Oddly, Owen raised his hand, and then Galen raised his.
“We can take care of that for you, Gabe,” said Galen, and the afternoon suddenly seemed a whole lot more fun.
“I’ll text you the address and invoice,” said Gabe. “And I’ll let Leland know you’re good for tomorrow.”
As Gabe walked in the direction of the paddock, Galen turned to his team.
“I say we put our tools away and get going.”
There was a race to see who could get to the tool shed first, and then a race to the truck.
“Shotgun,” shouted Bede, running as fast as he could, looking like he was tempted to trip up Toby, who was close behind him. Owen, with his long legs, was right behind Toby, and last came Galen. Who didn’t have to race to the truck because he already had a front seat.
“Starbucks again this time?” asked Toby, panting as he got into the back seat of the truck.
“Pup cups for everybody,” said Galen, grinning as he started the engine.
Galen hummed as he drove, his hands loose on the truck’s steering wheel as they headed down the blacktop road to the highway that took them into the small but still bustling metropolis of Cheyenne. And all the while, Bede smiled as he looked at Galen out of the corner of his eyes.
The sporting goods store was in the southeast part of Cheyenne, in a strip mall that had a Starbucks. So after they went into the store to get the four flat bottom hulled canoes, one blue, one yellow, one green, and one red, and strapped them into the back of the pickup truck, they traipsed over to the Starbucks. There to mill around considering the many options, getting in the way of regular customers, creating a little party all their own.
After a short absence, Toby came up with a little paper cup in his hand. In the cup was a pile of whipped cream. He proudly announced that he’d lied that he had a dog in the truck, and they’d given him an honest to God pup cup.
“Is it real whipped cream?” asked Galen. Toby grinned and swiped a taste, and announced proudly that it was.
Back in the valley, Galen pulled the silver truck into the shade of the pine trees that loomed over the gravel parking lot.
“I say we unload the canoes, grab our suits, and try them out. Sound good, team?”
Every man on his team gave a shout of affirmation, and happiness welled up inside of him. Everything was working, going his way, and it was a moment he wanted to mark, somehow, so he wouldn’t forget how good it felt.
Chapter 27
Galen
There used to be an old flatboat tied up to the dock at the pond on his dad’s farm. It’d been old when Galen had paddled around in that pond and, just when Galen had gone off to college, it had finally fallen apart, never to be replaced.
Now, as Galen and his team ported the four canoes to the lake, his excitement was high because the idea of having a paddle on a body of water on a bright sunny summer’s day would be a little like time traveling into the past.
They had plenty of help porting, as well, because as his team carried the first canoe past the mess tent and along the path to the floating dock, they drew the attention of every man in the valley. Which only made sense because the canoes were sleek and trim, brand new and brightly colored.
Once all the canoes were tied to the end of the floating dock, Toby and Owen ran back for the paddles and life vests. Then Gabe gave a little speech about safety and though he seemed like he was trying to be serious, it was easy to see he was excited, too.
“We have the rest of the day off,” Gabe said, spreading his hands wide. “Go get your suits,” he said, and as everybody ran off, he yelled, “And don’t forget to bring sunscreen and towels!”
It had the feel of summer camp. Even though Galen had never been, he knew about it, had read the stories. Seen the film.
His tent was pretty close to the lake, so it didn’t take him long to pull on the bright red swim shorts, grab his sunscreen and a towel, throw on flip-flops, which he’d found in the box and never thought he’d get to use, and race back to the lake.
Everybody was at the dock when he arrived and, from the shouts, it seemed like fights were about to break out over the canoes. There were only four canoes. Each could hold two men. There were currently thirteen men in the valley, which meant five men would have to wait for their turn.
Naturally, all the team leads and stepped back to wait. That is, except for Marston, who was dragged by Kell to the red canoe, like a kid at a carnival who simply couldn’t wait to get sick on the wildest ride right after eating lunch. Which meant the rest of the canoes were filled with parolees, none of whom were wearing life vests, and most of whom had no idea how to use a paddle.
In the midst of all this, the noise, and the laughter, water being splashed—on purpose—Galen took off his flip-flops, dropped his towel and sunscreen, ran as fast as he could along the dock, and dove into the depths of the cool, cool water.
A bright blue silence cut him off from the cacophony of everything in his life. His father dying. The bills. The stupid tires on his truck that really wouldn’t last another winter.
Yet the cool silence was unable to keep away thoughts of Bede because something about Bede drew him and wouldn’t let go. He wasn’t sure he wanted it to.
