No way. Who'd want to live with him?” Karl said.
"How do you know how he is with women, Karl?” Cally said. Any attraction she had felt for him had been doused this evening. Beneath his ready humor she detected a mean streak.
"I just know, Creighton. It's obvious, he's boring."
"It depends what a woman wants, doesn't it?” Cally said.
He waggled his eyebrows at her. “I know what a woman wants and I don't think Stanford delivers. He's old-fashioned."
"Is that a problem?"
Loretta laid her hand on Cally's arm. “Come on, let's cool it, Cally. None of us like Luke Stanford, so why defend him."
"I don't know why he joined us here this evening in the first place,” Karl said. “He usually eats in his unit or over at that other table."
"He was probably worried about Rick,” Cally said, pushing her plate aside. “I think I'll forego coffee and dessert. I'll see you guys later.” She got up and left the restaurant, not really caring what anyone thought of her abrupt departure. She knew she would likely be the subject of gossip. At that moment she really did understand Luke's concerns about the mixing of men and women on the crew. But naturally she felt she should rise above the pettiness. People had to think before they acted and not speak from their baser emotions. Which was easier said than done.
But once in her motel unit, Cally was restless. She paced back and forth, trying to decide whether she wanted to watch television or not, then vetoed it. TV reception wasn't very good here anyway. What was the matter with her? She had been quite content working here. Until today . Suddenly everything seemed to have exploded, but nothing had really happened. Rick had been injured, but he had survived.
They had eaten dinner in the company of the men for the first time which had proven rather explosive.
But that wasn't really it. What was really it, was Luke. Luke had caused the disruption inside her. For the first time, Cally had come into personal contact with Luke Stanford. And she wasn't sure if she had enjoyed the experience or not.
Cally suddenly felt claustrophobic in the motel unit. She locked the door, pushed her door key into her pocket, and walked along the path by the side of the motel, following its curvaceous contours down to Echo Lake. The lake meandered into the Echo River and upon a widening in the river was the town of Echo Bay. There was a myth that if you hollered across the lake in the direction of the town you would hear an echo.
Cally actually would like to holler across the lake tonight except she hadn't the nerve to make a fool of herself in that way. Just her luck one of the guys would walk by when she was hollering. Instead, she sat on one of the wooden benches along the grass verge by the water. Trees billowed around the shoreline like black clouds below the blue sky. She let herself enjoy the cool breeze brushing her skin, storing it away in her memory for tomorrow when she would be burning up on the black asphalt.
She got up, leaned over the edge of the grass and dipped her hand into the inky stillness of the lake. The water was pleasantly cold and she sat on the grass and splashed some droplets over her arms and neck.
She still couldn't relax. She felt nostalgic for something she had never had. It was a nostalgia producing a dull ache in the pit of her stomach. The sensation made her catch her breath, and she quickly scrambled to her feet and walked, wanting to shake the sensation. She hated feeling discontent. Usually she did something about it immediately so that it didn't last, but there was nothing she could do with this emotion.
She couldn't interpret its cause. She didn't know why she was feeling this way.
She balled her fist to her chest trying to annihilate the sudden need to cry, but about what, for what, she wasn't sure. She hurriedly sniffed back the undesired tears as she heard a rustle of footsteps on the grass behind her. Not wanting to share her solitude she turned around reluctantly.
Luke stood outlined in the evening sunlight. He must be at least six feet was Cally's first thought. He seemed to loom above her. Tall, masculine, somewhat comforting.
"I thought you would be partying it up with Karl,” he said harshly.
Cally bristled. “No. I'm not. I left, but if you've come here to continue your haranguing of dinner time, you can forget it."
Luke stepped closer to her. “Nothing to harangue if you're not there. But when I passed Karl's unit there was a lot of noise."
"Well, I'm not part of it,” Cally said. “You can stop thinking I will be. I'm going to do my job as well as possible and leave here with reputation intact."
"Do you think that's true of Garner?"
"I don't know Loretta well enough to say. She'll have to answer for herself.” Cally brushed her hand over her warm forehead. “It's really not a problem, Luke. You seem to have invented it."
"Or intercepted before it does become a problem,” he murmured, walking in stride with her now. “Why are you so upset tonight?"
She didn't know. Possibly it was her ride in Luke's truck, or maybe because he sat next to her at dinner.
Or because he had indicated he didn't like women on the crew. She said the obvious. “It's probably Rick's accident. It's got us all tense."
"No harm done,” he said. “So you can relax now."
"I am relaxing. It's nice here by the lake."
"It is.” He swiped at a mosquito that landed on his bare arm. “Except for these guys."
As their eyes met Cally became more than aware of the muscular bulk of the man beside her. He heightened her senses. He made the upcoming sunset brighter, the breeze sharper, the air clearer.
"They are bad here,” Cally said. “I'll probably wake up in the middle of the night scratching furiously.
The little monsters seem to get inside clothing somehow."
Luke's laughter was low and vibrant and she was pleased he was more friendly.
They stopped walking and neither of them spoke for a moment. The lake lapped against the rubber tires acting as buffers around the wooden dock and the little rim of sandy beach. Blue buoys marked the swimming area. The silence gave Cally time to calm the intruding incomprehensible feeling that had so upset her before Luke joined her. Or maybe the feeling disappeared when Luke had joined her. She wasn't sure at what moment it hadn't been there anymore.
"I suppose we should walk back,” Luke said, breaking the calm. “Mosquitoes aren't quite as lethal on moving targets."
He was probably
getting bored with her. The conversation seemed to have settled on mosquitoes. She nodded. “Yes. I should get back. It's getting dark now."
They walked quite briskly back to the motel. Cally said, “Goodnight,” and Luke nodded.
Loretta hadn't returned to the unit. Cally was pleased. She grabbed her robe from the bed, rushed into the bathroom, and locked the door. In the electric glow she stared at herself in the mirror. Her breasts were heaving beneath her pink shirt, her cheeks were flushed. Her hair danced with a golden vibrancy.
She raked her fingers through the silky strands. Why am I looking at myself like this? Have I changed or something?
Cally heard the door bang. Loretta had returned. Quickly she undressed and slipped into the cotton robe. She encountered Loretta fiddling with the TV knobs.
"You should have stayed,” Loretta said. “We had a great time in Karl's unit."
So did I, Cally thought. Although for the life of her she couldn't understand why she felt she'd had a great time when all she'd done was walk briefly with Luke beside the lake.
* * * *
Luke liked to have everyone out on the highway on the job by seven so breakfast was served between six and six forty-five each morning. Usually it was Cally who had to wake Loretta, but this morning Loretta did the shoulder shaking.
"Cally, get up. It's twenty after six. You won't have time for breakfast."
Cally rolled onto her stomach, her face pushed into the pillow, wishing Loretta would go away and leave her to sleep blissfully. She hadn't fallen asleep until late. She had thought about Rick's accident and she had thought about Luke. A lot about Luke. He definitely seemed to be connected to that strange nostalgic feeling. When he'd been with her last night, the feeling had completely disappeared.
Loretta yanked the warm covers from Cally's slim frame. “I'll pitch a bucket of water over you in a moment. Cally, for heaven's sakes get up."
Cally began to shiver. The mornings were always a cool preliminary to a scorching hot day. She jumped from the bed, her muzzy brain jarring at the sudden activity. “Okay. I'm up,” she said.
"Karl's waiting for me for breakfast,” Loretta told her. “Are you sure you're up?"
Cally stifled a yawn. “I'm sure I'm up. Go on ahead. I'll catch Vince. He always goes late."
"I'm gone then.” Loretta left, banging the door behind her.
Cally wearily plodded to the bathroom and woke herself up by standing beneath a freezing shower.
Cally couldn't bear the thought of wearing jeans today in the scorching heat, so she switched the jeans for denim shorts. Grimacing, she sat on the side of the bed and tugged on wool socks and work boots.
Maybe she was crazy to do this for a living, she told herself. Today she felt like she was in a work camp.
She decided to skip breakfast, and, instead, purchased a bottle of juice from the little store beside the motel. She drank the juice, put the bottle in the recycle bin, then carrying her orange hat and gloves, she went in search of Vince Hall, but she couldn't find the gray-haired man or his truck anywhere. The only vehicle left outside the motel she recognized was Luke's silver Mercedes sedan and she supposed she would have to ask him for a ride to the job site, unless he'd already left in the Stanford truck. Although Rick usually drove the truck. It was only yesterday Luke had driven it back when Rick went to the hospital. It was hard to keep track of Luke's vehicles. She didn't even recall seeing his car parked at the site yesterday, which likely meant he rode in with Rick in the morning.
Luke hadn't left. He came out of his motel unit, locked the door, and strode to his car. He caught sight of Cally. “Need a ride?” he asked briskly.
"I can't find Vince,” she said.
"Vince stayed overnight in Echo Bay. Hop in."
Luke opened both doors. Cally climbed into the passenger seat, thinking how on Monday mornings the vehicles were always sparkling clean, but as the week progressed they gathered a coating of dust and grime. It was only Tuesday but the car was already on its way to dirty.
Luke got in the driver's side, tossed his white hard hat onto the back seat, then started the engine. He had to wait for a camper truck to pass before he could ease the car out onto the undulating two-lane highway.
Cally had never really paid too much attention to the journey out to work and back each day. Usually she was crushed between two muscular shoulders because she was the smallest, and when Loretta was with them there was incessant chatter. But today Cally was given the chance to stare from the car window as they passed fields and forests and lakes. The sun was hiding behind the trees, teasing and taunting, twinkling on the lakes, waiting in the wings to present another hot day.
She should be more relaxed driving to work in this luxurious car, but she couldn't believe the tension rising inside her. Each time she realized who she was sitting beside, she felt an odd little pump of adrenaline. She couldn't stop her eyes from straying to the leather belt hugging Luke's narrow hips, or the line of his strong legs. It made her remember how she had spent the night full of restless longing dreams.
Luke forced her to meet his silvery gaze. “I didn't see you around at breakfast. Did you eat?"
"I wasn't hungry. I had juice,” Cally said.
"That's stupid,” Luke berated firmly. “You should eat well when you're doing manual labor, especially in this heat."
"There's break time and lunch."
"You could pass out before then."
"I'm not a person who passes out.” Even so, Cally averted her eyes. She was quite aware of how long it was until any food break. Already hunger pangs churned in her stomach.
They arrived at the job site. Luke parked the car on a stretch of sand beside the other vehicles. Carrying her gloves and hat Cally hurriedly left the car. “Thanks for the ride,” she said, and walked to where Loretta was waving frantically. But for a second she turned around and saw Luke was watching her.
When their gazes met, he slammed the car door and stomped to work.
Cally took her position along the highway feeling as if she had suddenly been thrust into a blast furnace.
She already felt ten steps out of the pace with the day, now she was hungry, hot and already weary. She took a package of peppermint candy from her pocket and popped a mint into her mouth, hoping the sweet would keep her stomach from protesting too much.
The morning crawled. Time stood still. Cally gave up looking at her watch as she longed for the coffee break. When at last it arrived, she hungrily ate a muffin and drank some black coffee. The fortification lasted her until lunch when she devoured two hefty cheese and ham sandwiches, washed down with a can of pop. All the food was supplied by the motel restaurant.
Adding to her discomfort at being out of synch with the day was her feeling someone was watching her.
Luke perhaps? But when she stared right at him, his gaze behind dark glasses wasn't turned in her direction. Karl? But she couldn't catch Karl's eye today either. She had probably upset him last night at dinner.
Then halfway through the afternoon, when the sun blazed at its most brilliant and the asphalt began to melt, Luke did stare at her. Standing negligently, jeans resting on his naked hips, sweat, looking like shimmering diamonds, prickling his bronzed shoulders, he rocked on his heels a couple of times as if making a decision. Then, decision made, he strode in Cally's direction.
No. She didn't need another altercation with Luke. Why didn't he leave her alone? Apprehension slithered up and down her spine as Luke stopped beside her. She smiled pleasantly. “Another hot day,” she remarked.
"Very hot,” he agreed succinctly. “How's it going?"
"Great,” she said lightly, and then added impulsively. “Who wouldn't enjoy spinning a sign back and forth in this heat."