Hawk chuckles softly and puts his arm around Lana’s shoulders. “You’re probably right, but we’ll figure it out.”
“Martha can run the show. I’m fine on the left,” I butt in before Lana launches the full-blown rage attack that’s turned her face nearly as red as her pretty dress. “Martha works her ass off,and she deserves her shot at being the right-hand. I signed up late, and I accept the consequences. I’m going to grab the gear and let you two catch up on family stuff. Meet you out front?”
“Sure thing,” Hawk says, giving me a relieved,thank-youkind of glance as he takes one of Lana’s bags and turns her toward the exit. She glances over her shoulder at me, and I don’t know how to read the expression on her face, but it feels like it might be a reflection of something very similar to what I’m feeling — sort of like, “Oh fuck, what have I done, and how the hell am I going to survive the seven months of gold mining season without her dad finding out, or without wanting to do it again when it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and we’re going to beright therein the same fucking camp… just out of reach?”
“Why the fuck are you in adress?” Hawk rumbles at her as they walk away. “Did Harper visit and drag you on some wild adventure to stylize your closet or something?”
“I visited her,” Lana replies in a flat tone. “And what’s wrong with me wearing a fucking dress, Dad? It’s comfortable for travel, it shows off my assets, and it has pockets,” Lana snarls in her defense.
“Okay, okay.” Hawk raises his palms. “Well, I hope you brought some real clothes in one of these suitcases. You and yourassetsare in the deep north now.”
“Thanks for the geography lesson, but the beards, boots, and brutal reception are all landmarks I’mmorethan familiar with.”
Hawk pauses at the snark in her tone. “Are you okay, kid? Did you get enough sleep last night?”
“No,” Lana replies bluntly. “I’m extremely tired, actually.”
“You sound it,” Hawk mutters.
Lana takes a deep breath and nods as they leave the building. “I’ll try to do better.”
“That’s my girl,” Hawk says with a smile and swings his arm around her shoulders again.
What. The.Fuck?
I grab my gear in a daze, and when I get out front, they’re waiting for me. I throw my bags, toolkits, and the refurbished conveyor gearbox into the back of the truck with Lana’s luggage, then I look inside the cab and open the passenger door to stare at Hawk over the empty front seat.
“How come I get shotgun?” I ask, glancing at Lana, who’s staring out the window from the back seat like some fucking second-class citizen instead of the boss’s daughter.
“Your legs are longer, and you’re a better conversationalist. Lana’s only going to talk to me if she needs something or wants to argue a point,” Hawk says with a strained smile. “She’s efficient like that.”
I drag my hands down my face, pull myself together, and climb in while wishing I had a fucking road map to navigate this awkward family situation. There are very few benefits to having exactly zero family, and I’d forgotten all about them until just now.
We’re still a two-hour drive from the claim.
Two hours is alongtime to be trapped in this nightmare.
Time flies so much faster when you’re fucking your good friend’s daughter as many times as you can in one night…
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and try not to groan.
I try not to make any noise at all.
I don’t want to make anything worse for anybody. If I try to comfort Lana, then I’ll reveal more than I want to. If I try to comfort Hawk, then Lana’s going to hate me for siding with him when he’s actually kind of a dick to her.
The silence gets incredibly thick and uncomfortable as Hawk and his daughter both scowl through the truck’s glass.
“So…” I let the word hang there a while I figure out a way to relieve the suffocating tension. “Efficiency and productivity. Those sound like helpful skills to bring to a gold mine.”
I glance between the incongruous pair to see who’ll respond.
Lana only studies her hands, which she’s keeping clasped tightly in her lap, and Hawk gives me a “bless you for trying” kind of look.
“I’m glad you think so,” he says, glancing at Lana in his rearview mirror. “Lana will be riding your ass as much as anyone else’s to make sure everything’s dialed-in to perfection, and while she tries hard, she’s not great in social situations,” he says with no apparent notion that his words sound harsh and condescending. I glance at Lana to see how she took the hit.
“As my lead supervisor, you’ll have to do a lot toward smoothing things over with the guys and getting them on board with her suggestions. Negotiating and such,” Hawk continues. “Once Goose has made her notes and wants to change things, I mean.”
“Uh-huh. Is Lana deaf, Hawk?” I ask, glancing back at her again. “Because you’re talking like she’s not sitting right behind you, wishing she had the power to kill you with her mind for calling her socially inept.”
