Chapter 21

Sunday, December 16, 2001

Myleigh and Trey arrived at Randy and Nicole's very late on Saturday night. They'd run into a stretch of very bad weather that had lasted through more than half the trip, and it had slowed them by several hours. When they got in, they were both road-weary and exhausted. Thanks to cell phones, Randy and Nicole had known they were going to be late arriving, so weren't real worried, but were concerned about how fried-out they might be. It was getting near midnight when the two pulled in, and understandably they weren't ready for a long evening of catching up. Randy suggested that a dip in the hot tub might make them feel a little better, but they both rejected the idea – a bed sounded a lot better to them at the moment. Randy and Nicole promised they wouldn't wake their guests up in the morning and went to bed themselves.

The two weren't real late getting up the next morning; it was maybe nine or so before they both came downstairs, yawning and still headachy, though, as expected, Myleigh was a good bit perkier than Trey, who had done the majority of the driving, especially in the snowstorm. "Good," Nicole said. "Now that you're up I can throw some breakfast together for you."

"I fear I shan't need much," Myleigh replied as Trey headed straight for the coffeepot. "I rarely eat much breakfast in any case." Randy knew that was true – she ate like the proverbial bird, and he wasn't thinking about the sparrows and house finches that could clean out the bird feeders in the back yard in a matter of hours.

"It's no problem," Nicole protested. "We usually have a big breakfast on Sunday, and just have dinner along in the afternoon sometime."

"Well, if you insist," Myleigh said. "In fact, I rather suspect a more substantial meal might be appreciated after the horrors of the highway yesterday."

"I take it that it was pretty bad," Randy commented as Nicole headed for the stove, while the rest of them settled around the kitchen table.

"It really wasn't all that bad," Trey said, feeling a little better now that he had a cup of coffee in his hand. Even the smell seemed to revive him. "It's was just that pot-licking snow, and there was a limit to how hard I could push in the traffic. Next time, maybe I'll actually think to look at a weather report before I start on a drive like that. There's no reason we couldn't have put it off a day. I mean, it wasn't like we had to rush up here. We're going to be here for several days, after all."

"My hero, you're probably right," Myleigh admitted. "Yet, had we delayed, we might not have arrived in time for the closing on the house, which is to be Tuesday."

"So, we still had a day's worth of padding," he shrugged. "It would have been better than that mess we had to drive through yesterday."

"I suppose you're right," she sighed. "But I fear it's spilt milk in any case, and indeed behind us. Let us think of happier things, now that we're in our new home town and among friends."

"I can go along with that my love," Trey shrugged. "So, now that we're here, what's the plan for today?"

"I suppose the most pressing thing we could do is recover from yesterday the best we can," she replied. "I should think we ought to at least briefly visit Jennifer and Blake to make them aware of our arrival. I should not doubt that they may have something for us to do in the next few days."

"Maybe not," Randy shook his head. "The last time I saw Jennifer, she said she was about done with working until the baby gets here. She more or less wanted to put off any serious work until spring, when you could be here."

"I dare say that does not surprise me," Myleigh said. "However, I know Jennifer well enough to state with certainty that she won't be happy just sitting around. Doubtless she and Blake will have many projects at hand to keep their interest. In any case, we should plan on putting in an appearance. Would you think it's an appropriate time to telephone her?"

"As far as I know," Randy told her. "I haven't really seen a whole lot of either of them the last month or so. There's been no reason to head over there, and I've been busy."

"Work taking your time, Randy?" Trey asked. "I thought it was pretty slow for you this time of year."

"Usually it is, but often enough my work during the winter is in spurts getting ready for next year, and it's shaping up to be a busy one. I had to blow off the surfing trip again, but this is for a multi-million dollar project that looks like it's actually going to happen this time, so I really can't complain."

"Oh, dear," Myleigh said. "Another disappointment for you, Randy?"

"This one I can swallow," he shrugged. "I've said for years I don't dare plan things too far ahead since something can come along to blow them up, and that's what happened this time. The sailing trip for the end of next month is still on, though. But enough of that; Nicole and I have already beaten it to death. I take it that besides the wedding, you want to figure out what you're doing about the house?"

"Yes, that and unwind from the term," Myleigh said. "I fear it's been long. I am dearly looking forward to completing the next one and moving up here."

"We want to do what we can about getting the house ready," Trey explained. "I'm going to have to be up here several times over the winter, so I can do what I can on it then, but we really need to give it a good looking over and see what needs to be done. You know, figure out what your crew can do, and what I ought to do myself to save some cash."

"I can tell you there are some things that'll cost you a ton if we have our crew do them, but they really ought to be done," Randy said. "Someone needs to go over all that painted-over woodwork on the staircase with a few gallons of paint stripper, for example. I could get someone in to do it, but it's going to cost."

"Yuck, stripping paint," Trey wrinkled his nose. "Well, I suppose I could do it if I had to. Any alternatives, other than just leaving it painted?"

"I could find someone willing to do it," Randy told him. "But like I said, it's going to cost. That's the kind of decisions that need to be made in the next few days. I'm planning on having Don Bailey go through that punch list I know you saw. He's our best house guy, and built this house as a matter of fact. But you need to go through the place and see if there's anything you want to do before we bring him in. I can get him here about any time this week, though."

"It can't really be until after the closing," Trey said. "Although since we close Tuesday, that won't be all that long. Can you think of anything else that really sticks out?"

"Appliances," Randy said. "Stove, refrigerator, washer, and dryer, maybe dishwasher. They're all old, but seem to be in good shape. How long they'll stay that way is anybody's guess. But, right now, we're busy putting the finishing touches on the new Spearfish Lake Appliance building, they're going to be moving in along around the middle of the month, so the guy who owns it has everything marked down like you wouldn't believe. He gave me a hell of a deal on our new hot tub, and it wasn't just because Clark Construction is building his new store for him, either."

"That's right," Myleigh said. "I seem to recall you saying something last night about a new hot tub."

"It's about the smartest purchase we could have made," Randy said. "In the last month or so I've learned that nothing takes the sting out of a hard day like a glass of wine and a long soak."

"I've only rarely had the chance to use a hot tub," Myleigh said. "But I have thoroughly enjoyed the few I have. I confess, I hadn't thought about having one at our new abode, but I find the idea intriguing."

"No reason you can't try ours out," Nicole said. "I'm getting hooked, too."

"I don't remember if there's a suitable place for it or not," Trey frowned. "I wouldn't think an outdoor hot tub would work out all that well in this climate, anyway."

"It might be that something could be done," Randy told them. "You don't really want one inside anyway; it gets your humidity all wacky. Ours is on the porch, so we can ventilate it in the summer, and still not be up to our butts in snow in the winter. You might want to think in terms of an addition or something. I didn't really look at the place with that in mind when I was over there."

"It's nothing we need decide today," Myleigh smiled. "Our budget is not unlimited in any case, and there are a considerable number of other things we will need. Furniture, for example. Trey has nothing. I have a few things I bought when I first moved to Kansas City, and I confess I was pinching every penny when I purchased them. I now believe that much of it isn't worth moving."

"Honestly, you need to talk to Danny again," Randy said. "He's the guy at Spearfish Lake Appliance. When he opens his new store it's going to be Spearfish Lake Furniture and Appliance. He might give you a really good package deal on something. However, I'd suggest you don't get too carried away at first. That's really a small house and you don't want to overfill it."

"I fear you are correct when you say it is a small house. One of the things that Trey and I have talked about is not getting too permanently attached to it, as we may desire a more elaborate abode in the future. But that's neither here nor there at this point, and we would be unable to reach a permanent conclusion at this juncture in any case. But Randy, I confess I must say that I'm exceedingly happy to have you here to watch out for our interests."

"Service with a smile, ma'am," Randy mugged. "But like you said, there's not much that can be done until the closing except draw up job lists."

They talked on about the house for another few minutes while Nicole worked on breakfast. It was something to talk about, but they soon exhausted what they needed to say. Fortunately, about then Nicole called them to breakfast. It was good, even though it had been thrown together quickly – scrambled eggs, home fries, bacon, and toast. Myleigh may have said she wasn't very hungry, but she went through her plate in a hurry, without even a word about the bacon. That surprised Randy a little, although he didn't say anything – Myleigh had been a vegetarian when he first met her, but apparently that had fallen by the wayside, perhaps with Trey's influence. Even before their guests had shown up, Randy had been of the opinion that Myleigh had matured in many ways since getting involved with Trey, and this was probably just another example.

Randy helped Nicole clean up the dishes, then refilled everyone's coffee. "Oh, this is delightful," Myleigh exclaimed. "It has been much too long since I sat around with friends for an extra cup of coffee, Trey aside. Do we expect any more arrivals soon?"

"No," Randy said. "It's going to be just the four of us until the day after Christmas, then people are going to start to show up. I don't know if you've heard, but Scooter and Jim aren't planning on being here after all. I guess that means they're going to dump the Christmas dinner in Flagstaff, as well. Al, Karin, Preach, and Crystal are supposed to be in late on the 26th. Michelle is already here; she's staying with Duane out at Josh's dog lot and helping with the training."

"Michelle?" Myleigh exclaimed. "I find that a little surprising. And I think I remember Duane. Wasn't he on the first part of the wedding trip?"

"Yeah, he hiked out with Scooter," Randy confirmed. "He's quite a nice guy, and I get the feeling, he and Michelle are hitting it off a little."