THE MAN WAS HUGE. A bald, tattooed, lumbering giant who looked like he belonged on a Harley with a motorcycle gang around him, deferring to his leadership. But, no. So far, Chris had been exceptionally helpful, of all things. He was, in fact, the most welcoming person she’d met and very nice. Glancing at him, however, nice was not the best word to describe him, even if that’s what he was. Julia avoided contact with him at first, having been so surprised by his presence and demeanor. Huge, muscle-bound studs were not her type. Combined with the bald head, and tattoo sleeves on his arms, well, he was definitely not her type. But he was the only one who bothered to take a second to tell her something about her new job. He showed her what the hell a set of plans looked like, along with submittals and how to match them up. He showed her how to not only keep track of them, but also check them against said plans and specs.

Her head started to spin as she thought about everything she needed to know. What could have possessed her to take such a job? In construction? It was the worst fit for her. It wasn’t anything she ever seriously considered doing and all around, a very odd choice for her. She wasn’t a girl who was tough or even interested in being that way. Having no clue how anything was built, she also never cared to learn. Least of all, she had zero ambition to work in a field that was comprised mostly of men, about eighty-nine percent, to be exact. She quickly gathered that.

And yet, there she was. It never truly occurred to her that she could get the job. She thought she’d be instantly eliminated from the list of candidates because she was woefully unqualified. Her dad set up the interview with his client and she obediently agreed to it, out of filial duty and gratitude to her dad as well as to Lloyd Cartwright for giving her a chance. She knew her dad always held her best interests at heart. It wasn’t his fault if she couldn’t rise up to be a better daughter and person than she was. Braver. Smarter. More successful. More courageous. More fun. At this point, she might have just settled for being less shy and a whole hell of a lot more fun.

So far, her job, which she’d done for exactly five days, appeared to be simply following Lloyd around. He didn’t bother to tell her whom he was talking to or why or how they related to his company. She had no idea who did what and where or why. She was truly lost and clueless, yet Lloyd seemed perfectly satisfied with her performance, so far. She tried to do more but wasn’t sure exactly what to do. The instruction from Chris Vaughn was the most detailed version she’d been given.

Walking onto the job site required every ounce of courage she had, but she did it anyway, being fully aware of all the workers who entered the small, dirty job shack. It was kept tidy as a rule, but definitely suffered from its utilitarianism. Caked mud streaked the floors and coffee stained the tables and plans, but everything was neatly stacked where it belonged. The tools were kept on one end, and the other end was dedicated to the plans and Chris’s desk, as the site supervisor.

Why didn’t Lloyd ever mention that Julia needed a pair of boots? Or long pants? He implied that the proper dress for his office was business professional. In other words, what she presently had on. She was never told that she would be visiting the job sites. Lloyd made it sound like communication from the field would merely be coordinated through her. As in the form of emails, phone calls, texts, snail mail, and all other correspondence except for physically being there.

Waiting now for Chris and Lloyd to finish speaking with the men from the meeting, she picked up a pencil and tapped it on the table, straddling it between her fingers. She downed the last of her coffee. Coffee. Who knew how quickly the office chauvinism would be directed her way? One trip out to the field and there it was. Sweetheart. She scoffed. Lloyd should have scolded the man. But no, that was Chris who did that. Being new she felt she had no legitimacy. This being Chris’s site, he obviously had sway over everyone there. He used it as he should, where Lloyd had not.

She fisted her hands. She would demand… no, insist… no, she might politely ask Lloyd to start teaching her more about what she was supposed to do, and on a more detailed level. She enjoyed seeing the place as a whole, observing how it all fit together, but she was starting to feel like a sidekick. She was ready to do much more than that.

She stared out the window, watching the group of men who were moving around the muddy hole and further up towards the other end of the site. She got up and checked the site plan, taking a moment to align where they were according to the page. The driveway. She saw where the driveway connected with the main road and the markings to delineate the curbs. The thickness of the concrete to be poured had to be proportional to the angle of the ramp going upwards.

She flipped the pages of the site plan and studied other details, from the various landscaping components to how the parking lot would be drained. Eventually, low voices interrupted her silent perusal. Was she learning something? She believed so. She read a lot of the notes on the plans and specs. Oddly enough, she could remember each one exactly, like it was imprinted on her brain. Interpreting what they meant and knowing how to make them emerge from the muddy lot behind her was right out of her league, but she was starting to see how the parts fit together, which was new for her.

Chris and Lloyd entered and Lloyd glanced her way. “I need to go with the owner. We’re discussing a change order and how to apply it. Can I leave you with Chris?” He turned towards Chris. “Show her some more basic things. And then see her back to the office, okay?”

Chris’s eyebrows lifted up. “I got the paver coming by to discuss the driveway tie-in.”

“Good. Have her watch and learn. Drop her back on your way home.” It was definitely an order and not a question. Chris’s mouth fell open in annoyance and Julia could sense him restraining his reply.

She didn’t appreciate being passed off like an annoying little sister or a needy friend who asked for a lift. But then again, her skill level and the position she got hired for pretty much relegated her to that. Perhaps she should have been the girl who served all the real, qualified workers their coffee.

“Sure,” Chris mumbled. Lloyd didn’t wait for her to agree as he shot out the door. She fumed inwardly.

She fisted her hands. “I can’t believe he just dumped me on you.”

Chris shrugged. “Forget it. I’ve driven to job site meetings with him. He pawned me off on anyone from random workers hired by the subs to the freaking architect of the project. He did that because, and I quote, 'we lived close to each other.’ The poor architect was stuck with me most of the day, and at the time, I was barely an unskilled laborer. He was nice enough about it though and since then, he became a good connection. Anyway, my lesson of the day for you is to try not to rely on Lloyd. If anything comes up, he’ll swiftly ditch you to take care of it.”

Blowing out a breath, it tickled the stray hairs around Julia’s face. She appreciated this giant of a man taking the extra moment to make her feel at ease. She turned towards him, taking in his full height, width, baldness, and vibrant collage of tattoos. His bold, bright blue eyes were a striking contrast. She could have brushed him off as a giant brute, but of all the men she’d encountered so far, he was by far the one who treated her with the most respect and equality.

She blushed a bit, realizing how easily she’d stereotyped him. He immediately acted the complete opposite of how she would have predicted, based solely on his looks.

She sure had judged him, whereas he hadn’t judged her. Not like Lloyd had and that stupid man named Beck. She was relieved then that he couldn’t read her mind or realize how easily she pigeonholed him.

“So the paving subcontractor, Avalanche Paving Company, should be here in fifteen minutes. We don’t have to go in the hole. We’ll be meeting over by the soon-to-be-poured driveway. Come. Listen. Learn something. Remember every part you learn of the building process might help you later with other projects. Take advantage of all the exposure to all of the processes you can get.” He plunked a hard hat back on his head as he spoke and held one out to her. She took it and set it on her head. It fell down over her eyes and he laughed. “We’ll need a smaller one, eh?”

She smiled in response. “Thank you. Not sure why you’re being so nice to me, but I certainly appreciate it.”

He shrugged. “We’ve all been new on the job. And inexperienced. Everyone has to start somewhere. And someday, when you’re running the damn business—”

She scoffed interrupting him.

He smiled and continued, “Try to remember that and pass along the kindness, help, tutorials and all of your private knowledge.”

“Pay it forward?” she summarized, drawing her eyebrows up in surprise. The guy just didn’t look the type, yet his personality was turning out to be pretty amazing. Golden, even.

“I don’t get why people don’t try to make someone feel more comfortable if they can, you know? Seems like such a dick reaction not to help another person who seems confused or out of place. Again, we’ve all been there, right? Imagine if everyone reached out to help people when they noticed that they needed some assistance. Then no one would ever feel inadequate.”

Julia held the hard hat on her head as she followed him. The real dick, she realized, was herself in her snap judgment of the large man. Bulging muscles and baldness didn’t necessarily mean skinhead and stupid. She listened closely when Chris met with the subcontractor. Questions were asked and answered. The paver sub inspected the site and discussed a plan, which was later agreed upon. She didn’t interrupt anyone or ask questions, but a few times, Chris paused and turned directly toward her, explaining or clarifying what they were discussing. She nodded and smiled as the other man glanced with surprise at her. Did he assume she was there to decorate the space? The astonishment at her inclusion in their interaction seemed evident on the sub’s face. She felt a warming respect and grateful reliance on Chris.

When they finished, she waited while Chris made a phone call, wrote down some notes, and tidied up the job shack before he locked it and several of the outside boxes that held tools and equipment. He also locked the gate on the chain link fence that surrounded the site. They walked over to his older model blue truck. It was no more than a beater. She opened the door and it moaned a tired squeak.

“Sorry it’s such a mess.”

She glanced his way and he flashed a smile, but his eyes didn’t linger on her. No ogling from him.

“I use this heap strictly for work. So I don’t take care of it. And you saw the muckhole I’ve been swimming around in for the last few weeks…” His voice trailed off. Was he embarrassed? Wasn’t that how any construction worksite truck looked? She tilted her head.

“I ended up looking and feeling like an overdressed, prissy doll there today. Your truck makes a lot more sense here than my choice of dress.”

He flashed her a surprising smile. It was subdued, and did not fully engage his cheeks and eyes. His teeth barely showed. Considering his initial demeanor, she wondered if it was a shy smile. Like he was testing it out on her and unsure of how much to show her.

“You can’t let them know you think that. Guys around here will jump on it and treat you like that asshole who asked you for coffee, or worse. They might consider you a piece of meat they can’t wait to tear into. Know what I mean?”

“Yeah. Catcalls, wolf-whistles, and all that? Not just a myth about construction workers?”

“Well, I hate to generalize, but no.”

She tilted her head. “But somehow, I feel you are not included in that generalization.”

“Not for making catcalls, no. I’m too busy working. I represent Cartwright General Construction. I don’t forget that for a single moment that I’m on-site. I think our behavior matters and the neighbors’ perceptions of us are also important. If we’re polite, quiet, respectful, and we keep the site and surrounding area clean and secure, most people are more willing to accept us and not impede our progress. You never know when you’ll need a favor, which could be anything from gaining alternate access to the site or even tying into the existing utilities or the landscaping. Never shoot yourself in the foot without a good reason.” He shrugged his big shoulders. “Just a belief I have.”

“I love your attitude.”

“And that includes any displays of sexism like what happened to you today or catcalling or wolf-whistling.” He flicked a glance her way. “If I hear it while working on my site, it’s not allowed. So if you run into it again, be sure to let me know.”

“Do you plan to handle it for me?”

His eyebrows lifted in surprise. “Sure. If it’s a problem on my site, I should know. I, alone, can punish the workers by docking their pay or even threatening to fire them. You don’t have that authority. I don’t say that because you’re a woman either. I tell that to anyone who has a problem or a concern on my job site. The buck stops with me, and that’s what I firmly believe.”

“Thank you, Chris. You can’t imagine how I appreciate knowing that.”

Chris swung his truck into the offices of Cartwright General Construction. It was a single story building, with an extensive glass front. They entered, finding the place empty for the day. Julia walked towards the small office. Chris was standing beside a large bookshelf with different labeled baskets on it. One had his name. “Did they tell you that any work or papers for the sites go into each superintendent’s box? If you’re ever coming out to a job site, be sure to check each super’s box and bring the contents out to them.”

She shook her head. “No. No one said that to me.”

Chris held multiple papers in his hand. He sighed and glanced around. “Just… ah… just insist that Lloyd trains you. You’ll have to get in his face to get him to show you what to do, from the simple office correspondence to jobs that are more extensive or skilled. He’s notoriously bad about both, okay? Don’t let him be that way with you.”

She smiled. “You mean, I should grow a backbone?”

His lips tilted up. “A real big one and real fast. I know it seems like a lot to learn, but you’ll have to constantly demand it. That’s the nature of this business and a huge fault in Lloyd’s approach.”

“But not in yours,” she said, studying him.

He crossed his arms over his chest. The once white t-shirt, which he wore with an unbuttoned denim shirt over it, had the Cartwright General Construction label on it. His jeans were worn and molded around his powerful legs. She admired the huge, tree-trunk thighs that tapered down into his scuffed, worn, brown leather boots. “I try not to be. Look, I’m a nice guy around anyone who is doing their job. Anyone who is honest. But when it comes to lying, stupidity or idiocy? You won’t recognize me. Stay honest, try your best and do your job, and we’ll never have a problem.”

“Straight shooter.” She smiled. “A bit like my dad.”

“Yeah? What’s he do?”

She pointed across the street and down a bit. “See that office there? That’s his. He services and repairs computers. Also runs the networks for companies. He does Cartwright’s too.”

“How come you don’t work there?”

“I don’t like sitting in front of a computer. It’s lost on me. No interest.”

“Me neither. I need to be moving, using my hands or at least as much as possible. No one can totally avoid computers though.”

“No. I try to as much as I can, however.” They shared a smile and she suddenly grew aware of how quiet the office was. Computers gently hummed and the occasional traffic filtered in but otherwise, it was seriously quiet. For such a big, burly man, he was startlingly sedate in his presence. He cleared his throat and dropped his arms, his hand fisting the pile of papers. “Well, I’m off. Be seeing you, Julia.”

“But next time, I won’t be wearing a dress and heels.”

He stopped at the front door, flashing her a smile. “You’ll be fine. Just don’t—”

“Get anyone coffee.” He nodded, pleased with her answer. She added. “And grow a huge pair of balls.”

He laughed at that. “I was going to say backbone, but hell, why not?”

Waving, he stepped out. She watched him cross the lot. He had a huge stride that equalled his enormous size. Julia had never been so close to a man as big as Chris Vaughn. He reminded her of a heavyweight wrestler or boxer, except he was in better shape. What continued to puzzle her was the personality attached to him. He was kind of great. Julia was glad Chris was the job site supervisor she had to deal with on the first job she had. With such a ridiculous amount to learn, it was obvious to Julia that Lloyd wouldn’t be the coach in all that her job involved. Technically speaking, she was his assistant, but he missed every cue on the basic information she should have been given.

He told her yesterday to dress business professional because they were meeting with the owner, architect, and the engineer. Naturally, she pictured a professional office space and a conference room, not a rented mobile job shack with tools stacked in one corner and the odor of dirt, dust, and mildew filling her nostrils. If not for Chris Vaughn, she’d have surely made an ass of herself today. From serving the coffee to running out onto the job site in heels. Heels, of all things.

She dropped down onto the chair next to the front door, which was provided for people to wait in the lobby. She stared down at herself, cringing as she pictured the moment she walked into the dirty, male-staffed job shack. It was a swift and powerful learning curve, but thank God, Chris Vaughn appeared to help her struggling, ridiculous self.

Tomorrow, she’d do much better. She would perform better. And act more appropriately.

Grow some balls. And a giant backbone. Lloyd Cartwright never intended to smooth her transition or teach her as he promised. She straightened up and flipped her shoulders back. No. She had to teach herself and annoy many others, perhaps even Chris, who had to answer her questions and therefore, teach her. Train her. Help her. She quickly had to get over being shy, hesitant, and insecure. There was no room for that in this industry. She had a job, and for some reason, which surprised even her, today’s small episodes with chauvinism only made her more determined. She refused to quit or cower; she intended to rise up and succeed. She would surprise them.

She would not get anyone coffee.

That was more shocking to her than perhaps anyone else.