Chapter 12

For years, Ryan Clark had allowed himself three cigarettes a day. He couldn't quite break himself of the habit, but figured at that level he couldn't be hurting himself too bad. As people were milling around just before dinner, Ryan said to his son, "Hey, you want to join me for my evening weed?"

"Yeah, I might as well," Randy agreed. He smoked about three a week and he was behind average, but realized that what Ryan really wanted was to talk alone for a minute.

In the summer Ryan usually had his cigarette out behind the garage where there was a nice little patio, but in the winter the garage itself got pressed into service. It was chilly out there, but the air was still enough for the smoke from the cigarettes to rise into the air without being blown around; neither of them said much, until Ryan finally said softly, "Did you ever hear such a crock of shit in your life?"

"Well, not since college," Randy admitted. "And I tried to not hang around with those kinds of people. I don't know how Rachel puts up with it."

"I don't either," Ryan shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see anything bad happen to her, but it sure wouldn't break my heart to see that little bastard get his butt shot off if it didn't involve her. I don't think he has any idea of the kinds of risks he's running or the shit he's talking."

"The hell of it is that he's not alone," Randy said. "There's a lot of people like him running around, especially out in California, and it sounds to me like they fill each other's ears so full of shit that they really believe it."

"Again I have to go back to talking about Wayne Clark," Ryan replied thoughtfully. "Now, what I know about him mostly comes through Dad, who always said that on some levels Wayne was so full of shit it was unbelievable, but in other things, especially his business dealings, he got most things pretty right. His ethic, which I always followed, was take care of your people and they'll take care of you. Joel seems to think the best thing to do with your people is to screw them for all you can, then get the hell out so they can't hurt you. Hell, I think Wayne would have kicked his ass himself."

"I thought several times about breaking his head," Randy said. "But that's not what I got my black belts for, and it wouldn't have done any good anyway."

"Wayne wouldn't have had that kind of restraint, on a personal level, anyway," Ryan mused, "Which at times may not have been all bad. Actually, I'm glad we had this afternoon with him. It clarified several things in my own mind."

"Such as?"

"Such as we're going to have to be careful about some things, especially those that could involve him. I still don't want to say anything until after Wednesday, since what happens then could change my thinking a little, but we're going to have a long talk after that's over with."

"About him and the company?"

"Well, yeah," Ryan said. "But Rachel gets into it, too."

"I wonder if Ruth found out anything," Randy said.

"What's this?"

"Ruth has the idea that something's not right with Rachel. Ruth said that Rachel hadn't said anything specific earlier, but that maybe there's something between the lines to read. She wouldn't tell me what she thinks it is, but wanted to sound Rachel out about it. I think that's what they did this afternoon."

"Interesting," Ryan said. "I didn't know that. If you find out anything let me know."

By the time dinner was over with, Randy and Nicole had about all of Joel they could take, and it was pretty clear that Ruth and Dave also felt about the same way. Fortunately, Mike and Abby were acting a little bit cranky, which gave everyone a perfect excuse to head back over to Randy and Nicole's house in Hannegan's Cove. The kids weren't really acting that bad, but the excuse was worth it; they settled right down when Nicole put a Disney video into the DVD player for them.

While everyone else was watching the video, Randy took the time to call over to Trey and Myleigh's house. Myleigh was home, unusual for her on a Monday – she had a tiny apartment down near Weatherford that she stayed in by herself on Monday and Tuesday evenings to cut down on the driving back and forth, especially in the winter months. She reported that everyone was doing fine, and that preparations were well in hand for the family-sized funeral dinner set for the next evening. In fact, Crystal and Preach mostly were the ones pulling it together; they were used to preparing big, open-ended meals working with nothing much more than a warped griddle and a gas burner down in the Canyon, and figured that it was going to be a snap in Randy and Nicole's kitchen. It was good to just talk with Myleigh a bit, to remind himself that he didn't have to put up with people like Joel all the time.

Randy hadn't been off the phone thirty seconds when it rang, almost in his ear. Now what, he thought as he picked it up again. It proved to be his father. "Just one damn thing after another," Ryan told him. "I just got a phone call, and it turns out we're going to be short a minister for the service tomorrow."

"Something come up?" Randy asked. While Reverend O'Conner was technically the family minister, Randy and Nicole only rarely went to church at the Spearfish Lake First United Methodist Church, at least partly because they didn't particularly like the minister that the diocese had assigned there.

"Well, legitimate this time," Ryan said. "He found a patch of ice, fell down, and is in the hospital in Camden with a broken leg."

"Would you believe that I know a Baptist minister who I could easily talk into doing the service?" Randy snickered.

"I had the same idea but I thought it might be better if you asked him," Ryan said. "Preach would do a better job than that O'Conner creep anyway."

"OK, I'll slide over and ask," Randy said. "I need to get out for a minute anyway."

"Good enough," Ryan said. "O'Conner didn't know Dad anyway, and I don't think he ever even met him. They offered to have some guy come up from Albany River, but I thought that Preach had at least met Dad sometime or other."

"I know he did, not for long, but he did," Randy agreed. "I think it was when they were here for Thanksgiving the year before last."

"Good enough. Any word on the other thing we talked about?"

"Not yet, and I don't think there'll be anything till the kids are down," Randy told him. "I'll go have a word with Preach and get back to you."

"That'll be fine. I guess I'd better go back and be nice."

Randy took a moment to explain to Nicole and the others what had happened, then got on his coat and walked up the street. It was clear and cold out there, with the sun long down. He could see his breath in front of him as he walked, and the stars were like pinpoints overhead. It was nice to just be out, despite the cold. In only a few minutes, he was knocking on the side door at Myleigh and Trey's house.

It only took a minute to explain the situation to Preach, with everyone else looking on. "Sure, it's been a while since I've done a funeral, but I'll be glad to do it," Preach said. "I have to say, after your father's off-the-cuff eulogy the other night I found myself thinking about what I would say if I were asked to do it. I really probably ought to sit down and have a few words with your father, but I could do it in the morning."

"Why don't you just call him and work something out?" Randy said. "I feel like I'm in the middle on this one."

"Sure, sounds like a good idea," Preach said. "Why don't I call him right now?"

"Good enough," Randy replied, giving him the number. "I'll go harass everyone else for a couple minutes while you do."

Preach headed to the kitchen to use the phone while Randy took a minute to talk with the people in the living room. They didn't talk about anything significant but it was nice to have the reminder that they were there. "Sorry this is eating into the time we can spend with you, Crystal," he said after a moment.

"That's all right, it can't be helped," she said. "Hey, thanks for asking Preach to do that. I don't think he wants to be a regular minister again, but it's nice when he can do something that touches on it once in a while."

"I have no doubt that he can do a better job than that joker we have at the Methodist Church," Randy shook his head. "Methodist preachers are like streetcars. If you miss one there'll be another one along pretty soon."

"I think that's part of why Preach doesn't want to do it as a regular thing," she said. "You get yourself established in the community, and then you're gone. It's one thing to be a little footloose, but it's another thing to have to build things up and then tear them up right away. Don't get me wrong, I love Preach as he is, but I don't think I could be a minister's wife."

"Well, I never thought so either. I think that's why you and he surprised everybody."

"I keep telling people that it surprises me as much as anyone," Crystal snickered. "But I'm not complaining."

In a couple minutes Preach came back from the kitchen. "Well, that's worked out," he said. "I'll have to get with your dad during the day tomorrow and spend a few minutes getting things set up at the funeral home, but it shouldn't be a big deal."

"Good enough," Randy said. "I guess I'd better get heading back. We're going to have to get together when all this stuff is over with and get back to some serious visiting."

"This stuff happens, Randy," Preach said. "We understand. Don't put yourself out over it."

Randy would have been tempted to hang around Trey and Myleigh's for a while, but with Dave and Ruth at his house he knew he had to be heading back, so soon was walking back up the cold street toward home.

The strength of the cold air cleared his mind to some extent, to a point where he realized he felt the foreboding of distant troubles, probably involving Joel and Rachel. There was no doubt that he disliked Joel and with good cause, but there was something else there, something he couldn't put his finger on, and that something probably involved why his father was being so secretive about what was going to happen in the session with the lawyer Wednesday. His father clearly knew a lot more than he let on, and if Randy had to guess it would be that Joel was involved somehow. But, the more he thought about it, the more he thought that Ruth might be right when she said something wasn't right with Rachel. From what he recalled of the afternoon before, her reticence gave him the same disquieting feeling. Well, hopefully Mike and Abby would be asleep before too much longer and he might learn something.

The kids had been asleep for a while, and the adults were gathered around the kitchen table when Randy was able to raise the issue with Ruth. "She didn't really say a lot," Ruth reported. "And there was a limit to how much I was willing to pry. But, she told me more than she told me in words, if you know what I mean. I got the same feeling I get when I see a dog with its tail between its legs. She's scared, and I think it's Joel she's scared of."