“I really, really, hate it when you guys do this,” he muttered. “You want me to treat this seriously and treat her like a potential, serious candidate for employment?”
“No, just hire her,” I suggested.
“She thinks we’re farmers!”
“We are farmers!” insisted Teak. “We don’t sit here and grow trees. We cut them down. Including trees, by the way, that you didn’t plant. So what would you call that? If we didn’t plant it and we cut it down, we’re not harvesting what we planted!”
“Wood enthusiasts?” said Teak, unsure.
“Shut up, Teak!” Elm turned to Lila. “Can you use an Excel spreadsheet program?”
“Yes,” replied Lila. “And the rest of Microsoft Office.”
“Okay,” said Elm, relieved to finally have something to write down. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
“What are you going to ask her next?” joked Oak. “Has she ever answered a phone?”
“Oak, this is serious!” insisted Elm. “I’m not hiring a total stranger for the family business without checking her qualifications. If you had any sense, you’d agree with me.”
“Just making a joke…”
“Quiet!”
“We get like maybe, two phone calls a week…”
“Shut up! Everyone! Shut up!” Elm was burning up, half begging, half ordering.
“Can I ask a question?” asked Lila after some awkward silence.
“No! I mean, yes. I mean, what’s your question?” asked Elm.
“So, you guys cut down trees now? I mean, it’s winter time. Are the trees…frozen?”
“No,” explained Elm, voice turning official, happy to be in control of the conversation finally. “In the winter, much of the tree’s moisture descends into its root system. Makes the wood better for harvest– For acquisition because we’re not farmers. We’re wood producing specialists.”
“I swear I won’t call you farmers,” promised Lila. “I’m so sorry about that. Who will I be reporting to?”
“All of us, but mostly me,” explained Elm. “If you get the job, which I’m not sure if you qualify.”
I took a beer out of a fridge, popped the top and took a sip.
“Just give her the job, already,” I said impatiently.
Elm brought his palms together as if to pray for patience.
“Obviously, you made the drive up here, but making the trip on a daily basis is going to problematic for you. Are you willing to work for a reduced salary in exchange for room and board?” asked Elm.
“Yes, of course,” said Lila. “Does that mean I have the job?”
“We’ll try you out for 30 days, then if it works out, you’ll be on a 60 day probationary period to see if you qualify for our benefit package,” explained Elm. “Then, after that, you’ll be a full time employee. But understand, this is a “right to work” state. We can fire as fast as we hire.”
“Thank you,” said Lila. “I promise I will work to repay you guys for your generosity.”
“I’d be more than happy if you just refuse to participate in my brothers’ buffoonery,” said Elm. “Never mix family and business they say. Now I know why.”
“C’mon,” chided Alder. “You’d hate it in a corporate outfit. You’d be back here in a minute.”
“I’d probably have so much money, I wouldn’t care,” said Elm. “Oak, why don’t you do something useful for a change.”
“Yeah, what?” he said reaching for a beer.
“Before you drink that, show Ms. Rhodes to her quarters. She’s going to need to get settled in and, I assume, we’ll have to find some new clothes for her,” said Elm.
“I guess I could just rewash my clothes until I get back to town,” offered Lila. “If that’s okay.”
“Not a problem,” said Elm. “Oak will show you where the laundry area is.”
Chapter 3:
Oak
Elm thought he was such a genius. The dummy was pushing me to show Lila to her room and that was just what I was about to do, right after I grabbed two beers. But, oh, well. The rest of the brothers were roaming around the house, while I had the attention of this pretty little lady.
“My parents and brothers built this house,” I said proudly. “Mostly we just make handmade furniture now, although sometimes we still sell wood. Every piece of furniture in this place was handmade.”
“Wow, that’s impressive,” said Lila. “It’s a good thing you and your brothers are so handy. I mean, it would cost a fortune for a regular person to buy so many handmade items.”
“Yeah, ya know, I wouldn’t know life without all handmade furniture,” I said. “It would just be weird to me. The idea of buying a sofa and it not fitting in your house or being too short. When everything’s custom made, nothings too long or two short.”
“It’ll be great working for you guys,” said Lila. “I can finally take dog walker off my resume!”
I laughed nervously. I was trying to be cool, but I could tell it came off as nervous. Lila was pretty hot. I was a face man. I like girls with pretty faces and she had one of the prettiest. Silky hair, big eyes, full lips– She had it all. I kind of couldn’t believe she was in such a low spot in her life. I had to figure there were guys out there tripping over themselves for her. I would be.
“Is that the laundry room?” she asked.
She saw our washer and dryer. They were pretty old and with just guys living here, there were piles of stinky clothes everywhere. I was embarrassed.
“Sorry about that,” I said pushing some of the clothes into the washing machine. “Laundry day is still a ways off. We were expecting to be cooped up for the snowstorm.”
“I get it, I get it,” said Lila. “You’re a bunch of guys.”
“You know what,” I said, having a thought. “There may be another answer than washing your clothes every time. Follow me and don’t be weird about this.”
“Okay, but now I’m feeling weird that you said that.”
“This is my old parent’s room,” I pointed to the door. “None of us felt right taking over the room, so none of us has had the heart to clean it out.”
I opened the door. It smelled a little musty, but it was mostly clean.
“We put all their clothes in plastic,” I explained. “They’re all clean if you won’t be weirded out wearing my mother’s clothes.”
As we were standing there, I couldn’t help but be reminded of mom and dad. They were so full of life. It was still hard to believe that they were gone. I could just make out two impressions on the mattress where they slept. Dad’s slippers were still under the bed waiting for him. Pictures of us on the nightstand when we were kids still smiled out to the room. Lila saw me staring at the picture and picked up the frame.
“Is this you guys on a trip?” she asked. “You look happy.”
“Yeah, that was a fishing trip we took. The lake’s not too far from here. Dad showed me how to bait a hook. I was only ten when they died. It’s hard to remember sometimes.”
“I know it’s tough to lose a parent,” said Lila. “When my mom left, I cried for weeks.”
“How about your dad?” I asked.
She froze. I immediately regretted that question.
“Sorry, that’s too personal,” I said backpedaling immediately.
“No-no, it’s fine.” She paused for a beat, eyes down to the floor. “My dad’s death, actually, wasn’t that much of a surprise when you get right down to it. I was older and I was sad, but I had a friend at the time that helped me get through it.”
“Fortunately for me, I had lots of brothers,” I said. “Ash became my second dad in a lot of ways. A few years after, we went fishing again. It was different, but it was still fun.”
“I think your parents would want you to still have fun,” agreed Lila. “Just like, even though my mother left, I don’t think she wished me ill.”
“Do you think it’s weird we didn’t get rid of our parents’ clothes?” I asked.
“But she was alive,” I said, hearing myself. “Sorry, that came out wrong.”
“No, it’s different,” said Lila. “Your parents were gone forever. I guess, it’s a little odd, but sweet in a way. This is a like a little shrine dedicated to them. You can walk back in here and relive a moment with them. That’s understandable.”
You’re pretty insightful, I thought while looking through some of mom’s clothes. “Um…. Do you need a bra?”
I held up one of mom’s. She had been a larger woman who was pretty big up top. I just kind of assume all women wore bras all the time.
“That bra is just a little big for me,” smiled Lila. “But I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Oh, here we go. Unopened.”
I found a brand new package of mom’s underwear. I guess she never got around to opening it.
“This is perfect,” said Lila. “This is practically fresh out of the store. They’re a little big, but I’ll make them work. I could even just sleep in panties if I had to.”
I guess I must’ve blushed. I felt like I did. Lila smiled. I couldn’t help but think how sexy she would look in just panties. I imagined her long legs, sexy hair and lips and what I imagined were two, perfectly round breasts. Quickly, I shook the image from my mind. I was being a rude host.
“Sorry,” I apologized. “We don’t get a lot of women up here.”
“Yeah, I get it,” she smiled even wider. “I spent a lot of time alone too. Sometimes the social skills get a little rusty. But trust me, you’re doing fine. I feel like you’re being the perfect host, Oak.”
“Thanks,” I said relieved.
“Did your dad make furniture too?”
“Oh, yeah, he was the best,” I remembered. “An absolute master of his craft until the day he died.”
“Kind of like Nick Offerman,” she suggested.
“Who?” I asked.
“You know, Ron Swanson from Parks and Rec,” she said.
I looked back at her, confused. “What is that? A TV show?”
“Yeah, guess you never saw it,” said Lila. “Anyhow, he’s an actor that plays a very manly and stoic character. But in real life, he’s kind of that way too. He has a wood shop and makes handmade furniture. I would’ve thought you would’ve seen it on the Internet.”
“Don’t have much time for Internet up here,” I explained. “If he cut down trees or built chainsaws, then I’d know who he was.”
Lila walked over to the lamp on the nightstand and turned it on. For a moment, the light shined through her top. I could see the outline of her body.
“Whoa,” I said.
“Hmm?” asked Lila.
“I said, oh, I’ll bet I could find something for you to sleep in,” I said quickly, trying to deflect. “I think there must be something in here. Pajamas don’t really have a size, right?”
“What’s it like being a lumberjack or as I like to call it, tree farmer?” she asked with one eyebrow raised.
“Oh, it’s great, ya know,” I said. “I genuinely love it. We’re out in the woods all day, cutting down trees. It’s really important to pick the right tree. You don’t want to thin out the woods in one place too much.”
“How so?”
“Well for lots of reasons,” I said. “The problem with random growth is that it can sometimes be very concentrated. We try to take trees in areas where there will be new sun for trees that are already grown. Sometimes the bigger trees and shade the other ones out. Also, you don’t want to create too much erosion on the mountain, that would be bad. Might cause other trees to fall over.”
“And I thought lumberjacks just cut down trees,” she said.
“We’re modern lumberjacks,” I assured her. “Everything we take from the mountain, we give back. That way, it’s a continuing cycle that can last forever.”
Chapter 4:
Lila
Oak led me back to the guest room. As soon as I walked in, I was immediately jealous of the guys. They lived which such nice furniture! The wood walls, the wood furniture– Everything was handmade. I half expected them to tell me how they carved a refrigerator out of a tree.
“This bedframe is stunning, by the way,” I said to Oak. “My, look at that headboard. Such detail.”
“Yeah, my brothers made that for my parents’ wedding anniversary,” he explained. “It had a metal frame before.”
“This was your parents’ headboard?”
“Yeah, we carved the one in their room for…I think it was mom’s birthday?”
The headboard had a picture of the mountain carved into it. There were trees, birds, rivers and a tiny cabin at the top of the mountain with smoke flowing out the chimney. They’d detailed bird nests in the trees and down by the river, a bear caught a salmon. It was a work of art. And it was probably heavy as hell.
Even the nightstand was hand carved. The drawer slid in and out with no effort. It was decorated everywhere with leaves and tiny birds and squirrels. The squirrels were all different. Some were climbing, some were gathering nuts and one was just sitting looking cute. I imagined it must’ve taken hours and hours to handcraft something so beautiful.
In a corner sat a one-of-a-kind chair. It was carved from one solid piece of wood. You could just tell when you touched it. There was no shakiness to it and no way a piece was going to fall off. The arms and legs had a pattern of vines going up and down them. If you looked close, you could see the little veins inside each leaf. The cushion appeared to be hand stitched. It was all just for this room.
“Man, handmade furniture really is the way to go,” I said, impressed. “Can I check out the bathroom?”
“Go for it,” said Oak, sorting through more things.
The ceramic tile floor was perfectly laid. This entire cabin was a wonder in construction. The touches of wood in the bathroom were so ornate. There was a towel rack that came out of the wall. The bar was hand carved wood with a design of branches and trees. There was a stool whose legs were carved to resemble rocks stacked up. I wish I could make things like this.
I was sort of avoiding the mirror. It had a wooden frame around it that was carved with leaves, berries and birds. I felt like I was a mess and sort of knew I was, but I figured now was the time to face the music. I looked.
“Oh, God,” I said aloud.
“What?” asked Oak from the next room.
“Nothing!” I said. “I’ll be a minute.”
I looked like an absolute disaster. Mascara had run down my face and my hair was everywhere! Jesus, I hadn’t looked this bad since I cried after catching Annie and Bradley. I vowed right then and there to stop crying. It was time to move on.
“No wonder Elm didn’t take me seriously,” I muttered, cleaning myself up. “Looking like this for a job interview? Was I out of my mind?”
Without my make up, I could only do so much. I washed the mascara off my face and fixed my hair with my hands. I noticed a comb nearby, but I hesitated. I think that would be a bit personal, right? It was the guest bathroom, so I decided it was okay. It must be for a guest, right? It was obviously so perfectly clean, where was the harm. I brushed out the mess that was the bird’s nest on my head.
I checked out the medicine cabinet. It was mostly empty, save for a new tube of toothpaste, a brush and some hand sanitizer. I put a little toothpaste on my finger and rubbed it in my mouth.
I thought it was kind of amazing that these brothers all lived together and had no wives. I mean, surely they have girlfriends. This house is huge! There must be some other people living up here or coming up here. I didn’t really know these guys, but they seemed like good people. My vibe told me that they were all alone, but my brain told me five guys that handsome couldn’t all be single. It didn’t matter anyway. The immediate goal was to make it through the winter and ge
t up enough money to move to some place warmer. I truly could’ve been killed driving up here.
There was a knock at the bathroom door. I guess Oak had found something else for me to wear. But it was one of the other brothers, Teak.
“He-hey, hi,” he stammered. “I’m Teak and, uh, found you this?”
He offered a flannel robe and a pajama shirt. They looked about my size.
“Oh, thank you, uh, Teak, right?”
“Yeah,” he replied, with visible relief that I remembered his name. “I’m the arborist up here. That belonged to my mom, but Oak said you’re okay with that. Sorry if it’s weird.”
“It’s not weird. Thanks. You and your brothers are really generous for letting me stay and giving me a job.”
“Well, we needed an office worker anyway,” said Teak. “And you being an office worker made that work.”
I think Teak was trying to chat me up, but he just seemed to trip on his own words. Maybe it was the bathroom, I moved out into the main room.
“So, uh, is anyone’s girlfriends coming up here? I won’t make anyone jealous, will I?” I asked, fishing for some information as I stood by the edge of the bed.
“Whose girlfriend?” asked Teak, confused, rounding the bed corner not too close and not too far.
Ah, ha! I knew it.
“Whomever’s girlfriend,” I said. “Like you or Ash or whomever.”
“Uh, I don’t think any of my brothers are seeing anyone,” said Teak trying to remember, fingering the bedcover. “I’m certainly not. I’ve got too much work to do these days. You know us tree farmers!”
“What’s it like to be a tree farmer?”
He smiled. He had a great smile. It was genuine, warm and pretty handsome, I had to say. Teak was ruggedly handsome like his brothers but more scruffy and rough. But it wasn’t that he was sloppy, he just seemed a bit in his own world. I liked that about him. It made him charming because he didn’t put on airs.
“It’s good to be a tree farmer,” he laughed, a little embarrassed. “I plant the trees after the guys take some out.”
“Oak told me a little about it,” I said. “Sounds like there’s a bit of a science to it.”
Loved by the LumberJacks_A MFMMMM Reverse Harem Romance Page 3
