Andrea takes a job building a pipeline through the mountains of West Virginia.
Cold, mud, family drama, and an all-male crew, are only a few
of the problems she encounters.
Love On the Line 1
Women At Work Series Book 1
by Kirsten Fullmer
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Coming of Age, Small Town Romance
Her dad always
said A little dirt never hurt anybody. He was wrong.
Andrea’s excitement about her first job engineering a pipeline through the
mountains of West Virginia turns to disaster when she faces grueling work,
harsh weather, and crushing homesickness. If she can’t pull herself together
and keep up, she’ll be sent home.
When she dropped out of grad school to work on the line with Grandpa Buck, her
parents were disappointed, widening a bitter family divide. If she goes home
now, she’ll miss the opportunity to know Buck and lose his respect
as well.
There's one worker, a foreman, who might offer comfort and support, but when
Andrea finally trusts him, things get even more complicated.
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Kirsten Fullmer’s imaginative, gritty, coming-of-age romance.
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to start the uniquely engaging journey today!
Nick and Rooster’s conversation lagged as they both paused to watch Andy and Buck approach. The afternoon had grown warm, the hottest so far, and the men waved at dust and bugs that crawled and bit, making them miserable.
Buck stopped and bobbed a nod at the
two foremen. “Men.”
“Sir,” both mumbled in reply.
Buck
grunted, then headed on past the men with Andy at his heels. As she hustled
pass Rooster, her eyes met his and she couldn’t help but notice the intensity
there.
She
tripped over a rut and ran several steps ahead to regain her balance. Stopping
to readjust the stake bag on her shoulder, she waved away a sweat bee. “Go
ahead, Andy, trip and fall at his feet,” she muttered under her breath.
Two
steps later she lurched to a halt and dropped the bag to clutch at her underarm
where something, more than likely the sweat bee, stung her with a vengeance.
Shouting
curses, she danced and twisted in a circle, yanking at her safety vest and
shirt and grabbing at her sports bra in an attempt the stop the burning sting.
Finally, she ripped one arm out of her shirt and vest. Shoving her fingers up
under the tight sweaty bra, she scooped out the bee and jumped back as its body
fell to the dirt.
She
stomped on the bee and kinked her neck, trying to examine her armpit area, but
then she remembered where she was. She froze with one hand still up the side of
her bra. Her head came up, only to find every man on the right-of-way,
numbering well over thirty, staring at her in amazement.
“Need
a hand?” Nick called out with a grin.
“It
was a bee—” she started, then with a snort of disgust, she yanked her hand from
her bra. Hefting the heavy bag, she realized her shirt and safety vest were
still bunched up around one side of her neck, leaving her arm and her stomach
half exposed. Three more cuss words escaped as she dropped the bag and fumbled
back into her clothing, with all eyes watching her every move.
The
sting continued to burn as she grabbed the stake bag and stomped past Buck,
with her cheeks red and hot.
“What
was that all about?” the old man asked as she passed.
Ignoring
him, Andy continued up the right-of-way.
***
Rooster smoothed his fingers down
his beard trying to hide a laugh as he watched Andy and Buck retreat. Nick
hooted by his side, cackling with the other hands as they regaled Andy tearing
off her shirt. Rooster’s hand dropped and he frowned, wondering how bad the
sting was. He’d had a sweat bee trapped in his pants once, and it was a pain he
still remembered.
Love on the Line 2
Women at Work Book 2
Andy could only
stare, wide-eyed, at the keys in her hand. She couldn’t move, couldn’t think.
Only foremen got a company truck.
Andy is pleased to work with Grandpa Buck again, even though the long hours
limit her time with Rooster. But her contentment is cut short when a serious
on-the-job accident tips the scale of leadership, throwing Rooster and Andy
into conflict.
Rooster must prove he is unbiased toward Andy and her work, or lose his
promotion. When her parents show up, Andy has to deal with Rooster, her
mother’s interference, and her own insecurities to keep the job going. If she
can’t cope she’ll lose her job, and worse yet, she’ll let down Buck.
If Andy and Rooster can’t find a way to work together and complete the
pipeline, their relationship is over.
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2 to continue Andy’s exceptional journey today!
Rooster forked a pork chop onto his
plate and dug in, cutting off a big bite. He popped it in his mouth and watched
Andy as he chewed.
She tried not to squirm, but he
could see her discomfort. One of his brows quirked up.
Andy dished a helping of salad onto
her plate, careful not to look up at him.
He cut another bite off his chop.
Silence filled the room, tense and palpable, like the room was too small.
Reaching for his glass, he caught her sneaking a peak at him.
After several gulps of water, he
settled his glass back on the table, took his fork in one hand and his knife in
the other, and waited. She was only demure when she knew she was in the wrong.
When she realized he wasn’t eating,
her eyes met his. “What’s wrong?” she asked innocently. “Is the pork okay?”
“Why do you want to go to some gas
station on the only night we don’t have to go to sleep at eight o-clock? You
usually want to…” He intentionally let the sentence drop and waggled his
eyebrows to make her blush. She was so cute when she was timid.
“We won’t need to stay late,” she
backpedaled, “I was talking to Nick about it and—”
“Oh, here we go,” he interrupted.
“This is about Nick isn’t it?”
She put her fork on the table.
“What’s your problem with Nick?”
He shook his head. “You told him
you’d invite that new coating girl, didn’t you?” He wasn’t asking, it was a
statement.
Andy’s chin came up. “She happens
to be the coating foreman.”
“Whatever,” he snorted, and went
back to cutting his meat.
Andy grinned wickedly. “She could
demand that you all address her as foreperson,
you know.”
Rooster snorted at her dilutional
comment.
Andy pursed her lips, knowing full
well that the pipeline was still in the 1950s when it came to women’s rights.
But she adjusted her train of thought and continued. “Why do you think this has
anything to do with me talking to Nick?”
His chewing stopped and he gave her
an oh please, look.
She cleared her throat and looked
away, poking a bite of salad onto her fork. “Okay, her name may have come up.”
Rooster took another long drink of
water.
“Would it kill us to be social?”
Andy retorted. “We never go anywhere but work.”
“We work eighty hours a week!”
“That’s beside the point,” she
huffed, sticking the forkful of salad in her mouth.
“Is it?”
She chewed and swallowed. “You just
don’t want to bother,” she said with a flounce.
“This is overcooked,” he muttered,
sawing away at his pork chop. It was dry and chewy, he’d done a poor job of it.
Dinner continued in silence with
both parties casting glances at the other, but neither one spoke. When they
finished eating, they stood and carried their dishes to the sink. Rooster ran
hot, soapy water as Andy scraped their scraps into the trash and returned to
the table for the rest of the dishes.
Silence reigned, leaving only the
sound of plates clinking and water running as Rooster washed and rinsed the
dishes, and Andy dried. When the dishes were washed, he drained the water and
watched as Andy put the last plate in the specially designed drawer. When she
turned back to him, he took up the end of her dishtowel, pulling her to him.
His hands circled her waist. “If you’d like me to take you out Saturday night,
just say so.”
Andy didn’t meet his eye.
But Rooster knew her well, and
still very much enjoyed her attitudes. He tilted her head up with an index
finger under her chin. “You’re something else, you know that?”
Losing all track of thought, Andy
fell under his spell. Her pupils dilated and her lips parted. She didn’t need
to say anything, he knew he had her.
Leaning down, he teased kisses
along her jaw, causing a moan to slip from her lips. Her arms came up to circle
his neck and his kisses wandered to her cheek, then her mouth.
Eagerly, she kissed him back,
deepening both the kiss and his desire. He scooped her up and carried her
toward the bedroom.
Andy leaned into his shoulder,
filled with anticipation. She nibbled at his neck, ran her fingers through his
hair, and a dreamy smile settled over her face.
He
placed her on the bed, certain that somewhere in that woman’s brain of hers,
she was already wondering what she’d wear on their Saturday night date to the
gas station.
Kirsten is a writer with a love of art and design. She
worked in the engineering field, taught college, and consulted free lance. Due
to health problems, she retired in 2012 to travel with her husband. They live
and work full time in a 40' travel trailer with their little dog Bingo. Besides
writing romance novels, she enjoys selling art on Etsy and spoiling their four
grandchildren.
As a writer, Kirsten's goal is to create strong female
characters who face challenging, painful, and sometimes comical situations. She
believes that the best way to deal with struggle, is through friendship and
women helping women. She knows good stories are based on interesting and
relatable characters.
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