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“Where did the nickname Scary come from?” Harry added.
“You’d have to ask Sam and Joel about the nickname but as far as the first kiss…well he missed that mark by three days, my first kiss was at my birthday party,” she grinned knowing the other end of that kiss was down in the mine.
“I’m honored you remembered Paige,” Ben shouted.
“You gave me a cold, of course I’d remember,” she replied.
“Okay enough about kissing my daughter, I want to know about this drill crew you managed to get here. Where’d they come from?”
“They were members of the rescue crew I worked on. Don’t worry they know what they’re doing, they were part of the team that got to the miners in Donovan,” she explained. “Moose and Rabbit will get us to you.”
“Hold on, you, were part of the Donovan rescue?” Sam asked.
“It was my plan,” she admitted reluctantly. “Not quite as inventive as this one but…”
“But it got them out alive,” Ed said with pride.
“I knew we were in good hands,” Harry added, “I just didn’t realize how good.”
“Flatterers,” she laughed pushing the rescue work thoughts out of her mind.
“Were you on the cave-in last year over near Meredith County?” Sam inquired.
“No…I stopped working with them four years ago,” she answered. “Now I’ve got some work to do up here still so please enjoy being lazy and sitting on your butts while I’m being a busy bee.”
“You okay Paige?” Joel asked hearing the odd note in her voice.
“Yeah, just a nice whiff of exhaust fumes trying to gag me,” she lied.
“Stay warm honey,” her father stated.
“You too,” she replied putting the walkie down and walking over to check the status of the dig.
“What was that?” Doug inquired coming over to her.
“What was what?”
“That lie about the exhaust and you quitting the rescue team four years ago?” he questioned.
“After the Donovan situation people started questioning my abilities, including me, it didn’t help that I was the only one available when the quarry at Fairway fell into that sinkhole. I hadn’t touched my bag until Neal called me. I’m surprised the clothes in it were even wearable,” she sighed as memories flashed through her mind.
“You can’t be blaming yourself for the Fairway debacle,” Doug said gently. “The men were gone before anyone even called you in.”
“I know but seeing them…finding the entire place practically operational it made me realize that no matter how hard I try, how much I want to predict the outcome, I can’t anticipate everything. The next call that came in had me running away in tears. My analytical brain was gone and in its place was an emotional wreck. If it wasn’t for my family being down there I don’t know if I’d be able to do this right now,” she admitted.
“You seem like our Paige to me,” he told her with another hug.
“Let’s just hope it’s the Paige who gets her way.” She sighed bracing herself for the confrontation she was about to face.
“I take it you know the man coming towards us,” Doug said seeing the group that’d just arrived.
“Oh I do…he was my boss and it looks like he’s still pissed,” she told him.
“Wayne, nice to see you,” she said moving towards the newcomers.
“What the hell are you playing at Paige? You commandeer our resources and two of our men without an official request and by the time we get here you’ve already put them to work. Do I have to remind you that you no longer work for us,” he demanded.
“Get over yourself Wayne, you’re just mad because I left,” she stated.
