Chapter 15

Things were slow around Clark Construction on Thursday, so slow that Randy gave some consideration to going over to Brent's office and seeing what could be done with the files and stuff that cluttered the office, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Maybe in a week or two, he thought.

Along in the middle of the morning he was beginning to reconsider that decision out of pure boredom when his father called. "You doing anything useful?" he asked.

"Not particularly," Randy replied. "I was just thinking about taking off and seeing what Crystal and Preach are up to. They're leaving in the morning."

"I'm going to miss them, not that we got see them much," Ryan sighed.

"Yeah, and I don't know when we're going to see them again. Probably not till next winter at the earliest, and maybe not then. They've been talking about getting out for a big trip next winter, no details yet."

"Wouldn't put it past either one of them," Ryan chuckled. "Anyway, any chance you could drop over here for a bit? I need you to sign some paperwork, and maybe pick your brain on a couple things."

"Yeah, I can do that," Randy admitted. "It beats sitting around here and thinking about cleaning out Brent's office. I'm not looking forward to that."

"I wouldn't be, either. Delegate the authority and get Regina to pick away at it."

"Probably the best idea," Randy replied. "I can be over there in a few minutes."

It was not a long trip over to his father's office at Clark Plywood – only a few blocks – and Randy soon was pulling the Dakota into an empty parking space near the office building. Once inside he waved at the receptionist and headed on back. "So, what's cooking?" Randy said.

"Starting to get caught up after more or less losing a few days," Ryan told him. "Matt got the stock transfer paperwork ready, so you have to sign it. There's also a few forms Nicole has to sign too, but no rush. Might as well get it out of the way, though."

It only took moments to sign the paperwork. "Believe it or not," his father said when Randy returned the signed forms to him, "this more or less gets things back to normal. Although you now own a fair chunk of Clark Plywood and I again own a chunk of Clark Construction, there's no need to jiggle each other's elbows. Feel free to call on me if you need any help on something."

"Well, same here," Randy said. "Although over the next few months I want to jiggle your elbow on getting to know this place. I've been thinking about it. At some point in the future we'll have either Steve or somebody else doing the day-to-day stuff. I think I need to learn more about the nuts and bolts of this place so I'll be familiar with it when the time comes. Right now while it's slow is a good time to get started at it."

"Fine with me," Ryan replied. "But I know you tend to get yourself buried in things, and right now it's probably not a good idea. You're going to find all sorts of issues crawling out of the woodwork at Clark Construction that you never dreamed."

"That's very true, but things go in cycles over there, and right now we're in a slow period. I wouldn't want to have to deal with learning this stuff while we're in the middle of construction season, so now is a good time for it."

"Yeah, I suppose," Ryan shrugged. "I'll be honest, it would take years for you to learn what I know, but we don't have to go that far. Maybe what I'll have to do is to bring you in on areas I think you can help out with, and expand on that as we go along. That's sort of what I wanted to pick your brain about anyway. You remember our discussion with Joel about the pellet mill the other day?"

"Yeah, sure. It seems like a good idea."

"I don't think it's going to be a big market for a long time, but just taking a look at it, I think there's enough of a market there to expand our operations. I know we've been getting more orders than we've been able to fill in a timely manner, but there are several side issues. It seems pretty clear that we ought to go ahead with it, and probably this summer, but maybe you could come over here half days for a week or two and review the whole thing so it gets a look with fresh eyes. That'll teach you a lot how things work around here, and you might catch something I've missed, especially from the construction angle."

"Sure, I can do that," Randy said. "I'd sort of figured on getting going on the pellet mill this summer, but if we're going to do it we're going to have to get serious so we can have it on the books for construction season."

"If we're not already behind where we ought to be," his father agreed. "Which means we have to be making a decision about it pretty soon, which includes a decision about Rochester or here."

"Without having taken a look at it, I'd say here," Randy said. "From a construction standpoint, we'll get it done quicker if it's in our back yard. Besides, if we're looking at rail shipment, we have better rail service here. Rochester is on a stub branch and the last I heard the D&O was talking about pulling it up north of Coldwater."

"That's one consideration," Ryan told him. "And it's one of a number of questions that need to be answered to settle the Rochester-or-here issue. I've got a file cabinet full of stuff that needs to be reviewed, and you need to spend some time at the pellet plant to make sure you understand the operation. Feel free to ask me anything about where to find the documentation, but I'd just as soon keep my opinion to myself for a while so you can review it independently. There's a vacant office down the hall and it'll probably be empty for a while. I'll have the pertinent files moved in there so you can work on them."

"Sure, looking forward to it."

"Good enough," his father said. "While we need a fairly quick answer on this, it doesn't have to be that quick. Don't neglect anything at the construction company so you can work on this."

"I'll try not to," Randy shook his head.

"Don't do it," his father reiterated. "I know you too well. You'll bury yourself in it like you do in projects at the construction company. Plus, remember that you have a wife, a child on the way, and friends who don't need to be neglected either. One of the things you're going to have to learn is how to budget your time on stuff like this, and you've never done very well at that."

Randy spent most of the afternoon in his temporary office just getting familiar with the files. There had been more work done on the concept of the enlarged pellet plant than he had realized, and even though the pilot plant had been small it was possible to extrapolate some of the costs and difficulties with an upsized version. It was getting along in the afternoon when his father stuck his head in the door and asked, "Getting anywhere?"

"Too soon to tell," Randy shrugged. "There's an awful lot of stuff there to go through."

"That there is," his father said. "And you're not going to get through it all tonight. Besides, you need to get home. Aren't Preach and Crystal leaving in the morning?"

"Yeah, I need to spend the evening with them," Randy said, folding up the file he was working on and stuffing it in one of the desk drawers. "I'll get Nicole to sign her paperwork tonight. If it's not busy around the shop I'll get back on this tomorrow."

"First things first, and this isn't the first thing on your list," Ryan smiled. "See you tomorrow sometime. Say goodbye to Preach and Crystal for me."

A few minutes later Randy parked the Dakota in the garage and headed into the house, to discover that the gang was already there – Preach and Crystal, Danny and Debbie, Myleigh and Trey, all sitting around the living room with Nicole. The smell of a pot roast filled the house, promising good eating pretty soon. "I figured you were going to duck out a little early," Nicole commented.

"I got hung up on some stuff for Dad," he replied. "Looks like we're really going to be building the pellet plant next summer after all. We're just not sure where yet."

"Good, nothing like a few jobs to keep the summer busy," she replied. "Just remember that you're going to have someone else to keep you busy next summer, too."

"I never seem to have any problem staying busy in the summer," Randy smiled, then, since he saw where things were going, changed the subject. "So, when are you guys heading out?"

"First thing in the morning," Crystal said. "Well, not exactly first thing, there's no point in getting going before dawn. We've got plenty of time to get over to St. Paul by late in the afternoon, and that'll give us enough time to get the booth set up. As soon as we get done with the show it'll be time to be heading back to Flag."

"Two days, maybe three if we take it easy," Preach said. "There's no real rush. We'll still have a week before Al and Karin head out into the Pacific."

"That'll be a good trip for them," Randy nodded. "That would be something fun to do sometime. Probably not anytime soon, though. Have you had any thoughts about what you're going to do next winter?"

"Several," Crystal told them. "Nothing really sticks out, though. That's one of the things we want to do some thinking about when we get back."

"Well, whatever it is, I am sure you shall enjoy it," Myleigh said. "Do let us know what you plan, although I fear it means we shall not be seeing you next winter."

"That's still all up in the air," Crystal shook her head. "We're probably not going to have the money to do something that lasts all winter, anyway, although I hope we'll manage to be gone a couple months or so. That might give us the chance for us to get here for a little, maybe in the fall, maybe even on a break over the summer if the schedule works out all right. I am looking forward to seeing little what's-their-name before he or she gets all grown up on us."