Life was short. Enjoy the cream cheese while you could.
Chapter Fourteen
KERRY CROSSED THE baked, white concrete between the terminal and the ship, glad she'd put her sunglasses on as the sun reflected unmercifully off the pale surface. She was dressed in a pair of well broken in jeans, work boots, and a plain red pocketed t-shirt, and she blended in with the thick crowd of workers clustering around the ship entry in a state of controlled panic.
She had left Dar in the terminal, her partner intent on taking control of their office and everything that was processing through it. Unable to put on her own boots because of the swelling of her injured foot, Dar had reluctantly agreed to let Kerry take charge onboard and work with the install team.
Kerry knew, of course, that beach sandals or no, Dar would eventually break the rules and ramble after her, but for now she proceeded on the assumption that everything would be up to her to coordinate. They had a lot to do, and she felt relatively focused and ready for it. "Morning, guys."
Two of her IT techs turned, hearing her voice. "Morning, ma'am!" They both chorused. "Wow, what a mess, huh?"
"You got it." Kerry paused, seeing what appeared to be a logjam at the top of the gangway. "What's going on in there?"
"Oh." The taller of the two, a slim dark haired man named Carlos, grinned. "There's this guy up there who's yelling because we keep getting our stuff before he gets his. I think the man in charge inside likes us."
"The big guy?" Kerry hazarded a guess, holding a hand up over her own head.
"Si." Carlos nodded. "He sent up all the cabling patches to the main floor just now, and this other guy was waiting for some plugs and he had a fit."
"You know who that big guy is, don't you?" Green eyes twinkled.
"No." Carlos shook his head, and his companion did also. They were both fairly new hires, juniors in Mark's expansive department.
"C'mon." Kerry led the way up the gangway, nudging past a few construction workers. At the top she managed to squeeze past a man in a hard hat with a bristling red beard, ignoring his glare as she hopped onto the deck to see what was going on.
Carlos and his friend followed her, standing cautiously behind her as they got clear of the hatch.
"Ah do not care." Andy was standing, with his arms crossed over his broad chest, legs spread in front of a stack of boxes. "These here boxes go in whatever the hell order ah want them to."
Facing him was a lean man in an electrician's union t-shirt with a tool belt and a bad attitude. "Listen buddy, I'm gonna kick your ass if you don't cough up my stuff, unnerstand?"
Andy just looked at him and smiled. "We ain't got no time here for fun."
"You think it's funny?" The man advanced aggressively.
"Ah think you're an ass." Andy pointed at the narrow stairwell with one thumb. "So get your silly ass up them stairs fore I toss it overboard. Your damn stuff went up half an hour ago."
The man glared at him, but headed for the door. "You aint' seen the last of me. That's for sure."
The logjam broke and men started across the deck again, milling around and heading for various boxes and crates. Kerry scooted through them and headed for Andrew instead, cautiously followed by her techs. "Hey! Morning!"
Andy turned at the familiar voice. "Wall! Morning there, kumquat." He produced a grin for her. "You're an early bird."
Without hesitation, and despite all the commotion, Kerry walked up and gave him a big hug. "Boy, I'm glad you're here," she remarked. "Are you causing trouble taking care of us?"
Her father-in-law chuckled, a low, rumbling sound.
Kerry turned to the wide eyed techs. "Guys, this is Andrew Roberts," she explained. "Dar's daddy." she clarified, after a second. "Dad, this is Carlos and Jason, who work for us."
"Howdy." Andrew greeted them amiably.
"Hi," Carlos responded.
"Hello," Jason added, from his safe position behind Kerry. "Nice to meet you."
Kerry couldn't decide if the two were more intimidated by Andrew's size, or the fact that he was Dar's father. She gave them a tolerant grin, and pointed. "Go on upstairs. I'll meet you up there." She waited for them to retreat then turned back to Andy. "Having fun?"
Andy looked around, then back at her. "Little bit," he acknowledged. "My kid here?"
"Yep, in the building." Kerry pointed over her shoulder. "We've got a lot of work to do today."
"You get all that stuff settled up last night?" Andrew asked curiously. "Sounded like a rat in a teakettle all what was going on."
How would a rat get into a teakettle? Kerry wondered. "More or less," she said. "What's going on in here today? Seems like a lot of people are pissed off."
"Wall." Her father in law folded his arms again. "Folks don't like to naturally take turns, see, and in this here little box, ain't no way anything gets done unless folks do." He walked over and kicked a pallet. "Problem was, feller who was in here 'fore I was just let all this stuff show up any the hell way, and it was a big old mess."
Kerry looked around, realizing the cargo space was far more organized than it had been the last time she'd seen it. Pallets were lined up against the walls in orderly rows, each with a label on them, and men with pallet jacks were moving them out in a regular sequence. "Ah!"
"Folks don't like waiting." Andy shrugged.
"Especially when you put all our stuff first?" Kerry elbowed him gently in the side.
Blue eyes blinked innocently at her. "Ain't mah fault all them gizmos of yours come in labeled and regular when the rest of this here gunk we got to rip open to see what it is," he protested mildly. "I just get that there easy stuff out mah way first, that's all."
"Ahh!" Kerry put a hand over her chest. "My anally retentive labeling system. At last, someone appreciates it!" She smiled broadly. "I'm vindicated!"
Andrew chuckled. "Ah do like it," he agreed. "'Bout good enough for the Navy."
Kerry took that as the compliment it obviously was and grinned. "Thanks," she said. "Okay, I'm going to get working. If you need anything, I'll be upstairs and Dar's over there terrorizing everyone in case you hear yelling coming from the shore side area."
Andrew patted her on the back and sent her on her way. He waited for her to disappear up the stairs, before he returned his attention to the loading dock, observing the orderly movement with a judicious eye. "Hey, you all," he called over to two men standing near the far wall. "Watch this here thing. I'll be right back."
He walked across the gangway and down to the dock, ambling across the open space with a deceptive stride. Two forklifts dodged him, and he sped up a little as he made his way up the walk to the back of the terminal.
Ducking inside the door, he looked quickly around. It was almost as full of frenetic, yet purposeful motion as the ship hold, only here the bodies rushing around were covered in polo shirts and pressed chinos and the smell was of copper and new plastic rather than sump oil.
It was cool in here, too. Andrew appreciated that. He'd spent enough time in his life in places where air conditioning was unheard of to appreciate it now that he could pretty much have it at will. After a career spent in the military, he'd discovered that directing his own life and his own comfort was actually a pretty damn nice thing.
Ah. His eyes found what they were looking for. On the far side of the large room there was a large desk like area, raised up a foot or so, giving it a commanding view of the entire space.
Dar had taken it over, and was perched on a stool behind the counter, her laptop on one side of her and a pad of paper in front, her head bent over it as she wrote. Andrew found himself smiling at the sight, gazing at his daughter fondly as the head propped on one fist echoed a much earlier mental image he had of her.