All Aboard Andi's Dream Ch. 07

© 2024 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. All characters are original. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story or any part thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

Author's note: These stories are written in Literary Past Tense. Literary Past Tense describes how most of us use past tense in our stories. That is, most past-tense stories are written as though the events are happening now. Even though we're using the past tense forms of verbs, within the story itself, events are happening in the present, which explains present tense verbs in some descriptions.

All Aboard Andi's Dream

Chapter 7

Road Trip

It was a tough winter that year. The storms of January and February dumped several feet of snow on the snowbelt of Western New York every time they struck. The only actual break they got was in Mid-February when Paul and Andi spent the evening in Niagara Falls while John and Macy had a romantic tryst at the cabin for Valentine's Day. After that break, the frigid weather returned.

The storm hit during the third week of February, when seven feet of snow fell from Wednesday to Friday. Andi's job started on the following Tuesday, and she was afraid of being housebound by the storm. Every three hours Andi or Paul would man the snow blower and blow the driveway clear with the "Baby Deere," which is what they called the John Deere X540 Lawn Tractor.

Normally the Baby Deere would have a plow attached, but the snow was coming down too fast and too heavy, so Paul broke out the 44 inch snow blower attachment that he bought years ago and only used once. With a little bit of instruction, Andi was clearing the driveway, front walk, and sidewalk in front of the house on Howard Street, and on the north side of the house on Second Avenue.

For the twins, this was real excitement. They couldn't get enough. When Andi pulled on her parka and goggles and headed outside, followed by the roar of the Baby Deere, the Twins followed her progress, running from window to window to watch her blow the driveway and sidewalks clear of snow. "Why don't you guys go out and help her?" asked their governess Yi.

Both twins gave her a disapproving look, eyebrows furrowed, angry pouts on their lips. "Poppa's tractor will eat us!" cried Sandy. Madeline nodded in agreement, then they went right back to watching out the window.

"We can shovel the stairs for your mom and dad," said Yi, who had never seen snow before and now couldn't get enough of the white stuff. "When we're done I'll pull you on your sled."

"K!" and the twins went and grabbed their snow pants, parkas, hats, mittens, scarves, and boots and threw them in a pile in the middle of the kitchen. Then they sorted through the pile and got dressed. Yi helped the twins with their cold weather gear, and it didn't take long. Throwing everything in a pile worked out somehow and soon the only twin skin visible was around their eyes.

"Let's go twin-o!" called Yi, and they stepped outside and Yi had to lift them down the four steps that were covered with snow. The twins had little snow shovels they used to clear a small section of the stairs while the chocolate lab Wonka bounced around and tried to catch the snow that the twins were flailing around while Yi used a full sized shovel and cleared the steps in moments. "Good Job girls, let's go find more snow!"

As Yi led the twins to the front of the house, Andi continued to clear the driveway with the snowblower. It was actually a lot of fun. Paul called it 'shaving the driveway' and Andi saw the similarity to shaving her legs. Just bigger, noisier, and colder. Wearing headsets, she grooved to the song that she loved to listen to while on the Baby Deere:

In John Deere green On a hot summer night

He wrote, "Billy Bob loves Charlene."

In letters three feet high

And the whole town said that he should've used red

But it looked good to Charlene In John Deere green

She couldn't help it. It was a silly song, but it was such a sweet song; it made her happy, and she sang it every time she got on Baby Deere, and the bridge of the song always brought a tear of joy and she hoped it described her and Paul's love:

Now more than once, the town has discovered, Painting over it ain't no use

There ain't no paint in the world that'll cover it. The heart keeps showing through.

As usual, she wasn't paying enough attention to Baby Deere and snow was spilling out of the auger, leaving a line of snow down the cleared section of the driveway. That meant she was going too fast, and the big auger couldn't ingest the snow she was feeding it. As she adjusted her speed, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "Hi babies!" she called as she saw the twins flailing away with their snow shovels. They paused for a moment and waved to mom and went back to their version of shoveling which spilled snow onto the driveway.

Andi finally finished the driveway and turned to clear the sidewalk that was just outside of the ornate iron fence around the front yard while the twins started shoveling snow off the front porch with Yi. Paul had asked that she didn't blow the snow onto the lawn if she could help it, so she adjusted the chute to throw it toward the street, but she aimed it low so the stream of snow pouring out of the chute splattered against the curb.

They live on a corner lot, so she had a long sidewalk on the north side of the house, and she purred along impatient to see what their backyard looks like in full summer bloom. There was a big white privacy fence around the in-ground swimming pool and above ground hot tub. But behind the garage was a large yard, almost a full lot in itself with trees and grape arbors. Paul has a zero turn John Deere for cutting the yard in town. Baby Deere goes back to the cabin when the weather clears to cut the lawn there.

When she finished the sidewalk, she came back up the middle of Second Avenue and went past Howard Street and went a couple of houses up the street to find Josh and Veronica trying to clear their driveway. Josh was digging with a shovel and Veronica was fighting with her snow blower. "Need a hand?"

Veronica set her machine to idle. "If you don't mind, this storm is crazy! We can't keep up!"

"Tell me about it," said Andi and she lowered the auger and chewed a path through the hill that the village snowplow left, then backed into Veronica's driveway. Veronica's driveway was two cars wide. That meant less lawn to cut but more snow to shovel. Andi backed the Baby Deere to the garage behind the house and engaged the auger. Then she reset her headphones and cranked up the music.

Country roads! Take me home! To the place I belong!

Western New York, snow belt momma, take me home, country road.

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Yi walked up Howard Street to Main Street. She had a venison roast in the oven, and she wanted a few things for the side, so she loaded the twins onto a plastic sled and pulled them up to Main Street, where Bee Quik IGA stood ready and waiting. The parking lot was an unplowed madhouse, and the crowd inside was snagging bread, milk, and toilet paper like it was the end of the world. Yi shrugged. They had enough fresh milk to last the twins a full week of drinking nothing but milk, and they had enough flour to make bread for months. She needed the things this group wasn't looking at. Like endive lettuce and fresh asparagus

"Do not run off!" demanded Yi, and she hung the twins on the sides of her shopping cart. The twins knew Yi's limits by now and knew exactly how many buttons they can push before getting in trouble, and it wasn't many.

"We need chicken wings," said Sandy.

"You don't like chicken wings," said Yi. She learned quickly that what the twins liked was to get the Franks hot sauce on their hands, then dip their fingers in the bleu cheese dressing and lick it off. (some Frank's hot sauce + melted butter mixed with bleu cheese dressing makes the twins' favorite salad dressing)

"What else do we need for dinner?" asked Yi.

"Ummm... Gummi bears?" suggested Sandy.

"Bacon?" suggested Madeline.

"No Gummi bears, and we have bacon at home. No suggestions?"

The twins saw a display and gasped, their favorite vegetable. "GREEN TREES!" shouted Sandy.

"Green trees with holiday sauce!" gushed Madeline. The twins will eat hollandaise sauce like it was soup if you let them. Yi considered making instant hollandaise because they would eat it so voraciously, and even if they didn't notice, Yi would. Andi and Yi discovered that when one or both of the twins got in a picky mood and not eat anything but a single item, the application of a little hollandaise on anything they turn their noses up at would cure that mood.

Yi inspected the asparagus, then put a cluster held with an elastic in the cart, then she got some "pointy lettuce," and a head of "white trees" (cauliflower) and a few more items, then headed over to the deli. "Half a pound of capicola, half a pound of provolone, and a pound and a half of roast beef sliced as thin as humanly possible and some au jus."

"Havin' beef on weck?" asked Martha, the counter manager, who seemed to know everyone.

"Yeah, tomorrow. This storm is going to last a couple of days so I want quick and ready meals."

"NOOOOODLES," cried the twins as they peered through the deli case at all the salads and hot dishes. A huge tray of mac and cheese called to them, taunting them.

"Where did you two come from?" Martha asked the twins as she handed Yi a sample of the roast beef to share with the twins.

"My mommy," said Sandy without taking her eyes from the mac and cheese.

"We used to live in her tummy," added Madeline, causing Martha, a twin mom herself, to whoop with laughter.

"These are Doc Jarecki's daughters."

"Poppa," agreed Sandi and Madeline, as they tore into the roast beef slices.

"Oh, I heard about you guys!" cooed Martha. "You moved here from Denver. Is it cold there?"

"No," said Sandy.

"It's cold at GG's house," said Madeline.

"We're going to see GG next week!" said Sandy.

"Oh God, I forgot about that," groaned Yi. "Their great grandmother lives in Bismark North Dakota. We have to go to Minot for a ceremony, then down to Bismark, to meet GG, then down to Denver to close out their mom's apartment."

"Strawberry Shortcake," said Sandy, naming her favorite doll she left in Denver.

"What do you like better," asked Martha. "Springville or Denver?"

"Springville!" cheered the twins.

"We have chickens here," said Madeline.

"And a dog," added Sandy.

"Here's your roast beef, your provolone, and your coppa," Martha said as she laid out the packages. "And have fun in the great white north."

Yi wheeled the twins to the bakery to get hard rolls to make kimmelweck before checking out. "Look who's here," the twins said in a sing-song voice. Yi didn't have to look. It was Kenny. Yi really, really liked Kenny Johnson. If she were honest with herself, she would say that she was in love with Kenny. But Kenny was the first man she met in Western New York (other than his grandfather Archie) and it just didn't seem right to settle down with the first guy she meets and not see what else was available.

They had fun at the Jarecki's cabin, and it was really wonderful to snuggle with Kenny overnight under a warm comforter with Pastor John and Pastor Macy just inches away behind a curtain. They giggled all night long and kept John and Macy up, wondering what was going on. He taught her how to cross-country ski and how to snowshoe and they were working on shooting bow and arrow when it came time to return home.

She was terrified of him. No, she was terrified of his eyes. When she looked deep into his eyes, she saw wedding bells. It can't be! She just met him. She's not like Andi and Paul, who accepted their feelings and proposed to each other just hours after meeting each other. Yi saw herself more like Josh and Veronica, who chatted civilly with each other, reigning in their feeling and desires until the time was right. And she wasn't looking for a guy who runs a feed store! She wanted someone more like Doctor Jarecki, a successful businessman with an enormous house and a yacht. Not some working man with yellow fever.

"Hi Yi," came his voice. She turned to Kenny, trying to be cool and civil.

"Hi," she said, and her throat went dry. Don't look in his eyes! But she didn't listen to her own warning. Those wedding bells were there, and they were louder than ever. Before she could stop herself, she whispered, "Yes."

"Huh? I didn't ask you anything," said Kenny.

"You will," she said as their lips met.

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Seven feet of snow in three days... and it wasn't a record. The record for the area was eight feet in two days. With the snow blown clear from the driveway and the sidewalks, the Jarecki family posed for tons of pictures in front of the snowbanks. "What do you normally do when the weather is like this?" asked Yi at lunch on the third day of the blizzard.

"Go to the cabin," said Paul.

"How?" said Andi.

"That sounds like a challenge. Who's up for a picnic in the cabin tomorrow?"

"ME!" shouted the twins.

"Let me see if I can get a ride..." Paul pulled out his phone and made a quick call. "Hey, you busy today? ... Cool, can you give me a lift to the cabin? Great! See you in a few minutes." Paul rose and pulled on his snowmobile suit and dug up his Easy Rider Captain America helmet. "I'll be back in a few hours," as the sound of a snowmobile pulling in the driveway was heard.

"Hey, that's Kenny," said Andi as she looked out the side window, but Yi didn't turn to look. "Is everything ok?" asked Andi.

"She's mad at Kenny," said Sandy.

"They played kissy kissy in the grocery store yesterday," said Madeline as she picked at her bologna sandwich.

Outside, Paul climbed on the back of Kenny's snowmobile and Kenny turned it around in the wide driveway, then opened the throttle and headed out of town. Snowmobiles were purring all over Springville. The village hadn't plowed the snow in a long time except for the main storm routes, which were US39, US240, and Main Street. And none of them were plowed very well.

They were back in time for dinner. Paul had the Snowcoach trailer attached to the back of the gutsy Yamaha VK 540, and when they pulled their snowmobiles up to a stop, Paul started emptying the firewood out of the Snowcoach and piling it on his home wood pile. When they finished, they came into the house.

"Kenny volunteered to help us dig out the cabin tomorrow, so I invited him to dinner and stay the night, if no one has any objections."

Yi sighed. Her willpower weakened any time Kenny was near. Now he was here, and she's got that enormous bathtub that was built for two... what's a girl to do?

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"Di Domissio Contracting, this is Lucy, how may I help you?"

"Lucy? I'm used to hearing Carole, is she OK? Did Gus get a new secretary?"

"No, Carole is fine. The schools are closed so she's home with her kids and I'm filling in for her. How can we help you?"

"This is Buddy over at Concord TruValue, is there a chance Gus can hit my parking lot before eight?"

Lucy turned to Gus and said, "Buddy wants to know if you can get his parking lot before eight."

Gus thought for a moment then shouted, "Hey Buddy, I think I can get there at six, is that good?"

"That'll be great," said Buddy. "Thanks Gus."

"Don't thank me now," said Gus. "Let's see if we can get there on time first."

As Lucy entered Concord TruValue on Gus's clipboard list, he took a sip of coffee and wheeled into the local Circle K to fill up his truck. This is the second gasoline stop of the evening so far. As Gus filled the truck, Lucy took his thermos into the station and topped it off with fresh hot coffee. She grabbed a few cheese and sausage snacks and a couple of sandwiches and was back at Gus's truck in a matter of moments. Gus returned from his "pit stop" and checked the gas pump. "Thank you so much for doing this," said Gus as he hung the nozzle back on the gas pump, then turned and gave Lucy a big hug.

"My vacation is almost over, so I might as well do something," she said as she tried to hug him with both hands full. Their lips met and the thrill of kissing a man that is really worthy of her love coursed through her. Gus has been the most respectful, thoughtful, helpful man that she ever met, and she had a giddy feeling rushing through her every time their lips met.

Lucy's vacation was a sabbatical between jobs. She had left her position as surgeon at a local hospital and signed on to work at a new VA clinic that had opened up and continue to perform thoracic surgery at the VA hospital downtown. But right now, she wanted to spend as much time with Gus as she could, even if that meant acting as his co-pilot and his secretary. They climbed into his truck and Gus sipped the coffee Lucy poured and he headed to the next job.

It was dark, which was good. In snow country, low clouds would reflect the village's light back down, illuminating the area. However, with high clouds or no clouds, it was much darker out. It was also much colder. Low clouds trap the heat, high clouds let the heat rise. Low clouds also mean snow, and they've been getting a lot of snow this week. "Ok, the Bee Quik is usually pretty quick, then we'll get Archie's feed store." Archie has been retired for years, but everyone still calls it Archie's Feed Store.

As they pulled into the Bee Quik parking lot, Lucy asked, "Were you ever in the military?"

"Sure was," said Gus as he lined up his big F-550 truck. "Navy, Aviation Boatswain's Mate, Animal By Habit. I wasn't a hero like Doc or his buddy Josh, I did four years on the USS Forest Fire, did my job, and came home." He fiddled with the controller a little bit, then pushed the handle forward and his big Western V plow dropped to the pavement.

"I didn't understand a word of that," said Lucy.

Gus put the heavy truck into low range and hit the gas. "I was an aircraft handler on an aircraft carrier. I moved planes around, took them down to the hangar, brought them up on deck, chained them down, unchained them, stuff like that." He had the V plow straight with the two-foot wings spread straight out, giving him a twelve foot wide plow. He angled it a bit, so the snow rolled off to the right as he pushed the snow into a huge pile at the far end of the parking lot.

"What is with the forest fire?"

"That was the nick name of my ship the USS Forrestal. It had several bad fires, its first one was while it was being built at the Brooklyn shipyards then a really bad one in Vietnam, so folks eventually called it the Forest Fire and the name stuck."

Lucy chuckled as Gus told her about his career in the navy and how he could feel that big ship rolling even in the calmest of seas. "I was a born land lubber; I never should have gone to sea."

"Did you see any foreign ports?"

"Oh yeah, Rota Spain, Sigonella Sicily, Naples, Crete... there was a lot of fun but in the end it wasn't for me. Airplanes smell funny. I prefer the smell of sawdust and wood."