Chapter 22

The bed felt pretty good to Randy after Myleigh and Trey dropped him off as it was starting to get light out over the lake. There had been times in the past when he'd pulled all-nighters, although not many of them, well, at least not since college, and he knew his sleep schedule was going to be screwed up for days as a result. Well, it was all in a good cause, he thought as he lay under the covers on his side of the bed. It felt a little empty without the familiar feeling of Nicole next to him, but he didn't contemplate it for long – he was just too tired.

It was around noon when he woke up, still tired and short of sleep but unable to sleep any longer. There were things that had to be done. Thinking that he might get to bed earlier than normal that evening but suspecting he wouldn't, he conceded that he might as well get up. It took him no longer than normal to get himself organized for the day, then went downstairs to see what he might be able to find to eat.

Randy was actually a fairly decent cook – Nicole had had that effect on him in the years since they'd been married – but he really wasn't in the mood to do anything more than necessary. Rationalizing that it was noon, he decided to not cook something that meant breakfast, and went rummaging around in the pantry for something that would appeal to him. He came up with a can of stew – something he liked, but Nicole didn't care for. It would do, and best of all, all he had to do was to dump the contents of the can in a bowl and shove it in the microwave. It wouldn't take long to heat, and while the microwave was humming he thought about things he had to do.

There was no point in even trying to do anything at the office; it was Saturday, after all, and he would be the only one around. Although there were a couple of things that needed his attention, this time they could wait until Monday. The most pressing item was finalizing the Newton house estimate, and with any kind of luck Carlos would have gotten that under control after Randy left the afternoon before, except for final decisions that would have to be made. That could wait.

Among the things he needed to do before he headed back down to Camden to see Nicole and Brent was to call Crystal and Preach with the news. He and Myleigh had come to the agreement on the way back the night before that he was the one who needed to make the call, and considering the time difference there had been no point in trying it when he'd gotten home. Crystal could be hard to find at this time of the year, and he wasn't clear enough on her schedule to know if she was on the river or not, so it probably was best to get started calling now.

The 800 number for Canyon Tours was easy to remember, and Randy had known it for years. It only took a few moments to punch the number out on the land line phone in the kitchen. In only seconds he had the familiar voice of Crystal's mother, Karin, on the phone. "Is Crystal around?" he asked.

"They're out loading," Karin told him. "They're going up to rig at Lee's in the morning."

"Then I guess I'm glad I called today," Randy said, knowing that Crystal was going to be progressively harder to get hold of in the next few hours, and then would be absolutely impossible to reach for the next two weeks.

"So," Karin asked, "Has Nicole had her baby yet?"

"Last night, early this morning, actually, about three AM our time," Randy told her. "A little boy, eight pounds, six ounces. We're going to call him 'Brent' after my grandfather."

"We were starting to wonder out here," Karin said. "Let me go get her. I won't say anything to her."

"Fine, thanks," Randy said, and heard the phone being put on hold. Over the years he'd had reasons to call out to Canyon Tours, and in the past he'd always felt a wish that he could be out there, loading up for a river trip. He'd made three trips down the Grand Canyon over the years and wanted to do another one, but now he couldn't help but wonder if he ever would, at least anytime in the next couple decades. The old pangs of longing to be out there with Crystal and Preach and the boatmen just weren't there this time, and he couldn't help but wonder if they'd ever return.

It took a while for Karin to get Crystal, and in that time the microwave dinged. No point in letting it get cold, Randy thought; he tucked the phone on his shoulder, got the dish out and set it on the table, then found soda crackers and a Diet Pepsi in the refrigerator. He was just getting set to sit down and get to eating when Crystal came on the line. "Hey, Randy!" he heard her say. "So what's the news in Spearfish Lake?"

"The population increased by one along about three o'clock this morning," he told her. "A little boy." He gave her the statistics like he had given to Karin.

"Well congratulations," Crystal replied. "Nicole's OK and all, right?"

"She was pretty tired when I left her a few hours ago," he said. "But considering that she'd been up all night, I guess I don't blame her."

"So, are you doing all right?"

"As far as I can tell. I just got up. I've got a couple things to do, and then I'm going to be heading down to see them."

"Well, take care, and tell them congratulations from Preach and me, as well as Scooter and the rest of the gang. I'll pass the word out here to the people you know, or at least Mom will. I guess maybe she told you we're loading today, we're heading up to Lee's in the morning for our first rig of the season."

"It'd be nice to be with you," he replied without a lot of feeling; this time he really didn't want to be heading out on a river trip. "But this time there's no point in wishing; I have to be here. So, how are things going?"

"First rig of the season confusion; there always is something that gets goofed up, but we don't have any newbie boatman or swampers this trip so it's not going too bad. Hey, we won't be back until after the end of the month, but we'll give Nicole a call then."

They talked for a few more minutes, just generalities. He'd had the feeling back in January that he was pulling away from Crystal a bit – not that they weren't still friends, but their lives had diverged an awful lot since they left college, which was starting to feel like a long time ago. "So," he said as he realized that he didn't have a lot in common to talk about with her anymore, "Are we going to be seeing you next winter?"

"Maybe, maybe not, it's still too early to tell," Crystal told him. "We're still kicking around the idea of a big trip south next winter, but we haven't settled on anything. The ideas you mentioned last winter of surfing South Africa or sea kayaking the Falklands are still on the board, but we're not close to a decision yet. Either of them could take a couple months and there's a chance we might even do both. There are some other possibilities too; and New Zealand is still on the list. Scooter and Jim might be willing to go with us. That's still up in the air, too. We're gonna have to be making up our minds here pretty quick, because the summer goes fast, and we don't get a lot of time off the river to make arrangements. With the schedule we have this year we're gonna have even less off-river time than normal. All I can say is that we'll keep you posted."

"Can't ask for much more than that, although I've pretty well given up on ever being able to take a big trip like that," he sighed. He'd considered all three of the trips Crystal had mentioned at one time or another, although with the exception of going to Patagonia back at Christmas none of them had ever gotten past the wishing stage. Now, after last night, it seemed likely they never would. His life had just gotten another step further from Crystal's, and that was that.

He felt vaguely disquieted as he hung up the phone. It had been good to talk to Crystal, but only within limits. He knew he'd see her again sooner or later, but he didn't want to bet on sooner.

The canned stew had cooled off a bit, but wasn't too cool to eat if he got right at it. He tried to put the conversation from his mind, or at least the ruminations about it, and concentrated on making a mental list of other people he had to call. Carlos, of course, and he could ask how things went with the Newton estimates after he'd left the office. He needed to call Regina, and some others from work deserved the courtesy, too. He also needed to call his parents and see when they'd be ready to head back to Camden.

He finished his lunch, rinsed the dishes, and put them in the dishwasher, then took what was left of the can of Diet Pepsi to the living room and started in on the calls to fellow workers. Those were mostly routine, although Carlos said there were a couple things on the Newton estimates that would need his review. Finally, he called his mother, and said he could head back to the hospital anytime they were ready. "We'll pick you up in a few minutes," she said in a voice that sounded less than cheerful. "We've got something we need to talk about, although we might as well do it in the car."

Randy couldn't help but wonder what was on his mother's mind as he went around the house, shutting off lights and such, not that he'd had much reason to turn any on. He was just getting his on coat when his father and mother pulled up outside. He locked the door of the house and climbed into the back seat of the car.

"So, did you get some rest?" his mother asked.

"Not as much as I would have liked, but maybe it'll help me get to sleep tonight," he yawned. "I called some people from work with the news, and Crystal. She said she'd pass the word among the Flagstaff gang. So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"I figured I ought to call Rachel," his mother said from the front seat. "It wasn't that I thought you wouldn't call, but I thought Joel would have fewer objections if the call came from me."

"And he didn't?" Randy replied, getting the drift.

"Rachel said it was very nice and offered her congratulations, but she seemed very nervous," Linda replied. "I mean, I could hear Joel complaining in the background, nothing very clearly but you could tell that he wasn't happy that Rachel was talking to me again, and it was the first time in weeks. I hate to say it, but it sounds like things are getting worse out there."

"Doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Randy said. "I've done some reading on emotional abuse since I got back last month, and one of the things that abusers tend to do is to try to cut their victims off from friends and family. Brayton said pretty much the same thing, and I believe it."