Donald Ryland tipped his wool cap to her as he entered, still dripping snow on the kitchen floor. He plopped down on one of the wooden chairs, oblivious to Cynthia who sighed and began wiping up behind him.
"I'll be checking out in the morning," he said. "I'll ice climb during the day, then drive back up to Grand Junction."
"With Edith Shipton?" Dean asked but Ryland shook his head no.
Dean just looked at him, waiting for an explanation. Ryland raised his feet for Cynthia to clean beneath him and said, "Edith's gone back to her husband."
"You're kidding me!" Dean said.
"Nope. She's up there with him now. They're probably messing up the sheets in a fury of passion as we speak."
"Good!" Cynthia said, from her hands and knees. "Maybe now they'll all check out of Bird Song and things will return to normal."
"Only when that Claire Quincy packs up, too," Fred interjected.
Ryland continued, shrugging off his heavy jacket. "Jerome told her if she had the baby and gave it to him, he'd grant her a divorce and leave her alone."
"God!" Cynthia exclaimed. "That's no better than selling her child! Worse-she's selling it to someone she knows is scum!"
"What happens to Donnie?" Dean asked.
"He stays with his mother."
"Permanently?" Cynthia asked.
Ryland nodded. "That's the deal. She gets her freedom and Donnie."
"At least then you may get a chance to see your son more often," Dean offered.
"Yeah," he answered. "Except I'm sensing he comes as part of a package deal with Edith and quite frankly, she scares the shit out of me. She plans to move up to Grand Junction, so Donnie can be near me. That's like getting an ice cream sundae with castor oil for topping. Somehow, I can't see my fiancée Franny relating very well to Edith Shipton." He rose, oblivious to his continued dripping. "At least I'll get a head start tomorrow night, breaking the news to Fran." He added, "I'm sure it will make her day."
"When are the happily reunited Shiptons checking out?" Cynthia asked as she returned to the counter and began chopping carrots with a large butcher knife.
"After the ice festival is over," Ryland answered. "Jerome plans to climb tomorrow, so he can show everyone how much of a macho stud he is. He's as excited as a kid that's just discovered why girls are different. He can't wait to take up the sport. The bastard had the nerve to ask me to climb with him. He even laced the invitation with a ration of all-is-forgiven bullshit. I told him to stuff it."