Hunter by Eliza Lentzski

Author:Eliza Lentzski [Lentzski, Eliza]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BA
Published: 2017-08-23T23:00:00+00:00

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The first day of anything made my stomach do uncomfortable flip-flops. The first day of work at Nikole Pendergast’s landscaping company was no different. When I drove up the long driveway to my new employer’s greenhouse that morning, there were a number of other vehicles parked on the grass. I parked my car in an empty area and grabbed my gardening gloves off the passenger-side seat.

Half a dozen women, all about my age or older, busied themselves with loading dirt, mulch, and gardening tools into the back of various pickup trucks. I didn’t immediately see Nikole—the only expected familiar face—as I approached the group. I lingered a few yards away from the action. I felt like a latecomer to the party; everyone seemed to know each other and what was expected of them, which only heightened my first-day jitters.

One of the women paused from her work long enough to greet me.

“Hey,” she called. “New girl?”

I worried my new, stiff gardening gloves in front of me. “Yep.”

She wore her hair in twin braids on either side of her head. Grey strands of hair twisted through the brunette. Her deep tan was unusual for the early summer month. Her tank top had the name of the landscaping company screen-printed across the front.

She thrust an assertive hand in my direction. “I’m Gwen.”

“Hunter.”

Her skin was remarkably smooth.

“Welcome to the crew, Hunter.”

I took in my surroundings, still not seeing the woman who’d hired me. “What do you need me to do?” I was eager for a task to put me more at ease.

She pointed towards the greenhouse. “See that pile of mulch?”

“Uh huh.”

“Grab some bags and toss them into the back of the trucks. Once we’re all packed up, we’ll head out to the first job site. We go out in separate crews every morning,” she explained, “kind of conquer and divide. You’ll be on my crew today. Once you get comfortable with the routine, you’ll get your chance to be forewoman, too. Nikole likes to give everyone a chance at leadership, so we rotate in and out.”

“Cool.”

I went straight to work and began hauling the plastic bags from the greenhouse to the trucks. The mulch wasn’t heavy, just bulky and awkward. Mulch spilled out of the pin-point holes and stained my skin and clothes. But that came with the territory; if I’d been afraid of getting dirty, I would have gotten a different summer job.

I’d just finished dragging a bag of mulch into the back of a truck bed when I heard someone say my name: “Good morning, Hunter.”

I looked up to see Nikole and all of her teeth.

“Hey!” I greeted. I self-consciously smoothed my ponytail in her presence.

Nikole was beautiful in an effortless way. I was sure she probably rolled out of bed looking naturally gorgeous. She needed no makeup and wore her dark, glossy hair in a ponytail. She’d rolled the sleeves of her t-shirt and showed off lean muscles. Her linen shorts displayed a runner’s legs with solid-looking thigh muscles.

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