Rescue and redemption in Charles Baxter's short stories

Another Charles Baxter story from his 1997 collection, Believers, reprinted in his latest collection, "Gryphon," that shows the typical Baxter sensibility: divorce, disaster, loneliness, rescue, redemption: a father with teenage children in an unspecified Midwest locale gathers family to watch and enjoy the flooding of a local river - references to how what used to be seen as a natural disaster is now enjoyed as a local spectacle, which hints at some grander movement in American culture, in which everything is entertainment, the National Parks a version of Disneyland?, and then the real theme of the story emerges: first wife has apparently returned to town in part to visit with teenage son, which brings forth waves of sadness and jealousy on part of dad/husband, he recalls how beautiful his ex-wife was, how he couldn't believe she would fall for him (bearish and homely), and his feeling of desolation and failure when she left him (and their young son), not for another man but just to be alone with her beauty - and now he's remarried, with a new wife - both were nurses - and she's maybe not as beautiful but amazingly caring and not threatened by the return of the ex. Husband goes out for a drive, sees son and ex across the flooded river from him, wades into the water, prepares to swim toward them, is swept away - nearly drowns - but somehow son pulls him to shore, the ex notes that he's in shock, they get him into the warm car and all is OK: other writers would have pushed this story toward tragedy or even melodrama, but Baxter believes in redemption, maybe in resurrection - hos stories hover on the edge of darkness but move toward the light.