Page 17 of Fake To Forever

Oliver grins ear to ear. “Yeah!”

“All right, then,” I murmur, smiling a little. I gaze at Haven, stunned by her generosity and willingness to help. She’s really… really amazing.

My phone suddenly buzzes, startling me out of my daze. I dig it out of my pocket and see that it’s Buck Paulson, the site leader, sending me a text:Can’t hit the depth. Keep breaking drill heads.

I sigh.

“Yeah, I’ve got to go,” I say. “Um, do you mind possibly taking him out to our house? There’s someone there that can let you in.”

“Sure thing,” she answers. “Can you text me your address? I’ll give you my number.”

I hand her my phone and she puts her number in so I can text her our address and other information she might need. Once that’s done, I look down at Oliver.

“I gotta go to work for a while, buddy. Will you be a good boy for Haven?”

“Okay,” he says with a nod. I smile, kissing the top of the head. As much as I want to believe everything is going to be okay, I can’t 100% block out the nagging concern in the back of my mind that’s telling me that maybe I’m making a mistake.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be totally fine,” Haven assures me, clearly noticing my hesitation in leaving Oliver behind.

“Thank you so, so much,” I tell her. “I’ll make it up to you, I swear. And I won’t be too late. As soon as I get it sorted, I’ll be right back.”

“It’s all right,” she insists with a small laugh. “Go on. Don’t worry about a thing. I promise to take excellent care of him.”

I release a long breath and nod. “Okay. I’ll be back as soon as I can, and I’ll leave his seat up front with Maggie before I head out.”

I cast one last glance down at Oliver, who looks as cool and calm as I’ve ever seen him. Which does help to make me feel a bit better about this situation. Even if the constant worry of parenting floats at the back of my mind.

With a final nod toward Haven, I turn and hurry out of the room, turning my focus toward the work issues, calling me away from home.

***

Two hours later, I arrive at the rig, dressed in a button-up shirt and a pair of slacks. I hadn’t changed from the attire I’d had on this morning. Instead, I left the daycare and came straight to the site.

“You’re overdressed,” Buck snorts as soon as I step out of my truck. Usually I’d take a helicopter to things like this, but with as close as the site is, I don’t have to.

“You said it was an emergency,” I grin, shaking his hand.

“You got me there,” he chuckles.

He leads me down into the rig, toward the drill, and I take a look at the broken drill heads before I strip off my shirt and climb into the machine.

“Ricky Tan tried it for hours, boss, and he kept breaking through just before the drill popped,” Buck calls.

“It just needs a man’s touch,” I call out with a laugh.

I can’t stop the smile that falls across my face as I get to work. This is my favorite place to be, other than next to Oliver. I grew up on my father’s oil rigs, and they’d been small until they weren’t. This is what I’m good at. This is where my passion for the job really lies.

Cranking up the machine, it roars to life. I can’t hear anything but the rush of adrenaline in my ears. I push the drill bit down, down, and when Buck starts to yell, I don’t back up, just continue in a slow and steady push until I feel it give.

Oil bursts through the pipes and all over the rig, and the guys are cheering when I get out of the machine, covered from head to toe in thick black oil.

Hell, Ricky Tan even hugs me.

“I’ve been working on that sonofabitch for days,” he groans.

“Like I said, it needed a man’s touch.”

Ricky rolls his eyes, but lets out a begrudging chuckle.

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