"She's second in charge, but she'll be the one mostly at the site. I like her," he said.
"I do too. I'm Rachel, by the way." I pointed out my name tag. "But you knew that. Friends call me Ray, and since you were kind enough to stop Sam from humiliating himself, I feel like you fall into friend category."
"I'm Ronan. Friends call me Ro, so I think our friendship is off to a great start because we're Ray and Ro."
I laughed. "Makes you wonder why parents bother with full, multi-syllable names when everyone just gets shortened down to a nickname."
Ronan took a bite of the sandwich. "Man, that hits the spot."
"Good." I stood up. "I've got to get back in there. The diner hasn't ever seen business like this." I patted my pocket. "I'm hoping for a good year. Nice meeting you, and enjoy the sandwich."
"Yeah, thanks a lot for this." He'd already downed most of it. He was a big enough guy that I was sure one sandwich would do little to fill his belly.
I stopped and looked back. The sun illuminated him like a spotlight. He was certainly a scene stealer. "You're not going to have problems with Sam, are you?"
There was the slightest crease on one side of his face when he smiled. "I can handle him."
"Good. Guess I'll see you around." I could feel his green gaze on me as I walked back to the diner, and for some reason, it made my face warm with a blush. I glanced back at him as Istepped inside. He'd finished the sandwich and had returned to his phone.
"Figures you'd zero right in on my pick of the day," Nora said. She said it airily, but there was a smidgen of anger in her tone.
"I didn't zero in on anyone, Nora. He looked hungry, so I took him a sandwich. Remember my resolution. You're welcome to him." I said it as if he was mine to give, which he clearly was not. A man like that had no shortage of women on his contact list.
Nora giggled. It was a tired sound. "What a day. I can't wait to go home and soak my feet."
"Yep, I think both of us are going to have to buy those clunky, nurse-y shoes that Carol wears. She swears by them."
Nora's face scrunched up. "I'd wear swim fins to work before I showed up in those clunkers." She patted her pocket. "I'm thinking a trip to Hawaii might just be in my future. How about you?"
"Jack's been asking for a bicycle. I think this is going to be a good year, Nora."
four
. . .
Ronan
Iknew I was at the bottom of the ladder. My paycheck would tell me the same thing, but I planned to make myself invaluable to the project and work my way up. There might have been something to Dad's tough love strategy, although I wasn't going to give him full credit. I'd had a long talk with Nev about my situation, and she let me know that I was the one fucking up. I always liked how blunt she could be. Of course, if Zander had told me the same thing, I probably would have bristled and told him to fuck off. Somehow, hearing it from Nev, made me absorb the reality easier. I'd been drinking and partying and fucking around so much, I'd lost sight of any future. This job was my new start.
I picked up the debris-filled wheelbarrow and rolled it behind the office trailer where the giant trash bins were lined up. As I came around the corner, someone grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back hard enough that I lost my grip on the wheelbarrow. It wobbled but didn't fall over, thankfully. Seconds later, I was smacked up against one of the bins, and Sam and his two sweat-stained buddies surrounded me. I was getting pretty fucking tired of metal trash bins. Sam glanced back toward the trailer once to make sure Doris wasn't near the window, thenSam's two pals each grabbed an arm. Sam threw his fist into my gut. They released me, and I bent over in pain. It took me a few seconds to catch my breath. I figured this was coming.
I straightened and grimaced in pain. "You done?" I asked.
"Never liked a smart alec." Sam pointed his thick, callused finger at me. "You might think you made a pal with Doris, but that's not going to help you out here in the trenches."
"I was just trying to keep you from making an ass of yourself. Or did you seriously think she was going to appreciate being groped by a leathery old dick like you?" Jameson always told me I never knew when to quit. I used to get in trouble with Dad and then my mouth would triple down on the trouble. I braced for another fist. I was sure he'd go for the gut because the face would be too obvious. Doris would ask questions. I'd calculated wrong. He motioned for his friends to grab me again, and this time his fist cut up and clipped my chin hard enough to make me bite my tongue.
"Nothing I hate more than a pretty boy. You pull your weight around here, keep to your own business and don't ever fucking interfere with me again. Got it?"
I spat a blob of blood so that it landed just an inch from his shoe. He stared down at the blood, then looked up at me with a look that told me I'd earned another fist. I was saved by the trailer door opening and snapping shut.
Sam motioned for his buddies to follow. He stopped at the wheelbarrow and pushed it over with his foot. "Better clean this mess up, pretty boy." They walked away.
"I'd do it again," I said to his back. He spun around with a look of fury that made me ask myself what the hell I was doing. But I knew exactly what I was doing. "I don't regret stopping you from touching her. I'd do it again, even knowing I'd end up with teeth marks in my tongue." And I knew it was true.
I waited for him to march back toward me, but Doris was out on the site, and as tough as Sam liked to think he was, he wanted to stay on the good side of the boss. I knew it killed him to have to answer to a woman, and that little nugget of reality made me like Doris even more.
I spit out some more blood. I'd really done a number on my tongue. I wasn't going to be eating salsa for a week.