Full Circle

Full Circle

happyhugo

Copyright © 03/31/13

Romance,  Cheating, Children,

49,287 words

Readers  score  8.02

Rich joins the Army to get an education. His girlfriend at the time informs him she is pregnant and he returns and marries her. A long distance relationship doesn’t work out. She is gone and so is his daughter. A new woman with children brings him happiness.

Chapter One

I wanted to make something of my life. I figured I would go into the armed services and get credits so I could get onto the G. I. bill when I got out. I knew I needed an education. One problem, I had a girl friend, Connie Kline, and she objected strongly to my plan. We were in love weren’t we and we needed to be together?

“I know sweetheart, but I want to go on to college. I don’t have any money to do that. I have no family now that my mom has died. I have finished high school and I do have good marks.”

“But I love you, Rich, and I can’t live without you. You can’t just go off and leave me. Let me ask my parents if they will help.”

I shook my head, knowing how they felt about me dating their daughter. Especially her mother Louise, who thought I didn’t have any prospects at all and I wasn’t nearly good enough for Connie. They had made that plain enough to me privately, just not in front of Connie.

She did ask, but she was shot down in no uncertain terms. “Connie, Rich Rumford doesn’t even have a home.  He has been living with a friend of his father’s who took pity on his mother while she was sick. We won’t say he is trash, but there is no way he can go anywhere. He’ll be working at minimum wage the rest of his life.”

Connie gave argument, but to no avail. The thing is that I could see their point. I didn’t want to leave Connie either, but if we were to have a life, I needed to get an education and the armed services were the only way I could see to get one. I signed up and had two weeks to put my affairs in order.

I will say Sam and Louise Kline did let us spend time together which surprised me. They knew we were young, that if I left now for an extended length of time, the odds were we would be too immature to handle a long distance relationship. They even let me spend time in her room when they were out for the evening, knowing Connie had been on the pill for at least three years. Her mother had made sure that Connie was well prepared to prevent a pregnancy.

Connie was young looking and I suppose emotionally immature as well, but I didn’t know it at the time. She had a woman’s body that was soft, cuddly, maybe with a few extra ounces of baby fat. She had beautiful dark brown hair, cut short. She had a sizable bosom, was meaty in the thighs, and was a very enjoyable person to be next to. 

We swore undying love to each other as I made arrangements to leave for the induction center. Her father, whom I kind of liked and I would have gotten along with under different circumstances, shook my hand when I left. Not her mother, though.

The army was rough for me at first, but I took it without a whimper. I had volunteered hadn’t I? I wrote Connie every night if I had time, and mail call would always produce a letter for me. One stretch after I had been in the service ten weeks, there was a three-day span when there wasn’t a letter for me.

I was pulled out of formation and directed to make a call to Connie Kline and it was urgent. “Rich, I’m pregnant. Please get out of the army and come home and marry me?”

This threw me for a loop. “I can’t do it at this time. What happened? I thought it was safe to have sex without you getting knocked up.”

“Rich, I went off the pill when you told me you were thinking of going into the army. I wanted your baby and I planned for you to get me pregnant. Just tell the army you can’t stay.”

We hadn’t discussed the possibility of her becoming pregnant. “Connie, it doesn’t work that way.  I signed up, which is a contract that I can’t break. It is impossible to get out.” This was a terrible mess and there wasn’t anything I could do about it. “Have you told your parents?”

“I had to. I am beginning to get fat and have been throwing up every morning. “Please, can’t you come home?”

“After basic I’ll have a few days off. I’ll come home then and we can get married. I’ll have to come right back. We won’t even have time for a honeymoon.” 

“Rich, it isn’t fair. They can’t do this to you.”

“Yes they can and I can’t do anything about it. Connie why didn’t you ask me about this before you went off the pill?”

“I didn’t know you can’t get out once you get in. It’s just a job isn’t it?”

“It is more than that. I can get a few days in six weeks.  Is your father there?”

“Yes.”

“Let me speak to him, please.” Connie was sobbing and I heard her tell her father I wouldn’t come home. I explained how it was when he came on the line. I declared it wasn’t because I wouldn’t come home, it was because I couldn’t. He understood. He didn’t have very much to say about our situation. I could hear Connie’s mother screaming orders and comments in the background.

“Connie, I’ll call you back this evening. I have to get back to my unit.  I want to talk to the chaplain before I call you and see what my options are. I’ll call you this evening.  I love you.” Connie hung up.  I realized she had not professed any love for me before the phone clicked. What a mess!

I was in a funk the rest of the day.  I found out I had to wait until after basic training was over before I could make Connie my wife.  Needless to say things were strained between us and I didn’t hear “I love you” too many times in the following weeks.  It was hard not to blame Connie, but damn it, she had to take some blame for the situation. She should take it all, but I didn’t go there.

I threw myself into the training, just to keep my mind off what was going on at home. I did make it home at the completion of basic training. I had eleven days to get married and to assure my new bride I still loved her. It was difficult with her mother blaming me for everything. I finally asked the person I had stayed with after my mother’s death if I could use my old room for a few days. He welcomed both me and my bride.

Connie was my dependent now and I told her she would be receiving an allotment as my wife.  She wasn’t happy with how much she would be getting so I said I would send as much more of my pay as I could every month.

Her personality had changed too. Before I decided to make the army my career, she had been happy and bubbly. Now it seemed as if all she did was whine. She saw her friends and some were off to college or had jobs. Their lives were much better than Connie’s could ever be and she envied them their freedom. This made us argue even more. “Connie, I’ll be home for good in twenty more months. Four months of my hitch have gone by already.”

“But I’m fat and getting fatter.” Sometimes I didn’t feel sorry for her. I felt sorry for myself. My life had never been a happy one, but I had hopes that someday it would be.  As they say, hope springs eternal.

When I returned to the service I had little hope remaining for a better or happier life.  At least I didn’t have to listen to her mother berate me any longer.  Even Connie’s father got sick of listening to his wife. 

“Shut to hell up, Louise. You are making a bad situation worse.”  I had a feeling Connie would become more like her mother.  I hadn’t realized this when I was just dating her.  My eyes were open now. I began to think I might make the service my career.

The United States was in a period of peace. Our troops were deployed all over the world. When I had a chance, I transferred to the engineers and shortly thereafter I had orders for Germany.  I was going to be there for at least a year. Connie was due to birth our baby in two months and I managed another three days at home before leaving. It wasn’t a happy time. 

Connie was uncomfortable and it seemed all she did was whine or cry. It was planned that eventually she and the baby would join me in Germany. I was confident that if I had her with me we would fall in love like we were before she got pregnant.

Connie birthed a beautiful baby girl and we named her Corrine.  I went about exploring what it would take to bring both to Germany to live with me.  I was surprised when she seemed cool to the idea now, but I didn’t make too much of it. It would take a while to organize and it would be costly.

I did get a letter once a week and at least once a month a snapshot of Corrine. For Christmas she sent me a video tape of her and Corrine. I wore it out watching my wife and child. That lasted until the baby was two months old, and by then I had to beg to see a picture so I could track Corrine as she developed.

I received a letter in the middle of January that her father and mother were divorcing. I called Connie for details. “Rich, you know Mom is loud and opinionated. Dad has always let her do and say anything she wanted to. For some reason he says he can’t live with her any longer and has moved out of the house. Mom told him good riddance and has filed for a divorce.  She is going to take him for all she can. He now lives in a cheap one bedroom apartment.”

“You didn’t see this coming?”

“Not at all. Dad has never said too much, just going to work every day and coming home at night. He is an accountant as you know.  He has given Mom a good comfortable life, but she never has been too thrilled with the way he provided for her. I don’t believe they were particularly happy. Mom expected a lot and she wasn’t too terribly thankful. Dad for a long time went on doing his duty, but being an accountant isn’t too exciting, I guess.  Maybe it was a mid-life crisis for him.”

“So you and your mom must be living in the house. Do you see your dad at all?”

“Sometimes I leave Corrine with him when Mom and I go out in the evening.”

“You go out in the evening? I didn’t know that.”

“Of course I do. You don’t expect me to stay home and care for the baby all of the time do you?”

“I never gave it any thought.  I suppose I thought you must. Do you ever go out alone?”

“I go out once a week with some of our old classmates for dinner and sometimes for a drink. You aren’t here, and I have to have some fun.” Connie was getting a little belligerent.  Was it from guilt? I dropped the subject and finally said goodbye. At least Connie wasn’t whining any longer, but then I didn’t feel as close to her as I did before either.

Two months later the battalion received orders to go out to one of the former USSR states to build an airport for our government.  I couldn’t pronounce the name of the country, but it ended in “stan.” It involved a treaty that would benefit both governments.  I had ten days stateside, and I decided to surprise my wife. I would finally get to see my child. She would be six months old now.

I reached town when it was just a little late for the evening meal. I stopped into a small restaurant. My father-in-law was sitting in a booth. I was surprised and he was too when I slid into the seat across from him.  “Hi Sam, long time.”

“By God, it’s Rich. What are you doing here?  I didn’t know you were coming home.  Are you out of the service?”

“No, not yet.  I have a few months more to go. I’m being transferred and will be gone until my stint is up.”

“How did you get home?”

“I had a chance to grab a seat on an Air Force transport. I have seven days before I have to report back in Germany.  I hear you are living by yourself now.”

“I am. I found out Louise had a long-term friend so I moved out.  She doesn’t like it and she isn’t getting as much from me as she expected. I’m living poor, but I don’t really have to. Keep that under your hat.  I took two years to set it up. I knew when I left her she would go after more than her share of the assets.  I have made sure some of them are where she can’t get her cheating hands on them.  She will get the house, though.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  I’m fine and healthier than I have been for several years.  I’m a lot happier too.”

“Is Connie home?  I want to see my baby.”

“I don’t think so, not tonight anyway. Louise usually watches Corrine on Wednesdays.  Connie will be out with friends tonight.  It is Louise’s night to howl on Thursday, and both go out together on Friday and I take care of the baby.”

“Any idea where I can find Connie?”

Sam was silent and then said, “Let’s see; right now she would be having drinks at The Pub.  She has a card that says she is old enough to drink.”

“Does she drink with anyone special or just hang out with a group?”

Sam peered across at me. “Maybe special to her, but not to you. Do you remember a Matt Forbes?  I think he must be a couple years older than Connie.  His father is owner of Forbes Ford.”

“I remember him slightly.  What time will Connie be coming home?”

“Seven.”

“Seven? It is almost seven now.”

“Seven tomorrow morning.  She sleeps over.”  He paused before going on. “Rich, I hate that I have to be the one to tell you this.  How Connie has been behaving is one of the reasons I moved out on my wife.  Louise condones this and in fact I believe she encourages it.”

I didn’t say anything because I was thinking.  It came to me that this was the reason Connie hadn’t wanted to move to Germany and be with me. Well I’d work through this the same way I always did with the disappointments that came into my life. “Do you have a spare bed I can sleep in tonight?”

“I have a big soft couch in front of the TV. It’s yours to use if you want. You’re not going to confront Connie tonight are you?”

“No. Do you still speak to Louise?  What I mean … I thought I would like to have you with me when I meet Connie. She evidently has breakfast at home with Corrine. Right?”

“You got it. I’ll call work and leave a message that I won’t be in tomorrow.”

“Thanks Sam, I appreciate it.”

We didn’t talk about my wife … or his for that matter. He asked me about what it was like being in the service. He was interested in how I was trained.  “I don’t even know what you do.”

“I’m a heavy equipment operator in an engineer battalion. I can run any big earth mover or grader. I am qualified to operate a Euclid belly dump, although I don’t care for it much.”

“What’s a belly dump?”

“It’s a machine to move dirt. If you have land with high spots and low spots it is the fastest way to move dirt from one place to another. It has a tractor to pull the machine. It is like a big scoop and dumper that loads material and dumps it wherever you want it. It saves picking it up and loading it with a shovel onto a truck and then going some place to dump the truck. It is pretty much automatic and saves a lot of time.”

“Sounds like you’re having fun.”

I grinned, “Not always. We’ll be working in 100 degree heat and it is dusty as hell. Sometime if you go by a construction sight somewhere they are building a road, stop and watch. It is amazing.”

“Any future for you in civilian life in what you are learning in the service?”

“I hope so. There are all kinds of applications.  Strip mining uses the same equipment. Actually any large construction operation utilizes all the ones I am familiar with.  I’m doing more to look to the future too.  I’m taking classes in business management from a correspondence school.  I study when I’m not working.”

“You don’t spend time in a bar?”

“No. There are hundreds of soldiers that have acquired the habit, but I’m not one of them. As long as they can make formation in the morning they are happy. I thought for awhile I might make the service a career, but I have changed my mind.”

“You seem pretty focused to me.”

“I suppose I am. I have had a poor start in life. If it is going to change, then it is me who has to make the change. I know Connie is your daughter, but she has held me back some. I’ll face that in the morning.  I’ll be arranging for an attorney as soon as possible.”

Sam understood. “I hate the thought of a divorce, but when that is the only option you should do it as soon as possible.  I should have divorced Louise years ago, and I kept thinking our marriage would get better. I thought she would change, but she never did. When I realized this, I took the steps. I have three months to go and then I’m a free man.”

“It takes six months to get a divorce?”

“In your circumstances you might try to have the divorce moved up. I would say you had grounds.”

“Do you know any divorce lawyers?”

“Try to get Sarah Hazelton, whom I know well.  She is the best in town. She was tied up when I needed an attorney, but she may be free now. Use my name. It may help.”

“Sam, why are you helping me? This might get nasty.”

“Hey, I love my daughter, but she is going to have to learn not to listen to Louise. She never should have gotten pregnant for the reason she did. A baby should be planned. I feel you have been the victim here. Rich, I promise I will take care of the baby no matter what Connie does or doesn’t do.”

“Thanks Sam. Maybe some day I can give you a hand.”

I did sleep and Sam woke me up to take a shower and shave.  We got into Sam’s car and drove to his former home.  He produced a key and we walked into the kitchen.  Sam went about putting coffee on.  It was half past six when Louise came down the stairs.

She spotted him first. “What are you doing here, Sam?” He just indicated with his head to me sitting off to one side. Louise stared at me. She didn’t say anything.  I knew she was thinking furiously, though. “Why’d you bring him here?”

“I could have sent him over to Matt Forbes’ house last night. I figured it would be better to tackle it this morning.”

“Let me call Connie. She should know what to expect.”

“No, you sit. The only reason you want to call her is to make sure she takes a shower before facing her husband. I’ll pour coffee, and you had better sit down and drink it.”

“It’s my house. I’ll call anyone I want to.”

“It isn’t yours yet. Three months more and I won’t set foot in it.  Sit.”  My coffee cup was empty so I got up to pour coffee.  Louise looked me over. She saw some changes in my physique.  I had been tall, but ultra thin. Now though, I had bulked up and was tan as an Indian. I had the regulation haircut and I suppose I was a little intimidating. So be it.

I set a cup of coffee before Louise and she glared at me. “There you go, Mother Kline.  Sam does make good coffee. Better than what I am used to. You have been well, I hope. Connie wrote me that you two were getting divorced. That’s sad. Ordinarily I don’t believe in divorce, but sometimes it is for the best. When Connie arrives, would you go with Sam and he will buy you breakfast?”

“I’ll stay. You have no right to tell me what to do.”

“No, I guess I don’t. I’ll ask Connie to tell you.  She and I need some alone time. I need her to show me my daughter.  Corrine is six months old and I haven’t met her yet.”

“I can show her to you.”

“No, I think it is up to the mother to show their baby to the father. We’ll wait.” We sat quietly, just glancing at the clock. It was five after seven when we heard a car stop in the street out front. I watched through the kitchen window as the couple in the car kissed. Connie got out laughing and shook her breasts at the driver.  This was something she used to do with me, so her habits hadn’t changed that much.

Connie had slimmed down since I saw her last. She was still more than well endowed with breasts, but she must have worked hard to get rid of the extra pounds she had put on while carrying the baby. I could tell her hips and legs had shrunk as well.

She came in, saw her father and said before entering the kitchen, “Dad, wait ten minutes and then pour me coffee. I have to take a shower.”  She looked in and saw her mother sitting at the table with a scared look on her face. She glanced at her father who had an amused look on his. Then she realized there was someone else present and she faced my way.

“Good morning, sweetheart. It has been months since I saw you last. You’re looking lovely today. Do you have a kiss for your husband? I saw someone else get one a few minutes ago. Do you have any left?”  

A look of horror crossed her features. “Rich. Oh my God, you’re supposed to be in Germany.”

“I’m on vacation Connie, and I was able to catch a flight home to see my wife and baby. I wanted to surprise you, but I seem to be the one who is surprised. Send your parents off to breakfast and we’ll talk.”

I could see Connie had matured in the last few months, just as I had. “Mom, Dad, do as Rich says. He and I do have to talk and we might as well get it over with.” We waited for Louise and Sam to leave. Louise wanted a minute to talk to Connie, but was just waved off.

Connie poured coffee.  I watched her. The last time I had seen her, she was seven months pregnant. Her breasts were fuller after having the baby, but she was prettier than I remembered. She was bordering on being beautiful.
 
“Rich, I’m sorry you had to see me kiss Matt. I have to tell you I have been kissing him a lot lately. More than kissing too. It is so difficult to deal with things when your husband is so far away.

“Dad thinks I am a slut and Mom keeps telling me I deserve to have a better life than being married to you. My big mistake was having a baby when I did and I went about it the wrong way by thinking it would keep you with me. But then I love Corrine more than anything. I was going to tell you about Matt and me the first time I saw you.

“I did think I would have time to be clean when I met you and I’m sorry I’m not. To be honest, I have just returned from a night of wonderful sex with someone I have come to love. It has happened and I can’t change how I feel about Matt. If I hadn’t got pregnant we never would have married and I would be free to follow my heart.”

“You swore your heart was mine when we married. You made a vow to love me forever and be faithful.”

“I admit I broke all of that and have been unfaithful. Face it, Rich I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can do about it.”

“Connie, I haven’t seen our baby yet. Tell me if Corrine is going to be a part of my life.”

“No, she is not.”

I stared at her not believing what I was hearing. I was being rejected out of hand. I was supporting both Connie and Corrine with nothing to show for it. I put it to her. “I get nothing for what I’m having taken out of my pay every month then?”

“Rich, I need to live and the baby needs stuff. Can’t we continue as we are for awhile longer? It hasn’t hurt you.  You don’t have to spend much money while you are in the service.”

“In other words I’m screwed over no matter what I do? I have a wife who is screwing some well-to-do bastard who goes around seducing married women. I have a kid that I wasn’t prepared for and I have to support you both. I have never thought of revenge, but it would seem called for in this instance.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can go into court and charge you with adultery. That should take care of you. I doubt I can get custody of my child, but her mother will always be known as a slut. I think I can get witnesses to the fact that you are sleeping over in another man’s house while I am off protecting my country. I wonder if when the story gets out, how many Fords Forbes will lose sales on.”

“You wouldn’t?” 

“Try me.”

“Why?”

“Connie, look at me. My life has been shitty so far. I lost both of my parents at an early age, but I continued on in my studies. Finally I find someone who thinks she loves me and whom I love dearly. I put in place a plan to give her everything she wants out of life, but she goes and screws it all up because she is too impatient and tries to manipulate the system.

“When she finds she can’t do that, she whines about it and goes out and spreads her legs, never thinking about the one who loved her.  Does that about sum it up?” Connie was looking guilty and defiant at the same time.

“You know, I see this all the time with the soldiers I work with. They all handle it differently.  Some of them go home and kill the boy friend. Others come home and kill their wife and sometimes their kids as well. I know of two soldiers who took themselves out, because they hurt that badly.

“I wouldn’t do any of those things, but I might name you and your adulterous lover for what you are. I pity Forbes because he was enticed into your clutches the same way I was. I’m paying for loving you and he will too. He just doesn’t know how much yet.”

“Rich, I don’t know you when you are like this. I can understand that you are bitter, but I will do everything in my power to stop you from blackening my name … Matt’s name too. Remember that.”

“Okay, we know about where we stand. I’m going to see a lawyer this afternoon.You can expect divorce papers shortly.  One of my vacation days is most gone already. May I see my daughter? I can hear her fussing.”

“No you can’t. I’m going to prevent you from seeing her if I can. Why don’t you leave and don’t come back. The only time I want to see you, is if we have to meet in divorce court.”

“I guess that is it for us. Connie, I wish I had never met you. You are a beautiful person outside, even if you are rotten inside.” I walked out the door. Sam and Louise were just pulling in.

Louise jumped out of her car as Sam got into the one he was driving as she headed into the house. “How did it go, Rich?”

“I’m going for a divorce, Sam. That makes me think I’m about to get screwed again. Point me to that law office if you will.”

Sam knew this Sarah Hazelton. She was a pleasant faced woman of fifty-five, Sam’s age. He and she had gone together at one time. “Sarah, my daughter is married to Rich Rumford here. They have been married short of a year. Rich joined the military and eventually planned to get married.

“Two months after Rich went into the service. Connie came to us and told us Rich needed to marry her as she was pregnant. He came home as soon a he could to get things settled. He wasn’t too thrilled with the idea, but Louise and I warned him that he had better. We found out Connie had gotten pregnant on purpose so Rich would marry her, thinking this would get him out of the army.

“Of course things don’t work that way as his duty was to the military, not to some person who wanted him home. Louise and I practically forced him into marrying her. She has had the baby, a cute little girl. Rich hasn’t even seen her. This is the first time he has been home since she was born, and now Connie won’t let him see her. She says she will prevent him from ever seeing the baby.

“There is more. Connie has been going out and she is screwing around with another man. Louise and I take care of the baby when she stays over at the man’s house.

 “Additionally, all of the time since Rich was married he has been sending Connie an allotment as his wife, and as soon as the baby was born, she got support for the child. He surprised her by coming home last night and has found out what his wife is. He confronted her this morning. He needs a divorce.”

“Sam, why are you so involved?”

“Because, Sarah, Connie is beginning to act just like her mother and God forbid Rich has to go through what I have had to.”

“Okay Sam, I don’t usually let anyone get involved except the principal who is seeking the divorce. Why don’t you go out and sit in the waiting room. I’ll be asking Rich questions and that will let me decide how to proceed.” It took me almost two hours to repeat what Sam had told Sarah. She asked questions, and as soon as I answered one, she asked another. 

I even repeated, word for word the best I could, what I had said to Connie this morning. I was being interrogated, but when she finished, I read on her face that Sarah had something in mind to lighten my burden.

“Sam, come back in for a moment. Tell me just what Louise said to Rich when he came home just before the two had the marriage ceremony.”

“Louise threatened to have him locked up and kept there so he couldn’t get back to his base on time. Why does this make any difference?”

“How about if the marriage was dissolved entirely? How would you feel about that?  But then it might be a little difficult for Connie, having a child and never having been married.”

“How can that be? I was at the wedding.”

“I’m talking annulment. First Connie fraudulently got Rich to marry her by getting pregnant on purpose without his consent. He knew this would destroy his future so he would have avoided making her pregnant. Louise, and maybe you, threatened him if he didn’t marry her. Two of the conditions allowed to grant an annulment are fraud and force. I think this will fly, but if it doesn’t then we can still go for a divorce.”

“Is that possible?” 

“Anything is possible. Rich still might have to pay child support. That would be up to the judge who acts on the petition. He won’t have to pay alimony or treat Connie as a dependent. Annulments are most usually retroactive so Rich would be free of her. As far as the baby is concerned, he doesn’t have any great desire to father her, but is willing do his duty if it is required.

“Rich, come back here tomorrow afternoon. I’ll have all of the paperwork ready for your signature. That will be about all you will have to do and I can do the rest through depositions. I might have to send you some paperwork for your signature, but we will know by then if we will be successful. Go somewhere and relax. Hell, go get drunk if you want to.”

I laughed, “I don’t drink. Actually I won’t be of legal age for another year and half.”

“Oh, to be that young again.” Sarah waved us out.

When we arrived back at Sam’s apartment, a man stepped out of a car that was parked at the curb. “Richard Rumford, do you currently reside in Germany while serving in the military?”

“I do.” I knew what was coming. Connie had solidified her intent to keep me away from Corrine. This was a restraining order warning me that I couldn’t go anywhere near Connie and especially have nothing to do with an infant, named Corrine Rumford. I accepted the order and went into the apartment. “What are you going to do about that?”

“Nothing. I am going to call Sarah though, to inform her of this. I had no intention of pushing to see Corrine. She may soon be out of my life anyway. This order is for six months. When I get out of the service in another year, I don’t plan on settling here.”

“Rich, I want to keep in touch with you so let me know where you land. I may just move to the same place. Louise will be out of my life and I assume Connie won’t want me around. She might even hate me, I don’t know. She did you wrong and even if she is my daughter I can’t live with something like that.”

“Thanks, Sam, I appreciate you befriending me.”

“I’m thanking you as well. I need a friend as much as you do. I’m in an unexciting job. My marriage has gone south after twenty-five years. I’m getting on toward fifty-five, which sucks. I haven’t been happy at all since I found out that Louise was stepping out on me and has been for several years.

“The thing is, I feel better right now than I did a year ago. I finally got me some balls and dumped her so that has perked me up. I’m probably better off than you. You are stuck in the military and can’t see to things when they need it.”

“Whoa, Sam, I wanted the military for a reason and it is paying off.  I like what I’m doing and I am studying all the time. When I get out, I will have completed some of my associate’s degree in business management. I think I can complete it when I get back to the States. Connie has been a problem, but you are helping me get through that. I’m doing okay, and as I say, I needed a friend, and that’s what you are.”

“Where are you locating when you get released?”

“Not sure yet.  One of the truck drivers in my battalion is from somewhere in the Northwest United States, this side of the Tetons. Her family owns a construction company, building roads, etc. From what I gather their equipment isn’t as big as what I have been using, but I could downsize if need be.”

“How come he is in the army if his family is involved in construction?”

“I don’t know. Besides, the driver isn’t a he. I really know nothing about her. I think she mentioned she has two kids.  She has their pictures taped to the dashboard of her vehicle. She is a tough one. You ought to hear her when some guy comes onto her. I sometimes draw her for transport and I don’t see her other than that.”

“Find out more about her family would you? Maybe they need an accountant. Connie isn’t going to be happy with me for siding with you, and Louise is out of my life.”

“I will if she is posted to the same place I am. Let’s get some sleep. Divorcing an unfaithful wife is tiring.”

“You got that right.”

My appointment with Sarah was in the afternoon. She called Sam’s apartment at nine as we were just leaving for a late breakfast. She wanted to talk to me. “Rich, I contacted the court and they have a clerk available to take your deposition. This will make everything legal and I believe I have drawn a judge who is fair. I think the annulment will go through without too big a hassle. 

“Anyway, there will be no problem with your returning to your battalion in Germany. Can you be at the courthouse at eleven this morning?”

“Yes, I can.  I’ll see you there.” Sam said he would go along and back me up if he was needed. It turned out to be a good move, because he did have to answer a question about what was said when I was coerced into marrying Connie.

“Rich, you are free to go back to your unit at anytime. Everything is in my hands and I have all the facts I need.”

“Good, my only friend here is Sam and we have made some plans to get together when I am released from the service. The people who I stayed with after my parents died have moved from town so I won’t be seeing them. With the restraining order in place, I’d just as soon leave now so I won’t inadvertently go against it. Better to leave town.”

“Wise move.”

When we reached his apartment, I made sure Sam had my address so he could write to me. I may have wanted a divorce, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t still interested in both Connie and Corrine. In the back of my mind if I had seen my daughter, I might have made different choices concerning her. I also knew I would be far away and there wasn’t much I could do until I got out of the military. It was better to leave it for a later date.

I looked at my hand and realized that I still wore my wedding ring. I borrowed a side cutter from Sam’s tool box and after removing the ring I cut a piece out of it. I threw the little section away.  Never again would it be a full circle. I put the broken ring into an envelope with Connie’s address on it and dropped it into the mail box.

Chapter Two

I shortened my time in my home town by a few days. It was a good thing because my flight to Germany was delayed by three days. I made it back just as the unit fell out for the morning formation.

We were busy getting ready to move.  Everything had to be packed up. Crates had to be built to pack the small items such as hand tools and equipment. We were moving to an area where there were no quarters. This was raw land and rough. However the prevailing winds would make a great landing strip extending the length of the valley. We had to construct housing, not only for the personnel, but buildings for the maintenance compound as well.

It was going to take some work getting set up. The closest airport was sixty miles away; that was the best we could do to land the basic equipment to build our own complex. We had to go over a mountain range by cart track to the area the U. S. had acquired by treaty. At that airport we flew in tractors and trucks to load our earth movers, just constructing enough of a road to get us over the mountains.

It took two weeks of road building to reach the area for our landing strip. It then took ten more days to construct a strip where we could land our planes carrying the equipment to construct our compound. Eventually we would have Quonset huts to live in, but for now it was tent city. Armies all over the world had done this for centuries and we were no different.

Personnel were thrown together more than ever. Male and female soldiers lived close, and with no facilities to spend free time, we all became familiar with each other. Also there was a certain camaraderie that we enjoyed in building something new. We had twenty female soldiers in the truck company that moved men and equipment around. I was a heavy equipment operator and oftentimes as much as three miles from my machine.

I drew Helen Clark to transport me occasionally in the first weeks. It took me a month before I realized it was always she who appeared to my call for transport.

I asked about it. “Rich, us female soldiers have our favorite men we like to be around. You are mine, mainly because you never hit on me. Believe me, the women in any outfit get less than the respect they deserve. Ask any of us how it is. The officers are the worst for harassment. We are here doing a job and we shouldn’t have to deal with being away from our family and this as well.”

“You’re safe with me. I have my own problems and don’t need any new complications.”

“Thanks. I have some problems too. I’m just waiting for my stint to end and then I can get out and go on with my life.”

“Same here.” I didn’t say more or ask her what her problems were. We went on to discuss the gossip that was making the rounds of the battalion. 

It was morning, eleven weeks since I had made the trip home and learned of Connie’s being unfaithful.

The soldier who handled the mail stopped me just as I was getting into Helen Clark's vehicle to be driven to my machine. “Rumford, I have a certified letter for you. I need your signature.” I signed and got into the truck. I turned the legal sized letter over and over before opening it.

“Bad news,” Helen asked?

“Not sure. Do you mind if I look at it before you move?”

“Of course not. Do you want me to get out so you can read it without me present?”

“No, just bear with me a moment.”

I opened the letter and saw it was from Sarah Hazelton, my attorney. There were four sheets of official papers. I skimmed the first short one which was a recap of what the other three contained. 

Rich, the annulment went through as applied for. Connie Rumford is now Connie Kline taking her maiden name again as she is not your wife now and never has been. You may remove her as a dependent and the allotment will cease. However, the child’s allotment for Corrine Rumford will stay in force until such time as it comes before family services for review. I will handle this matter if you direct me to. Get on with your life and I wish you a long and happy one.

Sarah Hazelton, Attorney.

I didn’t say anything, just sitting with the papers in my hands. “Are you okay?”

I handed the sheet to Helen. “Read this if you want to. It should tell you everything that has happened to me recently. I don’t know how I feel about it, but now maybe I can get on with my life and find some happiness. Some day I’ll tell you all about my life if you are interested.”

“I would be interested. We can find some time when we aren’t as busy as we are right now. Let’s get to work.” I was thankful Helen didn’t push to find out more at this time.

It was two days later that I received a letter from Sam. I read. “God Rich, I have to get out of this town. Louise is making my life hell. I have a week to go before my divorce is final. She is blaming me for you having your marriage from Connie annulled. 

“Connie isn’t having much luck convincing Matt Forbes that he needs her for a wife. The baby seems to be the problem. Louise of course feels she has to support Connie now that her allotment is being cut off. Of course all Louise has to live on is what she gets from me in the settlement. I am wondering if she and her lover will make a go of it.  I hear that has cooled off some.”

As it was, Helen transported me the next morning. “Helen, you said one time your father and brothers ran a construction company. They wouldn’t need an accountant would they?”

“They might. Do you know of one?”

“Yeah, Sam Kline is the person’s name. He was my father-in-law before my marriage was annulled. He is caught up in my mess and wants to find a job as far from his ex-wife and daughter as possible. If you would, may I have your father’s address so he can look into applying for a position with his company?”

“I take it you get along with him?”

“I do. He helped me find an attorney and gave a deposition that verified some facts that led to the annulment. I consider him my friend. In fact, he is about my only friend back stateside.”

“I’ll write my family. I should know in ten days. That means you would be visiting him sometimes if he found work with the company doesn’t it?” She smiled at me and it was the first ray of sunshine to warm me since I had joined the military.

“If he should get work, I plan to join him in the same area.”

“I would hope you would. If my father doesn’t have a place for you, he would know some firm that would hire you. When are you going home anyway?”

“June tenth. My muster out date in the States is July first. When are you being released?”

“I’m before you. I get out around the twenty-fifth of June. I might wait and we can travel together.” 

“That would be nice. I don’t imagine your husband would approve.”

“Rich, I’m a widow. I’m single and have been for two years. My husband worked from home as a writer. It wasn’t paying enough so I joined the army four years ago while he cared for our two sons. We were doing so well too, but two years after I joined, he was killed in an accident. My mom has been raising my two boys.” She hesitated before continuing, “Before you even think about getting into a relationship with me, remember, I’m six years older than you are.”

I laughed. “That thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but now that it has, I’ll examine what it would be like to be in a relationship with you and make a determination.”

“Oh my God, I opened my mouth when I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry, forget I said anything.”

I smiled into her red face. “As if I could now. Thanks.”

Helen was quiet and then looked at me and chuckled. “Go ahead then and think about it. I don’t think I will mind at all.”

We didn’t make any overt moves toward each other. Whenever we were in the same vehicle though, we found ways to pass on to the other some tidbit of what our previous lives were like.

At some point, the question finally came from her that I knew would. “Rich, why didn’t you fight for your daughter?  Why didn’t you insist that you at least see her? There is nothing like seeing and holding a baby. She is yours and you created her. Explain to me if you can.”

“Helen, maybe my thinking is all off, but here is my situation. I’m alone. I have no family to take care of her even if I gained custody. I know if I saw her and held her, I would do something that would destroy me. I probably would have gone AWOL or done something physical to land me in trouble. As it was, Connie had a restraining order put on me. 

“I’ve continued to pay support and willingly. That is the best I can do for Corrine and for myself at this time. Someday I want her to know that although I may not be in her life, I care for her.”

“Put that way it makes sense. Someday we will bring her into our life.”

“It sounds as if you are planning a life with me.”

“I want a shot at it.”

We danced around each other with every day bringing us closer to the end of our military service and also closer to each other. Sam kept me abreast of what was going on at home. Louise lost her lover. Sam was tickled over that, especially since the man left just three days after Sam and Louise’s divorce became final. She begged for reconsideration, but Sam didn’t listen. 

The next day he quit the firm he had worked at for twenty-five years and headed north to where there was a job waiting for him. Helen had put in a good word, using me for a reference. Sam applied over the phone and had the position confirmed before he left home.

For Helen and me, we were counting days. April came and then May. On the fifteenth of the month, she and I and several others of the battalion construction crew were ordered back to Germany. Ah, towns and permanent quarters again … you know, civilization! We could now escape to a place and be alone for a few hours.

Helen said she would meet me in a little Italian restaurant named, Ono Picetties’s. It served both Italian and German cuisine. “I’ll have a flower in my hair so you can recognize me.” She giggled at her humorous remark.

I was a little late. I had worn a light jacket over a white shirt and grey slacks. Nothing special, but at least they were civilian clothes.

It was a good thing that Helen did have a flower in her hair. I had to look twice to identify her sitting at a small table in the dining room. I realized it was the soldier who had been driving me around. Helen stood as I approached. She had a black dress on that came just below her knees. It was tight over her breasts and belted at the waist. Then it flared out so her legs could move easily when dancing. That was my first thought anyway.

Her hair was short, of course, to conform to military specifications. Her makeup was light, but she had taken time to pluck her eyebrows. They were the same light brown shade as her hair. Being out in the open so much and tanned, her eyebrows were almost invisible. She might have applied a little blush to her cheeks and just a little color to her lips.

I was almost speechless. “You are beautiful!” My glance traveled down the length of her, pausing at her breasts. They had never stood out under her army attire, but now they were there to notice. She turned around so I could look at the whole woman. Not one ounce of extra weight was on her frame.  Lean and mean came to mind. “If you are wearing your man-catching clothes, consider me caught.”

“Thanks Rich, this is the effect I wanted. You look pretty damned good yourself. My heart is fluttering a little and I’m so excited, I must sit down. I don’t think I can stand any longer.”

We ordered Italian pasta with German sausage to go with it. While waiting, I reached across the table and held her hand, which brought smiles to her face. We had beer for a beverage. Only a little for me as I wanted my wits about me.  I didn’t want to make any wrong moves at this point in a new relationship. We had a decadent chocolate confection for dessert.

When leaving, we noticed a little park across from the restaurant and walked hand in hand to a bench. I sat with my arm comfortably over her shoulders. “Rich, if we are back in time to fall into formation tomorrow morning we could find a place to sleep off base tonight.”

“Would you like to?”

“I very much would like to.”

“Let’s see if we can find an inn then. Do you know of any?”

“I asked a couple of the girls who go out sometimes. There is one that will take us even though we don’t have any luggage. After all this is a military town. I’ll just pretend I’m one of those girls. I believe I have everything we need.  That is why the enormous handbag.”

We made love immediately on securing the room. It had been twenty-one months since I had been with my wife. It was at least three years for Helen unless she had sex with someone when she was home to see her children and her husband's funeral. It didn’t matter. I was comfortable either way. We then lay on the bed and talked. I told her most everything about my life. I shared how I felt when I lost my mother and was alone in the world.

Helen had queried me about my time married with Connie over the past few months while driving me back and forth to my equipment. Helen knew that part about my life already. We discussed what we wanted to happen in the future. She had missed much of her two boys growing up to date and now wanted to be with them the rest of their young life. “They need a father too. Are you in any way interested?”

“As long as the mother comes with them, I most certainly am. Just as soon as we get mustered out, I’ll go along with you to meet your family. I am going anyway as I want to see Sam.”

It wasn’t too many days before we were headed for the States. There were twelve of us in the same unit. We all got out of the service a couple of weeks early. I was still in the Army Reserve, but the world looked at peace, so I wasn’t too worried about being re-activated.

“Rich do you want to stop in your hometown and look up your child and see your former wife?”

“No, there is just sadness there. I’ll come back and visit my parents’ graves someday. The graves are in perpetual care, so it isn’t necessary at this time.”

“Good, I’m anxious to see my sons.”

There was a huge homecoming for Helen attended by most of the Bastion family. Her husband’s family, the Clarks, were there as well. Helen had called ahead when to expect her. We could do this as I had purchased a five-year-old Chevy wagon. We had spent one night on the road. I mentioned that I might not be welcomed. “You will be, I promise.  You’ll see.”

Sam, who now worked for the Bastions, was there of course to greet me. God, it was good to see him. He grabbed me and gave me a hug. I suspected he was somewhat lonely. All of this time, I kept my eyes on Helen. Her two sons held back from her at first. It was as if they didn’t know their mom. This soon changed as she hugged them. “How long are you home for this time, Mommy?”

“I’m home for good, Scotty. Brad, how you have grown. You’re getting to be quite the young man. Oh, I love you both.” There were happy tears streaming down her face.

Sam led me off to the side, knowing I didn’t want to intrude on Helen’s homecoming. I thought back to when I was married to Connie. At the moment I regretted that we weren’t together and wished I was reconnecting with family like Helen was doing. Then I remembered what had transpired in the last two years. All in all, I believe I was happier now than I had at any time during that period.

Sam had news.  “Connie was married last weekend. She invited me to attend, but Louise was going to be there. I begged off, saying I would see her in a couple of weeks.”

“Who did she marry? Matt Forbes?”

“Yes. He held off getting married for a year, but he finally popped the question. Some of it may have to do with Corrine. Connie says Matt adores her now that she is old enough to have some personality. She did ask me if I thought you would let Matt adopt Corrine. I told her I had no idea and hadn’t seen you. She is going to track you down. I never told her that we were still friends and close.”

“Are you regularly in contact with Connie?”

“Yes, I have kept in touch and we talk on the phone at least once a month. I am pretty disgusted with her over how she treated you, but I do love her.”

“That’s good Sam. I’m glad you are not estranged from Connie. You know, I think I’ll call Sarah Hazelton and have Matt Forbes checked out. If it looks as if he would be good for Corrine as a father, I won’t object. It is too late for me to be the kid’s father and it would be a long-distance relationship at best. I want the child to grow up and have a good life.”

“That might be the way to go. Hey, you are going to live with me aren’t you? I purchased a bungalow and it has two bedrooms. There is plenty of room for the two of us.”

“That will be fine for awhile. I intend to date Helen. We have become close and when she gets settled here at home, we may start a committed relationship with the idea of getting married. She wants a father figure for her two boys and I want her.”

“They are great kids. I have been spending some time with them. Their two uncles have kids and it is a close family. The whole family gets together all the time. Helen is the only one who is single and you would fit right in if you two do get married.”

Helen motioned me over to meet her family. She had two brothers, Etienne, who was called Steve, and Troy, Troy being the oldest. They were aged twenty-eight and thirty-one and each had two kids. Her father and mother, Robert and Rachael, were short of sixty. Her father peered closely at me and just after I was introduced asked what I was going to do. “Find a job. I understand you operate a construction company?”

“That’s right. Helen said you know how to operate earth moving equipment.” I nodded. “Come down to headquarters on Monday and we’ll talk. I won the bid to work on a section of a new state road. I have about eight miles of it to build. I need one more dozer operator. This is a major project and has been in the works for several years. Finally all the permits are in place. The state put the bids out and I won it. I wasn’t the lowest bidder, but I got it because of my reputation. It will take a couple more years before it is completed, but I’ve got a good start on it.”

“Sounds good.” I was introduced to the rest of the family. From the mother I heard good words about Sam being an asset to the company, which pleased me. Rachael was a bit of a woman, but she was the one who was boss at home. It didn’t matter if it was her husband, her children, or her grandchildren. If she gave an order, she was obeyed. No one took offense, and all did as she directed. I liked her. 

Sam had a nice home and he kept it immaculate. What he cooked could use some improvement, and I set about to do that after he had fed me chow that was more tasteless than what I had received in the service. I went to work the second day I was there. Part of the job entailed making a cut through a mountain that would straighten the road and save thirty miles. It was just a matter of not following a bend in the river. 

Helen’s house was around the corner from her parents. After her husband John Clark died, it had been closed up. The kids moved to their grandparents while Helen finished her hitch in the service. The kids’ moving back into their own home was a welcome, happy event for them. They had not lived in their own home for two years. I didn’t see much of Helen for the first two weeks.

That is until she invited me to have supper with her and the two boys. The oldest, Scotty, was eight and Bradley was six. They were very shy and wary of this person who had invaded their space. It was awkward for me at first. I had never been around young kids before and, given I was sitting in their father’s chair, they resented me. They remembered their father and how much he loved them and now I appeared to be replacing him.

Scotty brought it to a head. “That’s Daddy’s chair. You can’t sit there.”

Helen screamed, “Scotty, That’s not nice. Rich is my friend and I invited him to eat with us. He can be your friend too if you let him.”

“Well I don’t like him and I don’t want him sitting in Daddy’s chair. He’s not my father.”

Bradley piped up. “I don’t like him either.”

Helen looked at both boys and then looked at me.  She didn’t know what to do or what to say. Suddenly she broke up and started sobbing. She ran into the living room. The boys looked scared and Bradley stated crying. “Scotty, why don’t you sit in your dad’s chair for supper? I’m just a friend of your mom’s and your father’s place is special so I won’t sit there. I’ll make the gravy and finish putting supper on the table. While I’m doing that, go in and give your mother a hug. She would like that.”

Both boys ran into the next room to hug their mother. I heard them jabbering and ten minutes later, I heard a laugh. I stepped through the door and told them supper was on. Helen flashed me a smile of gratitude. Scotty apologized in a way, “Mom is going to sit in Daddy’s seat. I want to sit in my own place, so I guess you will have to sit where Mom does. I don’t mind and that place is kind of special too.”

“Thank you.”

Later before I left, Helen said, “It was kind of awkward at dinner, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, but not unexpected. You will have me back again I hope, and it will get easier. I’m impressed how Scotty handled it. He is wise beyond his years.”

Helen had opened a bottle of wine at dinner. I had nursed my glass, but she had kept filling hers. “I know and I’m proud. I have missed so much of them in the last three years. My mother has done a wonderful job with both. I guess my husband left a lot of the upbringing to her when I thought it was John all along doing as he was supposed to.”

“You haven’t talked much about your husband. Do you want to talk about him?”

“No … yes … I don’t know. He is dead and I don’t want to say anything bad about him.”

“Well don’t then. He must have been good. He gave you two wonderful kids.”

“Yes, he did that. Rich, I will tell you this much. He was an author and a writer. His work was nonfiction, but it should have been fiction. I believed in what he wrote, but what he said to me was all fiction. I didn’t come to realize this until I had joined the army. 

“He wanted to concentrate on his writing and we needed a living. He was the one to convince me to join up, saying he would take care of the children. He needed to be where he could write and he could care for the boys at the same time.”

Helen was crying now. “The bastard had another woman over on the south side of town. She was married, but not living with her husband. Anyway, her husband found him, and John got the crap beat out him. It happened outside in the bar parking lot. He got up and went back into the bar and got drunk. On the way home, he was in an auto accident and was killed.”

Helen straightened up and faced me. “I would like to think, he committed suicide, but I’ll never know. I talked to the woman at the funeral and even felt a little sorry for her. It didn’t settle anything as he had made a lot of the same promises to her as he had made to me early in our marriage.” Helen stopped speaking for a minute. “I could have gotten out of the service with a hardship discharge, but I needed time to deal with all of this. Mother told me to finish my service and people would forget most of what had happened. She was right as it hasn’t come up since I came home.”

“You have done well hiding what had to have hurt you terribly.”

“Rich, you have done the same thing in your life. Let’s both put our troubles behind us and move forward. Dad says he is impressed with you so far in what you know about operating heavy equipment, especially as young as you are. I told him you were studying and taking a correspondence course while in the service. You would pick that up again at night school in the fall. School is the reason you moved up here isn’t it?”

Helen was grinning as she said this. I smiled at this. “It is one of the reasons, but not the all-important one. I came because you were here.”

“I was waiting for that. Rich, I won’t feel right about being intimate with the boys in the house, but Mom said she would babysit for me anytime. Dad goes out to meetings twice a week. We can use my old room those nights.” That set the pattern for the next few weeks. 

Sam went south to visit his daughter. Connie knew I was out of the service, but didn’t realize her father and I were living in the same house. I charged Sam to look to see what kind of father Matt Forbes would make for Corrine.

When he returned, he told me Matt appeared to be a good step-father to Corrine and seemed to love her as much as if she were his own child. At this point I contacted Sarah Hazelton and told her to let the adoption go forward as I wasn’t going to object. Three weeks later I received papers for the adoption. I signed and sent them back.

A week after I put the papers in the mail, I received a phone call at seven in the evening. “Rich?”

“Hello Connie, what can I do for you?”

“Rich, Dad as you know came down to be a witness when Matt became Corrine’s father. I’m a little peeved at him, but he tells me you asked him not to say you and he were living in the same house.”

There was a moment of silence and then she said, “You must hate me for the way I have treated you. I can’t understand why you agreed to the adoption?”

I didn’t say anything right away … then, “Sam tells me Matt would make Corrine a good father. It is she I’m thinking of. If she lived with you and Matt until she is old enough to understand that she had a biological father somewhere and found out he ignored her for years, she would be hurt. 

“She has only known you and Matt so far, so she doesn’t ever have to know otherwise. I’m making this a request and I want you to honor it. I don’t want her to know about me.”

This call seemed to have several silences to it. I suppose we both were feeling our way. Hurting each other was in the past. “Rich, I don’t know what to say. I’m feeling guilty for treating you like I did. I can say I think I was too immature to know my own mind when you went into the service. None of the unhappiness that occurred was in any way your fault. Would you find it in your heart to forgive me?”

“Connie, of course I will. I have moved on.”

“Have you found anyone to love?”

“I’m working on it. She is the daughter of the man I work for. I’ve known her for awhile and I think someday we will marry.”

“I wish you all the happiness in the world. Rich, when did you decide not to go to school? I know that was the reason for going into the service.”

“I am attending night school and the government is picking up the tab. I may have lowered my sights about going to a four-year college, but I find I can get everything I need here locally.”

“Then it wasn’t a waste for you going into the army?”

“No, and I would do it again in the same circumstances.”

“That makes me feel a little better. Rich, I am going to have good thoughts about you from now on.”

“I can live with my own about you too. Goodnight, Connie. Have a good life.” I turned to Helen who had been lying in bed next to me and heard most of the conversation. “Well, that’s behind me, now.”

“Rich, will you marry me? You have a heart as big as the world. You had a case where you could have treated her like the slut she was, but I heard you forgive her. You did mean it didn’t you?”

“I did. I’m supposed to be the one asking to get married. You know that don’t you?”

“I know, but you have been so slow about doing it.”

“Not as slow as you might think. I talked to your father and mother yesterday. They are all for us to get hitched. In fact they thought I was a little slow just like you. Hey, Sam won’t be home tonight. Would you call your mother to see if she will stay with the kids all night?”

“She knows if I’m not home by bedtime for the boys she is going to be staying.”

“God, I am slow, aren’t I?”

**********

I had two years in the service operating heavy equipment. Now I had a civilian job doing the same. Other operators who worked for Bastion Construction certainly had more experience, but they didn’t have the perseverance to excel that I did. I wanted to be worthy of Helen’s love. I still wanted a good future. I had lost out on a future with Connie, but Helen … she was so much more than what I would have had otherwise.

Each evening after work, I spent time with Brad and Scotty. Every day brought them closer to me. Most weekends I worked on Saturday. Sundays though, I spent with Helen and the boys. Rachael babysat Thursday nights while Helen and I made love in the room she grew up in. It was six Thursdays after starting this arrangement that Rachael called headquarters as I finished my shift.

“Rich, stop by before you go home. We need to talk.” I agreed I would.

When I reached her house, she was alone sitting in the kitchen with coffee poured. “Rich, do you love Helen? How do you feel about Brad and Scotty?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer before going on. “What I’m saying is I’m planning a wedding. It is time Helen had a husband and the boys need a father. Everyone likes you and Helen loves you. The boys have got used to you and you treat them better than their father did when he was alive.”

I held up my hand to stop her speaking. “Labor Day weekend is good for me. Is that too soon?”

“That would be about what I had in mind.”

I laughed, “Would you excuse me and I’ll go give her the details.” Rachael was smiling. I went forward and brought her into my arms. “I love you for inviting me into the Bastion family. I have never had much of a family, but I feel as if I have one now.”

“Go on over son, and make Helen happy.”

When I reached Helen’s house I walked in and was met with surprise. “Rich, what are you doing here? You never stop by before going home and cleaning up.”

“Helen, I just came from talking with your mother. She is on a fast track, planning a wedding. I thought you should know about it.”

“Who is getting married?”

“You and I are, if you will have me. We have eight days to get everything ready.” Helen looked into my eyes, searching how I felt about this. She found the answer and came into my arms.

“Oh, I’ll have you alright. Are you mad at my mother for pushing you? I know how she can be.”

“No, not at all. That is, if you let her be my mother as well as yours.”

“Ha, she’ll be yours whether you want her or not. Let me call the kids in from the backyard so I can tell them.” She went to the door and shouted, “Brad and Scotty, please come in. Rich is here.”

They came in running in, slamming the door. I got a high-five which was the usual way we met. “Hey boys, I have something to tell you. Do you want to hear it from your mom or me?”

“From you, Rich.”

“Okay, you know I like your mom a lot. I have asked her to marry me. That would mean I will be moving here to live with all of you.”

Scotty spoke up. “Does Grammy know this?”

“Yes she does and she thinks it is a good idea.”

“Okay. When?”

“In just eight days.”

“That’s too long. Can’t you stay tonight?”

“No, I don’t think I had better. I have to go home now and clean up.  I’m all dirty.”

“Mom won’t mind, will you Mom?”

“It is up to Rich. I think he should stay too.” I bowed to their wishes and went home telling them I would be back. I cleaned up, talked to Sam and returned in time for supper. The boys were wired. I didn’t think they would ever go to sleep. Finally though, they did give it up and Helen and I slid into bed. I felt my life had started at this moment.

The wedding was well planned by Rachael. Sam was my best man. Helen said she didn’t want any bridesmaids. She had Brad and Scotty for attendants. There was no honeymoon as such. Helen and I had two days in a fine hotel, returning on Labor Day. I worked on Tuesday and the boys had school on Wednesday.

We settled into married life. I was home every night except for the two I had classes. There was a small room off the living room that came to be known as the study room. We all did our homework in there. Brad and Scotty didn’t have much, but liked to think they were studying like me. Helen made them read, saying it was a good habit to get into. She came in and read, sitting in the corner chair after her housework was finished.

We had an hour long study session, knowing the boys would be sick of reading for longer than this. If I had more homework, I put it aside until after the boys went to bed. Then Helen and I were there by ourselves. It was a treat to pause and look across the room at her.  Invariably I would catch her glancing at me. I might work until the ten o’clock news came on. We would watch that for a half hour and then we would go to bed.

Helen was much more experienced sexually than I was. I didn’t find this out until we were married. Thinking about it, I could see why she would be. She was married for six years before losing her husband. Me, well I thought I knew all about sex and had had what I thought was something great with Connie. But it wasn’t often where we could take our time. I was soon off to the war, so to speak, and that was it. The few times we had sex before marriage, Helen was quite conservative in her demands.

She soon opened up and was suggesting things for me to try.  I questioned her about this and she giggled. “Hey, what would you have thought about me if I had suggested doing these when we first got together? You would have run away, wouldn’t you?”

“I’m not sure, but I don’t think so. Our first time was in Germany. I was so in love with you, I wondered why you wanted anything to do with me. Before that night was over, I knew I had to make you mine. I might have been a little slow in getting there, but I would have persisted. So tell me what you like and enjoy and we’ll do it together. I may have held back some things that I have a desire to do. I read a book about some of those things, you know.”

“You are so full of it. You read a book, huh? Play the innocent and pretend all you want. You were in the army and there are just two things soldiers talk about. One is food and the other is sex and not necessarily in that order. Doesn’t make a difference whether you are man or woman, you brag about doing things even if they are impossible.” This set the tone of our life. Not many months after this conversation Helen told me we were going to have a baby.

Chapter Three

All was not well with the road project. Bob Bastion had counted on being able to reach the mountain by cold weather where he was to make the cut for the new road. There was a two-mile swampy area before he could get there. The plan was to use the rock the mountain consisted of for fill to lay a base across the soft areas.

It was his own mistake for he had relied on the state engineer’s plans to bid on the project. This put him in a bind, not only time-wise for the completion. He would have to haul in fill from somewhere else, just to get across the unstable land.

In retrospect, he should have hired his own engineering concern to probe how deep the soft ground was and how much fill he would need.  He stood to lose everything, including the cost of the extra fill needed and of course the performance bond if the project wasn’t completed on time. He had a meeting on Saturday morning with all the men who were assigned to the job and explained the problem.

“This is going to put us two months behind and maybe even more. The fill I need, will have to be hauled a long distance and that in itself is costly. I counted on the mountain rock to provide the fill, but as you know, we can’t reach the mountain until the ground freezes and even then it is iffy. Also there isn’t enough stone from the cut we make through the mountain for all of our needs. Our construction up to this point has gone well and we are actually three weeks ahead of schedule, but now we are stymied.”

Someone asked about coming in from the east side of the mountain. “It can’t be done. It is the same situation, plus the river is much closer on that side and there is the chance that if we destabilize that side of the mountain some of it may slide into the river. The environmentalists would see that I lose my balls. I wanted to play with the big boys and it looks as if I’m going to pay for thinking I could.”

I hadn’t had anything to do involving this project. As the new man in the company, I had been doing cleanup, finishing other less important small jobs.

Closing out the situation meeting, Bob said, “If anyone has any ideas no matter how far out, I’ll take a look at them. In the meantime, I’m going to get with my attorneys and see if I can get more money from the state because their project specs weren’t viable. Wish me luck.”

Helen was beside me as we had listened to all of this. “It looks as if you have a job, but only for a little while. I heard Dad tell Mom that he was going to lose everything. She just said they didn’t have much when they were first married and they could live with a lot less than what they had accumulated over the years.”

“That is true love isn’t it?”

“I know, but it is still sad. Would you still love me if we lost everything?”

“If you loved me I would.”

“We’re okay, then.”

After lunch I went into the construction office and pulled up everything concerning the road project. I first looked at all of the pictures taken from the air that showed the lay of the land. I got a good sense of what the project entailed. Someone, the engineers, I guess, had made notes that were on some of the copies. I read these so I knew the consistency of the soil.

I started making notes about certain facts of what would be helpful and those that would be a detriment. I laughed at myself, for I was just a lowly equipment operator and what did I know. But hell, I had helped build an airport in a foreign country so didn’t I know a little something? Bob did say he would look at any and all ideas.

When I got to the specifications that were made by Bastion’s engineers and compared these to what the state provided, I could see why he was so concerned. There was a note about why this land contained such a huge swamp. Even the source of the moisture had been identified. It was far up the side of the mountain and apparently drained down a fault. Over the eons the steep forested mountain had added to the area below and, because it was wet much of the year, it had created a swamp.

I figured most everyone, and this included Bob, had ignored this information because it didn’t have much to do with the project itself. His engineers didn’t do their own mapping of what lay beneath the swamp until after Bob had submitted the bid. He recently found that the state had done an inadequate job with their mapping. The swamp was much deeper by two times in certain areas than projected. At this point Bob knew he was in trouble, for much more fill would be required, hence the meeting this morning.

As I studied this, I was more concerned Bastion Construction would have even more trouble on the east side of the mountain than on the west side. There was a small wet area on the east side of the mountain, but there was no place to get rid of the material that needed to be removed. It had to come this way after the mountain had been cut through. I would question Bob about this. If it hadn’t been so near the river it could have been dumped on either side of the cut to make room for the road bed.

It could still be accomplished, but that would mean that a berm would have to be built next to the river. I looked farther east and saw where the swamp material could be dumped, but it was five miles away. Also, the next section that Bob hadn’t bid on was going to another construction company. Would they want a different company using the section they had received the bid for? I doubted it.

In fact, a few minutes later I found the figures of the projected cost to place the material there. It was a lot of money. I spent four hours looking at the notes and paperwork that was included in the voluminous files.

This all gave me a lot to think about. I went along home and played with the boys. I wasn’t very attentive to either them or to Helen. At dinner she asked if something was wrong, “No, I was just thinking about your father’s problem. He really has hung himself out to dry. Do you think he would be bothered if I made some suggestions? I know I’m new here, but I just looked over the plans and I think I saw where there could be some changes made to save time and maybe even some money.”

“Dad said he would listen to any ideas or suggestions. Don’t hesitate even if they aren’t feasible. He will know you are trying, anyway.”

“Okay, I will. I’ll continue to think on it then.”

“Rich, I love you so much. I think Mom is half in love with you herself. She tells me I made quite a catch when I snagged you.”

“Is that what you did? I don’t think I was knowingly ever snagged before.”

“Oh you were, and that was the plan as far back as when you got into my truck the first time.”

“I’ve been had.”

“I have been too. Rub my tummy, there is new life growing there.” Helen was curious about what my thoughts were on the road project. “Rich, can you tell me what you are thinking?”

“Not yet, I want to think about it some more. There is also some background on the area that I want to check out. I’m going to walk over the ground near where the swamp is located. I’ll do that tomorrow. Do you want to go with me?”

“Can the boys go with us?”

“Of course. I wouldn’t consider going without them if you are with me. I think you can make it and you aren’t too pregnant yet.”

“Rich, I can’t be more pregnant than I am.”

“I know that. I meant you are still agile enough to do some climbing and stuff like that. I want to get an early start. I don’t know how far it is from where the job stops to where the swamp begins. Your dad has had me working other small jobs and I haven’t had a chance to look the ground over.”

“Okay, get up early; check. Get an early breakfast prepared; check. Make love to my husband as soon as the kids go to sleep; check. Is there anything I have missed?”

“Nope, that about covers it all. I’m going in and sit in the living room with the boys until you finish up out here in the kitchen, or do you need some help?”

“No, I can handle it.”

I went in and played grab ass with the kids. All the time though, I was running the pictures of the landscape I had looked at in the pictures that were with the plans. Helen soon came and spoke to Brad and Scotty about hiking tomorrow. “You should go to bed now and get a lot of rest if you are going to keep up with Rich and me.”

“Mom, you’re going too?”

“Yes.”

“Great! We will go to bed now, won’t we Brad?

“Good night, Dad. Night, Mom.”

“Night, boys.”

It was chilly in the morning but clear, and shaped up to be a fine day. I had the use of one of the company trucks which had an extended cab so there was plenty of room for all of us. We went across the river where the state was having a bridge built by another construction company. We turned east, and three miles farther on we came to the construction that was being performed by the Bastion Construction Company.

The roadbed was graded for two miles and then it turned to rough. Heavy equipment was traveling over it, so I drove the truck as far as I could and still see a place to turn around. I parked the truck and we walked a bare hundred yards to where the land changed color. This was the beginning of the swampy area. Much work had been done. The brush had been cleared and survey stakes lined what was to be the right-of-way. All over the swamp there were test holes where test bores had been driven down to solid rock. There was a stake by every hole with the depth marked on it.

I peered into several holes expecting water in all of them. Not so, only about one in seven held water. The deepest always did. I examined the dirt piled next to the holes and most of it was rich and dark. We called this a swamp, but it wasn’t like the Okefenokee Swamp in Florida. However, it wouldn’t support equipment of any considerable weight, to say nothing about a highway. The only recourse was to remove it or bridge it.

I looked up and my eyes followed the line of stakes that seemed to go on forever. In the distance you could see the mountain spur that came down from a tall peak and went all the way to the river. This was what the company needed to cut through to get to the other side of the mountain. There would be stone fill to be had there, but you had to get to it first.

“Dad, are we going to look in all of the holes? There’s a zillion of them.”

“No Brad, someone else did that and we don’t need to.” Then it came to me, my stepson had just called me Dad again. This was becoming a steady, natural thing to be called Dad, and I glanced at Helen to see her smiling. My spirits raised me off the ground and I felt as if I was walking on air.

“Scotty and Brad, do you think you can climb up the mountain above the swamp a ways?”

“Sure, let’s go.” 

I held Helen’s hand as we followed the boys who were racing ahead of us. “Rich have you any idea how to solve this for my father?” I paused looking both up and down from where we were standing.

“Not yet. After looking at the plans yesterday, I’m checking things out. You know your father should have examined what he was bidding on more closely. I wonder if there isn’t another company who was hoping his ego would push him to underbid everyone else, then hoping he would fail and never again be able to compete.”

“It could be so. The competition was fierce for this project and it is a cutthroat business.”

We hadn’t moved from where I paused to look over the lay of the land. I remembered the topographical map I had studied and wished I had thought to bring a copy with me. My memory was pretty good and I had looked at it closely. The map had contained many notes and I had read them all. Apparently this mountain had been bigger at one time. Sometime many years ago, the side of the mountain where the swamp was now, shook loose and slid down toward the river.

It had not gone far enough to block the valley, stopping short, letting the river in the valley continue on its course. Another note I had read said there was a single water source above the top of the present swamp. Over the eons as the bowl had slowly filled with vegetation; it was kept damp by the water. and the swampy areas increased. 

It now comprised a total area of 700 to 800 acres. The bowl had filled enough so although not flat, it sloped gently toward the river. The proposed road was going to cut it into two nearly equal parcels. The terrain above did rise steeply, but after looking at it, I knew heavy equipment could climb the mountain if it was necessary.

The land mass involved was owned by a person named Kenneth Knowles. The right-of-way for this road had been taken from him by eminent domain. It had been held up in the courts for several years until an agreement had been determined by the state supreme court. Needless to say the land owner was unhappy. When near-by fill was searched for, he wouldn’t even talk to Robert Bastion, necessitating the need for Bob to haul it from many miles away.

I had read all that had been written about this man who was the landowner and I probably knew as much about him as he did himself. It was all in the folder of files containing every account that was published in the newspaper and of the battle he had waged in his fight with the state. The topographical map showed the boundaries of what he owned. He actually lived in the basin on the other side of the mountain. This was hemmed in by this mountain and a smaller one to the west. There was a lower ridge or saddle joining the two peaks together.

He was a rancher and farmer. He also admitted that what the state had taken didn’t bother his present holdings at all. He only fought the state because he could. He wanted to prove the point that a man’s home was his castle. I also gleaned from the newspaper accounts, that his neighbors liked him well enough, but he was a bit irascible sometimes and was known to dislike strangers. That would make him hard to approach.

When we reached where the wet area began, Helen and I sat down and looked over the swamp and then below it down to the river. This really was rugged terrain. The river, which was way down the valley, wound in and around the different mountains with only the narrow riverbed dividing them. Farther to the east, the land flattened out and was more heavily populated. This was the reason for the new road; it greatly shortened the distance between the two population centers in this part of the state.

The most difficult section of the road for eight miles had been bid on and won by Bastion Construction. The company was going to be in serious trouble if a solution wasn’t found. Twice as much fill was now needed. At present there was none available nearby. If a deal could be reached to quarry the stone from the mountainside, the problem would disappear. Kenneth Knowles didn’t have any great dislike against the Bastion Construction Company as such; his anger was with the state because he lost suit in that court. The result was the same, however.

I pointed out some things that verified what I had read in the notes the day before. “See those green seams above the surface of the swamp? Those are the wettest spots, where the water is following cracks in the stone from the single source above the swamp. It is like a spider web radiating from where the water comes closest to the surface and we can see it.”

“Why are you showing me this? How will that help my father? It seems to me we have too much water when what we need is stone for fill.”

“True, but what if we could swap that water for the right to quarry stone from right next to where we need it and if we can get it, it is the cheapest available source.”

I went on, “Collect Scotty and Brad and we’ll walk around the corner of the mountain to the lower ridge where we can look down into the valley on the other side. If I have read the reports correctly, I may have an answer to our problem.”

“Rich, Dad says Knowles is an intractable old bastard and can’t be dealt with at all. Dad went to him with his hat in his hand and Knowles blew him away.”

“Let’s leave that for later. Let’s see if what I have in mind is in any way feasible.” I looked for the boys. They were farther up the mountain, but when I motioned to them, they came rushing down. “Come on kids, I want to look down into the next valley. It isn’t that far away. Hold your mother’s hand so she won’t fall.”

We passed around a corner that jutted out just above the ridge we were headed for. Rounding it, the basin came into view before our eyes. The floor of the basin was hundreds of feet below us. The back side of the mountain was sheer bare rock over much of the face. “Helen, look across this ridge to the next mountain over. It is lower than this one by far. Do you see that small stream coming from the side of it?”

“Yes, but is that important?” 

“Very much so. Follow the track the stream travels. It comes out of the side of that mountain and flows into the draw going down into the populated basin. See where a small dam has been constructed across the draw half-way down from here between the two mountains. According to one of the newspaper articles I read, Knowles built the dam and has a small pipe going down the draw to a turbine driven electrical generator. He had to downsize his expectation by half when he didn’t have the water to drive the first one he counted on that was bigger.

“In your father’s papers the state hired a hydrologist and he estimated there was four times the amount of water that is keeping the swamp a swamp than the one we are looking at. He also indicated it was an artesian type water source.  You have heard of an artesian well driven by a well driller. Well this is the same in only that it is a natural one. Who knows what is forcing the water to rise to this height on the mountain and then start flowing out into the open. It doesn’t matter really, it is just there.”

“And how are we going to capitalize on the water when he won’t even talk to Dad and the company needing rock for the fill?”

“We will work out something. Maybe I will send you down into the basin and you can become friendly with Knowles.”

“No, the only one I get friendly with is you.”

“I am kidding, but you might give some thought to a way we can approach him. We are going to need the fill within a month, so time is of the essence.”

“Okay, I’m no dummy and not just a truck driver, you know. You’ll have to get me some details on what he can do with the bigger amount of water. How much water are we talking anyway?”

“It is not only water, but where it is located. The weight of the water is very important as well and how far it falls down so it can drive the turbine. Think of gallons of water weighing eight pounds each stacked many hundreds of feet high. Imagine the pressure at the bottom of the stack. That is what drives the turbine that turns the generator to make electricity. I firmly believe there is that much water and more probably.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Remember the landing strip we built where I first met you? A geologist saw a similar condition up on one of the mountains where we were locating the new airport. An eight-inch hole was bored into the side of the mountain and it tapped into the main vein of water. When it was piped, it was enough to provide electricity for the whole complex. It saved an inordinate amount of fuel to run the generators. I was struck by this when I read the files and could see this was much the same situation here. That is why I wanted to come here today and look things over.”

There was one fly in the ointment. Knowles owned the water in the first place. Would pointing this out to him be enough for him to let us quarry stone on the mountain nearby for what we needed? It is hard to tell until someone from our camp met with him. It had to be worth making the effort.

**********

Helen, who had been her father’s spare truck driver, told him Monday morning she couldn’t work that day. This I was unaware of. She was still home when I went to work and home when I finished work. It had drizzled during the day and I noticed our personal vehicle was covered with mud when I went by it. “Did you work today?” 

There was a smug look on my wife’s face as she answered. “No I didn’t, I traveled around and entered the basin settlement. I had to go almost fifteen miles to get there. I had coffee in a little diner there.  I asked about Knowles and was pointed to the farm of his son, Ken Jr. I talked with him and then I was invited for lunch with him and his wife, Barbara. They have two children about the same age as our two boys. This is with Kenneth Jr., not his father. They are quite interested in what you were telling me yesterday.

“He admitted that his father was not easy to get along with. All the money that he received from the state for taking his land for the highway went to pay his attorneys to prevent the taking of the land when he lost the suit. The ranch Ken Sr. runs is small and is more of a hobby than needed to survive. He used to own the dairy farm but transferred it to his son when his first grandson was born.”

An even bigger smirk showed on Helen’s face when she stated, “Ken Sr. spends most of his time playing with his little electrical generating system. It generates enough power for his ranch and for the dairy farm that now belongs to his son. You know sweetheart, you are going to have to bring my father in on this immediately. He is going to have to decide what to say to Ken Sr. when he approaches us. I think I planted enough seeds with Ken Jr. and when he tells Ken Sr. of this it will make him very interested.”

I didn’t have time to talk to her father.  The phone rang and a gruff voice asked to speak to Helen Rumford. I handed the phone to Helen and she spoke, “Yes?”

“This is Ken Knowles. You talked to my son and his wife today.  He told me you were talking about water and electrical generation and a whole bunch of stuff. He also said you didn’t seem to know much about what you were talking about either. Do you know anything or were you just spouting bull?”

“I have no idea for sure. I was just repeating something my husband said while we were out for a walk. I can say I was where something like this took place and it worked very well.”

“Was that your husband who answered the phone?  If it was, may I speak to him?”

“Certainly, he is right here.”

“Mr. Knowles, this is Rich Rumford. I understand my wife repeated some of my comments from yesterday to your son today. I was unaware she was going to visit the basin today or speak to anyone while there. She just told me about it a short time ago. I take it you are interested enough to follow up by contacting her?”

“Yeah. Who are you and how come you know anything about me enough to make comments that would concern me? We’ve never met have we?”

“No, we have never met, but I have read a lot about you. I think I have looked at every story that has been published about your lawsuit over the right o’ way which the state eventually won.”

“Stop right there. Are you mixed up with those bastards who took my land?”

“After the fact only, so I guess you could say I am. My father-in-law is Robert Bastion who has the contract to build the road through your former property. Remember that road was going to be built and you don’t own the land anymore, the state does. That said, I think I have some knowledge that can be beneficial to both yourself and to Bob Bastion.”

“I’m listening. Do your damndest.” 

While we were talking, I glanced up and Bob and Rachael Bastion came in and were now listening to what I was saying. Helen must have run next door and made them come over.

“Look, if you would meet with me and Mr. Bastion I’ll have him bring all the paperwork we have concerning your property. There are aerial views overlooking your complete holdings. I also read in one article that you were interested in power generation and disappointed when your source was too small for what you had planned.” 

He stopped me there. “Where did you get all of that? I didn’t know anything like that existed.”

“I guess Mr. Bastion got them from the state when he was putting in his bid. One of the most important items is the topographical map of the area. That will tell you how much fall you will have and how big a turbine you need to handle different sizes of pipe. Before we meet, do you have someone who you can contact to advise you? It would be best if that person could be there when we talk.”

“Uh, what is this going to cost me? I’m not rich you know? I just spent a lot of money and don’t have anything to show for it.”

“I read that. I’ll lay it out for you. Bastion Construction needs rock for fill to get across the swamp. I’m hoping Mr. Bastion and you can make a deal. I’m leaving you with all of the leverage in this, by telling you about this water source that you already own and could develop if you have the money. I believe that Bastion Construction will go a long way to help you get this water to your side of the mountain. That should be worth a lot of rock.”

There was silence. Then, “I own this water already?”

“That is correct. It is what keeps the so-called swamp wet the year round. To capitalize on it, you can try and build a dam around what comes to the surface. Or you can drill down and try to tap into the main source as it rises to the surface. I have seen this done and probably it is the most effective way. I saw this accomplished and that is why I noticed it.”

“Where did you see this done?”

“I was in the service stationed with an Engineer Battalion. The government was building a landing strip in one of the Soviet Union satellite countries. It was not too difficult, but quite effective.”

“What did you say your name was?  I think I missed it.”

“Rich Rumford.”

“Okay, Mr. Rumford, I’ll meet with you. Bring Bastion with you. I can get in touch with the person who helped me with my little power plant and he will be here too. Is two o’clock tomorrow afternoon good for you?”

“That will be fine. I’ll look forward to meeting you. Goodnight.”

I turned around and repeated to my father-in-law what had been said. “In the morning let’s have a strategy session and plan on what we should say and determine what we can ask for. I have been thinking about this constantly. 

“You know, another thing that he might go for is to cut through the saddle between the two mountains and that would give him access from the basin to the new road. It is only about two miles into the basin from where the swamp begins. There is enough rock that needs to be removed for our needs.”

“Rich, I’m putting this in your hands. You seem to know what you are talking about. God, this will solve all of my problems if we have the stone right where we need it.”

“Let’s hope it works out. We should know by tomorrow evening if we can work with Knowles or not.”

I figured I wouldn’t get much sleep tonight, but after just running through my mind what facts I knew for certain, I snuggled next to Helen and slept well. Helen though, didn’t sleep at all and looked it when I turned her over to me and kissed her.

“I’ll bet Dad is excited about the meeting today.”

“No more than I am, Helen. I’m rolling out of bed now. I want to get over to the office and organize the papers. Your father seems to have put this into my hands.”

“Very capable hands and he knows it.” 

“Helen, I’ll put coffee on. I’ll stay long enough to drink a cup if you would get up with me.”

“No Rich, you stay in bed while I put the coffee on. You can lie here and think about what you are going to say to Knowles. No matter how today comes out you are going to get some extra loving tonight.”

“Why, you’re already pregnant.”

“I know, and I also know that is when it is the most fun. Remember, in a few months I’ll be shutting you off, so you had better get it when the getting’s good.” I didn’t put my mind to today, but I thought about what was promised for tonight. I soon rolled out as I got a whiff of fresh coffee. I didn’t stay long over breakfast and soon headed out for the construction office.

My father-in-law was already there, poring over the paperwork from the files he had spread out. He got right to it. “Rich show me what you have in mind. I know this is going to cost money, but it will be a lot less than if I have to buy fill and transport it several miles.”

I called my father-in-law ‘Bob’ sometimes, and I did now. “Bob, let me show you what we need to do to get water for Knowles, which from all reports, he desperately wants to play with. First we have to find where the water column is located as it rises up though the mountain. 

“To do that we need to get some heavy equipment up the mountain and prepare a flat area to work from to set the equipment on. I’ve looked at the topographical map and it can be done. There may be one or two spots where we will have some problems, but let me at it with the small D4 Cat and I can make the road.

“It appears it is a single column of water before it breaks the surface and spreads out in different directions.  If we drill a small hole to where we think it is, we may be lucky and find water, but even if we have to drill several holes to find it, it won’t take too long. We’ll angle the hole down twenty feet below the surface or so and see if we can hit the main column.”

“How are you going to tap into the water after you locate it?”

“We’ll get a well drilling rig up there and bore a hole into the water column, pipe it to the surface and try to swap that for the right to quarry the stone we need from the opposite mountain. I don’t think we should do any blasting on the bigger mountain as it might upset the water column and we would lose it. The west mountain, where the permit for a quarry is, lays lower than the one with the water. Blasting in the quarry shouldn’t bother the water as it is a long distance away. Knowles has a permit to quarry stone for that little dam he constructed to hold back some water as a reserve. That’s a town matter anyway.”

“How in hell did you find out all about this?”

“It is all right here in those newspaper articles. There were reporters on him while he was fighting with the state. Knowles is a character and makes good copy. Some readers were for him and some for the state. As I say he is good copy.”

“Okay, it looks like we are as prepared as we can be. I want you to do the talking. Is there anything else we need?”

“We need Helen to be with us. She’ll keep you calm if things don’t go the way we hope. Also Knowles won’t be so apt to lose his temper if we can’t come to an agreement.”

**********

Helen drove into the ranch yard and we slowly got out of the vehicle.  The door of the house opened with two men looking out at us. Suddenly they were pulled back into the house. An older woman stood there a minute and then stepped out onto the porch. “Come in please. Them two old fools know from nothing. I have coffee or tea if you prefer. I also baked this morning and have a coffee cake that ain’t half bad.” 

She looked at Helen, “You must be Helen. Junior and Barbara said they met you yesterday, and you was telling them something that might get Kenny and Jack out from under my feet for a change.” We followed the woman in.

“This is my husband, Kenny, and that is Jack Oberon. They’re buddies.  My name is Charlotte., and you men can use the table to lay out your papers.” She turned first to me and then to Dad. “I take it your name is Rumford and you, sir, must be Robert Bastion?”

“I am. Rich here is my son-in-law and Helen is my daughter. They’re both damn smart.  She for choosing him, and I think he is for doing his damndest to try and save my bacon. You might not need to know it, but they are going to make me a grandpa again.”

“Congratulations are in order then. Come Helen, we’ll let these men play their silly games.” I smiled to myself.  Charlotte was so like my mother-in-law, Rachael. A car drove in and soon Kenny Jr. came in. We shook hands all around and got down to business. I took out the aerial shots, the topographical map and some of the detailed specs concerning the swamps.

Ken Sr. spoke, “Jack here is a qualified water expert. He’s been a well driller and has worked for the state, examining different watersheds when a question arose showing a problem with state projects. He has been the man to go to. He is pretty much aware of what you indicated. I guess I’m way ahead of you on knowledge. The thing is I hadn’t thought to bring the water to this side of the mountain. It would be way too costly for me to step out and develop this on my own.

“I must say he was impressed because you came to the same conclusion as he had. The service must have taught you a lot.”

“It wasn’t that. I just kept my mind open to what was going on around me, and was unafraid to ask questions.”

“You must have asked the right ones. Let’s get down and see if we can help each other. You say you need fill for the road projects. I got two mountains of rock, they just need busting up. First tell me what you can do for me.”

“I personally can build you a road up the mountain to put the equipment you need up on location. It won’t be pretty, but it will be safe. I would need to cut some trees, because there is one stretch where I would need to build and fill some cribs to get around the place where it is all ledges.  Remember, I wouldn’t want to do any blasting, especially near where the water source is.”

“That’s sensible, I hadn’t thought of that. What else?”

“The company will lease a well-drilling rig with operators. As Jack knows all about this, I’ll have it put under his direction. The company will pay the cost of putting in the well and the pipe to the surface. We’ll pay for a shut-off valve at that point. It is time to order drainage pipe to go under the road where it crosses the swamp. The more we order the bigger discount we get. The company will pay half the cost of the pipe over as far as to where you want to cross over the ridge.  From there down to where you locate your turbine you have to pay for the pipe, but you can order through us and still get our discount.”

“That’s sounds pretty fair. Where on my land did you plan on quarrying for the stone?” 

“Well you have the permit you got to build your small dam. Public record says you aren’t limited to how much stone you can withdraw. That is for the corner of the mountain we see to your left if we go outside and look up.  If we balanced the withdrawal you would have a pretty decent road from here into the basin to the new road on the other side. It would give you two accesses to the basin instead of one as it is now. It would be less unsightly if we did that rather than digging right into the side of the mountain.”

“You’ve done a lot of work. You seem to know more about me than I know about myself.”

“Most of this is because of my son-in-law. Okay where are we with all of this?”

“Well, Bastion, as far as I am concerned, I’d say we are about even. I know you will do your damndest to fulfill what you have promised. All I have to do is to sit back, play with my power project and let it all happen. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

I jumped in with an answer, “There is one thing, and I haven’t talked to Mr. Bastion about this. It would save the company a lot of money and should bring us in under budget. The state promised a bonus for every day the project is finished before the completion date two years from now in October. This is going to take a bit of time to explain my thinking, and if I am wrong, break in and say so.

“We have to remove all of the dirt from where we are building the road. The plan was to put shovels in there, load it on trucks and truck it back several miles to where we have permission to dump it. When done we have to smooth it over, seed and plant it to whatever is required by the state. There is a soil analysis, saying that the swamp is extremely rich soil and anything will grow.” I paused before asking, “Are you with me so far?”

Ken Jr. answered, “I’m getting a sense of where you are going. You want to dump the soil or dirt on top of the land on each side. That would solve your problem, but how would that benefit my father other than a promise of some bonus money that might not happen? There would be just mountains of mud, unsightly and un-useful.”

“With my idea I don’t believe the dirt would remain wet as mud. Think back to the well water we are sending into the basin. I’m guessing that nearly half of the water that is keeping the swamp wet will be removed that way.  By cutting a channel for the road directly across the swamp, the three hundred or more acres are going to dry out enough to work as farmland. 

“That should happen by next spring if we can get the water flowing to the basin. By that time, the road to the basin will be okay to travel on, even if we are still quarrying rock from the mountainside. Even if you can’t plant it next year, it should be ready to work the following year.

“The state engineers knew there would be a water problem, so they dealt with it by specifying drains to be installed under the road and then have the water collected on the low side of the road. To make sure the water didn’t back up to the road, it is to be piped down as far as the lower edge of the swamp.  There it would just flow on the rocky surface down to the river.  The cost of that is already built into the bid. Over time, the lower section will dry out and can be farmed.”

“Jack, is there anything wrong with my thinking?”

“I’ll get on the ground tomorrow and tell you what I think. I’ll be there anyway to look over the site where the well is planned.”

“Good, I’ll start to put in the road up to the well site as soon as I get some equipment here. I’ll have some laborers start cutting and clearing the way ahead of me as I go.”

Bob Bastion said, “If you give me the go-ahead, I’ll start bringing in a couple of cranes and some dredging equipment.  We can grapple the mud and swing it out of the way.  We should have that finished by the time the ground starts to freeze. The quarry equipment is several miles away, but can be moved here in a day. We’ll set it up and begin digging out fill as soon as it is set up.

“The drains we have to install are already on site. I didn’t anticipate needing them this soon, but I’m thankful I went ahead and ordered them early. Jack, when you tell me what size and type of pipe for the well you want, I’ll put the order in. It will be here when you need it.”

Everyone’s spirits were high, and the coming flurry of activity that was about to take place was making it more so. When the women came in after realizing our business had been completed, they caught the feeling. Helen didn’t ask, but Charlotte did ask Ken Sr. and had to wait for the answer.

“Wait till later and I’ll tell you all about it. By God Charlotte, these people are treating me like I want to be treated. I can only do the same for them.”

As we got ready to leave, Ken Jr. asked me, “Do you really think you can make cropland out of the swamp?” 

“I certainly do. I grew up being almost an orphan with only a mother for a parent. She was born on a farm and she often related how her parents had reclaimed a swamp. Of course it was much smaller than this, but the one she talked about was much wetter. I firmly believe when we get the well in and the water piped away from the swamp, the land will dry out and it can be made into farmland.”

“That’s great. The basin isn’t that large and there is no more land available to farm. This will give me a chance to expand and make a better living for my family than I could possibly do now. I guess I’m like my father. We’re pleased that Bastion Construction won the bid for this section of the new highway.” We left the basin shortly after this exchange.

Chapter Four

I had a feeling Jack Oberon would be at the foot of the mountain early in the morning. I was somewhat tired, for Bob had held a strategy session late into the evening. Then I had to repeat everything to Helen. She had breakfast ready for me at five in the morning. She packed my lunch and filled two thermoses with coffee for me to take with me. “I’ll see you before ten this morning. I’m glad I don’t have to take the walk you have to make this morning. Will you be off the mountain when I get there?”

“I should be, but wait for me if I’m not. I won’t be long.” I was right because when I got to the mountain, Jack was waiting on me. It was six forty-five.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“Nope, just got here.” I laughed, for I could see two cigarette butts stamped out where he had been standing.

Jack was tall, thin, grey-haired and looked older than the hills. I wondered if he could make it up the mountain to where I thought the well would be drilled. “Wait a bit longer. I’ve got two laborers coming to brush out the road for me. I need to tell them what to do. They had to draw tools from the shed.”

“I walked around looking at the swamp. Boy, you are going to have some pile of mud after cutting a road through the swamp. If you get it into farmland, it is going to be worth more’n a million. Show me what your plans are. I tried to follow you, but lost some of it because I couldn’t visualize it.”

I walked over to the swamp edge and explained what the state plans were and why we were directed to do it that way.  “We may get a few more bucks out of the state. Bob is having his attorneys looking into it. The specs they gave us are all wrong about the depth to bedrock. In some places it may be double, so it is going to take at least a third more fill.  Let’s walk back and I’ll show you generally where I’m putting the road to the well.”

The laborers drove in with chainsaws. It wasn't heavily forested where I wanted the road located. The trail I was building was to begin at the base of the ridge near the mountain. The ridge traveled east and west, parallel to the new road and the corner of the mountain was generally north and south. We were quarrying off the corner of the west mountain. 

The promised road was going to cut through the corner. We would cut all the way through the mountain, working across the cut looking into the basin.  As we quarried fill, the road would get lower and lower and this would make it less steep down into the basin. Jack thought this was great.

We walked a hundred yards to where I wanted the road up to the water to begin. I had a bunch of stakes in my hand.  “Hey Tom, and Rob, this is Jack. We are going to walk up to where I want to get a well drilling rig placed. Every so often I’ll drive in a stake where I want the road to be. I think you can move right along cutting everything in the path.  My Cat will be here by the time we come back down. 

“There is one place about a third of the way up where I'll have to build around an outcropping of ledge, so if you would limb out any trees that are over six inches, I’ll use them for cribbing. You men will be with me all week and I hope to have this all done by Saturday.”

“Sounds good to me, Rich.” I spent another fifteen minutes giving directions. I was concerned that Jack would have a hard time climbing, but I needn’t have worried. He even paused to help me decide where exactly the road should go. When we reached the top he was as fresh as I was.

Looking back down at the row of stakes I had placed, I was well satisfied. It wasn’t too steep. It was almost straight getting to this point. The well drilling rig would be backing up here, so straight was good.

Jack had a shoulder bag with some instruments that he took out. I showed him where I thought the main vein of water was. He agreed it was close. “That big chunk of ledge is acting like a cap rock. If it were removed, probably water would burst up out of the ground, but there would be no real way to contain it. As you figured, the best way to get the water is to drill in from the side and put the pipe into the column. How far down did you plan to drill?”

“I was thinking at least twenty feet.”

“I think twenty-five would be better. That would make us more certain to be below any cracks that come out to feed the swamp.” 

I was interested how Jack planned to determine where to drill. I hadn’t noticed but he had cut a forked switch on the way up. He now took this, one leg in each hand and climbed up onto the cap rock. He wandered around and I watched as it dipped until he released his hands.

“The water vein doesn’t go directly straight down under the rock. It slants back into the mountain. I’ll follow it.” He went about fifteen feet and then turned around. “If the vein curves around, this is the outer edge of the curve. It doesn’t seem to vary sideways. That’s a plus. We just have to determine the angle it takes so we can meet it twenty-five feet down.”

I watched as Jack walked back toward the cap rock, stood still, tightened his hands on the switch, and then released them. He did this every three feet. I was curious so I asked, “What are you doing?”

“Getting the angle of the water channel. I calculate, at fifteen feet from the cap rock the vein is about thirty-two feet below the surface. At twelve feet away it is twenty-five feet. At six feet, or at the edge of the cap rock, it is six feet which is the thickness of the rock. So for now, we should drill down where I said the twenty-five foot mark is. You must realize it isn’t really that far, as the land rises steeply. Where it angles down it might only be sixteen feet below the cap rock?”

“And this is for certain?” 

“I’m confident it is. Moving water is what attracts the dowsing rod. It has been used for hundreds of years. To ease your mind though, we will get the machine up here that drills dynamite holes and drill almost where I believe the water is. I’ll run a sensor in there and it will pinpoint it exactly. The well driller will just go ahead and drill where I tell him to. It will take longer to set up the rig than to drill and install the pipe.”

“That’s amazing that you can find water like that. How did you discover you could do this?”

“My grandfather taught me. It either works for a person or it doesn’t. Do you want to try it?”

“Sure.” I jumped up on the cap rock and Jack handed me the stick. Nothing. That was okay. It wasn’t a skill, if that was what it was, that I needed. 

We went on then, and I showed Jack where I intended to have the pipe cross to the top of the ridge. There wasn’t enough soil to bury it, so I intended to build a few cradles for it to rest on. Jack would be working with Ken Sr. to decide where it was to go to the other side and down to where he was putting in his turbine-driven generator.

When we got down off the mountain, Helen was just wheeling in, driving a lowboy with my D4 Cat on it. This was a very old machine, but Bastion kept it repaired and in service. They laughed when I had asked how many times it had been overhauled and rebuilt. Helen jumped down and started releasing the binders that held it on. Jack stood there and watched as I pulled out the ramps and climbed onto the dozer. I fired it up and let it warm. I backed it off and put the ramps back into the lowboy. Helen came and kissed me. “See you this evening, Rich. Have fun.” 

She backed the lowboy to where it and the tractor could turn around and with a blast of the air horn bounced down the rough unfinished road back to where she had come from. There were portions of a crane arriving. Helen never let up, blowing by it wide open. Jack stood there shaking his head in disbelieve that a woman could handle a tractor loaded with equipment like she did. I was proud.

Jack watched me make my first cut with the Cat into the side of the mountain. There was plenty of material to make a road at this point. It was a lot of stone and dry dirt. This was only a temporary access and was built to be used only once or twice. The well drilling equipment was heavy so I had to build it with care. 

I hoped the rig would be in and out of here by next week. After that I could move around on the mountainside with my Cat doing what was necessary. Early winter rains would be here in a few short weeks, so everything concerning the well had to be in place by then or it would be much more difficult. We didn’t need a rig of that size rolling down the mountain because it slid on a wet spot.

In the back of my mind I was buying the right to quarry all the stone we needed to install the road base across the swamp. Was that important? Damned straight.

I saw Helen’s brother arrive and fire up a big loader. There was another Cat bigger than mine pushing the covering dirt aside to open the quarry. More trucks arrived with the individual parts to assemble the crane. The huge bucket arrived on its own truck. One flatbed held the counter weights that would be installed on the bed of the crane. This would prevent the crane from tipping over as it swung the full bucket to the side.

Bob Bastion had assembled this equipment which had been strung out in different places and when he got Ken Knowles’ agreement to quarry stone he started moving it into place. He knew he was going to use it someday, but hadn’t imagined it would be this soon.

I knew this was all going on, but I concentrated on what I was doing. I would make a cut and push it to the side. My one fear was that I wouldn’t have enough material to make a track wide enough to support the heavy well-drilling truck. I was gaining on the men who were cutting the trees ahead of me. A third of the way up the mountain I came to the place where the face of the mountain was nearly sheer for about twenty feet.

I had planned on building some cribs and filling them with dirt and gravel, but I could see this would take more time than I wanted to spend. I shut the machine down to idle and sat there puzzling what to do. Having an inspiration I called Bob on my radio. “Bob, we have some of those concrete blocks left over that we used to stabilize the first cut we made back at the beginning of our section of the road, don’t we?”

“Yeah, we have an assortment. What do you need?”

“I think we have two of those beams ten feet long and various small blocks five feet in length. I need something to get around this rock face.  This will be only temporary until the well is in. We can pull them out and reuse them when we need them for something else.”

“They are damned heavy. The long beams weigh over four tons apiece. Is the road stable enough to manage the big loader with one of them in the bucket?”

“It had better be. That drilling rig has to go over it. Can you break Troy loose from what he is doing to handle them?”

“I can, but how are we going to get them here?”

“Helen can drive the flatbed. Can you have them loaded onto that?”

“Okay, I hope you know what you are doing.” I thought I did. I had been the major operator when constructing the road over the mountains two years ago while in the service. There I had used smaller, more irregular blocks than I had available here. These should fit together with little trouble. 

We worked all afternoon and had the first course down by quitting time. I had school tonight and wasn’t prepared that well. I would catch up when it let up a little here.

Troy was older and knew his equipment better than I did, but since I clearly knew what I wanted to accomplish, we worked well together. We were back at it by daylight the next morning because Troy had to get back to the job he was doing before Bob had called him off the quarry site to help me. When we finished, we had a stable road around the ledge, twelve feet wide and a solid eight feet high. Troy proved its worth by driving his big loader back and forth over it several times. I was pleased at what we had accomplished to get by this difficult spot.

I stayed late, and before dark I had advanced up the mountain and was nearly to the level area for the drilling rig. I left it for tomorrow. Helen, Brad and Scotty were complaining they never saw me anymore. I promised I wouldn’t stay at the job site as long as I had this week from now on.

I went in late in the morning as I did some studying. Tonight I had a class again, the last one this week. I got on site by ten-thirty. By one that afternoon the space was ready to set the drilling rig. It wouldn’t be here until Monday so I had three days to get back onto a regular schedule. I might even do something with Helen and the boys.

**********

The next morning I went to the site and watched the crew assemble the crane. I couldn’t get anything else done on the mountain for my own project until the well driller arrived. This was at first and then I got to thinking, why didn’t I go up to see where we were going to lay the pipe?  My Cat was still up there, so I climbed up the road and started my machine. I didn’t know yet where exactly the well pipe would be coming from the ground, but I could at least start the cut along the ridge for the penstock.

Penstock … that is a weird description of something that delivers water, i.e., basically a pipe. It sounds like something to corral cattle or horses. Why didn’t people say water pipe? I had run onto the word in high school and looked it up in the dictionary. There was a picture of one located in the state of Vermont. It was eight feet in diameter and delivered water four and half miles from a lake to a power station. A tube was constructed of wooden staves held together by metal bands, much like a barrel was held together.

The penstock in Vermont was constructed in 1922 and was rebuilt in 1985. The power and the source were now owned by a corporation in Canada. I was still curious about it, and someone had written up its history just recently.

We were planning cradles to hold the pipe, so a few feet extra in height didn’t matter much. There were some small trees that I hadn’t thought to have the laborers cut, but I would uproot those and tip them out of the way.  This planned cut into the side of the ridge was to be level and it was nearly straight. I opened up the throttle and moved right along.

I arrived at the spot the pipe should cross over the ridge and I could look down into the basin. I knew Ken and Jack would agree this was the best place. I could see the small power dam down below that would be replaced. Satisfied, I turned my machine around and headed back. It was almost time for dinner at home.

One of the small trees I had uprooted and pushed to the side had slid back into the road root first. I suppose I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should have. The top of the tree was stuck up in other trees several feet off the ground.  I put my blade down and hooked the root, hardly pausing. The damned thing slid off the corner of the blade and flew back and into the tracks. I didn’t stop in time and it went into the cogs of the tracks, binding up the drive wheel. 

I came to a shuddering stop. I tried reversing the tractor, but I couldn’t go either forward or backwards. The tree, actually more of a sapling, was now terribly bowed with the roots in the tracks and the top bent against another tree. I shut the machine off and jumped down to investigate. Just as I walked around, but before I could lean down to look at the track, the tree snapped. One end hit me in the thigh, lifting me into the air. It swept me over the bank. I crashed down the side of the mountain, and the last I remembered was a tree coming at me.

***********

I came to and knew I was being transported in an ambulance. Helen was with me and holding my hand. I squeezed it and passed out. When I woke up again, I was in the hospital. I was groggy, and started asking questions about how bad I was.

“Honey, the nurses tell me you have a concussion so they will be watching you closely tonight. The boys are worried, but you are going to be fine. I’ll go home now and I’ll see you in the morning.

She was back the next day. “Rich, you’re kind of smashed up, but there is nothing life threatening. You will be in the hospital for a little while.  Not long we hope, only a few days. You hit your head pretty hard and have a concussion. You have three broken ribs and another couple ribs are lacerated.

“The worst damage is to your thigh. It is terribly bruised and the muscles are damaged. It is going to take a lot of therapy to get you back to where you should be. It was lucky you were standing so close to the tree when it broke. If you had been two or three feet away from it, it would have broken your thigh bone and possibly your hip as well.”

“Who found me?”

“Jack Oberon heard you working and had climbed the ridge from the basin side and reached you shortly after it happened. He called to the men down below to tell them you had been hurt.”

“How long before I can go back to work?”

“It depends. I have been talking to Dad about this. It will be a month or two before you are strong enough to get back on the Cat. He says your talents are being wasted by just running a piece of machinery. Dad wants you to help him in and out of the office. This gives him an excuse to move you up. Steve and Troy won’t mind. They don’t want the responsibility and Dad really needs someone as the business gets bigger. So husband of mine, I guess you are it.”

“What about you? It seems as if I’m jumping ahead of you and your brothers. All I really want is to provide for my family.”

“Rich, you have it in you to really help the company grow. We all realize this and it is time you do, too. You can concentrate on finishing your schooling.” 

“I am honored to think your father thinks so well of me. If he decides the best place for me is helping him in the office, I will, but I hope he doesn’t stick me behind a desk all of the time.”

“No, that isn’t what the job is. He can handle that. He wants you out coordinating all that goes on at the job sites. You have proved you can help strategically in the field ever since you came forward with your ideas about this job here. He will be in to see you today. Listen to him, please.

“One thing I wish you would do. I wish you would resign from the active reserve. That will keep you home for sure in case Saddam Hussein does attack his neighbors. Kuwait has an alliance with the United States and Bush has to do something about it. I need you, the family needs you and the company certainly needs you.”

“I will of course. However, you know I am now in the same position, being in the active reserve, as I was when I joined the service. Connie couldn’t understand. I’m signed up, but I’m basically under contract to fulfill my commitment. We’ll hope I’m never called back for active duty. However, I will get out as soon as possible.”

We sat quietly and only discussed how lucky I was to come out of this injury as well as I did. I couldn’t see my injuries, but I certainly knew I had them. The boys came in to see me as soon as school let out. I laughed and joked with them just to let them know I was okay.

Bob Bastion came in. He didn’t say too much, just that he wanted to go over some things with me as soon as I was out of the hospital. “Hurry up and get out of here. I need you.” That was the best medicine I could have received.

I described to him in detail how the accident happened. His observation, “We’ll make it rule that we never do any land clearing without cutting all the trees first. Hear me?”

Sam Kline came the next day to visit. “Hey boy, got yourself smashed up didn’t you. I hear you are going to get well and come out of this okay. Good, I’m glad.” He hesitated before saying, “Connie is up here with me for a few days.” He looked at me to see how I received his statement.

“Sam, that’s great.This is the first time she has visited you isn’t it?”

“Yeah  Matt and Corrine are with her. They are out in the lobby right now. Matt would like to come in and speak to you. He wants to thank you personally for letting him adopt Corrine. Would you talk to him?”

“I can do that. Have him come in.” Sam went out to tell Matt I would see him. I was thinking why were they putting this on me at this time? I wasn’t in the best shape to deal with something like this.

Connie was the first one through the door. She was holding twenty-seven-month-old Corrine in her arms. Matt was behind her with Sam bringing up the rear.

“Hello Rich, how are you doing? Dad told us you were injured.”

“I’m banged up and hurting some, but I’m going to be fine.” I tried at first to keep my eyes from looking at the little girl. Finally I gave her my full attention. She was pretty, but I had seen other little girls as pretty while shopping. I can’t say as I felt anything special for this child I had sired. Maybe it was because of all of the pain the child’s mother had caused me.

All three of the family Forbes stood there looking at me, not knowing what to say. Hey, they had intruded on me. I was hurting and I was hoping they would leave. I would wait them out. I took the silence until we were all uncomfortable. “You are wondering, I guess, how I could give up Corrine aren’t you? It's complicated. I have to tell you that I feel nothing for her now that I have met her. I think she will be beautiful like you, but it really is nothing to me.” I stopped myself from saying something bitter.

I began again, “I had Matt thoroughly checked out. He has provided for her better than I could and she lives in the same home with him. He should have the full responsibility as he now is and always will be her father. She lives so far away from me there is no use me trying to connect with her. The only thing I would do for her is in case there is a medical emergency or something I would be available for her. But then I would do the same for any child. I’m beyond feeling any anger against either of you. I’m also glad that you found happiness.”

I pushed this at them. I wasn’t saying about how I had felt when I came home on leave and found out Connie hadn’t been faithful. Why couldn’t they see I wanted them to leave me alone? It wasn’t to be. 

Matt brushed by Connie and stuck out his hand. “Rich, you are a generous person. I knew you must be, going by what Sam tells us about you. I understand you are married now and have found happiness with a new person.”

“Yeah, I am. I have boys, two of them, one six and one eight. My wife and I are having a new one in a few months. Sam will tell you when the happy event occurs.”

I looked at the open door. Helen and the boys were looking in at the crowded room. Helen came in, ignoring Connie, and came to the bed and pecked me on the lips. She turned around as I made introductions, “Helen, this is Connie and Matt Forbes, Sam’s daughter and her husband. The little girl is their daughter, Corrine. This is my wife Helen. Brad and Scotty, come in and meet Sam’s family.” 

The boys, shy, ignored everyone. Scotty went to the far side of the bed and Brad sat on the near side. Helen asked if she could hold Corrine. Connie handed the girl into Helen’s arms. Sam and Matt retreated outside to lessen the crowd in the room. There were two chairs and Helen and Connie sat down. Corrine squirmed out of Helen’s arms. Instead of going to her mother she climbed up on my bed and sat next to Brad.

She looked at him. “You’re a boy, aren’t you?”

“I guess.”

“I’m a girl and Mom tells me I am pretty.”

Brad didn’t know what to say and had to escape. He asked his mother for some money to get candy from the machine at the end of the hall. Connie was quicker, reaching for her bag. She dug out three one dollar bills and handed the kids each one. Both boys said thank you. Brad and Corrine got off the bed. Scotty was leading, heading for the door. Brad may not have liked it, but a little girl was holding his hand when they went out the door. I heard Matt tell Corrine to be quiet and no running.

Helen and Connie settled down to share secrets. Connie asked Helen if she knew all about Corrine and Helen said she did. Then she told her how good a person I was to let Matt adopt her. Helen then started bragging about what a nice husband I was and was now looking into adopting Brad and Scotty.

I was only half listening and almost asleep. I felt someone prying my lips open. I thought probably it was a nurse giving me a pill. I opened my eyes. It was Corrine trying to get me to eat an M and M candy. Brad was laughing, “Dad, Corrine is a nurse and it is time for your pills.” I had six of them until Connie told Corrine enough pills.

I guess my pain killers were kicking in because I was getting too drowsy to follow what they were saying or doing. Helen came and kissed me, saying she would be back to see me this evening. I looked around and saw the others had left. I welcomed the fact I was alone. I wanted to lie here and get well.

I woke up before supper. The doctor came in before the servers brought my dinner tray. “Mr. Rumford, I’m here to tell you about your condition. It could be a lot worse. That said, it could be better. You did have a concussion, but I don’t see any lingering effects from it. I’ll be the one caring for you while you are with us. However after you are discharged, if you develop any dizziness or headaches let your primary doctor know immediately.

“You have three broken ribs. As hard as you hit something, which was from all reports a tree, you are lucky there. The ends could have been driven into the soft tissues and really done severe damage. As it were they just cracked and didn’t enter the body cavity.”

I interrupted the doctor. “It’s my leg isn’t it?”

“Yes, I was giving you the good news first. The muscle on your thigh is badly mangled, even though it is classified as a bruise. We will be watching it closely to make sure it doesn’t become infected. If it doesn’t, then you should be okay except for one thing. I am almost sure you will walk with a limp. Physical therapy can do a lot, but in this case the muscle took too much damage.

“The human body is a wonderful machine, but damaged as much as yours is, I don’t expect you will recover fully. Diligence when you begin therapy will pay off, so don’t skip doing your exercises. I’ll order you a brace to wear so you can get around. You should wear it all the time until you are released from therapy. Over time as you get stronger, you will be able to dispense with it completely. That’s all I can tell you today.”

“Thanks, Doc.”

“Sorry I don’t have better news for you.”

“At least I’m alive.” I waved my hand as he left.

Helen came in shortly afterward. “Rich, did the doctor come in?”

“About my leg, you mean?”

Helen nodded. “He called me this morning to talk about it. He wondered how you would accept the news.”

“I don’t like it, but I promise I won’t let it get me down. I’ll do the best to still be a good husband to you even though I’m crippled. I also promise I’m going to minimize it by doing all of the therapy needed to get me as far as I can go.”

“I know you will. Accepting it like you have makes me proud of you.” With a half smile she said, “Rich, I was surprised to find Connie and her family here with you yesterday.”

“Not as much as I was. Sam kind of sprung them on me. I was glad to see you and the boys come in when you did. It was pretty awkward facing her after all this time and in this situation.”

“What did you think of your little girl?”

“Cute. You’re wondering if I have any fatherly feeling for her, aren’t you?” My wife nodded. “I can honestly say I don’t. I am happy I agreed to the adoption. Matt was here to thank me. We probably won’t see them very often, anyway.”

“Oh yes we will. They are moving up here to be near Sam. Matt Forbes’ father has sold the Ford agency. Matt felt it was too big a business for him to handle alone so he let his father sell it. He didn’t have much to do with the dealership part of the business anyway. He headed up the maintenance section which is where most of the profit came from.”

“How’d you find so much about this?”

“Connie talked continuously about their life. She isn’t afraid to ask questions either. She wanted to know all about you. Matt asked a couple too. I think they both feel guilty.”

“So what are they going to do now?”

“He has a job working at the Ford garage here in town doing the same thing as he did for his father. Connie didn’t spell it out, but I think they are well enough off so working is only something to do to keep occupied.”

“Are you going to be friendly with them?”

“Until they get settled, I guess. They’ll make new friends of their own after awhile. Is this going to bother you?”

“Not too much. I’m not going to get cozy with him or her.”

“How about Corrine?”

“Not her either, but I wish you would change the subject to what the doctor told you.”

“You can’t get out of bed until your ribs mend enough to use a cane. The doctor is ordering a brace to keep your leg immobile to prevent moving the muscle. They have a splint on it now. It will be taken off every day so they can examine your leg. Just as soon as the danger of infection is past, you will be going into a strong therapy program. It is going to be painful, but it is necessary to keep the muscle stretched out and not shortening up too much from continued disuse."

The following day, Wednesday, Jack Oberon came in. He was all smiles. “Hey, son, we did it. We have the well in and capped. The drillers were able to hit the water column dead on. There is very little pressure at the cap, but enough to move the water through the pipe across to where it goes over the saddle. As soon as that is piped down into the basin, it will have the weight of the water flowing through it and acting like a siphon.”

“So is it all piped in as far as we agreed?”

“Not yet. You told me to direct this operation. I talked to Bob Bastion and he agreed that the path for the pipe should have six inches of crushed rock along it under the cradles. Just as soon as the rock crusher gets set up, that is where the first loads of stone will be placed. Enough pipes came up on the drilling rig to finish this end. The lengths of pipe are stacked near the well just waiting to be put together.”

“Damn, I wanted to see all this happening. It sounds as if you are having a ball.”

“I am. This is the most fun I have had since I retired twelve years ago. One thing I changed in your plan, although it doesn’t affect you at all, is that Ken Knowles isn’t going to do anything about connecting this all together before next spring. He will keep some water flowing down the brook into the dam for the generator he has now. That will give him time to figure out exactly how big a turbine he is going to install.”

**********

I thought I was recovering nicely. I had learned not to laugh or to cough because of the broken ribs. My leg pained me, but I was given pain killers to contain that. I woke up one morning knowing I was sick. I had a fever and my leg throbbed. I had been steadily progressing up till now, so my leg hadn’t been examined since early the day before. I rang for the nurse telling her of my problem. An hour later the doctor was looking at it.

“Rich, we have to go in and clean up the spot on your leg. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to, but if I don’t it will only get worse and turn into something more serious. I’ll have you prepped while the operating room is getting ready.  You’ll be back here in your room by noon. Don’t worry you’ll come out of this fine.”

I knew this was just doctor speak. How could I help but worry? Would I ever walk again or would they have to cut off my leg? I called Helen. I needed someone to hold my hand. I had a few minutes with her before I was wheeled into surgery.

I came out of anesthesia with Helen still holding my hand. Groggy, I had a minute to look into her face before she realized I was lucid. There were no signs of distress there. Good, I was going to be okay.

The doctor appeared by my side. “Rich we had to remove some tissue that was degraded beyond what your body could take care of on its own. I am confident you are now going to recover and be fine. The prognosis is still you will have a slight limp when you walk, but eventually you will be as strong as ever.” Three days later the drains were taken out and the therapist was talking to me, giving me an idea what I would face when I was put under her care.

The mechanical leg brace arrived and I was able to take my first steps. My ribs were knitting and I could now get around with a cane. I arrived home the day before Thanksgiving. 

Dinner was planned by Rachael, a now visibly pregnant Helen, and her two sisters-in-law. The family was getting so big the Grange Hall had been reserved for our use. Helen’s former in-laws, the Clarks, were invited and gloried in how their grandsons were growing. Helen promised that she would have them see more of them.

Connie, Matt, and Corrine Forbes came in with Sam. I wondered about this. Helen had barely mentioned Connie and Matt since the day she came in to see me.  Sam was a very valued employee to the company … and he was my friend.  The only friend I had when I went through my difficulties with Connie. I wasn’t going to read anything into their coming with him as it was Thanksgiving Day and a person should be thankful. I was alive wasn’t I?

A reclining chair had been brought for me to sit in and I would be sitting there to eat my dinner. Rachael was the one who had suggested this. Brad and Scotty said they would bring my dinner to me. Corrine remembered that Bradley had held her hand when they went to get M and Ms in the hospital. She wanted to help. I said, “Okay.”

Brad was willing to agree to what this little more than a toddler wanted to do and she was a girl at that. I thought this cute. I was smiling at the children until I looked up and saw Connie looking at me. 

Helen was watching me as well. In one way I was hurt. What did these people think? Helen, Connie, Matt, and Sam knew what my relationship was to Corrine. Probably Rachael did too. Helen never kept anything from her mother. I glanced at Matt. He was trying to look amused, but I wondered.

Couldn’t they see that I had given up all claim to the child I had sired? If the women tried to read something into every situation when I came in contact with Corrine, then someday it was going to cause one of us pain. I hadn’t given much thought to the Forbes settling in the area. Sam was the reason they came and what made Sam happy was fine with me. 

But if their coming here was going to cause turmoil in my life I didn’t want that. What I meant is I couldn’t have that! Before the meal was over I had settled on what I was going to do about this to stymie any future unhappiness.  The meal was loud and boisterous, Bob and Rachael had six grand kids and Corrine made one more child running around.  When the women were picking up, Connie came by to get the dishes off the card table they had set my food on.

“Connie, before you leave today would you and Matt stay a minute? I’d like to say something. You might be aware that I’m not entirely comfortable around you, so I want to clarify our association.”

“Will Helen be in to hear what you have to say to us?”

“Of course. She needs to hear it as much as you two do. Don’t read into this a warning of any kind. It is just a clarification.”

“Sure, we’ll hear you out.” She went about picking up. I saw her speak to Matt and he glanced my way, but didn’t come near me. 

Helen came out of the kitchen and headed my way. “What’s going on Rich? Connie said you wanted to talk to them.  She said you wanted me to hear what you said.”

“I do. What I say won’t take long. It is just something that needs saying.”

“Tell me?”

“Later. I only want to say it once.” Helen studied me. I smiled and put my lips up to be kissed. Knowing me well, she knew she would have to wait as planned so she kissed me and went back into the kitchen.

Brad and Scotty were sick of the party at this point, so they went home with their grandparents, the Clarks. Helen promised to pick them up in the morning after shopping tomorrow on Black Friday.

Corrine had crawled into Sam’s lap and he was holding her as she slept. He was almost asleep too. Everything taken care of, the three came up waiting to hear what I wanted to say. “I don’t know how this is going to come out, but I have to say it. Of course it concerns Corrine and me and my supposed relation to her. Every time she comes near me, you all look to see if I have any regrets about giving her up for adoption.

“I’ve said often enough some things about how unhappy I was up until I met Helen. Connie caused some of it, but there was a lot more unhappiness in my life before I met her that had already set the tone. I met Helen and have been happy ever since. I’ll do anything to keep from being unhappy. Just so I don’t get that way, I want to clarify some things. I gave Corrine up for adoption. Before I did, I had Matt checked into to see what kind of father he would make.

“You, Connie, were checked out as well. When you got away from your mother’s influence, I determined that you really were a good mother. But still, the man who had seduced you when your husband was away didn’t propose marriage immediately as soon as you were in the position to accept a proposal. I wondered about that and I did find there was a reason why he didn’t. 

“I was told that he did love you and the child. As I said, I had Matt checked out and I found out a different reason he held off on his proposal. Then suddenly he went ahead and proposed and asked if it would be possible to adopt.” I might be telling something that Matt had wanted to be kept from Connie.

“Matt, does Connie know why it all came together for her?”

“She knows every thing and I guess you have discovered why I waited and why I was hoping to adopt Corrine. Go ahead and tell Helen too if she doesn’t know already.”

“Helen, you wondered why I gave up Corrine as easily as I did. I determined they would be good parents. This now, comes back to me and my situation. I met you, fell in love and was presented with a ready-made family whom I loved immediately on meeting the boys. I certainly didn’t need another child who would only cause a lot of heartache by trying to keep her in my life. Corrine would have a solid set of parents if I forgave both Connie for cheating and Matt for seducing Connie. I did forgive, and I am still glad I have.

“The one fact that I was made aware of is that Matt is sterile. That is the reason he held off proposing because he couldn’t give Connie more children. When Matt was convinced Connie would be satisfied with the one child she had already, he made his proposal. Matt had the ready-made family to love so he was satisfied, that is if the biological father didn’t interfere. I felt Corrine was the winner in this as she had two parents she was familiar with and loved her.

“That was the situation up until you two moved here.  Now every time Corrine comes near me, you three look to see if I’m going to be upset with the decisions I made and might cause trouble. Matt and Connie, you are a nice couple who have moved into the area. You have a cute little daughter named Corrine. That’s it, there is no more, and that is the way I want it looked at. I have no anger toward Connie and I have no designs on Corrine. You have to believe me. We can’t be friends otherwise.”

The three were speechless and then tears appeared in Connie’s eyes. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. Matt grasped my hand. Helen came around and put her hand on my shoulder. Connie went across to where Sam was sleeping and shook him, taking Corrine up into her arms.  He sent Sam over so he and Matt could help me out to the car.

After Helen got me into the car, she said, “Rich, I am damned proud of you for speaking out. I was as bad as Connie and Matt. We were watching you to see how you would react to Corrine. We can now go on and be friends. I really like Connie. She doesn’t seem much like you have described though.”

“That’s because she isn’t like she was back then. Her mother kept telling her how beautiful and smart she was and Connie believed her. Louise didn’t like me at all, naming me as a loser and tried everything to break us up. She succeeded, and then when the annulment went through, I think Connie felt guilty and realized how bad she had treated me. It might have worsened for her when Matt didn’t immediately propose.

“It turned out okay and I’ll say this one time. I think Corrine is the winner in all this. You could say I was the loser, but I don’t look at it that way. The girl is in a happy, stable family and I have my own family now with you. I’m satisfied anyway.”

“I have to ask, how did you learn the reason Matt was so slow in asking Connie to marry him?”

“It was the attorney whom Sam suggested to represent me. Her name is Sarah Hazelton. It was her idea about going for the annulment instead of a divorce. It turned out to be one of the cases that are referred to in some other court cases.  There is a name for it, I think, but I don’t know what it is.

“Sam was telling me about Connie’s situation sometimes.  I wanted to make sure that Corrine was well cared for so I discussed it with Sarah. A week later I called her back and she had an answer for me.

“As far as finding out that Matt was sterile, Sarah checked into the gossip among their friends making the rounds about the two. To make sure, she went to Matt one afternoon coming from work and asked if he wanted to adopt Corrine.  Sarah assured him that if he was married to Connie, I would let it happen. It didn’t take him long to convince Connie. Sarah knows how to get things done.”

Helen had to know one more thing. “One more question. When did you talk to Sarah? Was it after you moved here?”

“Yes, and I did keep it from you,  I was making sure that you wouldn’t get upset that I was dealing with that former part of my life before we met and fell in love. Are you okay with it?”

“I’m fine. I have to get you home and into bed. It has been a long and tiring day. I have to get up early and go shopping for Christmas toys in the morning. You didn’t get injured just so you wouldn’t have to go shopping did you?”

Chapter Five

My schooling was screwed up. I had missed so much class time I would have to repeat. This would put me behind a whole semester. There was nothing at this point I could do about it. I wasn’t going to sit around home. Monday morning I had breakfast and saw the boys off to school. I had an appointment with therapy at ten-thirty. I had a couple of hours, what was I going to do until then?

Helen was bustling around doing up the kitchen and planning dinner for tonight. I asked. “Hey, run me over to headquarters, would you please?”

“You have an appointment this morning.”

“I know. I’ll get someone to take me from there. Bob or his secretary could.”

“Okay. Call me when you get done and I’ll come get you.”

“Good, bring our lunch. I want to go out and look at the job site. I have no idea how much progress has been made. Bob tells me, but I need to see it for myself.”

“Okay, I’ll see you at noon. You be careful and don’t overdo.”

“Gotcha.”

“Rich, what in hell are you doing here? You have an appointment this morning.”

“I know, Bob, but I thought I would come in and see how things operate here at headquarters.”

“I didn’t plan on you being here until after the first of the year.”

“That’s a whole month from now. I can’t go back to school. I suspect I’ll be kicked out of the reserve because I have a gimpy leg. I have all kinds of time on my hands. Maybe I can’t run a piece of equipment, but there is nothing wrong with my head.”

Bob looked intently at me. “Is it the salary? You get paid every two weeks. You were on the job and besides that, you’re family.”

“That’s just it. I’m family. I haven’t had a family for years. It isn’t going to hurt if I come in. There are things I can do, even if it is just keeping track of inventory. I do have some knowledge about how a business runs. I took classes all the while I was in the service and I had a good start again on learning more this year until I was injured.”

“Well, there are things I was going to look at and haven’t had time. I’m leasing a lot of equipment for this road job. I have to figure out if it will pay to buy or keep on leasing equipment. You’ve been here long enough to know what we are using. Sam Kline can give you all of the figures on what we own, what we lease and how many hours each piece is used. 

“I think we are going to clean up big on this job. If we do, we’ll bid on more of them and move the company in that direction. It isn’t too soon to be looking that far ahead. Do it at your leisure, as you have time. When you get well enough to get outside I’ll have you looking at the personnel we have and how best to use them. You seem to have the knack for doing stuff such as that.”

“Good, I’ll see Sam. I have to leave about ten. Is there someone to run me over to therapy? Helen will pick me up.” 

“Have Sam do it. He hardly ever gets out. Sam is one of the best accountant/ bookkeepers I have ever had. I have to have an independent audit every year. His books were right to the penny.”

I walked into the offices. “Hi Sam, Bob sent me in here to look at some figures.”

“Rich, you should be home in an easy chair.”

“No, I can get around okay. Getting into and out of a car is difficult. This damned leg brace doesn’t let me bend my leg, so I have to hitch around to get comfortable. I have therapy this morning, and I’d like you to drive me there if it isn’t too much trouble. Helen will pick me up for lunch from there. She is going to drive me out so I can see how much has been accomplished on the road. I’ll be hanging out with you here off and on. I can’t just sit home.”

“Glad to have you with me. What do you need?” I told him and he found a folder from the cabinet. Looking through the file I saw immediately one piece of equipment that we owned that wasn’t used very often or for very long at a time. This is something that Bob should be leasing rather than owning.

We owned two large road graders and one smaller. From working and from what was coming up, I knew that owning one big one was fine, and a smaller one would handle the remainder of the chores. When this job was over, we could sell the other big one. Bob had been flying by the seat of his pants, with no real organization. I began making notes to go to him with suggestions. This might save him some real dollars.

“Sam, Bob said you could take a break and drive me over to the hospital where the therapy unit is. Can you do that now?”

“Sure, I want to talk to you about something.” He didn’t say anything until he had me settled in his van. “Rich, you know I do some of the banking for the company. Well I had been joking around with one of the tellers every time I go in. We kind of have been sharing a little personal stuff about each other. Long story short, I’ve asked her for a date. Would you and Helen go out to dinner with us the first time? I’ve told her some about you and how you’ve always been my friend.”

“What about Connie? Shouldn’t it be her you have with you?”

“No, she doesn’t need to know. I’m more comfortable with you and Helen. I don’t want Louise’s name to come up in the conversation.”

“Sure, when you get your date arranged we’ll go with you.” I stopped and then asked, “What about Louise? Where is she now?”

“Connie tells me her mother has found a new man to boss around just like she did me. I pity the poor bastard. His problem and not mine, thank God.”  I laughed and Sam did too.

Therapy was bad! Before I was discharged from the hospital, I had met with my therapist, Kate, in the hospital and had listened to the doctor suggesting a course of action. Neither one had mentioned how much pain this was going to cause me. This first time was mostly a consultation with the head of the department standing by. “Okay Rich, here’s the deal. Some of your muscle has been removed. It is something that couldn’t be replaced. But you have other muscle in and around the same area. I’m going to make it so those muscles will do the work of the missing one.”

That began the session. I found that at first I couldn’t bend my knee but just a little. Kate had some kind of gauge that she aligned along beside my leg. She pointed on it where she expected me to reach by the end of the certain number of sessions that had been ordered. I promised I would work with her.

Helen was waiting for me in the waiting room that first day. “How did it go?”

“I’m hurting. I asked for some Tylenol, but they said they weren’t allowed to administer it. Do you have any with you?” Helen dug into her handbag and gave me two 500 mg tablets. I got some water from the cooler and took them.  “Let’s go. I’ll be fine.”

“Don’t you think we should go home?”

“No, I’m not giving up this easy. I want to see how far the road work has gotten to.”

“Okay, but I think we should go home.” Again, I shook my head, no.

We pulled into a wide spot just before where the dredging had begun on the swamp. I could see the dredging machine working in the distance. Close to it, there was a beehive of activity. Loaded trucks were backing over the near section that had the road base already put down. I could see drainage culverts with headers spaced periodically.

I took a moment and looked up the mountain to the top of the ridge. This was the place I had been smashed up. I shook my head, knowing it had been a close call for me. Just then the senior supervisor, Pat Brennen, spotted an unknown vehicle parked in the work zone. He headed toward us.

“Hey, get that car out of here.” He stopped yelling when he recognized Helen as the driver. He peered in and saw me. Coming around to my side he opened the door and shook my hand. “Hey, Rich, how’re doing? I was wondering when we would see you.”

“I only got out of the hospital last week. How are things going?”

“They are going great! We will be finished getting the muck out of the swamp by Christmas, five months before we expected to. We are using the trucks to put down the base instead of having to use them to truck the muck off. I say muck, but it is pretty solid stuff. I think it can be leveled off come late spring. That was the plan wasn’t it?” 

“Yeah. So when do you think you will begin working on cutting through the mountain at the end of the swamp?”

“We’re shutting down between Christmas and New Years. We’ll be ready to go at it on January 2. Every one of the workers has worked hard and been on the job every day. Of course, Bob telling them to expect a good Christmas bonus has helped a lot.” He grinned. “Well, back to cracking the whip. Glad you are up and around. Take care.”

Helen backed up and turned around. The rock crusher was clanging away. I could see where the stone was being quarried. Ken Knowles was well on his way to having a new access to the basin. On the way home she said, “The reason we are so far ahead is because of you and your vision. Dad gets a check when each step of the project has been completed. The state engineer who oversees the job signed off on this. Dad didn’t expect it until after the first of the year.”

“Helen, it wasn’t just me. It was you who had the courage to go into the basin and start the ball rolling. I’m so proud of you. You work as hard as I do with the children and all. Then I go and screw myself up and put more of a burden on you. I’m hoping when the baby comes I can give you some help.”

“You are looking forward to having this baby, aren’t you?”

“More than you know.” I didn’t continue.

“Maybe we will have a girl.”

“It doesn’t really matter.”

“I think it will be a girl. Rich, I don’t want to push you but I’m getting terribly horny. Do you think we can work something out?”

I grinned, “Tonight is the night.” Sex wasn’t quite the same and adjustments had to be made, but we made out fine. We still loved each other in the morning.

Being injured sure messes up your life. I had missed one meeting of my reserve unit. I made the December one. The medic in our unit advised me to bring all of the medical reports in, saying I probably would be discharged as long as I was physically impaired for the rest of my life. Helen got her wish; she had wanted me to get out. One more problem taken care of.

Christmas arrived, and there was one more thing I wanted to get settled this year. It was Christmas morning. The Clarks were here to celebrate with Brad and Scotty, their grandchildren. The stockings had been opened much earlier and toys and presents were scattered about the living room. I wasn’t close to Helen’s former in-laws, but I respected them.

“Mr. and Mrs. Clark, this has to be addressed. Helen has suggested that I adopt Brad and Scotty so we would be a family all with the same name. I think you should weigh in on this. You have strong feelings about this I am sure.”

“We have, but I wouldn’t want to go against Helen’s wishes. We would prefer to have their name remain Clark in memory of our son, John. However, I see how the boys have come to love you, so we have no objection. In essence they are young and now would be the time to change their name. They call you Dad now and if their names are changed it would be more convenient.”

Scotty spoke up, “I don’t want to change my name. Can’t I stay the same?” I was waiting for this.

“Scotty and Brad, as you are the ones most affected in the family, I won’t mind. If you decide to change at some later date it can be arranged then. I will go ahead with the adoption in every way except your name change. I am proud to be your father in any case.

“How about you Bradley, would you want to have your name changed to mine?”

“Dad, what is your name?” This brought me up short and made me realize just how young my son was. I shouldn’t have put this on him at his age.

“Brad, my name is Rich Rumford. If you changed your name to mine yours would be Bradley Rumford instead of Bradley Clark.”

“Do I have to tell you today?”

“No, not at all. It’s Christmas and we should be playing with our presents anyway.”

A bit later the boys went into the other room to set up their new train set. I spoke to the Clarks, “I guess I was rushing things. If it is okay I’ll let them decide when they get older. It isn’t a case where I have to have them take my name.”

Gram Clark declared, “You are a good father to our grandsons. Most men would demand they change their name. I think you handled this very well.”

We met Bobbi Jo Brown, Sam’s date, during the Christmas Holidays and went out to dinner with them. Sam was trying too hard. Bobbi Jo took care of that. “Sam, I’m with you tonight because I want to be. Relax. Hell, have another drink. I don’t bite and there is nothing you can do to upset me if you will just be yourself.” I knew if Sam would do as she suggested they might just end up in love.

**********

War was coming. President Bush went to congress and had permission to declare war, because Saddam’s troops were invading Kuwait. We were moving ships into the Persian Gulf and making allies from which to launch our forces. I was out of the service, so this didn’t touch my family to any great extent.

Snow slowed our construction, but since we were cutting through the mountain after getting across the swamp our work force was concentrating on that. Work went forward laying down the base through the swamp. We would have everything in place to put on the next layer of finer gravel across the swamp in early spring.

The dredging machine was parked back on high land. The leasing company didn’t have work for it anywhere at present and we could use it again if it was readily available after cutting through the mountain. It was just parked at our site. The swamp on the other side was smaller and, if the dredger couldn’t be leased, a shovel and trucks could handle it.

My leg was improving, so I was finally able to dispense with using the brace and I could drive a vehicle again. I still went to therapy, and I had exercises that I performed at home in the evening. Some I could do while doing my lessons as I was back in school again. Bob said I should attend the classes during the day and study at night.

Helen was showing a baby bump that was getting bigger. We had resumed normal activities in the bedroom, knowing that would come to an end in late spring. She was one of the most active and organized people I had ever known. She managed the house and still drove a piece of equipment when needed. It was something to see a pregnant woman step down from the cab of a tractor and start unbuckling a load from the trailer hooked on behind.

I was busy as well with going to school, therapy, and keeping up with what was going on at the job site. I usually had a couple of hours every morning before I went into the office or to school. I would drive out and talk to the supervisors that headed up the different operations. I got along great with the laborers and the operators, so I probably knew more of what was going on overall and could deal with problems before they reared their head.

The road to the basin was passable, but not as low as we had estimated. It was still damned steep. That was because, when we started cutting through the mountain that was in our way beyond the swamp, we were now using some of that stone instead of from the quarry.

I went over the road and talked to Ken Knowles.  He was waiting for spring to set up his turbine generator. Jack Oberon had been in touch with the power company. Ken was now talking to them about putting his generator online by using the power company poles and connections to some of the homes in the basin. This, in effect, would be under the umbrella of the power company. 

Each home would have to pay the basic connection costs, but their meters would be running backward and their electricity costs would be much less. If the generator went down, the flow of electricity would reverse and then come again from the power company.

This would switch automatically. It took me awhile to understand it, but when I got it through my head it sounded like a good deal. What did Ken get out of this? Not much as far as money was concerned, but a huge amount of satisfaction for helping his neighbors.

When Ken brought up how steep the road still was, I said that it looked like we didn’t need as much stone for our own use as we had agreed previously, but we could keep on mining it to the point he was satisfied with the road level.  We would stockpile it and sell it in the future as it had quite some value.  We would split the profit equally after our costs were determined. I promised papers would be drawn for both of us to sign to that effect. Ken would have his road and would have a few dollars to go with it. Ken’s eyes sparkled.

Bob had kept most of the construction crew working through the winter, but some of it was just busy work while the cut was being made in the mountain. We had three more miles of road to build after we got through. There was the small swamp and from then on it was just cut down the ridges and fill in the gullies. We were ahead of schedule, but in the construction business you couldn’t anticipate every problem that would show up.

I was coming in from the job site one morning and I noticed a battered van in front of the office. When I opened the door, I looked over and saw Bob’s door to his office closed. I could hear his voice rumbling. There was another voice that seemed to be begging him for something. I went down to ask Sam, “Who’s the guy with Bob?”

“That’s Orrin O’Donnell. He has the next section of road beyond ours. I think he has been having bad luck and is way behind on the job. Other than that I don’t know what is going on.” I sat down at my desk and was making notes of what we wanted to accomplish in the next week. I heard Bob’s door open and he came down to stand behind me.

“Rich, come up to the office and meet the person who taught me a lot when I first started in this business.” I was introduced to Orrin. Orrin was an older man than Bob. I could see his troubles written on his face. Bob then went into the reason Orrin was here.

“Orrin is in trouble. He is way behind on his section of the highway. His first completion date is coming up in two weeks and he is not able to meet it. If it isn’t met, the state will hold up his money. Not only that, his checkbook is empty. His foreman Randal Petrie took off with the bookkeeper, Sissy Chamberlin. She took the working capital with them.” 

He stopped speaking and then continued, “He has asked us to give him a hand. Go call Pat and we’ll see if there is anything we can do for him.” I got on the radio and Pat said he would be in.

I listened to a tale of woe from Orrin as he related all of his problems. His wife had been in the hospital, but after some serious surgery was home now. There had been a fire in the maintenance barn and the mechanics had lost their tools and much of the equipment to work with on the machinery. When he had breakdowns, he didn’t have the facility to make repairs.

When he was able to get back to see what shape the job was, he could see that his crew was just putting in their time and not much had been accomplished. I wondered if he wasn’t so beat down, he couldn’t think straight.

“Does that folder you have with you have everything a person needs to know about the five miles you bid on?” He nodded and passed it to me. I had thirty minutes before our foreman arrived to examine what the folder held. It looked pretty straightforward to me. There were gullies to be filled and ridges to be flattened. Orrin claimed to have one mile pretty well roughed out. At this point he should be working on the second mile.

When Pat arrived he and I followed Bob and Orrin in Orrin’s vehicle down the highway until we could cross over to where the new road was being constructed. Bob had asked Sam to go with them and he was glad to get away from the office. We had to drive thirty miles to where we could cross the river and reach Orrin’s jobsite. This was the farthest end from where our section ended. I explained to Pat what little I knew of O’Donnell’s problems. 

When we finally arrived it was a damned depressing sight. Several pieces of equipment were parked along beside the roadbed that was being worked on. Some of this equipment hadn’t even had the snow brushed off from when it had snowed two weeks ago. We walked down where the road was to go. There was work done, but it wasn’t nearly complete. Orrin indicated where he had to be in two weeks to have the payment released by the state for the work completed.

We sat down on some boulders which had been nudged out of the way. “Bob, I’m too old for this. I want to be home with Mary. I hate the thought of ending up my life as a failure, but I can see it coming. Back when you got the bid on your section, I thought it would be you coming to me for help. It wasn’t to be. The rumor is that you are ahead of where you need to be.” Orrin was staring at the ground and we knew he had more to say. It came, “The last six months have drained the sap out of me and there isn’t any left.”

“So, Orrin, what do you want from me?”

“I guess I want you to take over my contract for this job and save my reputation. I’ll give you the company if you will. I wish I had what was in my checking account that was embezzled from me, but that is gone. It would have been enough for Mary and me to live out our life on.”

“How much do you owe?”

“I haven’t the slightest. Maybe you should look at my books before you decide to give me any help at all.”

“Sam can get an idea pretty fast if he looks at your books. Take him over to your headquarters and let him look at them. Pat and Rich will look around here a little and then we’ll come along and talk some more.”

Orrin and Sam drove off. “What do you think, men? I would really like to help him out. I started out with him when I was about the same age as Rich. I hate to think he would end up broke and penniless.”

Pat spoke up, “It looks as if his two best pieces of equipment are down. One has a track off. No way of telling what is wrong with the other one. We’ve got some equipment idled for a few months before we can get through the mountain cut. We could move them here and put them to work. It doesn’t look as if there is much for a crew here, but we can find out by asking.”

“What is your take on this, Rich?”

“There would be some advantage to us if we helped Orrin out. That is after we cut through the mountain and get through the small swamp. We could treat our three miles and his five miles as one operation. We would be working from both ends and that will save a lot of time. Remember we are going to have a lot more stone for fill nearby that we own and plan to sell at a later date.”

“Okay. Unless Sam comes up with something that is a deal breaker, I’ll offer Orrin the help he needs to get him out of this hole.” There were two dozers working. I stopped and talked to one of the laborers while Pat talked to one of the operators. We compared notes and found out some of the crew had quit, afraid they wouldn’t be paid. They were still signed in at the local union hall, so we knew they had to be in the area and hadn’t moved on to another locality. I asked the laborers for names, in case we were to go back to hiring. I wrote the names down.

We were finished here and drove over to get Sam. Sam walked out of the office and talked with Bob, “Okay, here is what I have found out. Orrin is actually in fair shape. If he hadn’t been embezzled out of the four hundred thousand, I would say he was solvent. The main problem is two things. First, he doesn’t have enough time to meet his first completion date before he goes into default with the state for not living up to his contract.

“The other is he doesn’t have enough ready cash to meet payroll and make some lease payments. I would say the time situation is the most pressing. I haven’t given him any indication that you would help him out. He said once if he could get out of owning the company without destroying his reputation, he would give it away.  Bob, I think you could make a fair offer, there is value here.”

“Where is the most value?”

“The contract to build the road is where the value is. One other thing is that there was insurance on the building that caught fire. That hasn’t been distributed yet. You could keep Orrin as nominal head and take over the company. That’s just a suggestion, and it would free him up to take care of his wife.”

Bob turned to me, “What do you think, Rich?”

“It is the best chance to enlarge our company, and if Sam says the value is there then I say go for it. Are you going to squeeze him now that he is down?”

“No of course not, but we are taking some chance here so it will be less than the full worth. I will offer more than he asks, I’ll guarantee that.”

“Okay, go talk to him then.” I had no idea what Bob was going to offer Orrin.

When he came back out, he said, “Deal’s done. He is calling his attorney now. We’ll sign the papers tomorrow at noontime. Let’s get home and decide how to make this pay. Pat you are the general supervisor for both contracts.  Rich, your job isn’t changing at all. One day you will go to our project and the next day you will come over here to Orrin’s. You can give advice where to shift help and equipment around where it is most effective.

“Think on that tonight and we’ll have a meeting at seven in the morning and explain everything to our crew. Have Helen with you. I’ll depend on her to move equipment until Pat gets a full crew back on the job here. For the next two weeks everyone for this job will be on overtime. I need to meet the scheduled inspection so we have the money from the state on time. It will be thirty days after it is approved before we receive it, so it will be tight.”

“Pat, you should head over to Orrin’s project, taking all of our maintenance force with you. Orrin will have his maintenance crew meet us at the job site. They are to get as many machines up and running as fast as possible if we are working overtime. I’m telling Troy he has to come off running a machine as he is going to be the chief on our crew.

“Steve is a little more forceful, so I’ll depend on him to do the same with this operation we aren’t as familiar with. I’m hoping Benny will be Union Steward for both crews. It would be easier for us. He is sensible and gets along with management pretty good and the members think he does great for them. We don’t need any union troubles at this point. Questions?”

“Is the company merging or will it be two separate companies?”

“They’ll be separate for the duration of Orrin’s project. Orrin still owns part of it. Bastion Construction will own the assets and own what bills are outstanding. That is going to make Sam’s job more difficult, but I know he is up to it. He’ll be watching the pennies and maybe they’ll turn into dollars.”

By this time we were back to our own headquarters and Pat left. Bob called Sam and me into his office. “Okay, Orrin practically gave me his company. The equipment is worth considerably more than I paid for it. He gets $500,000.  $200,000 tomorrow when the papers are signed and the remainder paid out over seven years at 7% interest. He keeps 20% ownership in the business until this contract is finished. Orrin is more than thankful to get some cash and out from under the headaches.

“If we make a profit from completing his contract, which I think is possible, he gets 20% of that. All of this is no particular burden on our company if all goes well. I’m depending on you Rich to see any problems that arise ahead of time. You seem to be good at that. Would you and Helen come over to the house tonight and I’ll have Troy and Steve there to explain what is going on. Let’s get out of here. I need a beer.”

I was surprised when Troy and Steve agreed to move up to take on the new management duties without argument. Later Helen told me it was because I set such a good example. “My sisters-in-law are after both to take more responsibilities in the company. I would guess that Mom was the one to put it up to them. Whoever did, it works.”

“I hope no one gets mad at me.”

“They won’t. I’ve been on their asses for years to help dad more. I’ve warned them that college isn’t too far down the road for their kids. I did point out how hard you were working to get an education.”

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I’m so damned proud of you, that’s why. Rich, this is the last month the doctor says I can still drive truck. I’m a little more than five months along so I have to stop soon. I’m glad this came along now. I’d hate to miss the fun of it.” I shook my head thinking, wasn’t my wife something?

Helen moved two pieces of equipment from our project to the other one the first day. She was laughing telling me what had happened when she had pulled in with the first one. There were several crew members standing around listening to Pat giving orders as he had just arrived ahead of her. 

“I leaned out the window and asked where they wanted this shovel unloaded. It was the big one. No one answered. I guess they had never had a woman truck driver come on site before. Pat said, ‘Drop it right there,’ so I shut down my rig and backed down out of the cab. Someone whistled. I turned around and told whoever whistled to raise their hand. They could see I was pregnant. Every one of them raised their hands. I grinned and said, ‘Thanks, you’ve made my day,’ and then asked them to unbuckle the shovel. I never had the binders come off so fast.

“Pat directed one of the guys to fire it up and soon it was on the ground. I was hoping I would have to back up to turn around just to prove I could, but I had room to wheel it around. I gave it a couple of blasts of the horn. When I came back this afternoon everyone stopped and waved at me. I’m going to miss driving more than you know.”

Bob got a land clearing sub-contractor working at clearing trees and brush, the third day after taking over. They were to clear four miles of trees left of the O’Donnell contract and the three that were Bastions. I was there the next day.  Pat was spending the first week since we had taken over. Steve, now under Pat, was the one giving orders. I waved to him.

I had never walked over the right of way this side of the mountain, but I intended to today even with the few inches of snow on the ground. My leg wasn’t giving me much trouble and I would go as far as I felt comfortable, bearing in mind the return would be just as far. It was rough going as this was on the edge of a mountain range with the river well below. This had been surveyed by the state.

I almost turned back when I got to the end of Orrin’s section, but I wanted to see the Bastion section from this end. I could see the mountain that was being cut through from the west side. It was a bald rocky spur all the way to the river. I didn’t go as far as the swamp, because there was one more ridge to be climbed before I could see it. I had traveled more than five miles and I was getting tired. I was slow and late getting back. Steve and Pat were anxiously waiting.

“We almost came looking for you.”

“I’m fine. I’m tired, that’s all. Pat, what’s the plan for all the stumps? There is going to be a lot of them.”

“Yeah, it’s a problem. Burn what we can, I guess. Why, have you got a solution?”

“There is one place where they could be dumped. Remember we have all the muck from the swamp to get rid of. We could dump them and then cover it up. That would save a lot of time and we wouldn’t have to truck stuff so far. It is outside the right of way.”

“I’ll check into it. You better get on home, you look beat.”

**********

This was my job now, to save a few dollars where I could. Many times I might not look like I was accomplishing much, but down the road it paid off very well. Our fuel bill for equipment was astronomical given the number of pieces that we were using. Savings in that area was always in the back of my mind. I was racking up more miles myself having to travel back and forth between the two job sites. I became familiar with every operator and laborer at both sites. I would stop and talk and pushed everyone to make suggestions on how to save money.

Most of the personnel were older than I was; I wouldn’t be twenty-two for a couple of months. More than once I was addressed as “kid.” That began to change as time went on.  The big dozer that needed repair when we first looked at Orrin’s project was sitting idling. It was at lunchtime when maintenance said it was ready to go to work.

Pat looked at me. “Rich, see if it is okay. Give it a try.” Trucks had been dumping gravel all morning, spacing out the loads so when they were leveled out it would be six inches deep. It would be gone over with a grader later to make it exact. I opened the throttle and headed into the first pile. I knew Pat thought I would just flatten it and back up.

I thought, “What the hell,” I hadn’t had something this big to ride since I had got out of the service. Three hundred yards down the road under full throttle, I ran out of piles of gravel. Going slower, taking a little more care coming back, I back-dragged some bumps out where I had bounced.

“Is it ready to work?”

“Pat, I’d say so. Good machine. Whatever was wrong with it is fixed now.” I said this to let maintenance know they had done a good job. There was respect in Pat’s face and when I went by my brother-in-law Steve, he swatted me on the butt.

When I got home, Helen met me at the door. “Steve called me from the job site this afternoon.”

“Oh? I imagine he was pissed that I did a little bit of showing off.”

“I don’t hardly think so. He was wondering just what kind of guy I married. He asked me what you did in the service. He said you got on the biggest Cat they have and just blew everyone away. I thought Dad knew what you handled for equipment. Didn’t you ever tell him?”

“No. He just put me on that little D4. I was new and didn’t want make waves. I needed the job and I wanted to be here near you.”

“Rich, you and I talked about different pieces of equipment. I thought Dad and everyone understood you could operate all of it. If I had known, I would have told them. I’m blaming myself for them not knowing. There is more you should know about what Steve said. He said he had been having trouble getting the operators under him to get going at a faster pace. Did you know they weren’t working as hard as they could?”

“I thought it was just Steve’s way of breaking into management. He was a good operator and always worked hard. I knew he would figure out how to get more work out of them eventually.”

“Well he doesn’t have to figure it out now. He said all he would have to do is fire someone and bring you on board to show everyone up. Rich, you have to learn to speak up. I was thinking of all the ways you have made money for the company since you arrived. I think the family thought you followed me home from the service and was looking for a cushy job because I needed a husband for my boys.

“They are so wrong about both of us. I’m the happiest when I’m up in the cab of a truck and you’re out there making this the most profitable construction company for me and my family. I love you so.”

“I love you more and more everyday. If what I do makes you happy, then I’m happy.”

“There is something else I should tell you. Connie was here when Steve called and saw me take the call. I listened and when he hung up, I let loose. I was pissed that my family didn’t know what a treasure I had in you. I even told Connie how stupid she was to let you slip away. I told her how you studied everything while your buddies were at the beer hall. How you would pore over the equipment manuals so you would know what you should expect out of each machine. 

“I told her how you helped everyone. I used Sam for an example, for it was you who got him a job with my father. I went on to tell her I was over there with you and saw how much you were hurting over her not letting you see Corrine. Also how you came to the decision it was the best for Corrine to stay with the two people whom she knew best. I told her how you had forgiven both her and Matt and really did mean it.

“So, sweetheart, everyone knows what a treasure I have.”

“God, the pressure with all my secrets out in the open. I don’t know if I can stand it.”

“I know how to relieve some of the pressure. You notice the boys aren’t here. They are having supper with Mom and Dad.”

Chapter Six

It was March 7 and I was on the ground at Orrin’s road construction. Things were running smoothly. The state inspector had approved the progress at the site and the check was in the mail. Pat and Steve had whipped the crew into line and everyone was happy. Bob said to discontinue working overtime as we were getting one storm right after another and we spent as much time clearing snow as we did on construction. Everyone was ready and anxious to hit it again as soon as the weather broke.

I was now familiar with everyone on the crew and knew most of their names. Pete was clearing off a parked truck and as I walked by he spoke, “Rich got a minute?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“You know before you guys took over, it was rumored that Sissy Chamberlin cleaned the old man out and Randal went with her. I talked to Randal last night. He is in room seven at the Nightlite Motel just across the river from here. He wants to come back to work. He asked me to speak to someone that wouldn’t sic the cops on him. He said he was trying to make something right, but didn’t give me any details.”

“I’ll go see what he has to say. Thanks.” I went directly to my van and drove the five miles to the motel.  I knocked on the door.

“Who is it?”

“I’m from O’Donnell Construction. Pete said you wanted to talk.”

The door opened as far as the chain would allow. “Who are you?”

“My name is Rich Rumford. I’m Bob Bastion’s son-in-law. We took over Orrin’s contract when he was going belly up.”

“Oh Jesus, you mean he lost the business?”

“Not entirely. He sold most of it to Bob Bastion. He is out of it though. He stays home and looks after his wife.”

“Well, come in. I’ve got a story to tell. I’ve got most of Orrin’s money with me.” He let the chain off the door and pointed to the one chair in the small room for me to sit. He sat on the bed. He was nervous and was rubbing his hands together. He started, “Pete picked you out to talk to me. How come?”

“I’m Bob Bastion’s son-in-law. He depends on me to help coordinate equipment and put workers to the most efficient use. The men working here like me.”

“Who has my job?

“Pat Brennen is supervisor for both Orrin’s contract and our own. Steve Bastion is foreman.”

“I know Steve.” He paused and then asked, “Are the police looking for me?”

“I have no idea. Orrin has never said whether he even reported the embezzlement. I do know he was shocked when he discovered the missing funds. How come you took them anyway?”

“I guess it is because I was weak. Look at me. I’m fifty-two years old and homely as the devil. I’ve never married because no woman would have me. I was around the office, of course, because my job took me there. Sissy began flirting with me. She started talking about taking a vacation with me. Then she said we should dream a little and what it would be like to live in Mexico for the rest of our lives. I didn’t really believe her, but it was a nice dream.

“We were drinking one night and she said let’s go right now. Hey, no woman had ever offered herself to me like that. I went to my bank the next morning and drained my ready money. I took quite a bit. I met Sissy at noon and we were on our way. We went to Branson, Missouri and I was having a great time. At the end of the week I said it was time to head back.

“Sissy said she didn’t think that was a good idea as the police were looking for us for embezzlement. She said it was time to head for Mexico. I was shocked and accused her of stealing. I was shown where she had put my name on the transfer of funds along with her own name. The account was in Branson. We argued for three days before leaving. I finally agreed.

“She made one mistake and put my name on the fund transfer, but didn’t remove it from the account in the bank where she opened the new one. I limited my drinking the night before we were to leave.  She didn’t, and got drunk. In the morning I went down to the bank and was waiting when it opened. I removed Sissy’s name from the account.”

Petrie stopped speaking, not looking at me, just staring at the floor. “So what happened?”

“Sissy excused herself after breakfast. She was going to do the same thing that I had already done at the bank. It wasn’t twenty-five minutes after I got back to our room when she came into our room screaming. Then she tried tears and then she got naked and tried that. I almost gave in, but I told her we were just two crooks now who didn’t trust each other.

“Finally we sat down and talked. I had eighteen thousand dollars left of the nearly twenty-five thousand I had taken with me. It was all in traveler’s checks. I signed them and left them sitting on the nightstand. I packed my case and walked out leaving her totaling up the checks. Let me tell you, I probably paid more to sleep with a woman than anyone ever did.”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it. Where have you been the last two-three months?”

“I got me a job grooming a golf course until I earned enough money to get back here. I don’t want to go to jail, but I will if I must. I really screwed up Orrin’s life didn’t I?”

“It looks that way. Where is the money now?”

“I have the account number with me and I have the tracking number of the bank in Branson. I want to give it back to Orrin. Would you or Bastion talk to him? He may not want to talk to me and I wouldn’t blame him but I do need to apologize.”

“I can do that. Is the phone working here in the room?”

“No, it was an added cost. I’m here with limited funds.”

“I’ll call headquarters on the radio from the van and have Bob get in touch with Orrin. It is lunch time. We’ll go eat.  Bob will tell us where we are to meet. It probably will be at Orrin’s headquarters.”

“Maybe it would be better if you talked to Orrin before I met him. You can repeat what I told you. I’d feel better if he knew what happened.”

“Okay, I’ll call Bob on the radio and when I get to a phone, I’ll tell Orrin.”

“Thanks.”

“Hi Bob, something has come up. I have Randal Petrie here with me. He wants to return the money that was missing from Orrin’s business. He wants me to tell Orrin his story before he meets him. Can you arrange it? He came back by bus. I’m driving him as he doesn’t have a vehicle.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect this. I thought he would be in Mexico or Canada by this time.”

“That was the bookkeeper’s plan. What a person will or won’t do for a piece of ass. I think this Sissy was going to tag Ronald with the theft and I think he was taken for a ride. Then he had a bit of remorse and took steps to get out of the situation.”

“I’ll get in touch with Orrin and see what he says. I’ll call you back.”

We sat in the van after getting some sandwiches and coffee from a fast food place. Randal gobbled up his food. I guessed he had been missing a few meals. Ten minutes later Bob called me back. “Take him up to Orrin’s office.  No excuses, Orrin will be waiting.  You stay with them. I want to know what is happening. I’ll be there in an hour.”

I explained to Ronald and he just nodded he understood.  I was glad I wasn’t in his shoes. What a thing to have to do, facing your employer after stealing from him. Orrin shook Randal’s hand when we came in. There was a bookkeeper or office girl at one of the desks. She was one Bob had supplied. “Cindy, hold all calls. When Bob gets here, have him come right into my office.” She barely looked up.

Orrin’s office had several chairs scattered around. I took one in the corner. Orrin looked at Randal. “Randy, tell me all about it. I’m damned disappointed in you. You knew Mary was sick and I had to take care of her.”

Randy interrupted, “How is she?”

“She’s better than she has been for two years. You know I had to sell most of the business don’t you?”

“Pete said Bastion was running it now. I’m sorry.”

“You should be, I was depending on you and you let me down. Was Sissy that good?”

“Orrin, I thought so at the time. I’ve already told Rich here what I did and I’ll tell you the same. I was so gullible. I never had a woman that treated me as nice as she did and I was blind to what her plans were. I do have the money she took where it can be transferred back here.”

“Give me details.” Randy was just finishing up his story when Bob arrived. He had Sam with him.

Randy got right to it. “Who gets the money?”

Orrin answered, “It goes back into the same account it came from.” Bob objected and argued with Orrin. 

Sam spoke up. “It’s getting late to have it banked. You can settle it later. Somebody start making calls.” Sam had been through this transfer of funds all his life. He led Randal and Bob through it. Randal had been coached by the bank in Branson how to proceed and had a pin number to use. Before the banks closed the money had been transferred. When Sam received the confirmation, he declared. “Well that’s making the company prospects look pretty good.”

I picked up on that. “True, but what do we do about Randal now? Oh, I know he ran out on Orrin and left him in an intolerable position and sank his company, but the dynamics have changed for Orrin. As far as I am aware, no one except the principals in this knows about the money that disappeared for awhile. Randal told me it cost him $18,000 to get rid of the bitch that stole it. Just something to think about.”

Randal spoke up. “I just want a job. I want a machine to operate. I never should have taken the foreman’s slot. I don’t know as I want to work with the crew I was in charge of either. Orrin, can you write me up a good letter of recommendation? You know I’m a good shovel operator.”

Bob spoke up, “No need, I’ll put you on a shovel on the first of April. Before then I can use a laborer if you want to do that, or you can wait three weeks.”

Randal grinned at Bob. “Probably that would be a shovel too, wouldn’t it?”

“Could be.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Where are you bunking?”

“Sam is it? I’ve got to find a room.”

“I’ve got an extra room until you get on your feet. Rich stayed with me until he married the daughter of his boss. Do you cook?”

“I do.” 

“Randy, you’ve got a bunk then.” Sam turned to me. “I guess we are done. Rich you might as well take me and Randy back to my office. I imagine Orrin and Bob want to discuss this money that has been returned.” We went by the motel and picked up Randy’s’s bag and he checked out. 

While he was doing that I questioned Sam, “So who does the money belong to, the company or Orrin?”

“When Bob bought out Orrin, he purchased the receivables as well as the debts so technically he does. I doubt he looks at it that way. The simple solution would be to split it. Orrin is happy with the deal he made and he has enough money to continue living the way he always has. He looks back on his life with his reputation intact and successful. That is because of Bob coming in when he did. I think he will reject this found money even though he could claim it.”

Randal showed up and shoved his bag into the van. His only comment was, “I’m getting treated better than I ever expected to. I’m never going to look at another woman the rest of my life.”

“Randy, just because you hooked up with a bad one, believe me they all aren’t like that.”

“You married, Sam?”

“Was and going to be again if I have my way. Working on it anyway.” I didn’t say anything, but this was news to me. I did like Bobbi Jo and I knew Sam was dating her frequently. She was many cuts above Louise, that was for sure.

**********

Helen was getting bigger and she joked about it.  She always was lean and hard before the pregnancy.  Her body didn’t change that much except for the baby bump.  She was just a little broader in the butt, just enough to kid about. She was fairly young at twenty-seven, had two children, and there was no trouble anticipated. She was happy and sang songs as she did her housework.  Scotty and Brad loved having her home and often would give her a hug telling how much they missed her after their father died.

John, their father, was very seldom mentioned. I guess I had replaced him in their hearts. I know I loved both boys.  Brad came to us one evening after Scotty had gone upstairs. “Mom and Dad, can I have anything I want for my seventh birthday?”

I answered, “Of course you can within reason. What would you like?”

“Dad, I want to get my name changed to yours. There are a whole bunch of kids named Clark in school. I want to be different. I want to be a Rumford and I’ll be the only one.”

“What about Scotty? Does he want his name changed too?”

“No, he wants to still be a Clark.”

I looked at Helen. She was smiling. “Of course you can take the name. It will take some time to make it official, but as of right now, your name is Bradley Rumford. Why don’t you run down and tell Grammy what your new name is?”

Bradley stood there a minute looking concerned and then he asked, “Am I still going to get some other presents on my birthday too?”

I answered, “Many more and you can count on it.” Bradley took off running, slamming the door behind him. I was holding Helen and tears were running down my face. She was happy and she certainly could see how this affected me.

We had a big snowstorm the third week of March. Other than opening up the sites, we were basically shut down until some of the snow went away. Four days later though, there was a warm fog and all vestiges of snow disappeared. Little did we know then that the winter was over and we were in for a month-long warm dry spell?

Two weeks into April, I put crews onto the land that we were making into agriculture land for Ken Knowles. I had extra men available as the cut through the mountain was still holding us up from going forward with any great speed. There was nothing we could do with the land on the high side of the road as it was still wet, but where we had put the earth from the roadbed on the low side, it now could be leveled. When this dried out even more, Ken anticipated he could use a wheeled tractor, pick the stone, of what there was little, and plow the land in preparation for planting.

The road up to the well site that I had built was stable enough to travel on. Knowing I couldn’t get a cement truck up to that level, I had cradles poured down on the level and transported by bucket loader and put in place. The loader would be used to lift the pipe onto the cradles anyway. I went up only as often as necessary. The broken tree that had smashed into my upper leg was still lying off to the side and the tree I had been slammed into was still standing.

One change in the position of the pipe was made by Ken Knowles. He decided to have the pipe that came from the well extend beyond where I had stopped. It would continue to the end of the ridge and run beside the new road through to the basin so it would be much easier to install and easier to service.

So far Bastion Construction had fulfilled all they had agreed with Ken Knowles except developing the upper portion of the swamp into arable land. Our plan was predicated on our forecast that the water flowing from the well through the pipe down to his generating station would diminish the water and dry out the swamp so it could become workable enough for agricultural use. So that would have to wait until Ken connected the pipe and ran the water to his dam.

Lowering the road into the basin as Ken wished was giving us a mountain of stone, which we stockpiled to use to lay a base for the O’Donnell Construction roadway. Ken’s half of the profits would pay for much of the generator he planned to install. Needless to say, he was overjoyed with his dealings with the Bastion outfit.

So far both contracts were moving right along. Bob gave more credit to me than I deserved. Most of the time, I was sitting back and examining every move that was made and would then make a suggestion to Bob or Pat. Sometimes they thought it was worth implementing.

May came and I was out of class for the year. My guidance counselor advised that I should consider taking a couple of courses during the summer; by taking some tests, he would recommend me for my degree early. All the studying while in the service hadn’t given me much for credits, but it had given me the knowledge.

We thought the baby would arrive sometime the first week of June. Helen was waddling when she walked. I started quacking like a duck at unusual times which would crack her up no matter what she was doing or who she might be talking to at the time.

Connie was now her constant companion as Connie didn’t work and she often stayed for supper. Sometimes it bothered me. Not because of who she was, but it interfered with the times I wanted to fool around or play grab-ass with my wife.  It came to a head one afternoon when Helen informed me, “Connie will be here for supper. Matt has a meeting.” I didn’t realize Connie was in the house.

“Jesus Christ, doesn’t she ever stay home? She practically lives here. What is she going to do when Corrine goes to school? I can see her not wanting to do anything now while Corrine is home, but that is going to change in another year or two. She should be thinking ahead. I hope she isn’t planning on spending all her time here. Christ, look at you. You are pregnant and still you drove truck when I needed you. You still would if you could fit behind the wheel.”

I was on a rant. “She will be just like her mother. Louise was useless until Sam divorced her and she had to go to work. Connie’s ass is getting bigger, say nothing about her tits. You keep trim from always doing something. She could at least join a gym. Why isn’t she learning how to do something? Christ, where Matt works, she could sell cars or learn to sell real estate. 

“She is pretty enough. She used to shake her tits at me and I bought into her because of that. She must have shaken them at Matt and he fell for her the same as I did. I saw her shake them at Matt so I know. She could shake them at anybody and sell most anything.”

Behind me came, “And I love you too, Rich.” I turned around to see Connie standing in the doorway. She had been in the living room. “I better leave, knowing how you feel about me.”

Helen spoke up. “No way. I invited you for supper. Rich will apologize for saying what he did. Knowing Rich, this is something he has thought about. After supper we’ll sit down and he can explain himself. You can help me set the table. Rich, Corrine is up in Brad’s room. He is reading her a story. Go up and tell them supper is ready.”

“Where is Scotty?”

“He is over at a friend’s house for supper.” I was embarrassed about what I had said about Connie, but I had wanted to fool around with Helen. I would be shut off from sex in a few days, and wanted all the loving I could get before then. Connie was here a lot, and I resented having my plans interrupted. Oh well, I didn’t owe my former wife one damned thing.

I went upstairs very slowly.  Helen said I would have to explain my remarks to Connie. I had to think of what to say to her. I didn’t come up with much.  Screw it; the words would come when I began speaking. 

I looked in on Brad and Corrine. They were on the bed. He was reading out loud “The Little Engine That Could,” and she was listening intently. Brad was seven. I thought it unusual for a boy to be friendly with a girl, especially one so young and not related. I thought back, they seemed to enjoy each others company. That would change someday.

“Supper’s almost ready.”

“Okay Dad, I want to finish the story for Corrine. I only have a few more pages.”

“Don’t be long.”

Supper was quiet. Helen kept looking at me. Connie, I do believe, was thinking of what she had heard me say about her. Bradley asked Corrine if she wanted to listen while he read another book. Of course she did. They ran upstairs.

“Wine or beer, Connie?”

“Wine, unless you can offer a gin and tonic.”

Helen got our preferred. “Connie, Helen thinks I should apologize, and I suppose I should. I apologize for ranting where you could hear me. What I said though is what I feel. It came to the fore this afternoon. I was planning on coming home and loving Helen a little before dinner. That’s the fourth time this month I was prevented from doing that by your being here. I was just a little horny and frustrated, that is all.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Helen did invite me. What about the other stuff you said about me?”

“Oh that, that is just things that I thought about. I admit I felt there was a bit of bitterness showing up in my rant. You gave me some very unhappy days three years ago. I just got going and couldn’t stop.”

“What about commenting on my ass and my breasts? That was nasty and mean.”

“Okay, I was out of line with that, but some of it is true. You did used to shake them at me. And the morning that I saw you get out of Matt’s car, you kissed him and then you shook them at him the same way you did to me when we were together. I’ll bet you have had to increase your clothing size just since you came to live here. I remember what your mother looked like and I swear you are half way there.”

“That’s none of your business. Matt loves me the way I am.”

“You are right it is none of my business. I just remembered what you looked like and you have changed.”

“As far as not working, Matt likes me at home and he makes enough money so I don’t have to work.”

“True, but what if he should die. Does he have enough to leave you comfortable? You’re the same age as me and you have a child to look after. One question, have you ever called a friend to hang out with, but they were busy that day? Then you called another and you were turned down again? Tell me if this hasn’t happened.”

“So this all about improving my life is it? What right do you have?”

“None whatsoever. I just verbalized crap that was floating around in my mind and it came out. Am I sorry? I should be, but I don’t know that I am.”

Connie was staring at me. I had fully expected tears or anger, but neither so far. “Rich, we weren’t together very long, but I have to say you know me better than I know myself. There is a reason why I haven’t tried to do something. I’m afraid of failing, I guess. I wasn’t that bright in school. You were always the smart one. I did shake my tits at you and I did catch you. It turned out that wasn’t the smartest move for either of us. It didn’t last and that is my fault. I think I had better think about some of the things I heard tonight.”

Connie went to the foot of the stairs and shouted to Corrine it was time to go home. Helen and I were waiting for her to leave. I was sure we would have a discussion when the door closed, but I had to wait a while. Helen had picked them up and she drove them home.

When Helen came back, I asked her what Connie had said, “Not very much. One thing is … she does want me to call her when I want her to come over. She understood that sometimes I had said it was okay to come over even when it was inconvenient for me. She apologized to me. She also said that she missed the boat by not treating you right, but then it worked out, for she does love Matt very much. I told her it worked out for me as well.”

“I kind of let her have it with both barrels didn’t I, not knowing she was in a position to hear me?”

“You did and I wondered how you were going to get out of it. I truly thought she would be screaming and crying. What you said could have caused it, and I was very surprised she acted the way she did.”

“I was too. Say, I know it is late, but we could still fool around. How long have I got before I have to give up riding the whale? Or is it a quack, quack duck?”
 
**********

Rita Rachael Rumford arrived weighing in at six pounds two ounces. A coincidence? She arrived on the date that I was intimate with Helen the first time. That was a year ago in Germany. So much had happened in the last year. I was married, now with three children whom I loved and who loved me. Helen was my wife, and more than that, she was my partner and my friend too. I think she understood me often when I didn’t understand myself. 

I said this to her a couple days after she came home with the baby. “Rich, you are driven … driven to excel, driven to be liked and driven to think about things the ordinary person wouldn’t. That is why Dad’s business has improved and is going to make him extremely rich.  You think outside the box.”

“You’re crazy.”

“No I’m not. To prove my point, what have you been thinking about ever since Rita was born? Be honest now. You have been very quiet. I know there is no problem with the highway. The boys are ecstatic with their new sister. We have enough money to live comfortably. So tell me what you have been puzzling over?”

“You would think I was crazy?”

“Nope. Tell me.”

“This might take awhile.”

“That’s fine. Rita is almost asleep. When I burp her she’ll sleep for at least two hours.”

“Okay, but I haven’t thought it all the way through this to my satisfaction. I may never have an answer.”

“You’re stalling. Get to it.”

“Here goes. You’ve heard the expression ‘what goes around comes around,’ haven’t you? Of course you have. This isn’t it, but close. You have heard that ‘life is a tapestry’ and the design is already set. That is close too, and may be close to what I’m thinking.”

“Where are you going with this?”

“Don’t interrupt or I’ll lose my train of thought. To continue, does the expression ‘full circle’ mean anything?” Helen shook her head, no. “It doesn’t mean much to me either, but that is what I’m thinking about.”

“Tell me, O great mental genius.”

“Helen, you remember when I was having my leg examined the last time? It is as good as it is going to get, by the way.

“Getting back to what I’m trying to explain, I was reading an article in a magazine. The author stated that life’s circle begins when a baby is born. I knew our baby was imminent, so I read the whole article. Anyway what he said was that a circle begins when the baby is born, and then grows into a person, and when the person dies and goes to heaven, the circle is full.”

“You have a problem with that?”

“Not really, but the author was a theologian and he should be correct. He had definitely thought on the expression, just as I am doing. He was using the example that the circle started by the baby was just one circle and if he was good as he aged, then a segment to the circle was added. If he wasn’t, then no segment was added and when the person died, he either had a big circle representing good or if he was not so good it was a small circle.”

“It sounds reasonable to me. What is your problem with it?”

“What happens if a person is both good and evil? If he were evil, would he have a circle at all? What if he were good to one person and bad to another? Would he have two circles? That is where the article breaks down.”

“You’re too deep for me. Where are you at right now in puzzling this out?”

“I’m thinking I’d explain it differently. Take you. Say you are a circle and little Rita is a circle and I’m a circle. Right now we are all compatible the way we should be and linked together. Or take Brad, you and me, we are linked, but what happens if one of us does something to break the link. Say it was Brad. He would still be a circle, but not linked to us. What if we then forgave him? Or what if we snapped his link from our circles? What if he came back and we were all linked together again, wouldn’t you say we had come full circle?”

“You’re confusing me.”

“I’m not surprised, but it was you who asked what I was thinking about. Take Connie and me for example  We were circles linked together at one time, but then we became unlinked and she linked up with Matt’s circle. I’d say they were matching circles as they love each other. But then now she is in our lives to some extent. You and she get along great so your circles are linked. Not a perfect match like she and Matt, because of their love.

“Connie and I are different. We started out with matching circles, became unlinked, and for awhile were circles far apart. I don’t see the circles ever being linked again, but they are now rubbing up against each other.”

“I don’t think I want anything of Connie’s rubbing up against anything of yours,” Helen replied. “Not even imaginary circles. I’ll do all the rubbing if there is any to be done.”

“Fair enough. All this was a mental exercise, anyway.”

“Give me another example of complicated thinking?”

I laughed, “How about the guy who wrote the song, ‘I’m My Own Grandpa?’ I’ve tried to follow the words and I get lost every time, but he did come full circle.”

Back to earth, “Hey, Rita is waking up and she is wet. Rich, your first lesson on how to change the baby is coming up.”

“Kiss me first.”

Later that night Helen brought up my circles again, “So us being intimate on one day leads to a baby a year later. You are saying that is a full circle and is complete?”

“That is what I am saying, but remember Rita begins a whole new circle of her own, created by you and me, and we proceed together, together from the day she was born.”

Chapter Seven

Life went on. We didn’t see as 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 up 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 some  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.

This trip paid off in more than one way. We stopped at the same gas station on the way home. We were pulling in when Helen screamed, “Stop the car, Rich.” She jumped out and ran toward a man who had just finished pumping gas. She slowed before speaking to him. “Todd?”

He turned and I could see it was Troy’s missing son, Todd. “Aunt Helen, what are you doing here?”

“We just took Brad up to the university and are on our way home. I recognized you. When are you coming home? We thought you must be dead, we haven’t heard from you at all.”

“I guess I didn’t tell anyone I was leaving did I? I am coming home in a couple of months for Thanksgiving. I have someone who needs me here, so I won’t before then. How’s Pop and Mom?”

“Good except for thinking you must be dead. Why did you leave, anyway?”

“Let me pull my truck out of the way and I’ll sit with you a little. I can’t stay long as I have to pick up Sandy from school.”

When Todd slid into the front seat Helen asked who Sandy was. “She is April’s ten-year-old daughter.”

“Who is April?”

“The widow I’m living with. She was Sergeant Murphy’s wife.” This was getting frustrating. Todd was answering questions, but not connecting anything.

Helen persevered, “Can we meet her?  We have time.”

“Sure I guess. We can’t feed you though. We’re on short rations.”

“What do you need?”

“I couldn’t say. You will have to ask April.”

“Okay, we’ll follow you home.”

“I’ll go by the school. It isn’t far.”

We followed the pick-up. The motor needed a ring job, because it was smoking. Todd pulled up in front of the grade school and a young girl ran down the steps and climbed in, slamming the door. Todd sat there a minute, and we saw the little girl peering out the rear window at us. Helen waved and the little girl waved back. I looked over at Helen. There were tears streaming down her face. I reached over and held her hand.

We went about two miles into the countryside. There was a park with mobile homes scattered about a little glen. Todd stopped in front of a dilapidated trailer and got out. The little girl ran in as her mother opened the door. The woman left the door open as she listened to what April was telling her.

We got out and advanced on the trailer. Todd walked in front of us. He spoke, “April, this is my Aunt Helen and Uncle Rich. I ran into them at the filling station.”

“Do come in. Todd has mentioned he had an Aunt Helen. I ran out of coffee this morning so I can’t offer you anything. I’m sorry.”

I spoke up. “April, let’s go get some groceries and whatever else you are out of. I passed a grocery on the way here near the school. Is that the one you trade in? Helen and Todd can get reacquainted.”

“We could use some bread and tuna fish. We can have coffee and sandwiches.” April was a woman somewhere near thirty, maybe a little more. She would be pretty if she didn’t look so hungry.  Todd was just sitting on the couch, not saying anything.

I looked at Sandy and asked if she would like to go with her mom. She nodded. When we got into my vehicle I said, “Tell me about Todd.”

“Todd was Pat’s captain when Pat was killed. He showed up here about five months ago broke and starved. He has been here ever since. I did take him to the VA clinic and he has been tested for a disability. We are waiting for the first check. The government is just so slow.”

“What did the VA find wrong with him?”

“They used to call it battle fatigue, but now they have fancy names for it. I guess from what Todd says, this didn’t really hit him until he got home. Everyone was working, going on with their lives and not knowing or caring if men were dying somewhere in a place where most people can’t even locate it on the map.

“During other wars everyone knew how bad things were. There were movies made and newsreels shown in theaters. There were pictures in magazines and on the front page of the newspapers. You saw caskets being unloaded from planes and coming off ships when our dead soldiers came home. Now no one is involved except those who volunteer.

“Rich, those are Todd’s words, and that is what is wrong with him. He feels it because much of the company he commanded was decimated, not once, twice. He traveled here to tell me what a fine man and soldier my Pat was. That is as if I didn’t know. I did know.”

“How about you? How are you surviving?”

“I can say life isn’t much fun anymore. I work in a clothing store. Todd keeps the house up and does errands, so I get a few extra hours occasionally. We’ll be fine when his checks start coming.”

“You are making a life for each other then?”

“I might as well. Todd is good to Sandy.”

“What did you do before you married Mr. Murphy?”

“I grew up on a ranch, but my family is all gone. Todd is younger than me, but he doesn’t seem to mind.”

“I can relate as Helen is six years older than I am. She had an eight-and a six-year-old when I married her. We were both in the service.  She was a truck driver and I was an equipment operator. We have made a good life for each other.”

“I have hopes Todd will come out of this. He needs help, though. I don’t think he can do it by himself.”

“Todd has a big family. We’ll see if we can get him what help he needs. We just didn’t know and he didn’t say anything before he disappeared.”

“That’s a symptom. They keep it all inside.”

We came out of the store with a whole wagon of groceries. April objected when I began loading the cart, but gave up when she saw she wasn’t being listened to. I had stopped at the ATM machine and using the company credit card I took out $500. “April, please listen to me. Todd has a big family and we were crushed when Todd disappeared. None of us knew he was sick, we just knew he was different.

“That said, we would like to have him home. Would you convince him if you can and come with him? Helen and I have two girls thirteen and fifteen and they would love to have Sandy as a friend. What is the situation with your trailer?”

“It is rented furnished. There isn’t much in it that we can say is ours. Todd has nothing.”

Why don’t you give me your phone number so I can call you?”

“I don’t have a phone, but you can call me at work if you need to. I can use it to call out as the boss understands my situation.”

“April, I want to thank you so much for looking after Todd. Here is $500 to tide you over until we can make some kind of arrangements to get Todd home.”

“I can’t take it.”

“Yes you can. It is to be used for Todd if you won’t use it for yourself, but it is yours to handle. You know what you need.”

“Thank you.”

Todd looked brighter when April and I carried in the groceries. He spotted the hamburger. “God, that looks good.” April went about frying them and soon the patties were being devoured. You don’t think of hunger when you have enough to eat yourself, but I was seeing it now.

Helen and I were getting ready to leave. “Todd, I’m positive your mother and father will be up to see you tomorrow. I really wish you would come home. April and Sandy will be welcomed as much as you.”

“I’ll think about it tonight. Before I didn’t seem to fit in, but if April will come with me, I’ll consider it.”

“Todd, I’ll go with you. I want to get to know your family.”

A week later Todd was back in the arms of his family. April was given credit for preventing Todd from taking himself out, which he admitted was his plan. Seeing April was supposedly his last act before doing this.

I remembered that April said she had grown up on a ranch. Ken Knowles Sr. was incapacitated with age now and his wife Charlotte was dead, but he wouldn’t let Ken Jr. get rid of his cattle. Bob was the one to put his grandson and his old friend together. Todd, April and Sandy were moved to the ranch to take care of Ken Sr. and his cattle. April was the driving force at first, but Todd grew away from his dark thoughts and slowly became the person he was before he went into the service.

The electrical system that Ken Sr. built for the basin was now owned and maintained by the power company and its many watts were added to the power grid. No comment needed, but Ken always maintained that the Bastion Construction Company was the best company in the state.

Brad and Corrine were both home for the holidays. She rode down with him. It was a day later that Brad came into headquarters to talk to me. “Dad, have you got a minute?”

“Sure son, what’s up?”

“It’s about Corrine and me. She wants us to get married. I want to marry her too. Would you have any thoughts on the subject?”

“Not many. Tell me about it?”

“You know we have always had a fondness for each other. In the back of my mind I’ve always felt she was the one for me. I’ve dated other girls, but it has always been Corrine I imagine I am making love too. I didn’t realize this so much until last summer when we actually did make love. None of the other girls I dated come close to what I feel for Corrine.”

“How about Corrine? Does she feel for you like that?”

“The same. We have tried to stay away from each other off and on this fall. We come back to each other with stronger feelings than ever. Have you ever been in love like we are? I mean besides, Mom. I know how much you love her. Love drips from every word when you talk about her.”

“Yes, I’ve been down that road. It turned into a disaster and hurt me a lot. Brad, do you have to get married before school lets out for summer break?”

“No, not for the reason you are referring too, but I wanted to talk to someone about it. Corrine doesn’t want to talk to her mother because she is so against people getting married so young. I didn’t feel right about talking to Mom, so that leaves you. Actually it was between you and her father, but we decided it would be you.”

I grinned saying, “I have broad shoulders. Look, go on the way you are. Corrine will be eighteen next month, so no one can say much. I’m on your side and your mom will be too. Corrine’s grandfather will be on her side. Just be sure you aren’t making a mistake. Being married to the wrong person can cause an awful lot of pain for both.”

“Except for the years when I was waiting for Corrine to grow up, we are on the same page as always. We now have come full circle.” I was startled by the expression and it was a shock to me, but I covered it real well. Brad wasn’t finished, “Dad, you have always had an affinity for Corrine. You treat her just the same as you do Rita, Sammy J, and me, how come?”

“I like her that’s all. She has been around here ever since your sisters were born. She treated the girls as her own living breathing dolls. Her mother did a wonderful job with Corrine, but when she went to work, we mothered Corrine. She is almost one of the family.”

“Dad, Corrine’s parents most likely are going to be my in-laws. Are you and Mom going to get along with them? I’ll have to, but that doesn’t mean you have to. You and her father do things together and her mother comes over sometimes, but you always keep her at a distance. They both give Mom a hug or a kiss on the cheek, but you never kiss her mother. Is there any particular reason for this?”

I looked at Brad. Why was he pinning me down like this? “I’m just not as affectionate as your mother, that’s all.” This wasn’t true, for I hugged and kissed my sister-in-laws or my mother-in-law. I always kissed Sam’s companion, Bobbi Jo. “Another reason, Brad, it could be because Connie is a beautiful woman and I don’t want to make your mother jealous.”

“Well okay, I was just making sure you would be getting along with them if Corrine and I do get married.”

“Brad, now I have a question for you. You graduate in May and Corrine has another year to go. What are you going to do then? Are you going to have a long distance relationship? I warn you those seldom work out.”

“Dad I was going to talk about that next. The corporation I was apprenticed with the last few summers asked me to work next year for them. I said I would. So I won’t be coming back here to work for you until after Corrine graduates.”

“That’s an excellent plan, but I am going to miss you. Hell, I’m going to miss Corrine. I’ve missed her almost too much this year. There is one thing I think you should do. I think you should let Corrine’s father know of your intentions. He is a reasonable person. He can break it to Connie. Along about Valentine’s Day I would suggest.”

“Why him and not Corrine’s mother?”

“Because Corrine is his little girl and he loves her very much. He talks about her when we are together.”

“I’ll ask for her hand at that time.”

Brad didn’t come home until spring break. I wondered if they had broken up. It was after spring break when Matt came into headquarters. “Hey Rich, Brad and Corrine talked to me yesterday before returning to school  Brad wants to marry my daughter. Were you aware of their intentions?”

“Yes, I’ve known since Christmas.

“I’m supposed to run it by Connie.”

“I’m supposed to tell Helen after he asked you for her hand. It is a weird situation isn’t it? I mean that the two fathers concerned are the ones the kids came to.”

“It is more than that, as it is you who is the center of the situation. You are Corrine’s father and Brad is your son.”

“No, I have never been Corrine’s father. I was never more than the sperm donor. You have always been her father.”

“Thanks for saying that, but tell me you don’t love her. I’ve always known that even when you have been so careful to keep from showing any outward affection for her. I’m all for this. Brad has always been her protector since we first moved here. He might as well continue as her husband.”

“So how are we breaking this to the women?”

“Spring for dinner tonight. I’ll tell Connie we are expected.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll get reservations. Let’s make it a dress-up affair.”

“I’ll inform Connie we are going out tonight. Call me where and when.”

“No stick around. I’ll make reservations now. Let’s go down to the Buckhorn afterward and seal the deal. You can buy.”

Maybe I had one too many and Helen noticed. “Rich, you are acting odd. You come home telling me we are going out for dinner and dancing. Not only that you’ve had more than one drink. You never do that.”

“Bear with me. I shook hands about something special with someone today. You’ll find out what is so special soon enough. Go on get dressed or we’ll be late.”

Connie and Matt were waiting when we reached the restaurant. “Helen, is it you and Rich who we are dining with?” It was at that minute, I said to the hostess we were the Rumford party of four and had reservations. The hostess led us to an alcove and we were seated.

“I guess we must be. Okay, guys, what is going on?”

Matt started to explain, “Connie and Helen, I had a young man come and ask for Corrine’s hand a couple of days ago. I know the young man very well and I think Corrine made an excellent choice, so I said yes and he has permission to marry our daughter.”

Connie wasn’t happy, “You gave permission without consulting me. You could have called me. She is my daughter and I’m going to be the one to tell her who she can marry. Besides, why are you discussing this with Rich? He has no say in the matter.”

“Because Rich is her father even if Corrine doesn’t know it.”

“Rich gave Corrine up for adoption without any restrictions. He was the one who didn’t want Corrine to know he was her father.”

“We aren’t talking Corrine here. It is Brad who came and asked for her hand. The two are in love and have been all of their life. Rich and I gave them permission, but it is you and Helen who get to plan the wedding.” He grinned.

Just then the waitress came to take our order. We ordered. Connie and Helen headed for the powder room. I didn’t think Helen and Connie were going to come back before their meals were set on the table. They just made it.

Both wanted to continue our discussion during dinner, but Matt shut them down, “Let’s eat and we will talk later, I’m hungry.”

I asked to have a coffee carafe brought and we settled down to talk. Helen asked me, “How long have Brad and Corrine been in love?”

“I’d say since the day when Sam brought them all into the hospital which was soon after I was injured. You remember Brad held her hand when they went down to the candy machine? You and Connie were gabbing away. I took note and thought it unusual for a six-year-old boy to take the hand of a three-year-old child. She wasn’t even three at the time.”

“Oh, come on.”

“I’m serious, and think about it. Where were Corrine and Brad and where did they spend their childhood if they were both in the house?”

“Up in his bedroom, I guess. Do you mean they were fooling around?”

“No, not at all. Not until last summer just before they went up to university were they intimate. Remember when he asked her and she said she was too busy and then they went to the movies. That was the date they knew they were meant for each other. Helen, I would guess if you called Brad right now, you would have a fifty-fifty chance of having his phone answered by Corrine.”

“Rich, give me your phone. Come on Connie, we’ll call from the car. You guys pay up and meet us out there.

As we were walking outside Matt commented, “This is easy. I was dreading telling Connie, but what is she going to say now when she finds out I have been advising Corrine for the past five years. That was shortly after you talked to her when Brad started dating girls. I even went to the doctor with her for birth prevention.”

“I didn’t know that. Brad was in this alone until Christmas when he told me they were in love and I told him to make sure. Oh yeah, I told him to ask you for her hand.”

“Thanks, I am touched.”

**********

Connie and I were dancing at Brad and Corrine’s wedding. This was the first time I had held her in my arms since my own wedding to her nineteen years ago. “Rich, I want to tell Corrine that she really is your daughter. I have the papers in my handbag to give to her to prove it. Can we steal a few minutes to do it before they leave on their honeymoon?”

“Run it by Helen and Matt.”

“I have and they think this is the time Corrine should know you are her birth father. She will be thrilled.”

An hour later as we came out of the room where we had been closeted for the last fifteen minutes, this beautiful young lady asked of me, “Daddy, may I have this dance?” I truly had come full circle.

The End
 


Thanks to ErikThread and Dave T for their excellent editing. Their suggestions were right on as always. I am so fortunate that they will take the time to help me.