Early the following day, Ben heard Jack coming long before he saw him. He heard the chug and rhythmic metallic thump of the bulldozer as it made its way down the road.
“Why didn’t you use a trailer?” Ben shouted, when Jack rolled into the lodge’s parking lot.
“It’s got a flat. Figured it would be easier just to drive ol’ Boss Hog on down here. It’s not that far.” Jack set the dozer’s motor to a huffing idle, climbed out onto its metal tracks, then leaped down to the ground.
“You’re ready to start?” Jack asked.
“Absolutely,” Ben said. “Looks like you are, too. Doing okay?”
Jack smiled, white teeth lighting up a tanned face. “I'm still sober, if that's what you meant.”
“That’s what I meant. How are Alicia and the baby?”
“She’s buying new dishes today,” Jack admitted. “I spent a big part of last night doing the final clean up. We’re going to be okay. We have to be. I won’t lose my wife and baby girl again. Once was enough.”
Ben appraised the handsome giant. Today, by the grace of God, Jack was sober. Now to keep him that way. He would pray, of course, but he knew work was especially valuable when a man had private demons to fight. Many times, he’d seen good pay attached to honest labor go a long way toward getting a person back on track.
“You can tell where the old road bed is, right?” Ben shaded his eyes with both hands as he scanned the line of new growth trees. The sun was bright through the early morning mist.
“I’ve lived here my whole life, Ben. I know exactly where the road bed is.”
“Do I need to get a chainsaw crew in there first?”
“Nope. Boss Hog and me can move everything out of the way, no problem.” Jack patted the huge dozer affectionately. “In two days, you'll be driving over a road so smooth you'll think you're driving on silk.”
“As long as we can get through.” Ben wasn’t impressed with Jack’s boasting. In fact, he considered it a bad sign. Men who truly did good work didn't have to brag about it; they let the work speak for itself.
Jack mounted his dozer, pulled it out of idle, and then roared off toward the mouth of the old roadbed, which lay at a right angle to the resort's private driveway.
The two properties were so linked it was probably just as well Nicolas and Katherine were going to get married. Otherwise, there could be some major property disputes.
As Jack began to cut a swath through the scrubby pines, Ben went in search of Moriah to make sure she’d made it through the night okay. He was upset with himself for trying to talk her into crossing the bridge yesterday. How arrogant he had been, as though being with him would provide some sort of magic elixir that would make it possible. Watching her experience a full-scale panic attack had been disturbing, but it had also convinced him her pain was real. As silly as her phobia had seemed to him at first, Moriah wasn’t playing games. Her fear of leaving her island went deep.