Montana Morning (31 page)

“I’m just about to
fade away,” Andy said, as he rubbed his potbelly.  “I wondered if we were
never going to eat tonight.”

“Aren’t you going
to wait for Scotty to join us?”  Addy smiled and raised her eyebrows at
his protruding tummy.

“Where is he
anyway?”  Will asked, as he sat down to the table.

“Wasn’t he out
with you?  I thought he was doing chores.”  Addy could feel the panic
gripping her. “Will, where was he the last time you saw him?”

Jack came down the
stairs. “Saw who?”

“Scotty.”

Jack could hear
the fear in her voice.

“Last time I saw
the boy, he had just finished with your horses. He was headed for the house to
say howdy to the fellows,” Will explained.

Addy turned white
and the tears started to roll down her cheeks.  “Jack, he must have heard
everything that was said.”

“Damnation!”  
He went to the door and looked into the barnyard.  “Hearing something and
understanding it, unfortunately, is not always the same thing.  I’ll bet
he’s taken off.  We’d better get to looking. It’s almost dark now. 
How long ago did you say it was when you saw him, Pops?”

“About three hours
I suppose.” Will was getting genuinely concerned.  “Come to think of it, I
haven’t seen the dogs either.  I bet they’re with him.”

“I’ll check the
barn to see if any of the horses are missing,” Andy said, as he hurried out the
backdoor. 

“I’ll check
upstairs to be sure he’s not still here.”  Addy rushed up the stairs and
was back in minutes.  “He’s gone.”

“Don’t fuss,
Addy.  We’ll find him.” Jack stood and gazed over her head into the
meadows.  He ran his hands up and down her arms gently and then held her
tight.  “Pray we find him before dark.”

Andy rushed back
to the house.  “He must be on foot.  Will took his horse, said he’d
check the upper meadow.  I’ll ride the fields and timber lines close to
the house.”

“I’ll take the
truck and head up the road, maybe he decided to hoof it back to town.” 
Jack looked into Addy’s tear filled eyes, and kissed her on the nose. 
“Didn’t your kids ever run away from home?”

“No,” she choked
past the tears.

“Figures. 
Keep supper warm.  With any luck I’ll be back soon.” he said over his
shoulder as he went out the door.

Time stood still,
Addy prayed.  She checked the supper.  She prayed.  She played
the piano.  She prayed.  She was certain Jack had been gone for
hours, until she looked at the clock on the wall, forty-five minutes.  She
prayed some more.   Thirty minutes later, Will and Andy were back;
there was no sign of Scotty.  They waited.

***

Jack stopped once
or twice to check the tracks in the dust to be sure Scotty and the dogs were sticking
to the road.  He couldn’t believe the amount of ground Scotty had covered
in such a short time. The boy must be half-walking, half-running up the
mountain road.  “
Bet old Chester’s tongue is a draggin’ by now,
’
Jack chuckled to himself.  Just then he caught sight of Scotty and the two
dogs up ahead.  He pulled up beside them and stopped.  Scotty didn’t
look at him; pretended he wasn’t there, and kept walking. Jack pulled up beside
him again.

“Want a
ride?  It’s a long way to town.”

“Leave me
alone!”  Scotty sniffed and walked on.

“It’s getting dark
and supper’s waiting,” Jack growled as he shut off the motor and stepped out in
front of the young boy.  “Now, you and I are going to have a talk, and I
don’t intend to do it driving up the darn road beside you!  Besides, I
don’t want to take a chance of running over the dogs.”  He threw down the
tailgate and slapped it.  Sparky jumped in the back.  Jack picked
Chester up and put him in.  Jack sat down and waited.  Scotty considered
just walking on up the road, but he knew Jack not only could, but would stop
him.  He finally climbed up on the tailgate and stared at the ground.

“Now then, how
much did you hear today?”  Jack asked.

“Enough,” Scotty
mumbled.

“Enough?”

“Enough, to know
you might lose the ranch, and it’s all my fault!” Scotty said defiantly.

“You have it
figured, if you run away, I don’t have to pay those bills and my problems will
be over, right?”

“Somethin’ like
that.”

“I swear,” Jack
shook his head in disbelief, “I’m going to have to take back everything I ever
said about you being bright.” He reached over to give Scotty’s shoulders a
hug.  “First of all, if you dropped dead or disappeared from the face of
the earth tomorrow, I’d still be responsible for all the bills from when you
were hurt.  Second, we’re your family, we all love you, and you are worth
more to us than any piece of dirt.”

“Huh?”

“ Scotty, that’s
what land is, what this ranch is;  without the people you love - it’s just
dirt.  Thirdly, guess what Addy is doing about now?”

“Worrying about
me?” Scotty knew;  he also knew causing Addy to worry was not a good way
to make points with his grandpa.

“Fair guess. 
Now, how do you suppose I feel about that?”

“Not happy.”

“You’re right
again. Now, what do you propose we do about it?”

“Guess we’d better
go home,” Scotty grimaced.  “Grandpa, I don’t want you to lose your ranch
because of me.”

“I know, Son. I
know.  But don’t worry; I really don’t think that’s going to happen. 
And Scotty, just for your information, it isn’t my ranch.”

“Whose is it
then?” Scotty tipped his head and studied his grandpa; clearly he didn’t
understand what he was being told.

“This is a family
ranch.  It belongs to all of us.  Will, Andy, Addy, you, and me.”

“And Chad and
Amy?”

“Them too. 
Now let’s head for home before Addy has a stroke, and Scotty?”

“Yeah?” Scotty
asked, as he slammed the door of the truck.

“Just for your
information, if you EVER run away again, I’m going to break your neck! 
Understood?”

***

Addy was standing
on the front porch waiting when they pulled up the lane.  She could feel
the relief wash over her when Scotty jumped out of the truck and started for
the house.

“Scott!” Jack
shouted, stopping him in his tracks.  “Come back here.”  Scotty
turned and walked back to where his grandpa was standing.

“Are we all
straight now?”  They had talked all the way home and Jack wanted to make
sure there were no unanswered questions on Scotty’s part. “No more taking
off?  Always talking it through?”

“Yes sir. 
We’re straight.”  He glanced up at Addy.  “I’m sorry I scared her.”

“Best tell her
that yourself, Son.”  Jack turned him around and gave him a gentle shove
in the right direction.

***

“They should be
coming up the road any time now.”  Jack assured Will.  They had spent
most of the morning going over what they wanted the timber sale to accomplish,
increased cash flow, increased grazing acreage and fire control. 

Scotty joined them
on the porch.  “Can I go with you when you show the loggers around? 
I promise I’ll keep quiet and out of the way.”

“Don’t see why
not.  If you pay attention and listen, you just might learn something.”

“That’s what Addy
said, Grandpa.”  Scotty plopped down between the men.

“We think alike,”
Jack said as he stood up.  “You two watch for our visitors.  I need
to talk to Addy about something.”

“Talk?” Scotty
looked over at Will and crossed his eyes.  They both glanced towards the
kitchen and laughed.

Addy was standing
at the sink, peeling the potatoes she would use in a salad later.  Jack
snuck up behind her and placed a kiss on her neck as he wrapped his arms around
her waist.  She gave him a shy smile.  “Howdy Cowboy, what are you up
to?”

“Right now, I’m
fixin’ to give you a completely sinful kiss,” he told her, as he laughed and
took the peeler away from her. “Now turn around, Woman.”

“Jack, my hands
are all sticky!”  She felt her body being twisted around to meet his. “At
least let me wash.”

“No time. 
Can’t wait.” He gave her a lopsided grin and brought his lips down on hers. He
kissed her firmly.  He kissed her gently.  He kissed her with a
passion so deep that she couldn’t breathe, she couldn’t think, she couldn’t do
anything but feel.  When he finally got around to releasing her, he
grinned, flicked her nose and said simply, “Just thought I should remind you
how much I love you.” He turned and went back outside. 

Jack was coming
out the door just as Red drove up.  There were three other men with him
and Maggie.  Addy would be surprised and pleased.  “Addy, you have a
visitor,” he yelled, and then turned to greet his guests.

“Jack, you’ve met
Fred Connelly and his son, Mike,” Red began.  “This is Bill Vann.  He
is a state forester.  I conned him into coming up with us today to give us
some input.  Bill, this is Jack Kilbourne, his dad, Will, and his grandson,
Scotty.  The lovely lady coming out the door is my sister-in-law Addy.”
And, if his eyes didn’t deceive him, a lady who had just been thoroughly
kissed. Her blush confirmed it as their eyes met.

Jack stepped up to
her adding, “Soon to be my wife.  Would you like a cold lemonade or iced
tea before we begin?  Andy is down at the barn saddling up some horses for
us.  Do you ride, Bill?”

“Yes, I do. 
I don’t get many opportunities to ride, but I love to when I get the chance.”

“Scotty, run down
and tell Andy to get one more horse.”  Jack showed the men into the
house.  “Maggie, I’m glad you came along,” Jack said, winking at
Addy.  “You can help with the cooking, cleaning, sweeping, dusting . . .”

“And to think I
told these fellows you were one of my favorite people,” Maggie chuckled. 

***

Soon the men were
out in the wooded sections, surveying the timber, talking and planning. 
Bill Vann’s job for the state forestry was to work with private landowners to
develop environmentally sound timber management. 

“Unfortunately, most
folks are more interested in financial return than they are in good planning,”
he told them, as he took pictures and talked into his tape recorder.

“We want to do
this right,” Jack assured him.

“That’s what I was
told, and I’ve worked with Fred many times.  You’re talking with the right
man.”  They entered the high mountain meadow. After they looked over the
cabin, corrals, creek, and the lay of the land, they returned to the house for
dinner.

***

“Can you girls
find something more to visit about, now that we’ve eaten until we’re about to
burst?”  Red teased.  “We would kind of like to wrap this up today,
if we can.”

“I think we can
manage.” Maggie smiled and giving him a peck on the cheek, she went into the
kitchen to help with the dishes.

“Red is really
enjoying this isn’t he?  It’s too bad he doesn’t enjoy his sales job as
much. He’d be a lot happier if he was making a living doing what he loved,
instead of just bringing home a pay- check,” Addy said, as she stood washing
dishes and watching Scotty and the dogs playing in the yard.

“He’s changed jobs
every other month for years,” Maggie sighed.  “That’s always been part of
the problem.  No security.”

“I see.”

“Addy, I don’t
know what to do.  Red wants to sell the house, buy the building where my
office is and fix up the second story for living quarters for us . . .
together.”

“How do you feel
about that, Sis?” Addy asked and turned so she could watch Maggie’s face.

“That’s not
all.  Addy, he really wants to start his own business.  He wants to
put people together, like Jack and Fred Connelly
.  ‘Help people to help
themselves through environmentally sound land use practices.
’  He was
talking to Fred about it all the way up here. Fred told him he would be his
first client, if Red decides to pursue it.”

“Really?  It
sounds promising, but you still haven’t answered my question”

“How do I
feel?  Scared and excited at the same time; Addy, I want him to be
happy.  I wish I knew what to do.”

“If you love Red
as much as I think you do, the answer will come to you.”  Addy smiled and
dried her hands.  “Let’s take a walk.”

The late afternoon
breeze was cool as they walked and talked about the ranch and Scotty.

Addy told Maggie
about the mountain of bills, the auction and Scotty’s running away.

“Good grief, is
there never a dull moment around here?” Maggie asked, shaking her head. 
“I’ll bet Jack was furious with him.”

“Let’s just put it
this way,” Addy laughed softly. “Scotty said his grandpa threatened to break
his neck, if he ever did it again.”

“Yeah, sure . . .
that softy?”

“Scotty doesn’t
know that.” Addy smiled.

“Want to
bet?  I think he has you all pretty well figured out by now,” Maggie told
her.

“You’re probably
right,” Addy admitted.  “I wish I could figure out how to help you.”

“You have.” Maggie
stopped and leaned on the corral watching the horses.

“How did I do
that?”

“You just told me
about everything going on in your life, unending bills, runaway kids, the
possibility of losing this place, and several dozen serious or potentially
serious problems, and do you know what?”

“What?”

“Never once, with
all that is happening in your life, did I hear fear or insecurity in your
voice.  I think I know why.”  She turned to face Addy and looked back
to the house where the men were talking around the table in the yard. “You have
faith, Addy . . . faith in God, faith in Jack, faith in yourself.  I’ve
never really had that. Oh, I had faith in me, in what I could accomplish if I
set my mind to it . . . but I’ve never trusted God or my husband to take care
of me.  I’m only now beginning to realize how much that lack of faith has
hurt my marriage.” The tears were running down her cheeks. “Addy, does Jack
know beyond a shadow of a doubt, deep in his soul, you believe in him, would
never leave his side, no matter what he did or what happened to him?”