‘Why did you want to come out here to work?’
At the sound of Alex’s voice Leah blinked. The 4WD slowed and came to a stop at a gate.
‘This job sounded like a challenge, the next step on from what I’d been doing.’ She unclipped her seatbelt, ready to open the gate. ‘And Paul said they were in a real bind. As you know, the law states that for the job to continue a safety advisor needs to be out here twenty-four seven. Steve threatened to resign and they needed a replacement immediately. And my nursing qualifications and experience were a bonus. After the wind-farm project finished I was expecting to be made redundant. This sounded like a better option.’
She opened the door and put one foot to the ground, pausing when he said, ‘So you knew Steve’s wife was sick? That he wouldn’t be back any time soon?’
She nodded.
‘A pity they didn’t think to tell me,’ he muttered as she slammed the car door. She opened the gate and stood by while Alex drove through, then closed it behind him.
There was no sign of the heavy vehicle supposedly heading in their direction but Leah could see their destination. There were two light vehicles parked about 50 metres from the track and three men in hard hats and fluoro shirts. They drove a short distance and Alex pulled off the road onto an access track that took them to where the men were working. When he’d parked, she climbed out of the vehicle and clamped on her hard hat, following Alex over to the men.
‘I’m showing Leah what happens on site,’ he said. The men looked her up and down and went back to work.
Alex explained what they were doing. ‘The surveyors come along first – they do ground levels and soil checks to determine where the transmission towers will go. Then the earthmovers come and make an access track if needed, like the one we just drove up, and scrape out the pad for the tower. The civil engineering blokes bore the holes; if they hit rock they have to bring in a rockbreaker, which prolongs the job and, of course, adds to the bottom line.’
Leah peered down one of the bore holes. It was several metres deep and she could see the cylindrical mesh frame that had been inserted into the hole.
Alex pointed to the lengths of iron protruding at an angle out of each hole. As he’d described on the drive out, there were a series of holes drilled along the iron for the huge bolts to go through.
‘The heavy vehicle we heard on the radio earlier – that’ll be the concrete truck. They’re still batching in Nickel Bluff but as soon as the south batching plant is functional they’ll move operations there. The truck should be here any minute to pour the footings.’
He paused, glancing at the dust cloud steadily moving towards them. ‘They do it in stages. When 20 kilometres of pads are ready, the rigging and construction team build each tower on the ground in two sections. They lever the bottom section onto the pad and bolt it into place, then use a crane to lift the top section on. The riggers bolt that into place. But they would have told you all this in the induction.’
‘Yes, but it makes more sense when you actually see it.’
Alex nodded and swatted at the ever-present flies. ‘Once the towers are up they string the cables in sections.’
Leah wiggled the digital camera out of her shirt pocket and Alex stood by while she quickly took a few photos of the pad under construction.
They went back to the LandCruiser and he spread a detailed map out on the vehicle’s hood. Alex pointed out the proposed placement sites for the remaining towers, where the concrete batching plant was being developed, the place Ryan Greene had had his accident and where Camp Two would be located.
‘The surveyors are about 20 kilometres south of Camp One doing ground levels and soil tests,’ Alex said. ‘Rigging and construction are working towers 20 kilometres north of here. Those blokes you inducted this morning were riggers. The job is like a moving production line.’
A pink concrete truck with Harden Up Cement Co. in bold black letters on the barrel-shaped mixer lumbered along the narrow track like a pregnant hippo.
‘I need to get on, so I’ll take you back,’ he said, glancing at his watch. ‘But we’ll wait a few minutes so you can watch them pour the footings.’
‘It’s so bizarre,’ she said, smiling, her arms spread wide. ‘Out here in the middle of nowhere and there’s a cement truck.’
Alex gave her a strange look as he folded up the map and stowed it in the 4WD. Leah positioned herself as close to the action as was safe and watched the concrete pour. The men did it with the ease and precision of skilled operators.
‘Thanks for that,’ Leah said cheerfully, as she and Alex got into the LandCruiser to drive back to camp. ‘There’re some similarities to how they build the towers for the wind turbines.’
‘Mmm,’ was all she got in response. Somewhat deflated, she settled in, prepared for a silent return trip.
‘I noticed the photo in your room when I grabbed my bags,’ she blurted moments later, as if her brain and her mouth weren’t connected. ‘Are the two boys your sons?’
He shifted in his seat.
‘They’re gorgeous looking boys. Identical twins?’
‘Yes,’ he said eventually. ‘Connor and Liam. They’re nearly fifteen. They live with their mother.’
‘Oh, I see.’
‘What about you?’ he said, surprising her. ‘Any kids? Husband? Boyfriend?’
‘No.’
He glanced her way, slowing down for the gate. ‘What, you’ve made it to thirty-eight with no kids or broken hearts in your wake?’
She unclipped her seatbelt and reached for the doorhandle. ‘One ex-partner, but definitely no children or broken hearts,’ she said, swinging out of the vehicle to open the gate. If there’d been any broken hearts, it would have been hers. Richard’s heart had proven indestructible. After eight years of what she’d believed to be a good and solid relationship, when she’d been ready to start a family, Richard had been ready to leave her for someone much younger.
She fumbled with the chain on the gate, cursing when another fingernail tore. Alex drove through and she looked the other way.
‘So,’ he continued as she climbed back in and reached for her seatbelt, ‘how ex is the ex?’ He released the clutch and they slowly moved off.
‘Long enough for him to have married someone else and have a baby on the way.’
The LandCruiser picked up speed. ‘And you’re okay with that?’ Alex’s sunglasses, as usual, made it impossible for her to read him.
‘What choice do I have?’
She nibbled at the broken fingernail. They weren’t meant to be talking about her. Richard hadn’t ever wanted to get married, or have children, or so he’d insisted. Then Leah had realised it was her he didn’t want to marry, or have children with.
What still sent her blood pressure up was those eight wasted years; at nearly forty her chances of having a family of her own were becoming more remote by the day. And that wasn’t forgetting the crippling debt the bastard had left her with.
‘Three years ago I came home from a month in the bush and she’d gone, taken the boys.’
Alex’s words caught her off guard. ‘Wow. I’m sorry. That must have been really hard on you all.’
He lifted his broad shoulders. ‘She ended up with everything – the house, the car, the boys. She still takes whatever she can get her hands on.’
‘I’m sorry,’ she repeated, wishing fervently she hadn’t mentioned the photo. Now he looked sad, and she felt miserable. She folded her hands in her lap, staring straight ahead.
And then they were back at the camp, pulling up in front of the admin block. Alex turned off the ignition and took off his sunglasses. ‘I had no idea she was so unhappy. Clueless. To this day I don’t really know what her problem was.’
‘Richard said he was bored, said all I ever did was study and work. But one of us had to. The bills didn’t pay themselves.’
Cocooned in the warm cabin, they sat in silence, each lost in their respective thoughts
. Leah tried for a smile. ‘Thanks,’ she said. ‘I appreciate you taking the time to show me around.’
‘Not a problem.’
They went inside and she made herself a coffee she didn’t want and stood by the sink, sipping. Bloody hell, she thought. Where had all that come from?
Alex was in their office shuffling papers about and talking on the telephone. Not wanting to face him and not sure why, she went to the first-aid room and spent half an hour familiarising herself with the RFDS medical chest. Only when she heard his vehicle leave did she go back to the admin block, keeping herself busy for the remainder of the afternoon.
At dusk the workers rolled in again and Leah finished the next morning’s work permits and prepared for the daily debrief meeting. Dee was at her desk in the contractor’s office when Leah pushed her chair through the open door, ready for the meeting. She smiled at the other woman. ‘Busy day?’
Dee looked up. ‘No more than usual,’ she said, guardedly.
‘Do you want a cuppa?’
Dee shook her head. Leah sat down. ‘No, neither do I. There’s only so much of that coffee anyone can stomach.’
Dee’s lips quivered, like she wanted to smile but had forgotten how. ‘Yeah,’ she said. ‘I know what you mean.’
The front door opened and a moment later Phil Landry filled the doorway. Leah watched with amusement as Dee blushed from the neck up. Leah cleared her throat. ‘I, er, forgot something,’ she muttered, and zipped out of their office into her own to give them a moment alone.
She stood at her desk and squinted through the narrow strip of window. The glass was filthy. Maybe she should wash it, so at least she’d be able to see outside. She heard the front door open again, and then someone was standing behind her. Expecting it to be Alex, she turned around, her good mood evaporating when she saw it was Frank Ballard.
‘What the fuck do you think you’re doing?’ he spat, crowding her back against the desk. ‘Are you trying to fucking close us down?’
Leah’s heart slammed into the wall of her chest. ‘No. I have no desire to close you or anyone else down. I’m only doing my job, Frank,’ she said, relieved that her voice didn’t sound as wobbly as she felt. She went to move past him but he grabbed her arm, his fingers digging in.
‘I don’t care who you went down on to get this job, but don’t think you can fuck with me and get away with it.’
Leah jerked her arm away but he didn’t let go. She straightened her shoulders and said through clenched teeth, ‘Frank, let go of my arm. Now.’
He dropped her arm and sneered, ‘I suppose you think you can poke your tits out and bat your eyelashes at Alex and you’ll get what you want.’
Leah wanted to laugh and be sick, at the same time. If only Frank knew whose side Alex was on.
‘Frank, I tagged that machine because it was defective. There’d have been a hell of a lot more explaining to do if I hadn’t and someone else had been injured. You should be getting it fixed, and probably thanking me.’
She forced a tight smile and edged past him towards the door, only to falter at the sight of Alex standing outside the door, well within earshot. A mix of anger and embarrassment flared through her and she couldn’t meet his eye as she wondered how much he’d seen and heard. Ben Reece bustled in the back door with the usual six-pack in his paw. He stopped, looking from Leah to Alex.
‘Everything okay here, guys?’
‘Oh, everything’s hunky dory. Thanks for asking, Ben,’ Leah said and, head held high, she strolled into the contractor’s office.
Alex called the meeting to order and there was definitely an atmosphere of tension. When Leah had returned to the contractor’s office, Dee watched her every move. Frank followed Alex in and as Dee moved her attention to Frank and then back to Leah, her eyes narrowed. Ben had tried to ease the mood with his usual bonhomie but it all fell a bit flat.
Phil knocked back two cans of beer in quick succession, seemingly oblivious to the atmosphere. Alex’s expression gave nothing away, and Leah just wanted the meeting over with so she could go to her room and get away from these people for a while.
Ben was about to give an update on camp business when the front door squealed open again and seconds later a short, solid nugget of a man with frizzy brown hair threaded with grey stood in the doorway of the contractor’s office. Laugh lines fanned out at the corner of each of his chocolate brown eyes, a bare inch of swarthy skin separating thick eyebrows and hairline.
‘Tony, mate,’ Ben said grinning, reaching out to pump the man’s hand.
Alex stood up and smiled. Leah’s heart bumped, and she quickly averted her gaze. Next thing she knew Alex was saying her name and Tony’s hundred-watt smile was directed at her.
‘Tony Minelli, rigging and construction. Nice to meet you, Leah. Welcome to this godforsaken place,’ he said and laughed.
Leah found herself smiling. He was like a stocky little garden gnome. She took his outstretched hand and shook it. Wiry hair the same colour as the hair on his head sprouted from the backs of his fingers and blossomed out of the opening of his shirt.
‘Any of these blokes give you a hard time,’ he said, his gaze darting to Frank and back, ‘you come see Tony Minelli and he’ll sort them out.’ He tapped the side of his nose with a stubby finger. Phil slid the last beer across the desk and Tony grabbed it, snapping it open with practised ease.
‘Cheers.’ He grinned, slurping at the froth that oozed from the top.
‘Okay, thanks, Tony,’ Leah said, smiling at the man but knowing it would be the last thing she did. Alex called the meeting to order again, and Frank threw her a taunting look. She ignored him and focused on the notes in front of her.
By the time Alex had caught up with Tony, pacified an angry Frank and arranged to meet with him in the morning after the pre start, Leah had disappeared. He’d seen Frank follow her into the office earlier and had heard enough to know it hadn’t been a friendly exchange.
Leah wouldn’t have thanked him if he’d intervened, and he wasn’t surprised when she’d exited the office with her head high.
Alex closed the unfinished report and decided to have dinner and finish off afterwards. Maybe he’d catch Leah in the mess, see if she wanted to talk.
‘You’re early tonight, Mr McKinley,’ Ruby said from behind the bain-marie. ‘Plenty of chicken curry left, rice. Bloody good curry, even if I say so myself.’
‘How hot?’
‘Not too hot, Mr McKinley. I know how soft all you blokes are.’
He spooned rice and chicken curry onto his plate, and helped himself to several pappadums. ‘Have you seen Leah?’
‘Blondie? Nah, can’t say that I have tonight.’
Alex scanned the dining room and then collected his cutlery, taking his meal to sit with Tony and Ben. Phil had been propping up the bar next to Frank when Alex had passed the wet mess.
He lingered over his food, hoping Leah would show up. She didn’t. When she’d left the meeting she’d looked tired and pale, her usual smile absent. Alex had experienced a rare niggle of concern.
After he’d eaten he went back to the office to finish off but couldn’t settle, mulling over his conversation with Leah in the car, and what he’d seen and heard of the scene between Leah and Frank.
He leaned back in the chair and sighed. Should he have intervened? Had he been subconsciously testing her to see how she managed conflict? That thought didn’t make him feel very good about himself. He wished Cameron Crawley hadn’t said anything about Leah; wished he hadn’t read her contract.
Picking up the phone, he rang Heather. ‘How’s Dad?’
‘Home on Friday. The doctors seem to be happy with his progress. But he’s very frail. It’ll be a while before he can manage on his own.’
‘Damn.’
‘When are you coming home again? He misses you.’
Since Alex’s marriage had ended he’d bunked with his father whenever he was in Adelaide, which wasn’t often. The arrange
ment worked for both of them. Although Heather would enjoy having Fergus stay with her, spoiling him, her husband, Lew, wouldn’t. The man had little patience with anything that upset his routine. Needless to say, Heather bore the brunt of his irritation. Luckily, they didn’t have children. Lew wouldn’t have survived the chaos.
Their younger sister, Lisa, lived with her husband and their brood of kids on a station in outback New South Wales. It was even harder for Lisa to get away than it was for Alex.
‘I’m sorry but I won’t be home for at least another three weeks.’ Alex heard his sister sigh. ‘But like I’ve said, if you really need me to come home, I’ll do my best.’
‘It’s all right, Alex. I’ll pick him up Friday. If things get out of hand here, Dad and I can always go and stay at his place. He’d probably prefer that anyway.’
‘Thanks, Heather. I really am sorry I can’t be there to help more.’
‘I know you are, but Dad’s not getting any younger. When I thought we’d lost him —’ She choked up, sniffling loudly.
‘Heather, I know how you —’
‘Alex, what I need to say is,’ she said, cutting across him, ‘maybe it’s time you thought about finding work closer to home. Dad won’t be around forever. And Connor and Liam need their father. Claire is —’
‘Claire’s what?’
‘Well, Claire is . . . Claire. Those boys need more of their father’s influence in their lives. They’re going to be men soon and they need a more consistent role model. There, I’ve said it. I’ve been thinking it for a long time.’
Alex took the phone away from his ear and looked at it. He pressed it back to his ear. ‘Right,’ he said.
‘I know it’s probably none of my business . . .’
‘No, if it’s what you really think, you might as well get it off your chest.’
‘They are my nephews. I worry about them. Claire is such a control freak.’ Heather laughed grimly. ‘Alex, promise me you’ll at least think about what I’ve said.’
No Job for a Girl Page 8
