"Strange, yes," I said, taking a sip of beer. "I'm open to change though. And this seems like a very nice department."

A door swung open behind Ernie, and someone tall, dark and disturbingly familiar strode through it.

"Hey, Aunt Ernie," he said, stooping to kiss her on the cheek as he pressed a set of keys into her palm. "We replaced both sets of brakes, plus two CV boots. Don't wait so long next time, okay?"

"Thank you, honey," Ernie said, beaming up at him before turning to look at me. "Adam, this is JJ Shultz. She's the new heavy equipment operator."

Adam's face went from happy to dumbstruck awe. I saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. "JJ Shultz?"

"Hello, Adam," I said, pasting a smile on my face to greet my sister's long-lost high school sweetheart.

The bastard.

"Long time no see," I added.

"JJ," he repeated, still looking stunned. "My God, you look great. And Lori. How is she? I just got back into town a few days ago and I've called her three or four times hoping maybe we can reconnect."

"Right," I said. "You might not want to hold your breath on that one."

Ernie's eyes flew wide as she looked from me to Adam and back to me again. "You're Lori Shultz's sister? Oh my, I didn't realize! What a little angel she was, always so friendly and just the most creative little thing with-"

"Lori's fine," I interrupted, smiling sweetly at both aunt and nephew as I fought the urge to hug one and kick the other. I focused my attention on Adam and tried not to scowl. "After graduation when you broke her heart to smithereens and told her she'd never amount to anything if she didn't go to college like you, she went on to become a wildly successful handbag designer with her own boutique."

I expected Adam to frown or blush, or maybe even flee the building. Instead, he shook his head sadly.

"God, I was such an asshole."

I was taken aback. "Well-"

"Really, I was such a snob. You know what I'm doing now?"

"Um-"

"I'm a grease monkey," he said. "That's what I'm doing with that fabulously expensive college degree."

"Oh," I said, trying not to feel smug. I'd have to remember to tell Lori that. As much as she liked to pretend she was completely over her high school romance, I knew she still had mixed feelings. Part of her still cared about Adam. Part of her wanted to hear he'd been killed in a freak blender accident.

That second part of her would be pleased to hear how the mighty had fallen.

"He owns the biggest chain of auto repair shops in the Northwest," Ernie clarified, patting Adam's hand. "He's moved all over the region opening a branch in a new city each year. The business degree wasn't entirely wasted. He just moved back to the area a couple days ago so he can run the branch here."

Adam shrugged. "I love what I'm doing, don't get me wrong. But I've learned a lot about life and careers and the fact that education doesn't entitle you to be a dickhead. So you really don't think Lori's going to return my calls?"

"Well-" I began, trying to avoid mentioning the fact that dickhead was precisely how Lori thought of him most of the time. She'd mentioned the messages from Adam on the phone last night, but neglected to tell me he was back in town.

Or maybe she didn't know. My baby sister could be awfully quick with the voicemail delete key.

"It's okay, I don't blame her if she hates me," he said, smiling a little. "She's still in town, right?"

"Right down the street," I admitted. "Crimson Handbag Boutique."

"You should stop by and say hello, Adam," Ernie gushed, looking almost manic in her delight. "She's probably just been too busy to call you back, but maybe if she sees you in person-"

"I have to run, Aunt Ernie," Adam said, cutting her off with another peck on the cheek before straightening up to give a friendly nod to the rest of our assembled group. "Great to see everyone again. Especially you, JJ."

Then he turned and jogged out the door. I sat there stunned for a moment, wondering if I should call and warn my sister.

"More beer?" Collin asked, breaking the silence at last.

"Thank you," I said, nudging my glass toward Collin as I regarded Ernie thoughtfully. "I grew up determined to go to college so I could have an office job instead of running heavy equipment, and Adam got a degree so he wouldn't have to run his dad's auto shop, and now here we both are."

"Oh, honey, life's never that simple," Ernie said, taking a sip of something pink from a frosty glass. "I've got a degree in English Lit, and I run a thrift store."

"BS in Biology," Burt added, digging a hand in the peanut bucket.

"MBA," Pete said, reaching over to the empty table beside us and grabbing a fresh bucket of peanuts. "Football scholarship."

Startled, I looked around the table to see whose educational details I'd missed. "How about you, Collin?"

Collin took a swallow of beer. "PhD in quantum physics. Masters in Chemistry. Uh, a second Masters in Theology. A Bachelors in Chemical Engineering."

"Wow," I said. "All that is required for your job?"

"Just the Bachelors. The rest is for fun."

"Fun," I repeated, waiting for him to smile. He cracked a peanut and studied the shell.

"Collin is our resident geek," Ernie said fondly. "We keep trying to get him to go on Jeopardy, but he's camera shy."

"Oh?" I asked, amused by this for some reason. "I used to do media training with all the county executives. I could do a quick session for you sometime."

"Thanks," Collin said, giving me an odd look as he set a peanut shell on a tidy pile beside his coaster. "What department did you say you worked for again?"

"Marketing and public relations," I replied.

"Really."

I couldn't tell if it was a question or a statement, but since we'd discussed my previous department just a few minutes earlier, I had the sense he was trying to trap me somehow. Before I had a chance to find out what the hell he was driving at, Ernie grabbed hold of the conversation and my arm.

"So JJ, we were just helping Pete decide on a birthday gift for his girlfriend. Maybe Lori's little boutique would be a good place for him to look?"

"Oh. Sure, absolutely. Does she like handbags?"

Pete looked at me. "Is that the same thing as a purse?"

I smiled. "Pretty much. Lori sells a lot of high-end stuff, plus some of her own designs."

"Her work is just lovely," Ernie gushed. "Really, that would make such a nice birthday gift."

I smiled and looked at Pete. "I hang out at Lori's shop most evenings after work. We'd be happy to show you a few gift ideas if you want."

"That'd be great," Pete said. "Maybe I'll drop by tomorrow evening after I finish up at the landfill."

I stole a glance at Collin, who took another sip of beer and didn't blink. He studied me with an expression that wasn't the least bit friendly. I stared back, replacing my normal, easy smile with a look I hoped was at least a little intimidating.

It might have worked great if I hadn't knocked my beer over.

Collin's hand shot out, righting the glass before I lost more than a tablespoon.

"Thanks," I mumbled, pulling my hands into my lap.

Collin nodded once, watching me with a bemused expression.

Perhaps sensing the tension, Ernie jumped into the conversation. "I'm so glad you came tonight, Collin. You've missed the last four or five happy hours."

"Right," Collin agreed. "Well, this seemed like a splendid opportunity to keep an eye on our new colleague."

I frowned at him. "Keep an eye?"

He cracked a peanut in one hand. "Get to know."

"Do those two expressions mean the same thing in England or do you have some reason for acting like you're trying to discern if I've arrived at the landfill to make your life miserable or to infiltrate the chess club?"

"Yes."

I backtracked through my convoluted line of questioning and tried to determine what exactly had prompted the affirmative response. Before I could figure it out, Ernie touched my arm.

"JJ, sweetie, tell us all about your boyfriend. You said he's in accounting?"

I turned back to Ernie, trying to ignore the funny feeling in the pit of my stomach.

THE NEXT MORNING, Collin was waiting beside Shirley when I came out to start my day. He wasn't smiling.

"Burt said now was a good time to replace the memory card in your GPS unit," he said.

"Good morning to you, too," I said, taking a sip of coffee from the paper cup I'd grabbed in the break room. "How are you doing?"

He sighed. "Fine, thank you." He nodded at my coffee cup. "Feeling a bit knackered, what with the pints last night and the early mornings with this job?"

"I'm fine, thank you. I just happen to like coffee."

"One more benefit of your new employment you just pitch the cup out the window when you're done. Can't very well do that in an office."

"My last office didn't even have a window. I worked in a cube farm."

"In that case, your view has improved dramatically."

I looked out over the mountains of garbage surrounding me, thinking he was more right than he probably realized. I smiled and took another sip of coffee.

"So you appeared here rather suddenly," Collin said, not meeting my eyes. "Strange circumstances and all. Were you sacked?"

"What?"

"You lost your other job?"

"Oh. Right. Not sacked, exactly. Repositioned."

"I see," he said. "Quite unusual, wouldn't you say? Transferring someone from an office job to a position of this sort."

"You can say that again," I muttered, taking another sip of coffee.

"And yet, you don't seem bothered."

I looked at him. "I'm not. I was so tired of the office job I had to fight the daily urge to set my desk on fire."

"So is arson a hobby for you, or just another potential profession?"

I looked at him, trying to figure out if he'd just made a joke. He sure as hell wasn't smiling, but I wasn't sure he was actually capable of smiling.

Collin watched me as well, his expression somewhere between amusement and suspicion. He didn't blink. I considered poking him to see if he was still breathing.

I took another sip of coffee instead. "I needed a change," I told him finally. "This job seemed like a good one."

Collin didn't say anything. He watched a crow pick something yellow off the windshield of the compactor. He took a slow sip of coffee. It was like one of those cop shows where the good guy tries to get the bad guy to confess to something using a prolonged, painful stretch of silence. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to confess to, except maybe that I'd pictured him in his underwear once since the start of the conversation.

I cleared my throat and gestured at something in his hand. "So what do you have there?"

"A memory card for your GPS unit," he said, holding up the tiny black square. "We're starting a new lift today that's a new level in the pits so this has all the elevations and grids you'll need."

I nodded, taking another sip of coffee. "I have to admit, I never knew there was so much science behind garbage."

"Most people don't," he said, flipping the little memory card back and forth between his fingers in a way that distracted me. "Most people just wheel their rubbish bins down the driveway once a week and don't think about what happens after that."

"So how does this GPS system work exactly?" I asked. "Burt showed me the basics yesterday, but the program was already loaded then."

Collin pointed toward Shirley. "The GPS unit sits right there on your blade, and the receiver is up on top. I did all the surveying to identify the low points for the lift and figure out the best slope. This will essentially show you where to go in the cell, where to fill in the lower areas, where to pack rubbish in spots that are a bit higher that sort of thing."

"Burt said he's going to be on the Dozer today," I said. "So I guess he'll be pushing and I'll be squashing."

"Yes," he said, the corner of his mouth quirking slightly. "Those are the precise industry terms."

I surveyed the cell, avoiding Collin's eyes. "I spoke with my with the director of accounting? About the call he made yesterday. It won't happen again, and I don't have asthma."

"I take it he's a friend of yours?"

"Sort of. We've been dating off and on for awhile."

"Ah," Collin said, studying me as he took off his glasses and wiped the lenses on the hem of his shirt. "And how does he feel about your career change?"