Page 191

28

“A SOFT ANSWER TURNETH AWAY WRATH: BUT GRIEVOUS WORDS STIR UP ANGER.” —PROVERBS 15:1

W hen Sydney arrived at the sawmill the next morning, Barb met her at the door, holding a cup of coffee and wearing a tight sweater and a smug expression. “Sean and Mr. Roberts are already in the conference room. They were wondering why you’re late!” she said then took a sip of coffee.

The first comment that ran through Sydney’s mind was, Well don’t get too worked up over it or you’ll pop the buttons off that sweater. But she was trying to do better so she bit her tongue and said instead, “Barb, blue is a great color for you. You should wear it more often.”

Barb’s eyes widened, and she looked down at her sweater. Sydney breezed past her.

“Good morning.” Jake smiled and offered his hand to Sydney as he peered over his tiny glasses. It was the first time Sydney had seen him wearing anything other than a plaid shirt and jeans. Were it not for his potbelly protruding over his belt, he might have looked attractive in his black shirt and corduroy slacks.

“Good morning,” she said, noticing that Sean’s appearance was impeccable as usual. Her eyes were drawn to his cheek, where she expected to see a blotch. No trace.

“Sean was just going over the report.”

“Great.”

“First of all, I’d like to commend you and Sean on the progress you’ve made at the mill. It’s remarkable what you’ve been able to accomplish in a short period of time. According to the report, everything seems to be in good order. We just have to be sure to keep it that way. Have you come up with a safety incentive program for the workers?”

Before Sydney could respond, Sean broke in. “Sydney and I are in the process of finalizing that now that the OSHA inspection is over. Right, Syd?”

Jake looked back and forth at the two of them.

Sydney nodded. She’d been so busy investigating her father’s death that she’d not thought beyond the inspection, had not even considered instituting an incentive program. Rescued by Sean again.

Sydney followed Sean’s lead. “That’s right, Jake. We’ve been talking about a quarterly incentive program where the guys will get a bonus if they go without an accident for a certain number of days.”

“Good. I think that’s what we need to keep people alert.”

“Okay. I think we’re ready to take Jake on a tour of the mill and show him the improvements.” Sean handed Sydney and Jake a hard hat and ushered them toward the door. Sydney turned and mouthed thank you to Sean behind Jake’s back.

He patted his jaw. “Don’t mention it.”

The inspection progressed through the mill where Sean directed Jake’s attention to the men on the green chain, wearing their hard hats, safety shoes, and goggles. He then pointed out the various pieces of equipment where guards had been installed.

Jake turned to Sydney. “Well, young lady, it looks like you’ve done an excellent job.” Before Jake could continue, the sound of a siren blasted through the mill. Several workers rushed past them.

“What in the tarnation is that?” Jake asked, looking first at Sean and then at Sydney.

“There’s been an accident!” Sean thrust his clipboard at Sydney and ran in the direction of the other men. Sydney forgot about Jake Roberts and ran to catch up. Sydney and Sean looked at each other in shock. This couldn’t be happening. Not now!

“What’s going on?” Sean pushed his way through the crowd of workers. Sydney saw Jerrold Melton and Clyde Filmore tangled in a fight. Jerrold had a stream of blood running from his nose. Several of the men were hollering and urging them on.

“Stop it!” Sean broke in between them. “I said stop it right now!” He grabbed Jerrold around the neck and jerked him off Clyde. Then Buck Gibson appeared from nowhere and grabbed Clyde and held him back. Both men cursed each other. Sydney was startled by their savage expressions and the blue veins popping out on their necks. She was jolted back to the cockfight, not seeing the two men, but blood-crazed roosters being held by their handlers, ready to tear each other apart.

“Shut up and tell me what’s going on!” Sean said.

Jerrold’s voice was raw. “He switched on the power while I was lubricating the chain and pretty near kilt me. That’s what’s going on! If it hadn’t of caught my shirt …” Jerrold held up his arm to show that part of his sleeve was ripped out of his shirt. “That would’ve been my arm!”

Clyde went wild, his arms flailing to get at Jerrold as Buck held him back. “You sorry son of a gun! You didn’t have that piece of equipment tagged out, and you know it! There’s no way I could’ve knew you were working on that chain.”

“How bad are you hurt, Jerrold?”

“I’m not hurt, Mr. O’Conner, I jest got caught because of that sorry?—”

“That’s enough!” Sean shouted. “Jerrold, you didn’t put up a lockout sign on the switch when you started lubricating the chain, and Clyde flipped it. You better be glad the only thing caught was your sleeve.”

Sydney looked at Clyde and Jerrold. She wondered if Sean was thinking the same thing that she was. There was more to this than someone forgetting to tag out.

Jake Roberts cleared his throat and stepped forward, shoving his clipboard at Sean. “What kind of circus are you running around here? Well, this is just peachy, ain’t it Ms. Lassiter? Exactly what I deserve for sending a woman to do a man’s job.”

The way her name rolled off Jake’s tongue made Sydney feel dirty. Her head was reeling. According to Jake Roberts, her job performance had gone from excellent to substandard in the span of three swift minutes. All she could think about was getting out of the sawmill.

“Wait one minute.” The sound of Sean’s voice made her turn just in time to see Sean take hold of Jake’s shoulder and swing him around to face him. For a moment she thought Sean was going to hit him. “Syd has done an excellent job. She had no more control over what happened here today than you or me. This was strictly human error.”

“Well then,” Jake said, jerking free from Sean’s grasp, “maybe you’re not doing your job!”

Sydney rushed to his defense, the confidence in her voice surprising her. “Sean has gone over that lockout procedure in every safety meeting we’ve had. This is not his fault!”

Jake squared his shoulders. “Then whose fault is it? Maybe you two have been too busy taking care of each other to take care of business at the mill. It’s a miracle that we made it through the OSHA inspection.” He spit out the words before marching out of the mill.

Sydney grabbed Sean’s arm as he started after Jake. “Sean, it’s not worth losing your job over. Just let it go.”