And here is an excerpt. For buy link etc. see the prior post from Deirdre with the same title!

Excerpt: Here Roane and Alden begin to get acquainted…

Then Roane noticed one man, sitting alone on the top step of another bunk car, the one three cars down. Prescott. Why’s he still here? Roane figured the machine operator was old enough to have a family somewhere. He was at least in his mid-thirties, if not older. The tall, lean man seemed kind of ageless, maturity in his face and especially his deep set eyes, but few signs of real age. He might be thirty or fifty for all Roane knew.

Without stopping to think about it, Roane started that way. He had a bone to pick with the man anyway, for ripping his ass in front of the other two guys. Roane didn’t feel like he’d done anything wrong–he’d prevented a bad accident or at least tried to. That should merit praise rather than harsh words. So what was Prescott’s beef? Maybe he’d find out.

He could feel the other man’s eyes on him as he approached, but Prescott did not speak or acknowledge him until Roane stood at the foot of the splintery steps. Looked like the crane operator wasn’t going to make this any easier for him.

Well, f*** it, I’m going to have my say. He can react however he wants to after that.

“Why’d you rip me a new one out there today? I didn’t do anything wrong. If anyone was at fault, it was Willie Randall. He never should’ve signaled you all clear until he knew Dahosie was out of the way, too. I thought they were buds, but that’s not how you watch for a friend.”

When Prescott’s dark gaze fixed on his face, something turned over in Roane’s mid-section. He’d never seen quite as much emotion or intensity in another man’s face before. A searing shock jolted through him–surprise, a kind of visceral fear, and also a powerful surge of arousal. Whoa, what’s happening here?

When Prescott spoke, his voice sounded soft, low and oddly gentle. “You could’ve been killed yourself, Wellman. I missed you all at once and at the same instant got a powerful hunch something was wrong…bad wrong. Then you popped up over the car right about where that panel would swing out in the turn, and I like to shit my drawers. I stopped the lift as fast as I could and I guess I prayed a lot in about ten seconds. Hoped I’d frozen it in time. Then I realized Jack was probably not clear. You took a stupid chance getting up there without any warning. That’s what you did wrong.”

“I wasn’t sure you could see Jack when he got out on the far side of the car–only he didn’t get out, and I did see that. The only thing I could think of was to get up there and try and grab him in time.”

As he watched the older man, Roane saw Alden’s fists clench where he rested his hands on his thighs. Then, as if he suddenly realized what he was doing, he relaxed them and let them drop to settle palms down on the wood plank he sat on. Alden shook his head.

“I understand. Maybe you were right, but you put yourself in danger when you could’ve hollered or signaled to get my attention before you moved. The faster I realized something was wrong, the faster I could freeze the crane and put everything on hold.”

Now he stared down at the ground, his shoulders dropping in a slump. “I wasted maybe ten or fifteen seconds before I realized what was wrong. Jack’s one lucky sucker, and you are, too. In about fifteen more seconds, the end of that panel would’ve swept right across where you were, no more than a foot above the side of the car. No way you could’ve dodged it. That scared me shitless. I don’t ever want to see somebody on my crew get killed or maimed again because of a stupid-ass accident. Once was enough.”