Montana Morning (4 page)

 Adrianna
shook her head, straightened her shoulders and looked Maggie right in the eye.
“Do you want to know what really happened here today?”  Her voice was
trembling with emotion as she fought for control.  She needed to make
Maggie understand.

“Of course I
do.”  Maggie was no longer angry, just concerned.  Over the years
they had been best of friends and confidants.  She knew it was her turn to
listen now, and prayed for the wisdom to know what to say when it was her turn
to speak.  So often they had been in this position, but this time the
tables were turned . . . now it was Adrianna who needed support and
understanding.

“Do you know the
worst part of being alone?”  Adrianna sat her glass on the stand by the
piano and moved back to the window.  “It isn’t being lonely, at least not
for me.”  She took a ragged breath and closed her eyes.  This much
honestly was not easy, even with Maggie.  “I’ve prayed for months, asking
God to help me find a new life.  I need to be needed again, to be useful
and challenged.  I cannot spend the rest of my life mourning Jed, living
my life vicariously through my children, and volunteering for every
organization under the sun.  Do you understand what I’m
saying?”   She stood staring out into the storm and felt the chill of
the wind against the window.

“I understand,
Sis.  Go on.”  Maggie recognized the controlled pain in Adrianna’s
voice.  It was the same voice she’d heard when Adrianna had told the
family about Jed’s disease.  She had never heard it again, until now.

 Maggie sat
on the edge of the couch, paused for a moment, and then went to stand beside
Adrianna. “Would you like another glass of wine?” she asked looking out into
the now raging storm.

“No, thank
you.  I’m fine; no, that’s not quite true.  I’m not fine, but I will
be.  For a long time now, I haven’t been really living my life, just
existing.  I need to start living again.”  She wondered if Maggie was
following her rambling, realizing for the first time she was talking as much to
herself as to her sister-in-law.

“That’s why you’re
taking this job, isn’t it?  It’s a way to start living again.  It
will give you a reason to get up in the morning!”

  Adrianna
gave Maggie a gentle smile, knowing she really understood the decision she had
made, and why she had made it. “This was not an impulsive decision on my part,
Maggie.  If Mr. Kilbourne hasn’t changed his mind about hiring me when he
comes tomorrow morning, I’ll be at the ranch with his family two weeks from
today.”

“Do you have any
idea what you’ll be in for up there?”

“I have a pretty
good idea,” Adrianna chuckled.  “I will be dealing with a nine-year-old
who is hurting and angry because of his parents’ death and his pain, a man who
is swallowing the pain of finding his daughter and losing her at the same time,
a great-grandpa who doesn’t want anyone there at all because
‘We can handle
this ourselves’
and who doesn’t want
‘another woman in Emily’s kitchen’
and
 hired hand that is so painfully bashful, he’s already breaking
out in a cold sweat at the thought of having to deal with a woman on the
place.  This job also includes trying to turn a remote ranch house into a
home, a home that hasn’t had a woman’s touch in better than five years;  I
will also be living away from ‘civilization’ and a lot of the comforts it
provides.”  She laughed at Maggie, whose mouth was now standing
agape.  “Did I forget anything?”

“Man, oh,
man.  He sure didn’t pull any punches, did he?” Maggie studied her
sister-in-law for a long time and then went into the kitchen and retrieved the
wine bottle.  She poured a small amount into each glass.  “May I
propose a toast to your future?  May it be bright and blessed by
God.  You’re going to need all the help you can get.”

“Don’t I know it!”
Adrianna laughed.

“What can I do to
help you . . . short of shooting Jack Kilbourne?”  Maggie teased.

“I was hoping you’d
ask.” She once again watched the growing storm, and wondered if the same storm
was hitting the ranch on the morning side of the mountain.  “I’ve been
worrying all afternoon about leaving this house.  I don’t know why it
didn’t dawn on me before,” she spun around face Maggie.  “It would be the
perfect solution for both of us.”

“Slow down,
girl.  You’ve lost me.”

“It’s
simple.  You need a house and I need a house sitter.”  Adrianna
beamed.  She could help Maggie in a way that would not hurt her pride or
sense of independence, and solve her own dilemma at the same time.
‘God
really does open doors for those who wait on his wisdom,’
she
thought.    

“It would be the
answer to my prayers, and I have to admit I’d be thrilled to live in this
house.  Are you certain?”  Maggie wanted to be sure Adrianna thought
this through.

“Nothing would
please me more.   Chad and Amy could still come home with you here.”
Adrianna smiled and turned from the storm.  “This way I can take on new
responsibilities and not forsake my family.”

“No one could ever
accuse you of forsaking us.”  Maggie moved to brush a rogue hair from
Adrianna’s cheek.  “You’ve always been the glue that held this bunch
together.”  She looked out at the drifting snow.  “I’m too wound up
to sleep and the roads must be awful by now.  Mind if I stay over?”

Adrianna threw her
head back in laughter.  “You just want to be the one to open the door
tomorrow morning when Mr. Kilbourne comes to pick me up for breakfast.”

“Right on,
Sis!”  Maggie exclaimed, as she headed for the kitchen.  She couldn’t
wait to see his face.  “Breakfast is it?  I’d only heard about going
to meet with his grandson.”

“We need to decide
how to approach him about my going home with them when he leaves the
hospital.  I sure would like to make one trip up there before then to move
some of my stuff in, and take inventory of what else I’ll need.”

Maggie could see
Adrianna making lists in her mind as she spoke.  “Why don’t I make us some
hot chocolate, and you get a pen and pad?  I’ll help you with the list
you’re building in your head.”  She took the whistling pot from the stove
and turned off the burner.  “Where is the mix?”

“Left top cupboard
by the sink,” Adrianna yelled from the den while grabbing supplies off the
desk.  She strolled back to the kitchen and found Maggie stirring up a
treat.

“Aunt Maggie’s
famous brownies are coming up.”  She turned to see Adrianna shaking her
head and patting her hips.  “Well, you surely don’t expect me to work on
an empty stomach do you?”  Maggie pouted. 

Adrianna had to
admit that right now Brownies sounded really good.

They worked on the
list for some time, listing personal essentials first.  They had differing
ideas of what constituted essential and this was going to prove to be a very
long night.  The brownies and hot chocolate lasted longer than they did
however, and they finally drug themselves off to bed in the early morning
hours.  Adrianna set the alarm for seven o’clock, giving herself an hour
to get ready before Jack Kilbourne arrived.  She had decided to feed him
at home rather than eat out, and wondered if he’d like her cooking.  She
was planning the menu as she fell asleep.

Maggie peeked in
on Adrianna.  She was already fast asleep. 
‘How truly wonderful
it would be to feel so confident you could just drift off without replaying
every decision of the day over and over in your head.’
 For years she
had watched Adrianna do just that, turning the rest over to the God she trusted
implicitly.  ‘
I wonder if I’ll ever have the courage and faith to turn
my life over to God?’
 She would pray for the courage to do that
beginning tonight.  She would also pray for Adrianna, although somehow she
had the feeling God was already in charge of that situation.

The blizzard had
worn itself out around seven o’clock, about the same time Jack had crawled out
of bed at the support unit next to the county hospital.  He looked out the
window and couldn’t believe he’d slept through such a storm.  He had gone
to bed shortly after visiting with Scotty last night.  The snow had been
just a small flurry then.  After taking a quick shower and calling the
floor nurse to check on Scotty, he called the ranch. 

Will was just
getting ready to leave the house when the phone rang.  “Morning,
Son.  What you doin’ calling so early?  Is Scotty all right?” 
He sloughed off his heavy coat and grabbed for another cup of coffee, as he sat
down at the kitchen table.

“Scotty’s fine,
Pops.  I called to check on you and Andy.  How are things going up
there?”  Jack worried about his dad and Andy. They were trying to do the
work of three men while he was in town.  Pops was healthy enough, but he
was pushing eighty real hard.

“Don’t you worry
about us?  We can handle things on this end okay.   You just
concentrate on getting my great-grandson home.”  Will heard Andy at the
back door and motioned for him to come in and sit down.

“I’m working on
it, Pops.  We had one heck of a blizzard here last night.  Did you
get it?”  Feeding was tough enough for just the two of them and he hoped
it had missed the ranch.

“Sun is shining.
It’s cold, but no new snow.  When do you think you’ll be home?”  Will
hoped it would be soon;  Andy and he were holding up, but barely. 
The truth be known, their butts were dragging.

“That’s one of the
reasons I called.   I think I’ve found someone who will come to the
ranch to help us out.”  He hoped Will wouldn’t put up too much of a fuss
knowing how he felt about having another woman in Mom’s house. 

“You hired
somebody?”  Will knew it had to be done.  The sound of resignation
came over the phone.  “What’s she like?”

“You’ll find out
soon.  If the roads are clear tomorrow, I’m going to try to bring her home
to see the place, and to help us get things lined up for Scotty.”  Jack
rubbed his hand across the back of his neck.  ‘
Sure hope she hasn’t
come to her senses and changed her mind’.
 

Jack sounded more
relaxed than he had in weeks, and Will was glad to hear his voice.  It
would be good to have him home for a day or two.  “Better get busy feeding
those critters.   We’ll see you tomorrow, with any luck.”

Jack hung up the
phone, thanking God for the cell phones that kept the ranch in touch with the
outside world.  If he felt more in touch with the man upstairs, he would
thank him for sparing the ranch and his dad the latest blizzard
too.   After stuffing his small notebook in his shirt pocket, he
pulled on his coat, hat and overshoes and headed for the hospital.  
The nurse had told Jack that Scott had spent a rough night filled with
nightmares.   He remembered the ones he’d had as a boy. 
‘Sometimes
dreams can be as bad as the real thing,’
he paused and looked in the
direction of the airport,
‘and then sometimes nothing is as bad as the real
thing.’
 

***

Scotty sat up in
bed, facing the window.  Jack stood quietly in the door, watching Mary’s
son. He seemed too young to lose his folks and go through so much
pain.   

“Morning’,
Son.”  Jack removed his hat and coat, throwing them on the foot of the
bed.  Scotty kept staring out at the snow, giving no indication he heard
Jack.

“Nurse tells me
you had a pretty rough night.”  Jack sat on the edge of the bed and
hesitantly placed his hand on Scotty’s good leg.  The boy nodded slowly,
tears running down his face.

“Want to tell me
about it?”  Jack knew the boy needed to be comforted, but how do you
comfort a stranger, even if he is your grandson?  He waited for Scotty’s
answer . . . nothing . . . he would try a different approach.  “I think
I’ve found a lady to help us look after you when we go home,” he said
hesitantly. 

Scotty turned and
studied his grandpa’s face. 
‘I bet she’ll be an old hag!’
he
grouched to himself. “What if I don’t like her?” Scotty growled. 

Jack was pleased
to hear the defiance in his grandson’s voice; it meant he still had the spirit
to fight back.  “Oh, you’ll like her all right.”

“What makes you so
sure?”  Scotty grumbled.

“Still determined
to have a bad day, are you?”  Jack chuckled, as he roughed up the boy’s
hair.  “I’ll tell you what, smart guy; I’ll guarantee you’ll like her.”

Scotty looked back
out the window, “I wouldn’t count on it,” he said under his breath.

Jack rose up off
the bed, patting Scotty’s leg and putting on his coat and hat, “We’ll see
mister, we’ll see.  Right now, I have more important things to do than to
banter with you.”  Scotty turned back just in time to see his grandpa’s
smile.  “I have a date for breakfast.  See you later.”

***

The air was clean
and crisp as Jack pulled the shovel from the back of the truck and started
clearing the walk up to Adrianna’s door.  He noticed the car in front of
the garage.  It was covered with snow, and he had a sneaky feeling he knew
who it belonged to.  Brushing the snow from his boots and removing his
hat, he rang the doorbell and braced himself.  The door opened and he
stood face to face with Maggie Banks. 

“Why, good
morning, Mr. Kilbourne,” she attempted to sound surprised, he decided  he
deserved to squirm a bit.

“Morning,
Ma’am.”  Apparently Adrianna hadn’t told Maggie about her taking the
job. 
‘Maybe she changed her mind.’
  No . . . Jack was sure
she was not the kind of woman to give her word and then change her mind. 
In fact, he was suddenly very sure of it.

“What’s the
matter?”  Maggie was enjoying this little game.  “Cat got your
tongue?” She raised her eyebrow and grinned like the cat that ate the canary.

“No, ma’am,” Jack
grinned back at her.  “And I doubt you are one bit surprised to see me.”