Touching Scars(71)

I took in his appearance. He was a few inches shorter than I was, but the guy clearly still hit the gym regularly. His brown hair was cut short, and he was wearing some grey monkey suit. I knew he’d gone to school for business, and from the looks of it, I’d say he was doing well for himself.

“What on earth are you doing down here?”

Roger stepped forward with a perplexed look on his face. “You two know each other?”

“Yeah, this dumbass was one of my best friends in high school. We go way back.” I smiled. Roger seemed taken aback by my casualness and term of endearment. “But that doesn’t explain what would bring you to bum fucked Egypt.”

Adam looked from Roger then to me. “I own this field.”

He said it so matter of fact it took a moment for it to register. If he owned this field, then that meant… “Wait, you own A&S Emissions?”

“Yes, this one and about ten other oil and natural gas plants across the gulf coast. I was stopping in to get a look at production when Slim mentioned he had a rookie he’d recently hired that was really good. When he told me your name, I wasn’t sure if it was the same Timber. Except shit, who else has a name like yours? After a little digging though, sure enough, I found out it was you.”

My mind was buzzing with all of this new information. He was watching me, letting me connect the dots. “Wow, I can’t believe we’re running into each other. How long are you in town for?”

“Unfortunately, not long. I need to be moving to an offshore rig over near Mississippi day after tomorrow.”

I nodded. “Well, how about we get together for dinner tonight? We can grab a burger at the joint around the corner from my place, and then we can get a drink at the bar in town and do some catching up. Have you been to The Hole?”

Something passed over his features. “The Hole? No, I don’t think I have. Sure sounds good. I’ll meet you when you get off.”

I tipped my head at him and turned to walk out to the rig. My mind was working out the fact that I couldn’t believe one of my oldest friends was down here, and he was my boss. How did I not know this? I suppose I wouldn’t have figured it out unless I did some digging behind the company name, but why would I do that? I was only interested in showing up to earn a paycheck like everyone else. The longer I thought about it, it all made sense. A&S Emissions stood for Adam and Sam, his older brother. Their grandfather had been in the natural gas business back in the day, and it seemed the boys took over his company and expanded it.

As my day progressed, new thoughts sprung to the forefront of my mind. Did Adam give me the raise when he found out I was working here? Did he know I’d just come back from the war? I knew none of the other newbies got the same money I did, so was I given it because he thought I needed it? I was completely preoccupied with questions swirling around in my head until it was time to wrap things up and head home. I figured I would head to my place, grab a quick shower, and let Adam know where to meet me.

Walking to my bike, I saw Slim about to hop into his truck.

He looked over at me and said, “Hey, kid. I heard you know the big boss man. How’s that for coincidence?”

“Yeah, no shit. Sure surprised my ass.”

“How long have you two known each other?”

“Long time. We’ve been friends since we were in grade school. We played every sport together and became best friends when we got to middle school. I haven’t seen him since before my first tour, though. He’d gone off to college and I had my own thing going on. Different paths, I guess.”

“That’s usually how life works.” He shrugged. Climbing the rest of the way into the cab, he paused. “Hey, I’m heading to The Hole tonight, you coming?”

I gave him a look like ‘you’re kidding, right?’ He laughed. The engine of his old truck turned over a few times before it finally sputtered to life. A thought occurred to me before he put it in reverse. “Hey, Slim. I’m headed home to grab a quick shower then I’m meeting Adam at Greased Up for a bite to eat. I told Kat I’d be at the bar when I got off, but since my plans changed and you’re heading over there, would you mind letting her know I’ll be in a couple hours late?”

“Sure, no problem.” He started to back out, but hit his brakes. “Wait, if you went to school with Adam, then Kat did too. Why don’t you just ask her to come with you?”

I’d thought about that already. I didn’t think it was a good idea because I wasn’t sure how Kat would feel being around the guy who constantly picked on her back then. She had despised him all those years ago, and I couldn’t imagine that things had changed much since then. We were all adults now, but still, I figured I’d try my luck later that evening when I brought him by the bar. “No, she’s working her shift, and with Ed out of town they’ll be short handed. I’m sure she won’t mind. Just let her know I’ll see her later, will ya?”