Page 11 of Trolling For Love

“Hold on, let me try to move it,” Ben said but the log was far too big for just him to move. Then the rest of the crew were there, and everyone helped lift the heavy log enough for me to roll out from under it.

“Are you okay?” Flynn asked.

“Yes, I am not injured. I don’t know what happened though. I’m sorry if I caused a problem,” I said, not really sure if I was in trouble or what would happen.

“It was an accident,” Flynn said. “The logs slipped, I’m just really glad you weren’t injured.” He meant it, he really did care about what happened to me. To a troll.

“It would take more than a log to hurt me,” I said as the rest of the crew wandered back to work.

“Please be careful,” Flynn murmured.

“I will.” And for once in my existence, I wanted to be careful and be safe. Not for me. I wasn’t kidding when I said it would take much more to hurt me, but I never wanted to see that look on Flynn’s face ever again.

Chapter 10

FLYNN

Iwatched Gunnar go back to where the next log was ready for him to move, and before he returned, I walked around the stack to see what had happened. He was very careful when he placed them, and since they were freshly cut there was plenty of heavy bark and moss to stop them from rolling off each other. Kneeling down I traced the shape of a boot print, but all of us wore boots, and the crew had been walking all around this area.

Still, something didn’t feel right. I glanced around at the crew while I knelt there. All of them were busy doing whatever task they were assigned without complaint. They were a good group of people who I never thought twice about trusting, but something was off.

The sound of Dwayne’s old truck rumbling up the newly cleared path broke me out of my thoughts and all work was putaside for lunch. Frank walked over to me where I still stood by the stack of logs.

“I heard you had a little accident,” he said, never one for beating around the bush.

“Yeah. Gunnar had been stacking the logs for the truck to pick up and I guess some of them worked loose and came down on him,” I said, and even to my ears it sounded unsure.

He walked around the stack and pushed on it here and there before walking back to me. “What do you think happened?”

“I’m not sure, but I have a feeling it wasn’t an accident.”

“Should I start an incident report?” he asked.

“No, Gunnar wasn’t injured. He said it would take more than that to hurt him, but I just have a hunch it wasn’t just the logs shifting. He’s been very careful to stack them so nothing like that happens.”

Frank knelt and looked at the boot print closer. “That could be anyone’s print. It could even be yours,” he said.

He was right. I knew it and he knew it, but still, something didn’t feel right. “Guess we’d better go get some food before it’s all gone,” I finally said.

“Yes, and I wanted to check where you’ll be working today.”

“I can walk you over to the area. The trees grow pretty thick around here, which is great for finding plenty to cut, but bad for moving very quickly.” The two of us walked over to the end of the line and continued to speak while the line slowly moved. Once Frank and I had our share of fried chicken, potato salad, and biscuits that Dwayne made today, we both walked over to one of the fallen logs and sat down to eat.

“Gunnar, Flynn told me you’d been injured right before I got here. Did you need to have a doctor check you out?” Frank asked.

“No. There was no injury,” Gunnar said before taking a big bite of potato salad.

“If you feel you need medical attention, just tell Flynn or me. We’ll make sure you’re taken care of,” Frank said.

“I will not ever need medical attention,” Gunnar said, making me smile.

“Good to know. Thank you, Gunnar,” Frank said and started eating his lunch.

The rest of the day passed without incident and when we returned to camp, I was ready for a shower. The past two days had been very productive but also far busier since Gunnar had joined the crew. We could get more done with his help, which was why I didn’t understand how anyone would want to jeopardize his safety. Carrying my shower bag and wearing only a towel I walked into the shower block just as one of the crew walked out. There were six showerheads in one large area, and all were being used except one.

I walked over to it and was about to strip when I noticed Gunnar was at the showerhead across from me. His grey skin had helped him blend in with the color of the cement blocks, but his muscular bulk made him stand out. His head was down in the water stream with his arms spread wide against the wall. His massive shoulders and muscular back were on full display along with a multitude of scars that I was curious about, but afraid to know the truth.

“Are you showering?” one of the other guys asked while I hesitated.

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