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“I’m afraid if I stop, I’ll never get started again.”
“You’re done for the time being. Orders.”
“Yes, sir.”
The new shift had arrived shortly after the crew returned to the station that morning, and she didn’t even notice it until she was surrounded by new faces that came over for an introduction. Once again, it seemed like more were named Saint.
The time had come to start thinking about preparing lunch, so she went up to the kitchen and began pulling items out of the fridge. Making a good impression was important to her, and her mother’s recipe for corned beef would come in handy. There were two huge briskets. She’d prepare them the German way.
While the briskets cooked, she grabbed a bucket with an interesting array of items, which included toilet cleaner.
“Oh God, you have to clean up after a bunch of men,” Bridget said. “That’s not fair. You don’t even use those bathrooms, do you?”
“Not yet. But it’s my job as a rookie,” she said, laughing.
“Let me tie a bandana around your face. At least you won’t be able to smell it. And wear gloves. Here. Take some exam gloves. Don’t trust those yellow things. You don’t know where the hands that wore them last have been.” Bridget tied a bandana across Geri’s nose.
“I look like I’m getting ready to rob a bank.”
“That’s okay. Trust me on this. My husband is Tony Saint, and he said some of the men are slobs.”
Laughing, Geri just shook her head and moaned when a muscle seized. “I have a feeling I’ll be bedridden on my days off,” she said, rubbing her neck.
“My brother-in-law told me you dug trenches for hours last night.”
“Jake?” Geri asked, watching Bridget’s expression.
“Yep, Jake. What do you think?”
“What do I think about Jake? I’m not sure I should say on the first day on the job.”
“You like guys, right?”
Sputtering out loud, Geri was glad she had the bandana over her face. “Do you mean am I straight? Yes, I’m straight.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“That’s okay, Bridget. I think the short hair and no makeup and the choice of the job make people wonder. I’m used to it. I’ve been a tomboy all my life.
“And Jake is pretty breathtaking, now that you ask. Speaking of—it’s hard to breathe through this thing let alone talk,” she said, pulling on the bandana. “I’ll visit later, after the deed is done.”
“Oh, right, sorry. I’m used to being the only woman around unless Connie is here. You’ll meet her tonight. Go clean. More power to you!”
Running back up the steps with her bucket of supplies, Geri couldn’t help feeling mixed emotions about the chat, from annoyance to hurt feelings to determination. Where did people get off asking her if she was gay? Not that it was a bad thing, but why did they think asking a stranger about their sexuality was appropriate? Jake was interested in her, so she must have given off a vibe that she was straight or he wouldn’t have bothered.
The bathroom was huge, eight toilet stalls along one wall and six sinks along the other. It didn’t take her long to clean, about an hour, including the floor. When she finished, she put her supplies away and went back down to Charlie’s office to shower, forgetting he’d be at work.
“Oh! I’m sorry,” she said, backing out.
“No, no, come right in. I’ll leave. I heard you did a good job last night. And the rigs look great.”
“I won’t be long,” she said. “I’ve got lunch cooking.”
“I can smell corned beef,” he said, smiling.
Leaving her in privacy, he shut the door. In fifteen minutes she emerged with spikey wet hair, dressed in a clean uniform, but since it was freezing in the garage, she wore a long-sleeved T-shirt under her uniform. A little self-consciously, she went upstairs as unobtrusively as she could to check on the corned beef.
Watching television or on their computers or catnapping, the men were occupied in the quiet, waiting for the next call. She was glad she had work to do, because the first inkling of exhaustion was sneaking up on her.
