Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1)

by Claire Boston

  “I didn’t think they’d give Bridge the job.” The man’s smile was genuine but for some reason it made Jack’s skin crawl.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”

  “Lionel Mathers. I’m the safety manager at Premium Oil.”

  Now it made sense. Jack clicked his fingers together. “You’re the guy who messed up and then blamed everything on Bridget.” The same jackass who’d made her so reluctant to be in a relationship with him.

  Lionel’s genial expression turned hard. “I don’t know what she’s been saying but it was not my fault.”

  Jack held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry, it’s just the rumor I heard. The technicians at Dionysus sing her praises and she’s proved extremely competent so far.”

  Lionel glared at him. “I’d watch your back. She can fool the best of us.”

  At that moment Bridget came up to them. She completely ignored Lionel. “Jack, I want to introduce you to our inspector.” She gestured to a man standing a few yards away.

  “Aren’t you going to say hello?” Lionel asked her with a smug grin.

  She squinted at him as if he were a speck of dirt on a clean linen tablecloth and said, “You’re not worth my time.” She walked off.

  Jack swallowed his grin and nodded to the man. “I’ll see you around.”

  The moment he turned around his grin spread wide over his face. She was a hell of a woman.

  * * *

  Bridget concentrated on her breathing as Jack and Victor chatted. She’d assumed Lionel would be at the forum, and she’d prepared herself to be civil and polite. But when it came down to it, she just couldn’t. The man was an insect she wanted to squash. She smiled. The shock on Lionel’s face had been rather rewarding. Perhaps she should have been professional, but she didn’t have it in her to feel sorry for what she said. It was actually the nicest thing she could come up with.

  “Bridget, can I have a word?”

  She excused herself and turned to Graham. “Sure. What’s up?”

  They walked a small distance away and Graham cleared his throat. “The last time we spoke, I told you about the safety projects coordinator position I was trying to get approved.”

  Bridget nodded. The position had sounded amazing. He’d wanted someone to solely work on projects that would improve the safety at his plant. They would have a significant budget and the full support of senior management.

  “It was approved last week.”

  “That’s excellent. I wish we could get a position like that at Dionysus.”

  “Well, I wanted to ask if you were interested in applying.”

  Bridget’s mouth dropped open. “Me?” Excitement hummed over her skin at the idea of having that much opportunity to make improvements.

  Graham smiled. “Yes, you. I’ve wanted you on my team since we first met. I can pretty much guarantee that if you apply for the position, you’ll get it.”

  She was speechless. She blinked, realizing she had to say something. “What about the Lionel affair?”

  Graham snorted. “Most of us know what an idiot he is. There aren’t many who believe his story. You know that, don’t you?”

  Bridget shook her head. She’d thought everyone had believed him. But maybe it was just those who were willing to be vocal about it. That put everything in a different perspective. “In that case I’d love to know more. Can you send me the position details?”

  “I’ll do it first thing in the morning. But don’t tell your new boss. He seems nice, and I don’t want him angry at me for poaching his best team member.” Graham winked and walked away.

  Bridget took a glass of wine from a passing waiter and sipped it, trying to get her brain working again. She’d been convinced the whole industry thought she was to blame for the incident at her previous plant. It was one reason why she’d been so dedicated to Dionysus – she’d been sure they were the only company who would give her a chance, and didn’t think she’d get another job if she applied elsewhere. Obviously she’d been wrong.

  If she had a new job, there was nothing stopping her and Jack being together. They wouldn’t have to keep their relationship secret anymore because they wouldn’t be working together. That held an immense amount of appeal.

  Plus she knew Graham would support her in what she wanted to achieve and senior management were behind the role as well. There wouldn’t be the constant uphill battle every time she wanted to improve something. Her skin tingled with excitement.

  She took another sip of the wine. Perhaps things were looking up.

  * * *

  The next morning Bridget checked her email as soon as she got to work. There was nothing from Graham. Perhaps he wasn’t in the office yet. Slightly disappointed, she read through the rest of her emails, flagging those she needed to follow up. She hadn’t mentioned the job offer to Jack. She didn’t want to get her hopes up in case the position wasn’t as great as Graham made it sound, and she didn’t want any pressure from Jack to apply. She would make her own decision.

  Her phone rang. It was Joe. “Bridge, can you come out and take a look at something?”

  “Sure. Be right there.”

  Joe didn’t generally call her unless he was genuinely worried about something. She grabbed her gear and met him at the supervisor’s office. “What’s up?”

  “Can you shut the door?”

  Bridget frowned but did as he asked and took a seat.

  “We’ve got a line shutdown next week on the cracking unit.”

  She nodded. “Any problems with it?”

  “A couple. I spoke with Dirk yesterday while you were off-site. Some of my crew are new and this will be their first shutdown. I wanted someone to give them a refresher on the safety systems: permits, risk assessment, that kind of thing. He said none of you had time.”

  Bridget gritted her teeth. The safety culture was bad enough on site without Dirk making it worse. If the shifts were reaching out to them, they had to respond. “Of course we’ve got time. When do you want it?”

  “We’re not on days again until next week, so today would be good.”

  “I’ll fit you in. Just give me a time.”

  “Thanks, Bridget. I knew I could count on you.”

  And that was the problem. Joe should be able to count on the entire safety department. She had to mention this to Jack.

  Joe hesitated a moment and then sighed. “There’s something else. Dirk’s been spreading rumors, telling the guys this new project of yours is a waste of time and will cause them extra work.”

  Anger stirred in Bridget’s belly.

  “He’s saying it’s management covering their asses and wasting money that could be used to make a real difference in safety.”

  The man was unbelievable. What he was saying was downright dangerous.

  “How many are listening?” she asked.

  “The usual bunch.”

  Bridget scrubbed at her eyes. Damn him. The usual bunch were the ones who caused them the most amount of grief because they weren’t willing to change their ways – they’d been doing it for twenty years and didn’t see any reason to. She was going to have to check with the other shift supervisors and ask if Dirk had been spreading these lies to them as well.

  “All right,” Bridget said finally, “I’ll go around and catch who I can today at lunch. See if they want to vent, and then try to explain the value to them again. Thanks for letting me know.”

  “Thanks for caring.”

  As she walked back to her office Bridget’s guilt began to grow. Who would people like Joe turn to if she wasn’t around? If she took the job Graham offered her, would they have anyone to hear their concerns? Anyone to care whether they got home at night?

  She didn’t know. But it was something she was going to have to consider.

  The first thing she did was call the other shift supervisors to check if Dirk had been telling them the project was a waste of time. When she had enough information she went and told Jack.
She felt a little sorry for him as he made a note in his journal.

  “I’ll speak with them next week,” she said.

  “No,” Jack replied. “Let me. I need to establish a relationship with these guys. I want them to feel they can come to me as well as you if there are any problems. They need to know I’ll listen to their concerns.”

  It warmed Bridget’s heart to hear him say that. He understood what was needed and was willing to make the time to fix it. That’s what she needed from him. “Great.”

  “Aside from this glitch, the project’s back on track, isn’t it?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Good work. I’ve got a few more things to finish up here. I’ll see you when I get home.”

  He looked so tired Bridget was tempted to give him a hug. She stepped forward to do just that when someone knocked on the door. She whirled around to see Kevin. Heat rushed to her cheeks. What the hell had she been thinking? She couldn’t show any affection to Jack here. Damn it, if she hadn’t hesitated she would have been caught by the general manager.

  Nodding at Kevin, she said to Jack, “I’ll talk to you later.” Then she fled the office.

  * * *

  By the end of the week, Graham still hadn’t sent through the position description. Bridget did a quick search on the relevant job websites to see if it had gone up yet, but she couldn’t find anything. She wondered if she should call him and ask, or if that would seem too pushy.

  There was no point worrying about it. She wasn’t sure whether she would take the job anyway. But she was glad she hadn’t mentioned it to Jack.

  Arriving home first, she started making dinner. Jack had worked late every night this week. Now he’d learned how the site was run and was comfortable in his position, he seemed almost more determined than Bridget to fix things. He’d had a few heated conversations with the production manager and the maintenance manager. Part of her reveled in having someone share her passion, and the workload, but the other part worried he was working too hard.

  She whipped up a marinade and poured it over the steaks, setting them aside. Then she checked the pantry and decided to make a sheet cake. She hadn’t done any baking in months and the chocolaty goodness was sure to cheer Jack up.

  Turning on the radio, Bridget bopped around the kitchen as she measured and stirred the mixture before popping it into the oven. Finally she turned her attention to the salad. By the time she was finished it was starting to get dark.

  She hadn’t asked Jack what time to expect him home. She was debating whether she should call him when the front door opened. She heard his footsteps go into his room and then come down the hall toward her. He looked tired and worse yet, he looked sad.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him.

  He exhaled and squeezed her. “It is now.” He rested his cheek against hers and she breathed in his musky scent.

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  He released her. “No. Let’s leave it for Monday. It’s the weekend and I want to forget about work.” He sniffed. “What are you cooking?”

  “Sheet cake.”

  He grinned. “Smells great.”

  She was glad she’d decided to make it, pleased she could cheer him up. “You’ve got time for a shower before dinner.”

  “Want to join me?”

  The look he gave her made her stomach flutter. “I’d love to.”

  * * *

  It was Wednesday afternoon before Bridget finally received an email from Graham. He apologized for the wait, blaming HR for taking their time approving the position description. She closed the door to her office to give herself five minutes of peace while she read through it. By the time she finished she was grinning and all her muscles were tingling with excitement.

  It was her ideal job. Every aspect of it spoke to her passion for safety and her desire to improve work practices. She had all the qualifications they asked for and more, and the company had a flexible policy which meant she could choose her own work hours.

  Her inbox pinged and it was another email from Graham, this one sent from his personal email address. It contained a rough salary range for the role, which was over ten thousand dollars more than she was earning now. Part of her wanted to respond immediately with “where do I sign?” but she needed to think about it rationally.

  She opened her notebook and drew a line down the middle. In the pro column she put Jack, job satisfaction, money, support and making a difference. In the con column she wrote “abandoning her colleagues”.

  She sighed. She did feel like she was abandoning them, that without her they would have no one to stand up to management on their behalf. Perhaps it was arrogant of her. Jack was definitely making inroads in that direction.

  At a knock on the door she quickly closed the file on her computer and called, “Come in.” Jack entered, looking slightly harassed.

  “What’s up?”

  He stepped in to the room. “I need you out in the plant. The shutdown’s finished and they’re restarting the plant. I don’t want them taking shortcuts.” He glanced at her desk and frowned. “What’s that?”

  Bridget turned and noticed her notebook open at the pro/con column. Jack’s name was at the top of the list.

  “Nothing,” she said and shut the book.

  He stepped back, worry crossing his face. She debated for a second and then had to tell him. She hated to add further stress.

  “I’ve been offered a job.” She waved a hand toward the notebook. “I was writing up a pro/con list as to whether I should take it. You were top of the pro side.”

  “Oh.” There was real hurt on his face. “I wouldn’t have thought it was a hard decision. Not if you want to tell people we’re dating.”

  “That’s not the only thing I need to consider,” she said. “There’s whether I’ll like the job, how much it pays, whether it’s fair of me to leave the technicians without a champion.”

  The hurt changed to disbelief. “You’d put the technicians feelings over our relationship?”

  “It’s not that simple, Jack. If the guys bring their problems to Dirk, they get ignored. They know if they come to me, the issues will be addressed. It’s something I have to factor in to my decision.”

  “Really? You’d let Dirk’s behavior control our relationship?”

  “No.” He didn’t understand.

  “So is the job different from what you’re doing now?”

  “Completely.” Relieved to be on a safer ground, she said, “It’s amazing. It’s for a safety projects coordinator, which means I get to spend all of my day implementing improvements to the refinery.”

  “Sounds like your perfect role.”

  “It is! And it’s a significant pay rise.” The excitement bubbled up in her.

  “So tell me again exactly why you’re even hesitating to apply?” There was an edge to his tone.

  The bubble popped. “The technicians need an advocate.”

  “More than we need to be open about our relationship?”

  “What relationship?”

  Bridget whirled around at Kevin’s voice. She wanted to swear. She glanced at Jack. He was watching her, waiting for her to say something.

  Holy hell.

  She turned back to Kevin. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell the truth when she saw the judgment already forming on his face. No. She couldn’t do this again. She wasn’t ready, it was too much of a risk. She didn’t have a new job yet.

  “He was referring to our working relationship,” she said finally.

  Jack pushed past her and she flinched. “Excuse me, Kevin. I’ve got to get back to the plant. Bridget I expect you out there as soon as you’re finished here.”

  He didn’t look at her or wait for her response.

  Chapter 20

  Bridget’s heart cracked, but she couldn’t go after him, not with Kevin standing right there.

  “I hope that’s all it is,” he said. “We took a chance hiring
you, especially after that unfortunate incident at Premium Oil. I’d hate for you to make the same mistake and put this plant at risk.”

  Her cheeks warmed and anger simmered. “Of course not,” she managed to say. “Was there something you wanted from me?”

  “Yes. Your project has had a cost blow-out that is unacceptable.”

  She stared at him. “Everything’s on track. Jack hired a few contractors to get things moving but aside from that we’re on budget.”

  “That’s not good enough,” Kevin said.

  Bridget opened her mouth to respond when a loud rumble like a freight train split the air. What the hell was that? Her stomach plummeted. It sounded suspiciously like one of the big relief valves – the ones that vented to the atmosphere, the ones she was working on replacing.

  Kaboom!

  The noise was so loud her ears rang and the whole administration building shook. Fuck.

  “What the hell was that?” Kevin yelled.

  Bridget’s pulse raced. She grabbed her two-way radio and tuned to the emergency channel. The fire alarm sounded. Jeremy was away, so she was in charge.

  “Get everyone to the assembly point,” she barked into the radio and seconds later another alarm sounded.

  Whatever had happened was bad enough to make the building shake. She needed a head count. Her blood went cold. Jack was out in the plant.

  Kevin grabbed her hand. “Shouldn’t you find out the problem first?”

  She glared at him. “That explosion is the problem. Get to an assembly point.”

  Out in the hall she caught hold of Ken. “Jack was in the plant. Check the gatehouse. If he’s not there, I need you to stay there and oversee. Get me a head count, stat. I’m going out.”

  Ken nodded, his face pale.

  Bridget ran for the exit nearest the plant, and then across to the fire station. A huge plume of black smoke billowed out of the crude unit and flames created a wall of heat. The acrid stench of burning oil filled her nostrils. The technicians were already suiting up and she did the same, making sure her radio was attached and working. “What have we got?” she yelled.

  “Don’t know exactly but it’s the crude unit. Control tech hit the emergency shutdown,” one of the fire team leaders said.