The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots (32 page)

‘Well, I thought you might have realised that it’s better for the project if we don’t have anything to do with one another. Morale is so good right now. At the moment you’ve got everyone thinking I’m the project hero. They are singing my praises from one end of the wharf to the other.’

‘That wasn’t me, Lena; that was you.’

‘Are you sure? Because news has reached as far as Perth and –’ Her voice trembled ever so slightly. ‘They’re recalling me.’

This gave him pause. ‘Why?’

‘It’s the graduate program,’ she groaned. ‘I’m up for rotation but I don’t want to go.’

‘Then don’t.’

‘I don’t think I have a choice.’

‘Of course you have a choice.’ He lay down his cutlery. ‘Lena, think about who you are. How far you’ve come. Do you honestly think Carl and the rest of the team are going to let their project hero go without a fight? Do they know about this?’

‘Well no, not yet.’

‘Exactly.’ Dan nodded as if this revelation confirmed everything. ‘Trust me when I say the city office was trying to persuade you first before it had to deal with them. Lena,’ he shook his head, ‘speaking as a manager, I can honestly say these sorts of programs are flexible. Just hold your ground.’ His voice softened. ‘We both know you’re good at that.’

She began to feel substantially lighter until he rose from the table with the clear intention of taking his leave. Again, a murmur rippled through the mess. But Lena didn’t care. She too rose to her feet.

‘Dan, wait –’

‘I
am
waiting.’ He turned to eyeball her, his blue orbs searing right through her with the same power as his voice. ‘You
know
that, Lena. Don’t doubt it again.’

It was probably a comfortable twenty-five degrees inside but her skin suddenly broke out in goose bumps.

‘There’s so much I need to explain,’ she stammered, thinking of Kevin and all her past insecurities, which now seemed as important as dust.

‘I’ve got time.’ He nodded. ‘But is here the right place to do it?’

She shifted uncomfortably on her feet again, the doubt he had mentioned before trickling down her spine again. ‘Dan, you totally annihilated those rumours about us. Is it going to be a problem if they resurface?’

‘Why would they?’

She swallowed and decided to just take the plunge. ‘Dan, when I’m in a relationship, I don’t put work first. This,’ she
flicked her pointer finger between them, ‘is the most important thing to me and other people’s opinion be damned. There’s no joy in having a secret relationship, trust me.’

His face seemed to take on a certain kind of strain as though he were holding something in check. ‘What do you mean exactly?’

She found herself getting frustrated with his lack of comprehension. He’d just said he didn’t want to talk about it and now he wanted the full story. With a sigh, she embarked upon it anyway. ‘My ex Kevin was my university professor and for a long time I thought our relationship had screwed up my degree. Turns out I was wrong, but the misunderstanding messed with my head all year. That’s what I had to sort out, why I couldn’t move forwards with you, why I –’

‘Lena.’ He reached out and grasped one of her hands in a firm grip to make her stop talking. ‘That’s not what I’m asking. I want to know: are you ready to move forwards with me now?’

‘Oh.’ Her eyes widened in surprise because she thought she’d made that clear. ‘Yes of course. I –’

The rest of her sentence was not destined to be uttered as he tugged on the hand he was holding. Her body jerked and collided with his, breasts crushing against chest. His head swooped down, so that his lips might capture her open mouth in a kiss so intense she felt her soul unravel.

A gasp followed by stamping feet ricocheted off the walls around them as their audience witnessed the climax of the show. The noise was building to a crescendo but they didn’t let go of each other, clutching on for dear life.

Okay, so maybe he doesn’t care what people think.

It was Lena’s last coherent thought before her feet left the floor and he lifted her body straight up, so that they were shoulder to shoulder. Finally, she tore her mouth from his. ‘Are you nuts?’ she demanded.

‘Nuts, crazy, mad.’ His voice was husky. ‘The whole nine yards.’

Her ribcage felt too tight; joy was bursting between the bones.

He put her down and they looked around at the room, which had degenerated into chaos. Men were banging their cutlery on the tabletops, booing and cheering at the same time, making rude snorting noises, wolf-whistling and yelling dirty jokes across the room.

Radar cried gleefully over the din: ‘Get a room!’

‘Oh no,’ Lena muttered, snuggling into the crook of Dan’s arm. ‘What have we done?’

‘Created a zoo, clearly,’ Dan murmured wryly.

‘Carl is so going to kill me for this.’ Lena grinned unrepentantly.

Suddenly to her amazement she saw Leg and Radar pushing plates aside before jumping up on top of their table and waving their arms for everyone’s attention. It didn’t, however, seem to be working. Lena looked at Sharon in question but her friend just shook her head with a secret smile. Finally Leg cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled out, ‘SHUT THE FUCK UP!’

The roar of voices evaporated and all heads turned to the rigger in expectation.

‘Gentlemen,’ Radar clasped his hands with a conciliatory bow before extending one of them in Lena and Dan’s direction, ‘I present to you, Mr and Mrs Cape Fuckin’ Lambert.’

As laughter and cheering erupted from all tables, relief washed through Lena’s bones.

Everything was going to be okay.

‘Come on,’ Dan tugged on her hand, ‘I think that’s our cue to leave.’

With as much dignity as possible they hurried from the room, dodging suggestions thrown at them for what they might do as soon as they found a private and soft surface.

Dan stopped and spun her into his arms when they had reached a safe distance. ‘I love you.’

Lena grinned back. ‘I love you more.’

‘Not possible.’ With a bark of laughter, he was pulling her off again. She followed him without a shred of resistance.

Nothing could touch Lena in the days that followed. She was the happiest girl in Western Australia. To say that all obstacles had been pushed from her path was a gross understatement. But instead of looking at them with dread, she revelled in the challenge they offered. Life stretched out before her, a writhing mass of possibilities and opportunities. All she had to do was pick one and she definitely knew which one she was going to tackle first.

First thing Monday she rang Ivan’s direct line. He picked up after the third ring and said pleasantly enough when he heard her voice, ‘Oh hello there, Lena, I was just about to call you.’

Lena smiled confidently with the knowledge that Carl and the rest of the project engineers on the job were behind her one hundred per cent.

‘Hi, Ivan, I’m calling because I’ve thought about your proposal.’

‘And you have a preference?’ he prompted smoothly.

‘Definitely.’ Her response was firm and positive. Then with a deep breath she uttered the words that six months ago she thought she’d never say. ‘I’d like to stay on in the Pilbara.’

There are so many people who have given me their time and support to make this book come together. It simply wouldn’t be right not to spend a few words giving them my appreciation and gratitude.

My sincere thanks to the girls from WINK for their critical eyes on the first draft.

To my amazing critique partner and fellow writer, Nicole E. Sheridan, who ploughed patiently through an entire rewrite. Your encouragement has meant a lot to me.

To my sister, Marlena, who has been there from the beginning with both complaints and enthusiasm for my heroine, Lena. Thank you for all your help and belief in this story.

To my mother-in-law, Shirley, who proofread the final draft at very short notice and has always had absolute faith in this book.

And of course, this novel simply wouldn’t be where it is now without the hard work of my fabulous agent, Clare Forster, and my wonderful publisher, Beverley Cousins.

Thanks also to the rest of the team at Random House for their contribution, particularly Virginia Grant and my publicist, Jessica Malpass.

My family and friends have always been so supportive of my writing over the years. I must mention my parents, Ivan and Juanita, and my other two sisters, Jacenta and Angela, for their enduring confidence in me. Mum, thank you for saving all my emails from the Pilbara and giving them back to me. You were the first person to see a story there.

Finally my love to my husband, Todd, who is my rock and my champion. And to our three beautiful children, Luke, James and Beth. You guys are my inspiration.

The majority of this story is set at Cape Lambert Port Facilities, the home of one of the tallest, longest and deepest jetties or open-sea wharves in the world. It is owned by Rio Tinto and is operated by Pilbara Iron. The nearby town of Wickham was built specifically for the purpose of supporting the wharf and other functions of the port, such as train-dumping, primary and secondary crushing and screening, stockpiling and blending of iron ore.

This ore wharf, which is approximately three kilometres long and thirty metres tall, has two cranes or shiploaders that are able to load three ships at the same time. The wharf currently exports 55 to 57 million tonnes of iron ore every year to steel mills in Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan and Europe.

My heroine is sent to Cape Lambert to work as part of a team to lengthen and widen this wharf, which was originally completed in 1972. Over the course of its existence the Cape Lambert wharf has undergone many upgrades of this nature to increase its life and capacity. I was fortunate early in my career as an engineer to witness and participate in one of these
upgrades in 2001 – which experience forms the basis of the background of this story.

The project is real, the hardship is real and the conditions are real. However, to reduce the number of characters and engineering jargon in this story, I have condensed some of the professional roles played by my characters. For example, Carl is the project manager, but in my novel he also performs the duties of a construction manager. In real life, his job would have been done by two people. I have also ignored a lot of the other functions of the port and the shipping schedule, which complicated the project far more than shown here. It has been my aim to show the culture and flavour of the people in this environment. Nonetheless, it is important to note that all characters and companies shown here are entirely fictional. Any resemblances to any real persons or entities are purely coincidental.

This is the book of my heart and in little ways mirrors some of the journeys I have taken in my own life, both on and off the Pilbara. The engineering profession is not glamorous or well understood by some people. The challenges and dangers men and women face on jobs such as this, both intellectually and emotionally, are not usually discussed in any public forums. But this book is not just about that. I wanted to capture the beauty of Australia, the colourful characters who live here and why it is so important to never take your friends and family for granted.

Loretta Hill was born in Perth, the eldest of four girls. She enjoyed writing from a very early age and was just eleven years old when she had her first short story published in the
West Australian
newspaper.

Having graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering and another in Commerce, she was hired by a major West Australian Engineering Company, and worked for a number of years on many outback projects.

But through all this she continued to write, and her first novel, a short romantic comedy called
Kiss and Tell
, was published in America in 2009 under the name Loretta Brabant.

The Girl in Steel-Capped Boots
, her debut in mainstream women’s fiction, was an acclaimed bestseller. Its eagerly awaited sequel,
The Girl in the Hard Hat
, publishes in early 2013.

She lives in Perth with her husband and three children.