"You were so fast," Tiffany said, almost as shakily. "Thank you for being so fast."
"You saw it happening first," Parker said hoarsely. "How'd you know?"
"I just saw the crane swinging out of control and Eric slumped. Oh my God. Oh my God." Tiffany slumped, heart hammering in sick fast beats. "Did they say how long the am—" A siren wailed as she asked. She jerked to her feet, shocked at the swiftness of the response.
Ollie and Steve, who were much longer-legged but had lost a lot of distance to Tiffany's head start, finally caught up as she came to her feet. Early enough for Steve, the local guy with the answers, to have heard her question, because he said, "Virtue's too small to have its own hospital, but we've got a dedicated ambulance for emergencies so people don't have to wait for one to get to us. Is your friend okay?"
Eric's color had improved in the minute or two since she'd fallen at his side. "I think so. Parker got the adrenaline into him before I could even get here. Eric, hey man!"
She dropped to her knees again as he took a deeper breath and winced, eyes still closed. He mumbled something and she leaned closer to hear him repeat, "Frickin' bees."
Tiffany gave a slightly hysterical laugh. "Yeah. Yeah, frickin' bees. The ambulance is pulling up now, Eric. They're gonna take you to the hospital, okay? You're gonna be fine. Parker's your big damn hero."
Eric lifted a hand weakly, offered a thumbs up, and let it fall to the ground again as Parker gave a laugh as nervous as Tiffany's had been. "Itoldyou to only take inside jobs, man."
"Fffffbbbb." The sound of dismissal was exceptionally spitty through Eric's swollen mouth, but he pulled a faint smile when the whole crew did another worried laugh. Then the ambulance was there, pulling up onto the green. Paramedics spilled out, asking questions, which Parker stepped forward to answer while Benny and Rick, the other guy who'd arrived early, hovered worriedly behind him.
Someone offered Tiffany a hand up and she took it gratefully, leaning into the support offered and then realizing it was Ollie supporting her. For a second she thought she should woman up and step away, but his presence was both weirdly comforting and absolutely undemanding. Somehow he clearly didn't want anythingfromher. He just wanted to be there to support her.
Tiffany was completely unaccustomed to men not wanting anything from her. They always wanted something. They wanted a date, or to tell her why she didn't belong in this business, or how she was wrong about something she'd been doing daily for ten years, or for her to admire their strong masculine presence while they did something meant to impress her, or…lots of things. They always wantedsomething.
Oliver Campbell smiled down at her, a brief, gentle expression. "Are you okay?"
Parker turned and pointed at her, and one of the paramedics approached. "We're gonna take him to the hospital in Syracuse, but your friend is gonna be just fine. We're monitoring his vitals and if there's any problem we'll get him fixed up on the way, but Mr. Parker's quick response probably did everything he's going to need. Do you know if he's got insurance?"
"Yeah, of course. All my employees do. I can get you the policy numbers if he doesn't have his card on him."
Real relief spilled across the woman's face. "Great. I'm sure the hospital will be in touch if he doesn't have it with him. Okay, let's go," she said as she turned back to the ambulance. Eric had already been loaded in, and Parker sent Tiffany an agonized glance.
"Yeah yeah yeah, of course, go ahead. We've got a delay anyway, it's fine. Go go go. Keep us posted." When the ambulance doors were closed and the vehicle was pulling away, Tiffany finally smiled, just a little, up at Ollie, who still hadn't let her go. "Yeah, I'm okay. Or I will be."
Her gaze went beyond him, though, first to Steve, and then to where Steve was looking: at the wreck of the gazebo, with soul-destroying dismay written across his face.
A whole-body wince went through her. "Or maybe I won't be, after all. Oh my God."
"We can fix it, Boss." Benny sounded about fourteen and on the verge of tears.
Tiffany absolutely understood that feeling as she gave a sharp laugh and stepped away from Ollie's support. She immediately felt uncomfortably alone, like the last thing in the world she should have done was move away from his shelter, but she couldn't do her job in any meaningful way while literally standing in a man's shadow. "Of course we can," she said, forcing brightness into her voice. "But can we do it in thirty-six hours?"
"Thirty what now?" Rick, the fourth member of her team who was already there, spoke with a crack in his voice. He was a white guy in his late fifties, burly and grey-haired, and one of the only men his age that Tiffany had ever met who appeared to genuinely have no problems with a female boss. When he'd applied for the company, she'd been more than a little cautious about hiring him, but he'd shrugged when she asked why he wanted to work for a woman-led company.Worked for women before,he'd said.Lotta the time the sites are a lot less toxic. Less dick-measuring, less bullshit. Why wouldn't I want that in a work environment?
"Thirty-six hours." The brightness in her voice didn't last. "I just spoke with the town clerk. They double-booked the weekend, and we're not the first contract. Mr. Torben here is supposed to be getting married in the gazebo on Saturday."
Her guys were silent a couple seconds before Benny said, "But the gazebo's wrecked, Boss."
Steve, semi-hysterically, said, "I noticed that! Charlee's gonnakillme!"
Benny, who was genuinely a nice kid, smiled worriedly at Ollie. "Are you Charlee? We're super sorry, man, but Boss, are you nuts? Fix it in a day and a half?"
"Well," Tiffany said with a weak smile. "Technically we have the rest of today, too. It's only Thursday afternoon! That makes it almost…what time is the wedding?"
"Two p.m.," Steve said in despair.
Tiffany brightened again, and almost meant it this time. "Almost forty-eight hours!"
Benny and Rick looked at her. They looked at each other. They looked back at her. Benny's face was red, like he needed sunblock. Which was probably true, although she didn't think that was actuallywhyhe needed sunblock. He was just agitated at her insane plans, which seemed fair enough.
And then Ricksighed, sighed like it came from the absolute bottom of his soul, and said, "C'mon, kid. I'll call Jonesy up in Watertown, and get him to drive the lumber down tonight."
