“Yes. Is that a problem?”
I shook my head. “No, it shouldn’t be.”
One of his eyebrows went up, but he didn’t comment on my hesitation. He turned back to his computer. “You’ll mostly be out on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, though there might be an occasional Friday.”
I nodded. “Understood.”
“You can use a company truck or your own at your discretion once you’re done with Miguel. I prefer you use one of ours if you think you can make it back here before the end of the day, but I’d rather you have the option to head straight home once done rather than rush to get back here.”
“Makes sense.”
“Just remember to track your miles if you use your own truck.”
“Got it.”
“I assume you’ve still got a good pair of boots?”
I laughed. “Of course.”
“Good. The forest management guys are going to start going out soon to help plan winter reductions. We’ll get the call after they’ve gone out to see what we might be interested in. You know what’s good, so don’t let people talk you into taking anything that should go to firewood or the chipper. We can recommend a service to bring down the trees, but the forest guys around here tend to have their own teams for that. They’re good about cutting things properly as long as they know which trees we’ll take.”
I nodded. “Anything else?”
“We don’t skid if we can help it, and we charge if we have to. Luckily, unless you’re dealing with somebody new, most knowthat. There are a few communities where they share a landing. It makes jobs we might otherwise pass on more likely to get us to take the wood. A handful of trees in buttfuck nowhere might not be worth our time, but if a bunch of neighbors coordinate it’s a better prospect, and the experienced ones know it.”
“I assume Miguel will let me know about all the nuances?”
“Yep.”
“Got it.”
He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “I hired ya cause you’ve got the experience to know what the fuck you’re doing out there. You’ve gotten a taste of what we move, so I expect you to know what’s worth our time.”
I swallowed. “Understood.”
“Lastly, keep an eye on the kiln schedule. It doesn’t matter as much when we’re buying, but for people like your Randy, their wood needs to go in at a particular time to hit their pickup dates. Don’t go promising delivery windows that we can’t keep ‘cause the kiln is full.”
My breath caught.My Randy…
He smirked. “I knew that would get ya. Did you hear the rest of what I said?”
I blinked, then chuckled. “Yeah. It’s my ass if I promise wood will be ready when there isn’t enough room in the kiln to make it happen.”
He grinned. “Good man. Head back on down. Once Miguel confirms the appointments for next week, he’ll let you know what days to plan for.”
“Got it,” I replied as I stood.
I was halfway down the stairs when something he said hit me. …people like your Randy, their wood needs to go in at a particular time…
I clung to the stairwell as the full meaning of that line sank in.
He wasn’t just teasing me about Randy; he was telling me that I’d be giving him an estimate for processing.
It meant that I’d be walkinghisland, looking athistrees. And as involved as he seemed, he’d likely be right beside me.
Chapter 13 - Randy
The sounds of vacationers wafted through the trees, though they probably didn’t know Dale, Simon, Russy, and me were there. We’d abandoned the resort’s trails so that they could show me which trees the forest guys had suggested they take down.
