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Groaning as I see the person’s name on the caller ID, I debate not answering it, but they’ll just keep calling me until I do.
“Lucas?” The young voice on the other end questions before I can say anything.
“Yeah, Jacob. What is it?”
He’s nineteen, and he’s been the only worker I’ve been able to count on in the last couple of months. There’s a dread settling in my stomach, like he’s going to tell me shit I don’t want to hear.
“I had an accident last night. Don’t worry, I’m not hurt. Bad.”
Shit. "Define hurt badly," I rake my fingers through my hair with the agitation that's permeated every piece of me for far too long.
“Broke my wrist. I’ll be out of commission for about a month.”
Son of a bitch. He’s been the one person I’ve been able to count on to help with the business and to keep my sanity. Disappointment lies heavily in my stomach, but I realize how lucky we all are he didn’t get hurt in a way that didn’t permanently disable him. “You know you’ll have a job here whenever you get better and are able to start working again.”
“I appreciate it, Luke. I don’t want to leave you in a lurch like this, especially around the holiday and with the amount of work there is.”
“I know, trust me, I know. What happened?”
“Rear-ended at the stoplight on Honeycomb. There was a water main break and the water had turned to a solid sheet of ice. Honestly there was no way they were going to miss me, but obviously they couldn’t slow down. Hit me going full speed. It was a lucky thing that there was an ortho in the emergency room last night and I could go ahead and get a cast on it.”
I whistle between my teeth. He’s right, this could’ve been a lot worse. “You just take care of yourself, okay? When you can work again let me know and I’ll get you out on a site. Did they at least have insurance so you’ll be paid while you’re off?”
“Yeah, everything was on the up and up, thank God. I’ve already reserved my payout for lost wages, and I’ve got a claim number for my medical bills. Mom helped me do that this morning when we first got up.”
“Good, I don’t want you to have to worry about anything while you’re off.”
“My only concern was that you couldn’t save my job,” he admits softly. “There’s already so much to do with not much help.”
“Trust me, Jacob nobody is beating down the door to work construction with me. I’ll be loyal to you as long as you’re loyal to me. I’ll make this work,” I assure him. “You just heal up, I’ll need you back.”
“I will. Thank you again.”
“No problem.”
Hanging up, I sigh. I’ve learned not to ask what else can go wrong, but I wonder how much I’ll have to shoulder on my own. “Dad,” I glance up at the ceiling. “If this is your idea of fun, I’m ready to be bored for a little bit.”
Obviously there’s no answer, but I wish desperately there was. Now that I know the next month is going to be even busier than I thought, I decide it’s time to get busy.
The cabin isn’t going to winterize itself and the longer I sit here, the further behind I’ll be for the day.
Getting out of bed, I slow-roll it to the bathroom, sore because of all the work I’ve been doing. Rolling my neck on my shoulders, I go about my morning routine, hoping like hell this day goes by a lot fucking faster than it feels like it’s going to.
CHAPTERSIX
HOLLY
“You have everything you need?Remember they’re calling for a big snowstorm.”
Dad acts like I haven’t spent the last eight years taking care of myself. Even in the harshest of winters, I’ve been able to keep myself alive. I smirk as I answer. “Which we all know may or may not hit.”
He rolls his eyes, much in the same way I smirked. “Regardless of their track record when it comes to forecasting snow storms, I would much rather prefer you be prepared.”
“Didn’t Maggie say she was sending up someone to take a look at the cabin before I get there?” I slightly remember some sort of conversation happening around this event, but I haven’t been paying much attention to anything these days.
“She texted me this morning saying the maintenance person would be there today. He’s trying to outrun the storm too.”
Raising my eyebrows, I direct my gaze at both of them. “See, everything will be fine. Things will be taken care of before I even get there, and you won’t have to worry.”
