08.14.08
After Andy's embarrassing intrusion, Megan and Auggie had gotten up and dressed quickly. Auggie threw the wetsuit over his shoulder and followed Megan to the door. Opening the door, Megan abruptly stopped and Auggie bumped into her from behind.
"He's right down there," she hissed, referring to Andy.
Auggie just chuckled and moved around her to take the lead, opening his cane in the process. "Morning, Andy," he greeted his brother as he got to the bottom of the stairs.
"Morning, Auggie...Megan," Andy replied, and Auggie could hear the amusement in his voice. "I didn't recognize your car," he explained to Megan. "Otherwise I wouldn't have barged in."
"Yeah. Sorry," she responded in a small voice.
"Nothing to be sorry about," Andy assured. "Good to see you, by the way."
"You too," Megan said distractedly, and then turned to Auggie. "So, I'm gonna go. I'll call you later."
"Sounds good," Auggie stated casually, knowing Andy was watching the whole interaction. They hugged briefly, and then he heard her walk to her car. He waved as she started the car and backed out, then shoved his hands into his pockets. Waving still seemed like the polite thing to do, even though he couldn't see if she'd waved back. A moment later, Andy was at his side, brushing his arm with his own, and the brothers headed into the garage to pick up the rest of their gear.
"So..." Andy began as they kicked off their shoes and began the process of getting into their tri suits and wetsuits on opposite sides of Jan's parked SUV. Auggie groaned. Still, he took a moment to imagine if it had been Mike who walked in on him and Megan, and shuddered at the ruckus that would have ensued. "I didn't realize Megan was back in G-Coe."
Auggie shook his head, "I didn't either, actually. Ran into her at Glencoe Roast yesterday afternoon."
"Interesting," Andy drawled.
Auggie snorted. "Yeah, I'll bet you're real interested."
He could tell Andy wanted to ask more, but didn't want to be rude. How things had changed. When he and Megan had first started hanging out, as gawky 14 year olds the summer before they'd started high school, Auggie's brothers hadn't shut up about it. Andy, Mike, and Tim had all found it hilarious that their baby brother was "dating." There'd been a whole lot of catcalls, smooching sounds, and K-I-S-S-I-N-G jokes over those three months. Now, Andy was a husband and a father, and he was waiting patiently for Auggie to share. Auggie decided to reward his maturity by not stonewalling him.
"I don't think she's back permanently," he explained, still skirting the real information his brother was after. "She's in town to help her grandma. She's actually getting divorced."
"Whoa," Andy commented, surprised.
"I know."
"I didn't know she'd gotten married."
"Join the club."
"You sure you wanna be involved in that? Get in the middle of a divorce?"
Auggie abruptly stopped zipping up his wetsuit. He hadn't really thought through the implications of what he and Megan had done (well, almost done) the night before. He felt a little embarrassed about that. The fact that Andy was bringing it up, and he didn't have an answer for him, made him uncomfortable. Why hadn't that crossed his mind? It wasn't like him not to consider every angle of a situation, and he worried his spy skills were slipping. After all, she was in the middle of a messy divorce from a pretty scary guy.
Auggie finished zipping his wetsuit and met Andy at the garage door. "I didn't have a master plan, Andy. Like I said, I just ran into her."
"Literally?" Andy ribbed, and Auggie shoved him lightly.
"No, not literally, smartass," Auggie retorted, and they walked down the stone staircase until their feet hit sand.
When Mel had laid down the law in May, the first item Auggie had attempted to check off her list was the part about getting back into shape. He'd approached Andy, who had some time off between sports seasons, about the possibility of running a race together. He was thinking a 10K, maybe, hoping the competitive aspect would keep him motivated. But Andy had gotten excited about the idea, and a day later had come back to Auggie with the suggestion that they do the Chicago Triathlon in August. Auggie had been less than enthusiastic, but Andy said Kim had a personal trainer friend who'd guided a couple of blind athletes through triathlons, and assured Auggie it could be done.
So they'd approached Kim's friend, and he'd given them the scoop on how to train for, and compete in, the race as a team. Andy and Auggie would be tethered at the waist for the swim and the run, and ride a tandem for the cycle leg. Oh, and they'd need to start training immediately, since doing a race with two people in perfect synchronization was even harder than it sounded. Great.
Since late May, they'd been running together 3 to 4 times a week, Auggie hitting the treadmill on days when neither Kim nor Andy could make it to Glencoe. And they'd found a loaner bike through a blind triathlete organization in Seattle. It had been surprisingly difficult to master the bike. How hard could it be, right? But cadence and communication were crucial, and it had taken a couple weeks for them to feel comfortable at cruising speed.
But the swim? The swim was still a little daunting. Andy and Auggie had started off swimming in the pool at Michigan Shores Club to get their rhythm down. Growing up on a lake, Auggie and Andy were both strong swimmers, and Auggie had lifeguarded every summer in high school at the country club for extra cash. But swimming in open water, blind, had been a different animal entirely. They'd been making regular forays into Lake Michigan for the past month, but Auggie still felt apprehensive each time they did. Floating in water was disorienting and a little freaky, and the water in his ears made him effectively blind and deaf for most of the swim.
The two men reached the water's edge and Andy put one end of the tether in Auggie's palm.
"You ready, little brother?"
"Ready as I'll ever be."
