Page 8 of Wood Riddance
“Listen,” Henri said, situating his hat on his head again. “Mitch Hebert killed Dad. Finn had nothing to do with it. He was serving overseas when Dad died, for God’s sake. Cut the man some slack.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and willed the ache in my chest to recede. There was no way I was winning this argument.
“Fine.”
“Great. Because you’ll be his supervisor.”
My stomach dropped and I scoffed. “You must be joking.”
My oldest brother shook his head and shrugged a shoulder. “Paz is wrapped up in the financials and dealing with the lawyers. I’m supervising the largest crew we’ve ever had while also overseeing the planting, road repairs, and expansion. And Remy’s on the competition circuit all summer.”
I glared at him, my blood running hot once more. But before I could drum up an argument against the arrangement, my brother continued.
“Plus, you have that empty office down in the shop. Set him up in there. I’ll have Ellen get him a computer, and he can get to work on the surveying project.”
I said nothing. I was too far gone. If I opened my mouth now, I’d probably breathe fire and singe my brother’s bushy beard.
“You can shoot all the daggers you want. We both know this is a good call, so share your fucking sandbox and play nice.”
I stomped out of Henri’s office and slammed the door behind me for good measure. Just because he had logic on his side didn’t mean I’d let him off the hook anytime soon.
And as I whipped around to stomp down the hall, I barely avoided smacking full-on into Lucifer himself.
Side-stepping him, I grunted in annoyance and strode toward the stairs that led down to my office.
“Hurry up,” I said.
He followed me silently. Down the stairs from the office area to the open bullpen, past the desks, the massive job boards, and the administrative staff, out the side door, and into my shop. My kingdom.
More than anything, I wanted to create a world different from the one I’d grown up in. Where Goldie and the women who come after me would be respected and treated like equals, regardless of the profession. That was why I’d gone to such great lengths to recruit, train, and hire women in my shop.
At U Maine, I was one of only a handful of women in the engineering program. That, coupled with my height and resting bitch face, made college a less than amazing experience. Everyone always wanted to know why I did what I did. Why I didn’t go for my PhD after my master’s and why I didn’t pursue mechanical engineering, instead going to work for my family business.
The short answer? I’d always loved the work. I’d wanted to be part of this world since I was a little kid. My whole life, I’d worshipped my dad and my grandpa. I’d been intrigued and entranced by the stories they told about the family business and life in the woods.
But from a very early age, I knew that all those stories were about men. The women were at home or in the kitchens at camp, cooking for the men who worked hard cutting down trees every day.
And it made me want more. A seat at the table. Not that my dad or any of my brothers had ever stood in my way. From the moment I expressed interest, they made room for me.
But there were not nearly enough women in this business. Or most businesses in general.
So, in my little corner of the universe, I did my best to keep the door open for the women and girls who would come after me.
From childhood, I set my sights high. I didn’t want to be anyone’s secretary or assistant. I wanted to rise above the place where I would have to prove that I was as smart and capable, if not more so, than my male coworkers every single day.
I’d done that already, in college and grad school, and it was exhausting.
Here, I was queen of this kingdom. And although the hours could be long, and I’d certainly never get rich, I could be myself.
I ran my team the way I wanted. I swore like a sailor and wore grease-stained coveralls with jewelry. My team was loyal and supportive, and I went out of my way to recruit and mentor women for this line of work. Together, we’d built something special. We kept hundreds of people safe and kept this business running by collaborating with one another as well as the other teams at Gagnon Lumber. By staying organized and playing all the girlie pop music we wanted. And I was damn proud of that.
Finn followed me as I entered the building. As we passed, Jenna, Charlie, and Estrella popped up, wide-eyed. I shot them all looks, and that’s all it took for them to get back to work.
This was our sanctuary, and very few people ventured in here. Paz braved it once a quarter to talk about budgets, but most people avoided this place. Mainly because I scared them.
It was a tactic I employed because I couldn’t have people messing around with my machines and tools. Especially clueless men who couldn’t tell a torque wrench from a hex key. And I only hired people I trusted.
Estrella made her way across the open area and scanned the steel shelves that held screws. It only took her a moment to find what she needed, because each size was stored in a carefully labeled plastic box. Efficiency and precision were essential here. If we made mistakes, people could die. That was a reality I was all too aware of.
