Page 73 of Five Mountain Daddies

“He’s been wanting this for a long time.” I clench myjaw.

“What do you think of thegirl?”

I slowly release my tension. “She means well,” I say finally. “But she doesn’t know shit aboutmining.”

He laughs softly. “Crazy Tommy didn’t either, but he wasn’t so bad. Maybe his daughter can bebetter.”

“Yeah,” I grunt at him. “Maybe.”

The guys all crowd around the bar and start drinking, and I’m pulled away by a million questions as every guy suddenly wants a piece of me, asking about some benefit or other that I don’t know shit about, but I always try and reassurethem.

Fact is, I don’t know what we’ll get out of this. The conditions down there aren’t great, and the contract is coming up. I don’t know how powerful Amelia is in her company, or if Ingram is going to push her aside. If that happens, we’ll be fucked, I’m sure ofthat.

The bar slowly starts to clear out as the night wears on. A lot of these guys have to work early. The bar should get a new influx of customers in a couple hours, as the middle shift gets off and the late shift comes on, though fortunately I have tomorrowoff.

Roy joins me at the bar and I glance at him. “Good job tonight,” he sayssoftly.

I shrug a little. “I guessso.”

“The guys believe inyou.”

“Mostly.”

He frowns. “Yeah, well, we’ll keep those assholes inline.”

I sigh. “I don’t want them kept in line, Roy. I want to do what’s best for everyone, not just formyself.”

He sips his beer, watching me for a second. I trust Roy’s opinion, but there’s a reason he didn’t step up and take this job from the start. Hell, there’s a reason why none of these guys did, just left it for me to figureout.

“I know what you’re feeling,” he says finally. “But listen, Samuel. You’re the man for thisjob.”

I laugh a little ruefully. “I don’t think so. I’m the man that was dumb enough to takeit.”

He grins at me. “That’s true, but it just so happens you’reperfect.”

“I don’t feel fucking perfect. I feel like I’m drowninghere.”

“You saw the way the guys looked at you.” He stops me before I can interrupt them. “Not every fucking guy, but most of them believe in you. That’s a good fucking start. And on top of that, you actually want what’s best for them, which is even more rare. Do you know how many union bosses we have just fucking take the job and steal everything theycould?”

I hesitate a second. Corruption in unions is a pretty well-known thing. It’s like an open secret for us. We don’t talk about it, and as long as it doesn’t get so bad, we let it keep going on because the union is so important to all these guys. Nobody wants to risk breaking the wholesystem.

“I know,” I sayfinally.

“You’re honest, Samuel, and you care. That’s what we need right now.” He goes silent for a second. “The real question is, can we trust this new Evansgirl?”

I glance at him. “I likeher.”

“I know you do.” He gives me a little grin. “It’s honestly not her I’m concerned about. It’sIngram.”

I nod slowly. “I know. He’s the realproblem.”

“Is she going to roll over and let him run thecompany?”

“I don’t know,” I sayhonestly.

“I wouldn’t blame her if she did. Far as I can tell, the girl never asked for any of this, probably doesn’t even wantit.”

“I think you’re right,” I say, glancing back to my drink. “But she’s a goodperson.”

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