| Wes Boyd's Spearfish Lake Tales Contemporary Mainstream Books and Serials Online |
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| Wes Boyd's Spearfish Lake Tales Contemporary Mainstream Books and Serials Online |
Chapter 18
Not even slightly to his surprise, Michelle was waiting with Jeff and Jimmie at the takeout. Al didn’t always come to the takeout, and with the White Team, which included Crystal and Karin taking out the next day, it wasn’t surprising that he’d skipped this one.
Though the process of unloading and getting the passengers up the hill was important, having a long hug and kiss with Michelle the moment he hopped ashore seemed more important to him. “How are you getting along?” were the first words he whispered in her ear after the kiss.
“If I said ‘about like normal,’ would you believe me?” she whispered back. “The only thing is that I don’t know what ‘normal’ is anymore.”
“Me either,” he told her. “I guess that’s something we’re going to have to work on this weekend.”
“That’s why I came out with Jeff and Jimmie,” she said. “It gives us another few hours together.”
As always it was sad to say goodbye to the customers, this group of them more than most. They’d been a jovial, happy-go-lucky bunch who, without saying much of anything special, had buoyed his spirits on the second half of the trip. Once the customers left to go up the hill on the crew bus there were a few minutes for Michelle to spend a little less restrained time with the crew, all of whom congratulated her, along with announcing their surprise.
She accepted their congratulations of course, then called for their attention. “OK, everyone,” she said, “we’ve got to get down to business for a few minutes. I guess you know I’m not a boatman anymore, at not least for a while, but I’m now the turnaround supervisor. Al and I think we have it worked out so that this turnaround will be as painless as possible. We’re going to load up here and unload in Flag about like normal. Sorry, Erika, you’ll have to dump the rocket boxes and clean them again, but you’ll have a second swamper going next trip, maybe for just one trip and maybe for more after it, so you’ll get out of it at least that long.”
“Thank God for small favors,” Erika smiled.
“Hey, I know what it’s like. I had to do it for years, and I think you’re getting off easy,” Michelle grinned, then went on. “We’ll just unload the food boxes in the shed and clean them. I’ll need your equipment bitch lists by then, and I’ll get with Icewater to go over routine cleaning that you’ll have to do. There won’t be as much as normal. Most of the groceries for your trip and the White Team’s have already been bought, but I’ll get the fresh stuff as late as I can. While you’re off we’ll get the food boxes and coolers packed. I’ve got a couple part-time kids who are supposed to show up tomorrow night to help load your trip and the White Team’s. Plan on showing up at five AM on Saturday to load the crew bus and the truck. That should only take a few minutes, and we’ll be getting you up to Lee’s. Duane, there are a couple other things you’ll have to do, but I guess you’ll be with me anyway.”
There was a laugh around the group at that, and Michelle went on. “We did the business about going up to Lee’s on launch morning last weekend with the Blue Team and it worked out just fine. The thing is that you need to be at the shop on time, and hopefully without so much of a hangover that you can’t contribute your fair share to the efforts. Don’t forget anything you’re going to want on the river or there’s not going to be time to go back for it. Al said we’re going to give this a fair try, but if something gets screwed up then we may have to go back to the old way. So try not to screw anything up.”
“You heard her,” Duane underlined, especially to Brett, who had been known to show up at the shop to leave for Lee’s with a bit of a head still on him from the night before. “This is a huge improvement to do it this way. Let’s not be the ones to screw it up. Everybody with me on that?”
There was a chorus of agreement, so he replied. “All right, the sooner we get this stuff done, the sooner we can be back at Flag and go to the Burro.” He glanced at his watch and added, “If we’re done by six, I’ll even buy everyone a round.”
It wasn’t so much the prospect of the beer as it was the little extra time off, but they had the rafts loaded on the trailer and everything else either on the truck or stacked waiting by the time the bus got back. It didn’t take long to get the bus loaded, and they were soon on their way up the hill and out of the Canyon.
Duane and Michelle were in a seat toward the back of the bus, snuggled close together, partly because it felt good to be together again, but partly to talk privately in the noise of the bus. “So,” he asked, “how are you really doing?”
“I’m OK,” she said. “I guess I’m getting used to having you out on the river without being there myself, not that I can say that I like it very much. I’ve missed the hell out of you. There have been so many things that I’ve wanted to talk to you about, but you weren’t there.”
“Yeah, same thing,” he said. “We’re just going to have to get through stuff this weekend the best we can.”
“Crap, there’s been so much go by in the last two and a half weeks that I don’t know where to begin. Duane, I’ve had some ups and downs about not being able to be out on the river. Shit, I miss it. You know as well as I do that I think that’s where I’m supposed to be, but like I told you up at Phantom, it’s just not going to happen this year, and I won’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen next year. Or if it does, it’s going to be an emergency thing, and might only be for a half trip. It could be years after that, but sooner or later I’m going to be out there again, and that’s that.”
“I didn’t expect you to feel any different,” he said. “I mean, I know it’s tough, but what else can you do?” Overall, he was a little surprised – she seemed to be in much better spirits than he’d been expecting, certainly better spirits than she’d been in when he’d seen her at Phantom a week and a half before. Presumably she had worked out a few things in her mind over the intervening time, which held the prospect of this weekend being less heavy than he had been expecting.
“That’s the point,” she said. “I’ve been trying to keep myself busy, just to keep from thinking about it. This turnaround-supervisor job is good, but it only eats up a little bit of time. I’ve been working for Mom and Dad when I’m not down in Flag, and we’re right in the busy season so swamped just about all the time. That takes some of the sting out. I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to do the turnaround chores after this season since I’ll probably be busy with the baby, but I think it’s going to be important to you to not have to deal with all the turnaround shit on breaks this year.”
“Believe me, it’s appreciated. I can see we’re not going to have much time to ourselves, though.”
“Well, no, but for most of the stuff I have to do there’s no reason you can’t be with me, so that helps some. Let’s face it, Duane, we’ve got so much we have to talk about, and we’re just going to have to work it in when we can. Besides, I’ve been aching to have you in bed with me again, and I don’t want to waste time that could be spent there, too.”
“We’re agreed on that,” he smiled. “I was thinking pretty much the same thing. I’m pretty sure there’s going to be stuff topside that you’re going to have to take care of, so I’m expecting you to get all of that done.”
“Yeah, but there’s some that I need to know your thinking on. Like, are we going to go to Spearfish Lake to help out Phil next winter?”
“Cripe, I hadn’t even thought about that,” he admitted. “Not even a little bit. Just on first take, I’m guessing that you’re not even going to be able to do the Iditarod.”
“Hell, no. I’ll admit, I hadn’t thought about that part of it either, but there’s no way I could do it. There’s no way we could manage a baby that small for that long. Plus, we probably ought to think about being a little more careful with our money. We’re probably going to have other things we need it for.”
“No doubt about that,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know the details, but before Melissa was born, Vicky was in seventh heaven buying all that baby support equipment. Crib, stroller, I don’t know what all.”
“We’re going to luck out a little there. Alana didn’t throw any of her baby stuff away since she and Mike haven’t given up on the idea of having another one. So we’ll be able to get most of that jazz as hand-me-downs. Let me tell you, at the price of some of the things it’s a damn good thing for us she didn’t throw it away. It’ll mean we have to take a run to Phoenix sometime after the season is over with, but in comparison it’s no big deal.”
“Right,” he agreed, with some relief. He hadn’t done a great deal of thinking about their financial situation, but it was clear that it wasn’t going to be as good as they had been used to. It was something else they had to talk about. “So what was your thinking about going to Spearfish Lake anyway? I mean, it would be sort of a job over the winter, and a place to stay.”
She let out a sigh. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t thought about it all that much. I can tell you this – I wouldn’t be much help with the dog training. I’ll be getting pretty big by the time the rafting season is over with, and after the baby comes I wouldn’t have the time either. Besides, it’d mean that I’d have the kid up there rather than in Flag, and my parents would be in Spearfish Lake.”
“And you’re probably going to want me around when you have the kid,” he nodded. “OK, I guess that’s not an issue. One of us is going to have to call Phil and tell him we’re all the way out for next winter. Maybe not for future years, we’ll just have to see. I suppose I can find something to do around Flag or Grand Canyon Village over the winter.”
“Oh, I’m sure you can, even if it’s working at the gift shop. It’s not going to be the money you’d be making on a raft, but the rafts don’t run then, anyway.”
“Well, if I can work at a Micky-D’s, I guess there’s no reason I can’t work at a gift shop. There won’t be any ‘Would you like fries with that?’”
“Yeah, that’s a bright spot,” she smiled. “It’d help get us through the winter and up to when rafting season starts next spring.”
“Are you sure you’re going to want me rafting next year? Michelle, honestly, the last week and a half I’ve given quite a bit of thought to not doing it next year so I can be with you and the baby.”
“Well, there’s no doubt that I’d rather have you with me,” she replied, looking a little wistful. “On the other hand, it is income, and there are a lot of guys on the river who have wives and kids topside, you know that. With the shorter trips next year and longer breaks between, there’s no way it’s going to be as bad as it is this year.”
“There is that,” he agreed. “But Michelle, to be honest, I don’t want you to be jealous of me because I’m getting out on the river while you’re stuck topside. It’s one of the things that’s been bugging the hell out of me for the last week. Shit, three weeks ago I saw how much it was hurting you to have to skip the river for just one trip. And I remember how bad it was a few years ago when you had to run the office. We may joke about the scratch marks on the walls, but it really was just about that bad. I don’t want to hurt you because I’m able to do something that you’d really rather be doing.”
She sat thoughtfully for a moment. “Yeah, I guess there is some truth to that,” she said finally. “Duane, the last three weeks haven’t been easy, even without the baby being involved. Like I said, I’m not all that crazy about this turnaround-supervisor job since it reminds me all the damn time of how much I’d rather be out on the river. But doing it will help you out this season, and give us a little more time together. Next year, I’m not so sure about how bad I’ll want to continue it, for just that reason. At least this year I can get the changes established, which is something Crystal can’t do since she’ll be on the river most trips this year. I haven’t talked with her about it, but I talked with Al some, and she’s probably only going to miss two more this season. Next year it could be six or seven, but nothing is settled. If that happens, then she’d be the logical one to take over the job of turnaround boss. It’d give her something real to do topside.”
“Well, when you put it that way you’re probably right,” he replied. “So what would you do then? Work at the gift shop?”
“Probably,” she sighed. “I know my folks would like to have me there, and it would simplify the baby sitting some. Mom would even be involved a little, probably. At least she’s offered to help out. All that is still a little fuzzy, and we’re just going to have to make it up as we go along.”
“That sort of leads to the question of where we’re going to live,” he pointed out. It was something else that had been bothering him the second half of the river. “Don’t get me wrong, your folks are cool, and they’ve been incredibly nice about me staying with them when we’re off the river, but all the time and with a new baby, well, that’s a different story.”
“Yeah, it is, and I’ve thought about it, too. I’m sort of thinking that’s something else we’re going to have to make up as we go along. From now until the season is over with, no problem. Maybe we can stretch it out until the baby comes, that’s only another couple months. But after that, yeah, we probably ought to be working on somewhere to live. They might get nice and let us do another season, but I’m not so sure how crazy I’d be about doing it.”
“That’s pretty close to my thinking, at least to the extent that I’ve thought about it,” he admitted. “Probably when the season winds down we should take a fairly serious look at it. I suppose you’re going to want to be in either Grand Canyon Village or Flag?”
“Probably Flag,” she sighed. “I’d really rather be in Grand Canyon Village, but that’s supposed to be restricted to park and concession employees and their families. It’s possible that I could qualify as a concession employee if I work full time for my folks, but there usually aren’t many housing units available that concession employees qualify for. I mean, I haven’t asked about it, but I’ve heard things over the years and understand the waiting list is pretty long. Now, if you’re a park employee the situation is a little different; they have so many slots and about the same number of spots. So that probably means if we’re going to get a place of our own it’s going to have to be in Flag, or maybe Williams, which is a little closer to the village. But I don’t know how much I’m going to want to work for my folks if the commute is that long. It’s a big part of the reason they have problems keeping employees anyway.”
“Again, you’re probably right,” he agreed. “I don’t know jack squat about it, either.”
“Well, I can talk to Dad; he always seems to have a string to pull here and there,” she said. “But really, it’s not the most important item since we do have a place to stay now, at least for the rest of the season, and probably as much of the winter as we need.”
“Thank God for that. At least we’ll be able to save a little money. I’m guessing the hospital and doctor bills for having the baby are going to have to come out of savings since we don’t have a medical plan at Canyon Tours. Maybe we could sell the Jeep to help pay for them.”
“Could be,” she said. “But Duane, you know what the really depressing part is?”
“What?”
“You remember how the past few months we’ve been looking down on people because they’re all caught up in the mortgage, family, and job treadmill, and we’ve been pretty much free of it, and doing jobs that we love?”
“I think I see what you’re thinking, and yes, it’s crossed my mind, too. We may not be in the mortgage part of the equation yet, but I can see it happening pretty damn soon. And that sort of leads to the thought that maybe over the winter I ought to be looking for a regular job where I can be home nights, where we can have health insurance and other benefits, and maybe a retirement plan. Really, when you think about it, it’s the responsible thing to do.”
“Responsible, yes,” she sighed. “And maybe we can hold off on it for a while, but shit, Duane. All of this means we’re going to be turning as straight as Mike and Alana. I think about the best we can do is to only get as straight as Crystal and Preach are going to be, but they’ve got something going for them that we don’t.”
Unloading gear at the office went a little more quickly than normal, at least partly since there was less to do. Michelle would have to hang around the office a little on Friday to oversee the high school kids she’d hired to do some equipment maintenance. Jeff would help when he was available, but since the kids were new, they couldn’t be trusted to do the job without supervision.
But that was for the next morning, and the guides wrapped up their part of the unloading at the Canyon Tours shop that evening. It was still comfortably before six, so the crew members took Duane up on his offer of a beer at the Burro. They loaded up in Michelle’s and Erika’s cars and rode over to the bar, where they sat and talked about the new turnaround procedures, making a point of staying away from telling tales or gossip from the trip they’d just completed.
The visit to the Burro was notable in that Michelle had a big glass of diet Pepsi, instead of the beer she had once been known for drinking by the gallon. Those days had ended about the time she’d started living with Duane, but she still didn’t mind having a beer or two when the time was right. “Have to think of the baby,” was her excuse, but to Duane it was another sign that something from the past had ended. In this case, it was something he didn’t mind seeing gone.
One beer was enough for him; at the moment he was capable of having more, but he didn’t think it was a good idea. There were still a considerable number of things that had to get done, and there was no point in having a head on him when he tried to do them. He and Michelle took off for Grand Canyon Village about the same time Terry and Erika took off for her folk’s house down in Sedona. That hadn’t happened on the last trip, and while they hadn’t been getting lovey-dovey on the trip, it was clear they had been getting closer. Brett and Andy said they’d hang around and have a few more for the lack of anything better to do; sooner or later they’d catch a ride back out to the bunkhouse for the night.
It didn’t surprise them that Pat and Rachel’s house was empty when they got to Grand Canyon Village; the store was still open, and Michelle had told Duane that they were still tight on help, although things were a little better than they had been three weeks before. That was just as well; the first thing Duane did was strip off his clothes and head for the shower, and Michelle joined him, to wash his back and other things that showering together entailed. Some things haven’t changed, he thought, and thank God.
That ended in the bedroom, of course, and right about then they both needed it more than usual. They managed to get up in time to get his washing from the trip going, and to have something cooking for dinner. At least they had clothes on when her parents arrived.
Pat and Rachel looked like they’d had a long day. While the shop did exceptionally good business in the summer months, it also kept them rather busy, especially this summer when they hadn’t had very good luck with help and had to do much of it themselves. But they were pretty upbeat when they saw Duane. “Good to see you again,” Pat said. “I know Michelle has been missing you, but we haven’t missed you a whole lot less.”
“Thanks,” Duane said. “I hope the extra stress hasn’t been too bad on you.”
“Well, it could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse,” Rachel replied. “I suppose you’re all nervous about the fact that we were going to be upset that you’d knocked our daughter up.”
“With you guys I didn’t think it would be very bad,” Duane admitted, although privately he had wondered about it.
“It probably would have been nicer if it had been a little more organized and the timing had been a little better,” Rachel smiled. “But don’t think we’re upset. I think finally something has come along that may settle our daughter down a little. I underline the ‘may’ and ‘a little.’ We’ve been hoping something would come along, and as far as we’re concerned she couldn’t have picked a nicer guy.”
“I’m glad you think that,” Duane replied sincerely. “She can be a pistol at times, but most of the time she isn’t too bad.”
“Then there must be some stories you haven’t heard,” Pat laughed. “Seriously, I know this is a bit awkward for you, but we’ll do what we can to help you two get settled in.”
“I really appreciate that,” Duane replied. “Believe me, there are a lot of things we don’t know about yet, but we’re going to try and work on them over this break.”
“One question I probably ought to ask,” Rachel said. “Have you called your dad and stepmother to tell them about this yet?”
“No,” Duane sighed. That was something he’d missed. “We’ve been busy with gear, and with the time difference it’s getting too late to call them now. I’ll give them a call in the morning. They’ll probably be out at the knife shop about the time we have breakfast.”
“When you do,” Pat said. “Tell him to ship us some more knives. I don’t want to say they’re flying out the door with the price tag we have to put on them, but even with that they’re moving, and we’re about out.”
“Good, Dad will be glad to hear that,” Duane smiled. “Those things are gorgeous, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, they are,” Pat agreed. “Did he ever teach you any of it?”
“He tried,” Duane admitted. “I just don’t have that kind of artisanship in me. I can make a serviceable knife and even throw one pretty well, but art objects like those, no, I just can’t do it.”
“Well, can’t be good at everything,” Pat smiled. “How close are we getting to dinner?”
“Just about ready, Dad,” Michelle piped up from over at the stove. “Salisbury steak and spuds tonight, and it’s not a recipe we use on the river.”
“Good,” he said. “Let’s have a drink we can have with dinner. Right now, I could use one or two.”
“Good idea,” Rachel agreed. “I need something to unwind, too. A beer would be fine with me.”
Soon they were sitting down to dinner, and for Duane, it was nice to eat dinner sitting in a chair at a table. There had been too little of that the last two and a half weeks and all too soon he would be doing it again.
As dinner was winding down, Rachel asked, “Michelle, did you talk to Duane about a wedding date, or plans?”
“Haven’t gotten to it,” Michelle admitted. “We’ve had too much other stuff to talk about, but that’s something we need to get at least partly worked out this weekend.”
“That’s something I’d hoped you were thinking about,” Duane commented.
“I probably haven’t thought about it as much as I should have,” Michelle said. “Like I told you, I’ve had a lot on my mind. But I did find out a few things. First, there’s no waiting time, we can get married the same day we get the license, but we have to get it at the county clerk’s office, so we can’t do it on a Saturday.”
“Not a big deal,” he said. “I suppose we could do it tomorrow if it would make you feel any better.”
“We could,” she said, “but I don’t think we should. I don’t think I want a big wedding with the whole nine yards, I’m not that kind of person, but I think we should have some friends and family present, and that includes your dad and Vicky.”
“Well, yeah,” he agreed. “I mean, I’d really much prefer it that way, under the circumstances. There’s not really anyone else from Bradford I can think of who needs to be at our wedding, but those two should be. Now, if Dad or Vicky thinks someone else from home should come, that’s fine with me.”
“It means we have to give them a little notice,” Michelle said. “Actually, the one issue about a wedding date I have in my mind is whether we need to have Scooter, Jim, Dave, and Mary there. I haven’t really talked to them about it, but I could in the next couple weeks. We’ll have a chance to see Dave and Mary together in two weeks, but you’re never going to be off the river at the same time as Scooter and Jim until the season is over. So the question is do we hold off till the end of the season?”
“Good question,” Duane added. “I don’t know Dave and Mary that well, but I’ve known Scooter for years. She isn’t much of one to stand on ceremony, and I know she and Jim got married the way they did just to rag Crystal and Preach a little. I mean, I thought it was fun considering how good buddies Crystal and Scooter are, but it could have gotten into real bad taste real easy.”
“Yeah, I thought it was cute at the time, but I’ve had second thoughts since,” Michelle agreed. “So what do you think?”
“I don’t know what I think,” he sighed. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know, either,” she shook her head. “The next time you’ll be off the river at the same time as Preach and Crystal will be the weekend of August 7, and we won’t have another shot at it till early October. In August I’ll only be a little more than four months along, and I shouldn’t be showing much. I will be if we wait till October, and there’s that to consider.”
“One thing you might want to think about,” he said, “is that we get off for the winter at the end of the season on October 28. If we did it that weekend, it would be Halloween weekend. Add that to the fact that the season-wrap party will be Saturday night, it could get a little weird.”
“Yeah, especially with some of the practical jokers we have at Canyon Tours,” she sighed. “I guess we could wait, but why not let me run the idea of having it in August by Scooter when she’s off the river in a couple weeks?”
“Sounds like the best solution to me,” he agreed, starting to get a little exasperated. “Look, on wedding stuff, I’m easy. I’m your typical male. Tell me what time to be there and what to have on, and I’ll be there. What and how you want to do is up to you, I just want to make sure it gets done.”
Pat laughed out loud. “You may be a little too easy on that, Duane. You give women their head on something like that, there’s no telling what’s going to happen.”
“Yeah, but if something gets screwed up, I’ll know where to point the blame,” he shot back. “It won’t be my fault.”
