Winter Layoff Chapter 19
| Winter Layoff | |
|---|---|
| Chapter 19 of 21 | |
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| Read this chapter | |
| Time frame | January 2006 |
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Locations
- Pass Christian, Mississippi
- On the road from Pass Christian to Spearfish Lake
Characters
- Aaron, an Amish construction supervisor
- Aunt Rita and Uncle John
Summary
Jim woke up the next morning with Rachel lying next to him. They got dressed, drove over and had breakfast with the Amish. Jim and Rachel spent the day working steadily. They cleared the next lot by noon, and Jim spent some time with the tines on the front of the loader in forklift mode helping to unload building materials off a flatbed trailer.
Sunday was a day of rest for the Amish. Jim and Rachel use the day off to do some shopping in Mobile. They arrived back in Pass Christian, spent some time on the beach, had dinner, and went to bed.
Early the next morning they were at work on the Amish project. Day followed day, pretty much one like the previous. Most days Jim and Rachel spent some time clearing lots, and the rest at the construction site, unloading trucks with the forklift tines on the loader, or helping lift loads like heavy shingles to the roofs of whatever house was the current project.
The following Sunday they took a trip to Baton Rouge. During a two-day rain delay they made a brief trip to New Orleans. The following Tuesday a guy from the city sewer dropped by and asked for some backhoe help. It took the rest of the week to get several sewer main breaks fixed. By the end of the day on Friday the sewer line had been fixed and they were given the OK to hook up the sewer line at Rita and John's house. An hour later it was done.
They drove the dump truck over to the phone bank and called Aunt Rita and Uncle John to give them the good news. Rita said they would be there tomorrow evening. They then called Randy, and Rachel got a chance to talk to Jared. Jim and Randy dicussed his finishing the work that the Amish needed, and Randy said that he needed Jim back in Spearfish Lake to do a couple things before they got serious about construction, which would happen as soon as the weather breaks. Also, Nicole's due date was getting close.
By pushing a little they were able to finish the site cleanup work a day later. Jim let Aaron know that they would be heading back north. Aaron said that It’ll be sad to see you go. You’ve been a huge help, and we’d not have been able to do what we’ve done had you not helped us out. Please extend my thank you to Mr. Clark for letting you and us use his equipment... Your friends from Clark Construction have been a big help, too ... I suspect they’ll all be heading back north shortly, too. But if next year you find yourselves with little to do on your winter layoff, there’ll be things here you can do.
Rachel drove the dump truck back to the house, while Jim trailed along behind on the backhoe. A minute after they got parked in the yard Aunt Rita and Uncle John pulled in. It took until dark to get everything unloaded from their car and into the house, including a computer and desk so John could restart his business again.
The next day Rita and Rachel went grocery shopping while Uncle John set up his computer, Jim tore down the makeshift outhouse and hauled the portable toilet away. Then he hooked up the trailer to the dump truck, and loaded the backhoe and extra tools they’d used onto the trailer. That evening Rita cooked a large dinner for all of them.
In the morning Rita cooked breakfast for them and Jim and Rachel headed back to Spearfish Lake. As they drove Jim and Rachel discussed their future.
The chapter ends with Rachel saying Jim, the bottom line is that I respect you and I’m falling in love with you. So far we seem to fit well together. The rest of it is stuff that we can work out, and we’ve got three more days and three more nights to work on some of it.
Also Mentioned
- Jared Lancaster, Rachel and Joel's son
