‘Ah, so he was coming back from that leave the day I started.’
‘He was. That’s why he didn’t know you’d be here instead of Steve. In retrospect, either me or Cameron Crawley should have contacted him at home to let him know.’
‘Maybe work’s a distraction; keeps his mind off the other stuff.’
‘Maybe. He didn’t miss a day’s work when Claire left him. He worries about his boys; she makes it difficult for him to see them. But he never talks about any of it. You can put your emotions on hold, and your grief, but they sit there waiting. Eventually you have to deal with them.’
Paul had lost his first wife to motor neurone disease. Leah knew he’d had intimate experience with loss and grief. She was no stranger to them herself.
‘You’re right. When Mum died I used all my energy to survive, to get through school and uni. I didn’t ‘finish’ grieving until years later. When Richard left I would have given anything to have her there to talk to. I don’t how I’d have coped if it hadn’t been for you and Eve, and my other friends.’
‘You would have coped. You’re strong, pragmatic. Look how you’ve taken this job in your stride.’
‘Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I haven’t been here a week yet. And it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.’
‘I have every confidence in you, Leah, or I wouldn’t have put your name forward.’
She wanted to hug him but she knew a mining camp mess hall wasn’t the place for warm and fuzzies. Further down the table Alex pushed out his chair and stood up.
‘Looks like lunch is over.’ Leah stacked her plate and cup. ‘I sure like this not-doing-your-own-dishes thing. And the meals – no cooking. Works for me.’
Paul smiled. ‘I’m so pleased we caught up, Leah. I can report back to Eve that you are alive and thriving.’
Alex glanced in their direction as they both stood up. Paul leaned in close to Leah’s ear and said, ‘Don’t let him push you around. He might even open up and talk to you. Who knows? If anyone needs a friend, it’s Alex.’
‘Hmmph,’ was all she said.
Paul laughed and nudged her in the ribs. ‘I’ve never known you to give up on a challenge.’
Alex rounded the table and approached them. ‘What’s the joke?’
Paul slapped him on the back. ‘I was telling Leah not to let you push her around.’
‘As if,’ he said. ‘You should be telling me not to let her push me around.’
‘Yeah, right.’
Paul winked at her and the three of them walked the short distance back to the car park in a comfortable silence.
When they got to the LandCruiser, Paul shook Alex’s hand. ‘Good to see you. The meeting went well. Everything seems to be on track. I’ll catch you both next week. Let me know if there’re any more problems with the steel.’ He thrust a thumb in the direction of the office and added, ‘I’ve a few things to sort out here before it’s off to the airport and home.’
‘Give Eve my love,’ Leah said and gave Paul a quick peck on the cheek. ‘I’ll look forward to seeing you next Friday.’
‘Call me if you need anything,’ Paul said, closing the passenger door after Leah had climbed in.
‘I will,’ she said, feeling a short, sharp pang of loneliness as she waved goodbye.
The sun was low in the sky when Alex finally pointed the Land-Cruiser’s nose south towards Camp One, home for now. Thin straggles of cloud hung above the western horizon, all that remained of the overcast start to the day. The passengers they thought they’d have on the return trip had hitched an earlier ride with someone else.
The afternoon had been all business. They’d driven to the sub-station and he’d introduced Leah to the site supervisor who’d then showed her to a desk she could use. Leah had carried out safety audits while he’d spent an hour with the supervisor.
Following that, they’d travelled to the bore fields where the feeder line that would be used to power the bore pumps was being constructed. Leah had asked intelligent questions, and he couldn’t help but admire her easy camaraderie with the men working there. It had never occurred to Alex that some men would open up to a woman in a way they never would with a man in the same position.
They had the first gate behind them when, much to his astonishment, he was the one to break the silence.
‘You seem close to Paul and Eve.’
A startled expression flashed across Leah’s face. ‘Yeah, I am. Eve was my mum’s best friend, like a sister really, and when Mum diedI don’t think I would have survived if it weren’t for Eve.’
She pressed her fingers together in her lap as if to stop herself fidgeting. ‘I lived with Eve until I started working and could pay my own way. She was single, the real career woman . . . High-powered job . . . Buying her own home. She was amazing to me, although in typical teenager fashion, I didn’t fully appreciate what she gave up to take me on. I was thrilled when she met Paul and I liked him on sight. But —’
‘But what?’
‘Oh, Richard, my ex, he didn’t like Paul. God knows why. When Paul married Eve we sort of drifted apart a bit. And then when Richard left, Eve was there for me again. So was Paul.’
‘What happened to your mother?’
Leah was gazing out the window, off in another world. He almost missed the words when she said quietly, ‘She took her own life when I was fifteen. I found her when I came home from school.’
‘Bloody hell.’ He swallowed. ‘That must have been tough. You would have been a few months older than my boys are now,’ he said without missing a beat. ‘Where was your dad when all this was happening?’
‘Cairns, the last I heard. With his wife, and I think there are three half-siblings, somewhere. Dear old Dad disappeared when I was four. I don’t even bear his name. Jackson was Mum’s maiden name.’
‘Does he keep in touch?’
‘Vaguely. A Christmas card each year. Dear Leah, Have a good one. Dad. Or something equally vacuous. Last year he even spelled my name wrong. Left off the H.’
‘Ouch.’
‘They were never married, he and Mum. He was a bit of a bad boy, I gather; the love of Mum’s life, though. I think she always thought he’d come back to us when he grew up. He visited once, when I was ten – Mum thought he’d come to stay. He was there for a week. I didn’t really like him.’
Leah folded her arms and hunched down in the seat. She looked sad and for a mind-boggling moment Alex considered stopping the vehicle so he could comfort her.
‘What happened?’ He’d gone this far, he might as well know the rest.
‘Ah, he told her he’d married someone else, had started another family. When he left that time, life really began to slip out of control for her.’
‘I’m sorry.’ Inadequate, but all he could think of.
‘After Mum’s death I started getting the Christmas cards. I don’t know how he found out she’d died.’
‘Have you ever thought about visiting him?’
Leah pulled at her bottom lip. ‘Maybe if we’d had any kind of father–daughter relationship, I would have looked him up. But we didn’t. For years I felt this incredible void. Then when I grew up, I realised what I missed was what I imagined a father–daughter relationship should be. I wasn’t actually missing my father. And like I said, I didn’t really like him anyway.’
Alex took off his sunglasses. ‘Being a parent isn’t easy,’ he said, then grimaced. He didn’t want her to think he was making excuses for her father.
‘I’m not saying it is. But even when he was around I don’t remember him actually being around, being a dad.’
‘I hope that’s not what my boys say about me.’
‘I’m sure you do your best.’
Leah reached forward and lifted the radio handset. ‘Light vehicle travelling south into Charlie,’ she said as they passed the sign. There hadn’t been any other radio traffic since they’d left the Bluff.
‘I always thought I was doing my best,
’ Alex said, slowing down as they neared the next gate. ‘But I guess, looking back, I could have done a lot better . . . could do a lot better.’
Leah paused with her hand on the door handle. ‘You know what they say about hindsight being 20/20.’
He drove through the gate, watching in the rear-view mirror as she closed it behind him, and sucked in a deep breath, savouring her lingering scent. It must be the shampoo she used.
When she climbed back into the vehicle he experienced a punch of attraction that was fast becoming familiar, followed by a wave of despair. But then, he was single, had been for two years. No reason he couldn’t have a fling.
It wasn’t exactly the right place for a fling, though, even if she was up for it. Office romances were a fact of life, but out here . . . He didn’t condone what Dee and Phil were doing, even if Phil wasn’t married. Romance, or even one-night stands, added another layer of complexity to workplace relationships, providing more opportunities for disruption, and corruption.
Besides, he was her day-to-day supervisor and although he made the final decisions, there were powerful legislated guidelines that determined how she carried out her job. Generally speaking, hers was the role of safety police. He was the site supervisor, answerable to senior management. They’d both lose credibility if people suspected collusion between them, and that was sure to happen if it became known they were romantically involved. Cameron Crawley would be all over it.
‘So, are we staying here for the night?’ Leah said, snapping him out of his reverie.
‘What? No, no of course not,’ he blustered and pushed his foot down on the accelerator, embarrassed when the vehicle kangaroo-hopped forward and Leah sent him a questioning look.
Paul Prentice fastened his seatbelt, exasperated when he had to let the strap out before he could clip it into place. What had happened to the trim, fit man he’d been a few years ago? He rested his head back and closed his eyes. Flying was something he’d never enjoyed, but was a way of getting from A to B in the shortest possible time.
The small aircraft was full, the door closed, the pilot finishing his pre-flight procedures. The air inside the cabin was becoming rank with the smell of work-worn men crammed into a small space.
With a start Paul’s eyes popped open. He was so fed up with all this. Tired of the travel, tired of so many days away from home, tired of sorting out other people’s cock-ups. He’d spent the last two hours doing exactly that. And he was completely over toxic instant coffee and mess food. The brewed coffee and scones they’d had at today’s meeting was a rare occurrence.
And then there was Eve. He couldn’t ignore the situation any longer. She was on a slow but sure downwards spiral; probably had been since her forced retirement three months earlier. Yesterday, he’d come home from work early and she’d been curled up on the sofa, still in her dressing gown, staring into space. She’d leapt up, embarrassed, saying she’d felt a bit off so had been taking it easy.
He wondered how many other days she’d spent in her pyjamas lately, staring into space. He’d noticed she hadn’t been her bright bubbly self for the past few weeks, but he’d put it down to her finding the transition from the corporate world to retirement a challenge. The holiday was over and this was her new reality, which he knew would take adjustment. He hadn’t really worried until yesterday. Paul closed his eyes again. As the Piper Chieftain rose effortlessly into the sky, the pressure in his gut had nothing to do with the g-force of take-off.
It was dusk when the plane landed, the horizon lined with gold. Much to Paul’s bemusement, a smiling Eve was waiting for him in the small terminal. He’d driven himself to the airport that morning, leaving her sleeping.
‘I took a taxi,’ she said, brushing his cheek with a kiss. ‘I thought we could stop somewhere for dinner on the way home. We haven’t been out in ages.’
No, they hadn’t. And not because he hadn’t offered. ‘You look terrific,’ he said, and she did. It was taking him some time to equate this vibrant woman with the one he’d come home to the evening before. There was a glow about her that had been missing for weeks.
She looped her arm through his. ‘I relented this morning, had my hair done, and my nails. Couldn’t believe it when I rang and they’d had a cancellation.’ She threw him a secretive smile. ‘I’ll tell you all about it over dinner.’
‘I can’t wait,’ he said. ‘But I’m not exactly dressed for anywhere flash.’
‘You’ll be fine.’
They stopped at a small hotel nearer home. The dining room was warm, an open fire glowing in the grate. When he’d ordered their meal and they had drinks in front of them, a light beer for him and a riesling for Eve, she leaned across the table and gripped his forearm.
‘I have a job interview. Next Wednesday,’ she said, barely containing her excitement. ‘They rang me. One of the organisations I used to deal with on a regular basis. I got the impression the interview is a mere formality.’
‘That’s wonderful, Eve.’ Paul picked up his beer, took a deep draught. ‘What would you be doing? Where is it? When would they want you to start?’
‘Well, the position is a lot like what I was doing. It’s only for twelve months though, while the incumbent is on maternity leave. Going on our phone conversation, they’d want me to start almost immediately. They’re based at North Adelaide.’
‘It all sounds . . . perfect,’ he said. ‘Perhaps we should be having champagne!’
She smiled. ‘We should. But you’re driving. We’ll have bubbly when we get home. There’s a bottle of Croser in the fridge.’
He basked in her good humour and wished he had the courage to ask if she thought it all sounded too good to be true. It did to him. But he kept silent. It was so good to see her happy, to have the old Eve back, and he’d enjoy it for as long as it lasted.
‘Tell me about your day. How was the desert? How’s Leah doing amongst all those men?’
‘The meeting was unremarkable, but Leah is doing amazingly well. We had lunch together. She sends her love.’
‘I knew she would do well out there. They’re so lucky to have her.’
Their meals came. Paul was expecting the usual remonstration from his wife when the waitress put the seafood platter and chips down in front of him but this time he got away with a fleeting frown as Eve glanced at his plate.
‘Alex was a bit put out when he discovered Steve had gone and he’d be sharing his office with a woman,’ he said, putting the bowl of seafood sauce to the side. He didn’t want to tempt fate.
Eve looked up from her grilled chicken breast and salad. ‘I’m not surprised. You wouldn’t believe I bumped into his ex-wife on the Norwood Parade this afternoon. She was coming out of the hairdresser’s as I was going in.’
‘Claire? How was she?’
‘She looked amazing. I reckon she’s dropped ten kilos since I saw her last, and that would be at least a year ago. We didn’t talk long, someone was waiting for her. She got into a silver BMW. I couldn’t see who was driving.’
‘Hmmm,’ was Paul’s response.
‘Good luck to her. I hope she’s happy. I imagine Alex was hard work.’
Paul stopped eating and raised his eyebrows.
‘I know you think highly of him . . . I’m sure he’s good at what he does, but I could never get boo out of him. And I don’t remember ever seeing him smile. I feel a bit sorry for Leah, having to work with him.’
Paul shook his head and went back to his meal.
‘You know, I think I’ll shoot down to Burnside Village in the morning. I’ll need something to wear for this interview. Come with me. We can have coffee,’ she said and Paul smiled, thrilled to have his Eve back.
He drained his schooner and hoped he’d have the wherewithal to help pick up the pieces if things didn’t turn out the way she hoped.
Opposite Leah, Dee’s face resembled a thundercloud. When Phil sat down next to her she scooted her chair away from him and closer to where Frank was lounging
. Oh no, trouble in paradise, Leah thought, poised to take the notes for another daily debrief.
Everyone was crammed into the office waiting for Alex. When they’d arrived back at camp after the trip to Nickel Bluff, he’d taken a phone call, mumbled something she hadn’t caught and disappeared out the back door.
‘How was your day, Leah? You survived the management meeting at bullshit castle?’ Ben’s blue-green eyes twinkled. It wasn’t a stretch for Leah to imagine him with an eyepatch and a colourful parrot perched on his shoulder.
‘It was interesting. Long. I understood most of it. The trip out to the bore fields was good.’
Frank stopped flirting with Dee long enough to throw Leah a sceptical look.
She ignored him and said to Ben, ‘The food at the mess wasn’t as good as we get here.’
Ben grunted his agreement.
Frank went back to making Dee giggle. Tony and Phil were downing their beers and talking about the weather, and Leah had started doodling on her notepad, wondering what Ruby had for their dinner, when Alex appeared. He looked tired and drawn. What had happened in the hour since their return?
‘Sorry I’m late,’ he said and shook his head when Tony pushed a can of beer across the desk. ‘We’d better get into it or we’ll miss out on dinner.’
Alex went through the items he’d brought back from the management meeting.
‘No accidents or incidents,’ Leah said when it was her turn to contribute. ‘The bloke with the welding flash burns has recovered fully and I’ve given the welders a burst about wearing their PPE. I also checked their equipment.’ She rattled off a couple of safety reminders, finishing with, ‘We have about three days of diesel left.’
‘That’s fine. Fuel delivery is on Monday, food tomorrow. Where’s the forklift?’ Ben directed the question to Phil and Tony.
‘About forty-five minutes away,’ Tony said.
Ben pulled at his beard. ‘I’ll need it back here by ten thirty at the latest.’
No Job for a Girl Page 12
