Shifting the truck into reverse, Wyatt backed up and peeled out a little too showy for Jinger’s taste. She swore she could hear the other men laughing.
As they tore down the dirt road, Jinger hit the button to roll the window up to keep the dust out. She didn’t know what to say, so she twiddled her thumbs and waited for him to start talking.
“You’re right,” Wyatt said out of the blue
“I am? About what Mr. Rochon?”
“First it’s Wyatt, second there is no way you are a ‘Red’. Red’s are abrasive, pushy even. You are trying to come off that way, but deep down you are just too sweet to pull it off.”
“Well, I’m glad you won’t be calling me that awful name. Not that you are correct about any of the rest of it,” she sniffed, looking out the window.
“Oh, I’m right. So sweet and gooey on the inside you have to put on a hard shell to handle the rougher side of dealing with loggers and the like. Yup, just enough spice, kinda like a gingersnap. Oh, I like that, gingersnap, is that with a G or a J?”
“It’s Jinger with a J, thank you very much. I really don’t think nicknames are appropriate. Now will you be so kind to go over what you have done to the land since you finished harvesting?” She tried to sound professional, but her voice wavered a bit.
Wyatt Rochon was too good-looking for his own good and him teasing her was out of her usual coping skills. She grew up with two sisters and no brothers. Her parents were quiet, reserved semi-hippies. Mom was a naturopath who taught at the local community college. Dad was a wildlife biologist. Her sisters hightailed it out Washington as soon as they managed to secure a place in an out of state school. One lives in Oregon and the other moved to Kentucky of all places.
Jinger stayed home, went to school at the University of Washington and never even thought of leaving. She dated a bit, but she usually found quiet bookish types that didn’t challenge her carefully prepared life. Jinger always thought she was waiting for something, biding her time. She just didn’t know what for, so she kept to herself and waited.
Now she wished she had an older brother growing up that teased her, so she would have some kind of defenses built up. Wyatt was charming, and she really wanted to get mad at him for being so forward, but the girly side of her was giggling. Damn traitor.
She heard Wyatt chuckle, “Whatever you say, gingersnap.”
Wyatt went on to tell her their process for clearing brush, culled logs that didn’t make the grade and their plans for a controlled burn to get rid of some of the debris. All in all, it sounded like they had everything under control. Jinger nodded and took notes while he spoke.
“Is there a reason the DNR is checking up on us? I mean, we’ve never had any issues before. We always do our best to follow all the regulations to make sure we don’t create any hazardous situations,” Wyatt said.
“Well, to be honest, Mr. Rochon, we did have an anonymous complaint stating your cut was left unfinished and that it created a viable fire risk.”
“Anonymous, huh?” Wyatt growled. His hand gripping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles turned white. His bear was pissed and he could feel his fingernails itching to claw out.
“It’s not uncommon for reports like this to come in. We have to review everyone, we can’t risk there being an issue we miss,” she explained.
“That, I understand, but we’ve had a run of bad luck lately and I’m thinking this is not a coincidence that you got a complaint.”
“What kind of bad luck?”
“Equipment tampering mostly, but my brother’s fiancée was injured a few weeks ago and we believe it was sabotage,” Wyatt responded angrily. “It’s one thing to mess with equipment that delays our work, but it’s another crime entirely to hurt my people.”
“Is your brother’s fiancée alright?”
“Yes, she recovered. It wasn’t something any of us want repeated. I know you are just doing your job, Jinger, but this is just another in a long line of pains in my ass right now.”
“Well, I will make this as painless as possible, Mr. Rochon. Then I will be out of your hair and a distant memory,” Jinger promised.
“What if I don’t want you to rush off?”
“Why would you want me to stay? Most people like to see the backs of government flunkies,” Jinger said with a little laugh.
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to see your backside, gingersnap, I’m just saying there is no need for you to rush off afterward. Maybe we could grab a bite to eat? My soon to be sister-in-law is a mean cook.”
Jinger couldn’t believe it, he was hitting on her! Wasn’t he? Again her lack of social skills was rearing its ugly head, she thought.