The Girl in the Hard Hat (6 page)

On a bend in the road, she caught him out of the corner of her eye jogging only a couple of metres behind her. Was he tailing her?

An awful thought occurred to her.

Lone female.

On the top of an isolated hill.

No witnesses present to see her dragged behind a bush.

Her blood boiled. Not in this lifetime!

She took a wrong turn to see what he would do. He turned off in a different direction. She breathed an inwards sigh of relief that was closely followed by guilt. Was she always this distrustful and paranoid of people? Or just since she’d found out she was adopted?

Get a grip, Wendy!

After jogging down another street, she looped back and headed up to the lookout again, increasing her speed. She really needed to stop jumping to conclusions so fast. It was doing her head in. The world had not changed. She just knew more about it.

She jogged up to the top of the grassy mound and surveyed the town laid out before her in the dim twilight.

‘Hey, gorgeous!’

The suggestive tone had her spinning around faster than an eighties yoyo.

‘You again.’

The good-looking stranger was standing a mere metre and a half behind her. Tall, well built and a little too close in her opinion. She glared at him. He put his hands on his hips, sweat from his jog glistening on the parts of his chest that were exposed by his loose-fitting tank top.

His lips curled. ‘I thought you might be coming up here.’ He took another step towards her.

In her startled state, it seemed like all the proof she needed. Her hand pulled back and . . .
THWACK!
She struck him full against his jawline. He staggered back, his palm to his cheek.

‘What the hell did you do that for?’

She widened her stance and raised both hands. ‘I’m warning you, I’ve taken self-defence classes.’

He seemed amused. ‘Karate?’

‘Among other things.’

‘I see.’ He rubbed his jaw but didn’t step back.

Her alarm heightened. ‘Who are you? Where are you from?’

‘I’m from the camp, same as you.’ He took another step closer, hands spread wide. ‘Just calm down, I’m not here to hurt you.’

‘Don’t tell me to calm down.’ She tossed her head and maintained her stance. ‘Why were you following me?’

He ignored her question, however, as he eyed her thoughtfully. ‘You know, I don’t know what they were teaching you in those classes but if you want to exert more damage on your opponent, you shouldn’t use an open palm. Try a fist or kick next time. In fact,’ he nodded as though he were doing her a favour, ‘if you want to practise on me now, go ahead. I promise I won’t fight back.’

Her bravado faltered and her hands dropped slightly. A would-be attacker didn’t usually offer free punches to his victim. Annoyance replaced her fear as she studied him. She didn’t need a psychic to tell her that those love-you-today leave-you-tomorrow eyes were Trouble with a capital T.

‘I don’t want to hit you again,’ she snapped.

He sighed. ‘Would you prefer it if I provoked you in some way?’

‘
Huh?
’

Without explaining further, her leaned in and kissed her.

It was the most unexpected, outrageous, incorrigible thing that anyone had done to her.

Ever!

What was even worse was the fact that while he took her mouth, he didn’t touch her. She could have jumped away from him. Run off down the hill. Instead, like a cobra entranced by a snake charmer’s flute, she closed her eyes for just a few seconds to enjoy his gentle caress.

And then reality hit.
What are you doing? Why are you still here?

She pulled away and this time did curl her fingers into a hefty fist and punch him in the face. ‘You arse!’

The red mark on his cheek almost made her feel guilty until she saw that smile of his again.

‘Okay, I deserved that one.’ He nodded. ‘I really shouldn’t have done that. It’s one of my worst faults actually. Kissing girls who don’t want to be kissed. You’ll have to accept my apologies.’

She had absolutely nothing to say to this brazen remark so turned to go.

‘Don’t suppose you’ll have dinner with me some time, will you?’ His voice struck her from behind, right between the shoulder blades.

She spun back incredulously. ‘
What?
’

‘Well, that
is
why I followed you.’ His tone was finally apologetic. ‘To ask you out. Guess I kind of botched it, didn’t I?’

With hands on hips, she eyed him with utter contempt. ‘Yeah you did.’

‘No worries.’ He nodded and then, without saying goodbye, jogged off down the hill again, which couldn’t help but infuriate her even more.

She was the one who was supposed to make the dramatic exit.

She had wanted to leave him standing there staring like a stunned mullet, not the other way around.

Dragging a hand across her lips, she symbolically tried to wipe away his touch. But the smell of him still clung to the air around her, or more like the sweat from the jog they’d taken. She shook her head with disgust.
I need a shower.

Whoever he was, she hoped he worked for TCN or in a hole in the ground somewhere where she wouldn’t run into him again anytime soon. Embarrassment didn’t even begin to cover how she was feeling right now.

After she’d allowed five minutes to crawl by, she jogged down the hill to the showers. There was only an hour left till the mess closed and she needed to get some dinner before bed.

It was her first time in the mess since she’d arrived. Given the gossip about her that was already circulating, she was expecting to make a bit of a stir. However, the reality was still a bit galling. All she wanted was a low profile, especially after her experience on the hill, but she felt like a thousand pairs of eyes followed her into that mess hall. From the rows and rows of trestle tables they watched her walk across the room to the buffet. They nudged each other when she took a spoon of mashed potato, followed by a side of beef and gravy.

Why was that controversial?

She wished she’d tied her hair up after the shower, but it was wet, so she’d left it out to dry. It felt too feminine now, having it all loose like that.

With shrug of rebellion she put another scoop of mash on her plate and turned around. After the evening she’d had, she was done dancing to the tunes of men.

To her surprise, two women sitting at a trestle table by themselves were waving at her. A redhead with laughing blue eyes and the prettiest honey blonde she’d seen in a very long time.

They beckoned her eagerly.

With the impossibility of her day getting any worse, she decided to join them.

‘Hi, Wendy,’ the redhead greeted her. ‘I’m Sharon.’

Her mouth fell open in surprise. ‘You know my name?’

‘Honey, word travels faster around here than nits in a classroom.’

She didn’t know whether to be flattered or worried. Instead she lowered her voice. ‘I just wish they’d stop staring at me.’ She sat down slowly, self-consciously tucking her hair behind her ear.

‘They will in a minute. First they had to see what you’d get for dinner. There’s been a bet going round you were going to just eat a salad over the roast.’

She was startled. ‘Really?’

‘Skinny thing like you.’ Sharon chuckled. ‘You’ve had them all confounded. I think that lucky guy over there’s made $175 on your mash potato grab.’

‘Seriously?’

The honey blonde laughed. ‘Oh yes, and it’s quite made up my mind about you.’ Her green eyes danced. ‘You’re going to be heaps of fun. I’m Lena. Lena Todd. Very,
very
pleased to meet you!’

Wendy held out her hand and found it shaken warmly.

‘So you’re Mike’s niece, are you?’ Lena asked.

‘You know Mike?’

‘Yes, you could say I know Mike
extremely
well.’ Lena exchanged a glance with Sharon.

‘Sounds ominous.’

‘Oh it’s nothing.’ Lena rolled her eyes. ‘Past tense really.’

But Wendy’s curiosity was caught. ‘No, tell me.’

Lena’s eyes narrowed on her. ‘You honestly don’t know, do you?’

‘Don’t know what?’ Wendy spooned a little mash into her mouth.

‘Your uncle didn’t share his
intel
with you?’

That caught Wendy’s attention. ‘No.’

‘The truth is, I’m dating the client. Which is a little controversial in these parts. Mike found out about it when Dan and I were trying to keep it all a secret.’

A couple of cog wheels in Wendy’s head slipped into gear. So this was the leverage her uncle had thought he had over Dan Hullog. Made sense, considering everyone at Barnes Inc seemed to hate everyone at TCN – it would have caused one hell of a Romeo and Juliet scandal.

She winced. ‘He didn’t threaten to expose you, did he?’

‘Well,’ Lena cleared her throat. ‘I wasn’t going to mention it. But turns out your uncle does have a taste for blackmail. Luckily, Dan doesn’t give a damn what people think and neither do I. I’ve proven that I can do my job well without any special favours from the client.’

Wendy nodded. ‘Good for you.’

‘So how are you and Dan going anyway?’ Sharon asked, and for a moment the two friends forgot about Wendy and her uncle.

Lena’s face seemed to light like a bulb although she swatted the air with studied casualness. ‘We’re fine. But I mean, we only just went went public.’

‘And the guys aren’t still hassling you?’ Sharon wanted to know.

‘Are you kidding me? This morning Dan exited his donga accompanied by “Unchained Melody” played from his neighbour’s two loudspeakers.’

Sharon grinned. ‘Nice.’

Wendy licked her lips. ‘I’m sorry if my uncle is one of those people who’ve been heckling you.’

Lena looked at her in surprise. ‘No, Mike’s a lot of things, but he’s not juvenile.’

Wendy looked the engineer dead in the eye. ‘You don’t like him, do you?’

Lena’s lids fluttered open. ‘Oh, it’s not that he’s . . .’ Her shoulders slumped. ‘Okay, we don’t get on but I’m sure he’s a fabulous uncle.’

Wendy grinned. ‘He’s not.’

‘You mean he’s moody with you too?’

Wendy nodded. ‘Pretty much.’

‘So I take it you’re not close.’

More like dysfunctional.
Wendy’s mouth twisted. ‘Not really. Never saw much of him when I was growing up. He put a lot of people’s noses out of joint back in the day and has kind of stayed out of reach of the family. Even my grandmother thinks he’s strange and he’s her son.’

‘That’s a shame.’ Lena sighed. ‘Here I was thinking there might be a different side to him. You know, the nice side he reserves for his loved ones.’

‘Well if he’s got loved ones, I’m not one of them.’ Wendy nodded a little sadly. ‘When I ran into him in Karratha by accident, I thought I might be able to mend a few fences but it just didn’t work out. So,’ she changed the focus to Sharon, ‘do you have a boyfriend too?’

Sharon coloured up. ‘Yes, it’s Carl.’

‘As in Carl Curtis?’

‘That’s the one.’

‘Wow!’ Wendy laughed but her brain was doing flips. She’d just run into the two Alpha Women of the site, each one bonded to a powerhouse. She was going to have to be careful around these two. However, they had already lost interest in her again and returned to their previous conversation.

‘I can’t believe Dan is your boyfriend. It’s so weird.’ Sharon was shaking her head.

‘It’s not weird,’ Lena protested. ‘But I can see what you mean about the word “boyfriend”. It doesn’t really suit him. Do you think I should call him my partner?’

‘That’s a bit serious.’

‘Well, I think we’re serious. Do you think we’re serious?’

‘Lena, if you’re asking me then you’re not serious enough.’

‘Right, okay.’ Lena chewed happily on her lower lip. ‘Well, I’m just happy to see where it goes from here for the moment. I’ve got a date tonight.’

‘
Really?
’ Sharon’s eyes widened. ‘Imagine that? A social life in Cape Lambert. Miracles do happen.’

‘Well,’ Lena threw a teasing smile in Wendy’s direction, ‘if there’s anything I’ve learned in the last few months it’s that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.’

Wendy nodded and Sharon raised her cup of water. ‘Damn straight!’ she toasted them.

After a night of mashed-potato bets, a stolen kiss and an invitation to join the popular girls’ group, Wendy was more than ready to find some semblance of normality in her life again. The place she hoped to find it was at work. With the luxury of having her own car, she turned up ten minutes early. Neither Chub nor Neil had arrived yet and she snuck over to the air conditioner, fiddled around with the temperature setting and managed to increase the thermostat by a couple of degrees. She hoped her two colleagues wouldn’t notice but the slight adjustment made a world of difference to her.

She sat down and read her files. Chub arrived on time, but Neil showed up ten minutes late.

‘Why the hell is it so hot in here?’ he snapped, the sweat beading on his forehead like water droplets on a boiled egg. He immediately walked over to the air conditioner and turned the temperature setting down.

Four
degrees.

Wendy groaned inwardly. Pretty soon she was going to grow icicles on her nose hairs. Should she go to her car and fetch that blanket she kept in her boot? How stupid would she look?