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where men were cutting trees. One man tapped his hard hat several
times and held one arm out from his body as he bent the other one
at its elbow and pointed it the same direction as the first arm.
Nate spoke to him via radio, then said to Kevin,  That s the
hooker. He s using international hand signals to tell me how many
logs there are and where. I m maneuvering over them now. If you
look down, you ll see I m lowering the grappling hook. He ll come
in and wait, letting the hook come to him, then he ll grab the ends
of the loop already under the logs and attach them to the hook. I ll
snug it up tight.
Kevin watched as the hooker did the job in seconds, raced
away from the logs, turned to face them and signaled again.
 Now he s telling me on the radio and with his hands and arms
that everything is clear for me to make the turn and head to the
dumping site. It s an open radio wave, so he s using my copter s
name and call number so if there are other heli-loggers on nearby
slopes they won t mistake the call for them. When we pick up logs
or release them, it s imperative there are no loggers underneath the
heli. That s the purpose of the clear call.
Kevin remembered a horrible filming accident that had
happened before his time. A well-known actor died in an outdoor
night scene in rough water when a helicopter came down on him.
101
SOMEBODY TO LOVE
They were filming in low light, the pilot was following directions,
and the weather was such no one saw who was in the water
beneath him. Kevin shuddered at the memory.
Nate shared his lunch with Kevin at the landing site, but he was
all business. There were no subtle touches of the hands. He even
sat so their bodies wouldn t come in contact at all. It was almost as
if they weren t even friends. After they d eaten the last crumb, the
crew boss arranged for Kevin to be on the ground at a cutting site
to see the operation from there.
He listened to comments about Nate from the crew.
 He s good people, one of the loggers said.
Kevin nodded, but he wanted to say,  He s good people, and
he s mine. All mine. But after the reception he d gotten last night
he wondered if Nate really was his anymore. He wasn t sure he
could bear it if Nate no longer cared for him.
* * *
For dinner, they ate barbecue and drank beer in the Leaping
Deer, where tree stumps formed the tables and beer barrels the
chairs. An inch of sawdust covered the floor. Nate chuckled to
himself over Kevin s reaction to the rough and tumble place. For a
moment, he d screwed up his face in distaste when he noticed his
new boots were covered with sawdust, but it instantly disappeared
into a smile.
 Interesting place you ve got here, he said as he drank from
his beer bottle.
Nate choked on his beer and burst out laughing. It felt good. He
was far too serious for his own good. He sobered when the
problem of Kevin hung heavy on his heart once again.
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SOMEBODY TO LOVE
They parted, and Nate checked on the helicopter one last time
for the night, then drove to the cabin and pulled onto his gravel
driveway. As he went up the porch steps, sudden fear cause the
hairs to raise on his arms and his heart thudded when a figure
moved in the darkness.
Kevin stood by the door, hands in his pockets.
 What are you doing here? The bitterness in Nate s voice was
sharp. He couldn t stop himself.
Shock spread across Kevin s face. He stepped back.  I& I
thought you d be glad to see me. I ve had a hell of a time finding
you. Your cell phone isn t working, and you haven t answered any
of the messages I ve left on your office phone where I d left a
number where you could reach me, so I came here.
 How did you track me down?
 Track you down? You gave me your business card,
remember? When your phone was out of service for so long, I
risked calling the fire station and learned your job there had ended.
I knew you d be heli-logging, so when you didn t return my calls, I
contacted the state s forestry department to find out where they [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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