Chapter 7

Life went on. We didn't see so much of Connie, but we did see more of Corrine, for Connie got a job in a grocery store and Helen asked if she could babysit. Then Connie began attending one of the real estate schools and received her license to sell property in September. Corrine was now calling Helen, Aunt Helen. I was her Uncle Rich.

Sam and Bobbi Jo became a steady couple. They seemed a good fit and were fun to be around. Bobbi Jo moved in with Sam when Randal, found quarters of his own.

Orrin and Bob, after arguing who owned the returned money, split it, and both Orrin and Bob gave Randal ten thousand dollars for the return of it. I liked Randal. He was an excellent worker and a great shovel operator. Pat and Troy depended on him and counted him as one of their best operators, but he told me he hated his job when he had been a supervisor.

I had missed being able to see my first baby growing from an infant into a child with personality. It was possible now. Corrine, when she was here, felt Rita was her own private doll and begged her mother to dump her here as often as she could so she could play at being a little mommy.

Matt Forbes spent time at our house as well. He was uncertain about coming over at first, but after a couple of times when Connie was working, he gave in to Corrine's begging to see Aunt Helen and Uncle Rich. He called and I happened to answer the phone, "Sure, come on over and we'll have a beer." We had a conversation about what I liked, and he brought it with him. He showed as much love for Corrine as Connie did. This made me glad I had allowed him to adopt her.

Eventually he talked me into going fishing with him, something I had never done before. I found I enjoyed it immensely. "Wait until this winter. I'm building an ice shanty and I'm putting all the comforts of home in it. It will be big enough so Sam, you, and I will fit without rubbing elbows.

I was relaxing more than I ever had. I was reaching many of the goals I had set for myself. I hadn't reached them alone, because everyone saw how hard I tried and gave me a boost when they could. I was now at the level of education I felt I needed. It was unspoken except from Helen, but I knew I would head up the company when Bob was ready to relinquish some of the responsibility. I needed a few years before that was to happen.

The O'Donnell section of highway was coming along great. The Bastion contract was well ahead from the first and continued to be so. I was spending more time at headquarters. We would be using more and more sub-contractors and fewer of our own crew. We were past needing the heavy equipment and operators now that the road was built up to where it would go through the second winter. The sub-contractors would be working on the road banks, doing the stone work to shore and stabilize places that might slide or wash.

Orrin was going to take three months off and travel to Florida for the winter. Something that he and Mary had never done before. He declared they might look for a small winter home to buy and make it a yearly event.

Bob was making estimates on projects that we had equipment for, some as general contractor and some as a sub-contractor. He didn't care which, as long as the profit was built in and his crew had steady work. One contract he had already received was for the excavation of a new mall. It was going to have two floors below ground level. He talked to me, Steve, Troy, and Pat about whether to keep the Orrin O'Donnell Company alive.

After much discussion, it was decided to make one corporation of the O'Donnell and Bastion Construction companies. Orrin would own a few shares, but wouldn't draw a salary. Helen and I made out well; I had the same number of shares as Steve and Troy because of our active involvement, and Helen received half that amount. When she had time she would help in the office and as always was willing to get into a truck cab. I felt I had done well at my young age and was more than satisfied.

Pat Brennen would have shares in the corporation too, as he would run half the projects with Steve, especially in completing the highway contracts which still had six months to go. Bob with Troy would do most of the field work in the other unit. I was paired with Bob wherever he was working. Everyday before quitting time, we would end up in the office to go over what had come up during the day.

I would on occasion be involved if either Pat or Bob hit a snag. I say I, but it would be a round-table discussion and we could usually figure out something to get us going again.

Helen was babysitting Corrine. This was usually after ten in the morning, when Connie went into her office. If she were showing property, Matt would pick Corrine up. Scotty always found an excuse to go visit his cousins. Steve and Troy lived in adjacent houses which made it convenient. Brad, the youngest, was satisfied to stay home with his mother and me. He loved books and was reading way beyond his grade level.

When Corrine was at the house, he read to her or she played dolls while he read. They seemed to get along so well together.

Helen asked me one night if I was happy with the family, "We have two boys and one girl. Do you want any more children? If you do I think it should be soon. I don't want to have one after I'm thirty and I getting there fast."

"You tell me what you want."

"I'd kinda like one more to grow up with Rita. The boys are too old to pay much attention to babies."

"Okay let's do it. It is just the start of another circle."

"Are you still thinking about that article?"

"I suppose. I wish I had never read the article. What he said was just too simple. When he said full circle, what did he mean? It is similar to what goes around comes around. I think about karma when I hear that expression. In that there is cause and effect. Is there cause and effect related to the come full circle expression?

"Right now I'm leaning toward believing everyone does have a circle that represents their life. I'll use Connie and me again as an example. Our circles came into contact when we met in school. Then we were turning against each other like cogs in a wheel. Our wheels stayed turning each other until she broke our marriage vows so we would never come full circle. Our circles are close, but will never touch again in any meaningful way."

"Thank God for that."

"These are just random thoughts and mean nothing. I spend more time on trying to explain to you some unconnected thoughts that I have when I'm bored. Forget it."

"When do you get these crazy thoughts?"

"When I'm driving out to a job site or coming back. Most of the times I need something to occupy my mind with. I should never have mentioned that article. Now I'm always trying to explain something that means nothing."

"Rich, at least you aren't thinking about your job and how to get ahead all the time like you did when we first became a couple. I think you are able to compartmentalize your mind and I don't see this as taking up much space."

"It doesn't really. So when are we planning this new baby?"

"Already planned and planted. I was due more than a week ago. It will be close and with the date about the same time as Rita's. That will make her two when the baby is born. Do you want a girl or a boy this time?"

"Doesn't matter. I have two boys and a girl, and two of them even have my name. Whatever we have is good with me."

"Okay, it will be a surprise like Rita was."

Samantha Jane arrived three days before Rita's second birthday. That would make birthday parties easy and fun to be combined. Corrine still was being cared for by Helen as Connie was moving up in her office and quite good at sales. She even bragged one time when we were joking around that she didn't have to shake her tits at anyone to make a sale either. I wondered as she winked at me when she said this.

We finished both highway contracts well before their due dates and we were awarded a bonus. Ken Knowles had his electrical plant up and running. We had promised him if we received a bonus, he would get some of it. He declined when it was offered. The town took over the road into the basin where we had quarried the stone that we had needed. He got paid for some of that stone when it went into the O'Donnell section of the highway.

We were a little sad when both road sections were completed as the job had been close to home. We had made a lot more money than anticipated. Also we, the corporation, were on the "A" list of contractors and that was like money in the bank. We continued to bid on projects large and small. Sometimes union and sometimes not, we bid on them anyway.

We did hospital, school and mall construction. It was while Bill Clinton was president that we had the chance to buy into a company that put down macadam. This worked well for us; up until now we were using subcontractors for the finish work on blacktop roads and parking lots. We talked about buying into a roofing concern, but decided the corporation had enough on its plate. If it was built of cement, or brick and there was excavating involved, we would bid. We still used subcontractors for all inside finish work.

These were good years and we were making a lot of money. Sam made sure that any extra funds the corporation had were put into financial vehicles to make even more money, and we didn't have to break a sweat getting it.

The country went crazy when the planes went into the twin towers. Todd Bastion, who was Troy's oldest boy, had taken ROTC in college and he immediately left for the service. My son Scotty, who was also working with Troy, almost went with him, but Troy talked him out of it. Scotty hadn't gone on to school, wanting to follow his grandfather's and my footsteps in working for the company. His happiest day was when he was old enough to operate a Cat.

Bradley, who was the most intelligent, wanted to go to an engineering school and looked at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. Corrine, four years younger than Brad, had been his constant companion. She was built a lot like my mother had been. Very thin and not particularly pretty but she made up for it with her personality.

As Brad hit puberty, he moved away from being Corrine's friend and went out with girls his own age. She was crushed. This was when he was sixteen and she was twelve. "I hate Brad. I'm never going to speak to him again. Why did he go out with that girl anyway?"

"Corrine, he is too old for you, that's all. It isn't your fault. Talk to your mother. I'm sure she went through this when she was your age."

"Okay, but she won't understand. Brad has always been my boyfriend. Besides, Mom has showed me pictures of when she was the same age as me and she had breasts already. Big ones too. I'll never have any." Corrine was crying, and it was only natural that I hug her.

"Baby, you're just a late bloomer. Some day you will grow into a lovely young lady, and have boobs and everything. The best thing for you to do is forget Brad for now. He'll be going away to school in another year, anyway. He'll be gone most of the time during those four or five years. Find a boy you like a little bit and let him be your boyfriend. You are a girl, and girls always know how. They know how to act when they lose their boyfriends as well."

Corrine giggled and her tears stopped. "Uncle Rich, you're the best. This happened to my friend Sally and she still spoke to the boy she liked, but didn't gush all over him. The boy was sorry when she moved on to someone else. I feel better already. Bradley is really too old for me anyway, and I can't expect him to wait for me to grow up."

I had for years wondered how this would turn out when I saw how close the kids were and always together. There was always the age difference so I knew it wouldn't work, but it sure could cause some pain. So far, not as much as I expected.

It seemed as if the world was speeding up, maybe because we had twenty-four hour news from the media. The family had a big discussion when Bush decided to invade Iraq forgetting all about Afghanistan. He was pulling troops out of there. The first war was legitimate, but we weren't so certain about the other. At first it looked like a cake walk when our troops invaded and there wasn't very much to stop our troops short of Baghdad. It wasn't many months before we started losing troops.

Todd Bastion was deployed to Afghanistan in 2002, but before he finished his tour he was deployed to Iraq. We lived with fear in our chests through two more tours and one extension. He came home in late 2006. He wasn't the same, being too silent and too sour. He disappeared one day and no one knew where to. As time went on we figured he was just one more casualty in the mistake that this war turned out to be. Would we ever know what or where he was?

Bradley finished high school and was still undecided about his future. I advised him. "Take a year off. Follow me around. Your grandfather has made me president of the corporation. I could use some help here." The Colorado School of Mines wasn't the attraction that it was earlier. "I do want you to go on to get a higher education, but you are only seventeen. You might find your interest coincides with what I do."

"Okay, Dad. If it is something I'd like to do, I can get all I need at the university." A year later Brad went to the state university. He could get what he needed there to work in the family business. This was located more than two hundred miles away, so we only saw him during the holidays. Summer vacations he worked as an apprentice for a corporation that was close to the university. We missed him, but he declared he wanted to get some experience there that he couldn't get at home. Brad was home for a week before he returned to the university for his senior year.

He was coming down the stairs from his room when Corrine came in. "Hey kid, do you want to hang out with me this evening?"

"No, I'm busy." She went into the kitchen where Rita and Sammy J were eating an early dinner prepared by Helen. Brad looked at me.

"What is the matter with her? I haven't been here for three years and she just blew me off."

"That is just it, you haven't seen her for three years. You must have been too busy for your childhood friend and she feels as if you have forgotten her."

"Oh crap, I haven't forgotten and I've thought about her a lot. I really would like to talk to her."

"Well stick around. I'll invite her for dinner so you will get a chance to ask her again."

"Thanks, Dad." Brad went back upstairs, which puzzled me somewhat.

I went into the kitchen. Corrine was near tears. "Damn it, I would like to go out with him? Why did I refuse? He'll never speak to me again."

"You did chop him off at the knees, but if you stick around for dinner, he may ask you again"

"Okay. Aunt Helen, what can I do to help you?"

"You could braid the girls' hair. They are going shopping for school clothes with their grandmother."

Corrine busied herself braiding hair. Brad came and stood in the doorway watching. Corrine's neck started to flush and the blush moved up to engulf her face. I looked at Corrine seeing her with open eyes. She was almost as tall as Brad and had filled out more than I realized. She was blossoming just as I had told her she would when she was twelve. She would never be as well endowed as Connie, but she was a well proportioned, handsome, almost woman.

Brad was not slim and you could see he was well muscled. The girls got up to leave. Both kissed Corrine, Brad, and then me as they ran by. I shouted after them not to spend all of Grammy's money.

The four of us sat down to dinner. Brad started asking Corrine questions, "So Corrine, do you date a lot?"

"About the same as you did when you were in high school. If I remember correctly, you dated a lot and had a new girl every few weeks. Do you date at the university?"

"Some, but not as much. I had a steady for the last two years, but we broke up at the end of this year. She is moving out to California. What are you going to be doing this coming year? You are out of high school."

"Yes, I graduated this year. Actually I'm going to university. They have a two year program on bookkeeping and office management. My grandfather is retiring in three years. Uncle Rich will be my boss and he has promised me a job when I graduate."

"That's great. I'm working in the business myself starting next June. So how about tonight? I know you said you were too busy, but there is something I want to read to you? It won't take long."

Corrine was puzzled. "What do you want to read to me?"

"Wait right here, I'll show you." Brad got up hurriedly and went into the living room. "How about 'The Little Engine That Could' or 'The Red Pony?' I used to read these to you when you were a little baby."

"Goody. We'll go up and lie on your bed like we used to when I was a little girl. I'll even snuggle up next to you and go to sleep. You were always there when I woke up too."

"Maybe this isn't such a good idea. I noticed you are a big girl now."

Speaking seriously, Corrine looking into Brad's eyes said, "Wow, you finally noticed. Let's go to the movies. I would like to see the newest Batman movie or 'The Dukes of Hazard.' You would like Daisy Duke."

"I've seen it. How about, 'The Wedding Crashers'? I haven't seen that?"

"That's good. Drive me home so I can get ready."

"Can't, unless I borrow Dad's car." Brad was looking at me when he said this. I dug out my keys and opened my wallet.

Five days later both were off to state university. Connie and Matt went with Corrine to get her settled into her dormitory. Brad had his own apartment with three other students. I drove Brad up in the company SUV. When we stopped for gas, I had a minute alone with him while Helen went inside to get us a snack. "Are you and Corrine going to be seeing each other?"

"Yes."

"You are going to respect her aren't you?"

"You mean like when we wake up in the morning?"

"Yes, I guess I mean that."

"Dad, Corrine is more mature now than I was at her age. Most likely more sensible too. We are going to see a lot of each other, but we aren't fully committed to each other yet. I'm going to be giving her all the space she needs, but I'm hoping when she is ready to commit it will be with me."

"I hope so too. I guess that will do. Should I tell the family you two are intimate?"

"I wish you wouldn't. Her mother and father will go ballistic. They think she is still a virgin. Corrine gave that away almost three years ago."

"You?"

"No. It was one time when I was home with a different girl. She was peeved when she offered it to me and I refused. At that time I considered her my sister and didn't think it right. I've since changed my mind." All this gave me much to think about. It was Connie's place to tell Corrine who her father really was, not mine.