Montana Morning (26 page)

“Best get a move
on if you want any breakfast, sleepyhead.” 

Scotty gathered
his courage and marched into the kitchen. Addy standing at the stove turning
hot cakes was a wonderful sight.

“Addy, you’re
still here!”  He gave a huge sigh.

“Yes, I am.”

Will grinned at
the blush on her cheeks and noticed his son had the same one.

“Grandpa said you
weren’t going anywhere.” Scotty poured the warm syrup on his hot cakes;
oblivious to the look Jack had thrown him.

“Oh he did, did
he?” Addy turned, giving Jack a scowl.

“Yeah.” Just then
he looked up to see the grimace on Jack’s face.  “Grandpa, did Addy make
you stand on your head?”

Jack rolled his
eyes and leaned back in his chair.  “Oh, brother.”

“Well, did she?”

“Of course not,”
Addy answered for him, but then realized how relieved Jack was looking to be
taken off the hook.  “No point.  We’ll just have to wait until it
rains.”

“Woman!” Jack
growled at her, as everyone around the table laughed at his red face.

“This sure beats
the heck out of the mood around here yesterday,” Will put in as he forked
another piece of ham.

“Enjoy the grub,
Pops, because tomorrow Addy and I have to go to town for a day or two, so
you’re back on as chief cook and bottle washer,” Jack replied, as he pushed the
plate away and smiled shyly at Addy.  He got up and walked around to where
she was sitting; putting his hands on her shoulders.  She reached up and
touched his hand.  “Yesterday Addy and I discovered what, it seems,
everyone but us had figured out a long time ago.”

“Are you going to
get married?”  Scotty started bouncing up and down.

“Let the man
talk.  Jack doesn’t make many speeches!”  Will winked at Addy, and
felt his heart sing for the first time since Emily passed away.  His son
had found a woman who loved him like Em had loved Will. No gift could be
greater.

“Yes,
Scotty.  I asked Addy to share my life and she said yes.” He gave her
shoulders a gentle squeeze.  “Probably an early sign of insanity on her
part, I’m sure you’ll all agree, but I’m holding her to it just the same.”

“Like a contract?”
Scotty had heard them mention her contract several times and always wondered
how that worked. 

“Sort of
Scotty.”  Addy said, as she smiled up at Jack.  “Except a legal
contract, like the one I signed with the state court and your grandpa, was to
guarantee I would provide services.  I agreed to help with your schooling
and physical therapy and things like that.”

“I guess this is
kind of a stupid question, but how is marriage different?” 

“I’m glad you
asked, because it isn’t a stupid question.” Jack told Scotty as he sat down
next to the woman holding his hand. “Some folks don’t think there is any
difference, but there is. Marriage is a contract between two people and
God.  When you marry someone, you promise not only the other person, but
you promise God himself, that you will love and care for that person, no matter
what, for as long as you live.  Period.  No exceptions.  No
excuses.  Forever.” 

Scotty sat in
stunned silence.  “Wow, you sure must have to be powerful sure, to make a
promise like that.”

“More sure than of
any other decision you’ll ever have to make,” Jack agreed.

“So when’s the big
day?” Will cut in.

“Sometime this
fall, after harvest and a few other things are settled.” Jack swallowed the
last of Addy’s coffee and stood up.  “Right now, we’d better get to
work.  I have some parts to take off the baler before we head to town.”

“Not so fast,
Son!”  Will’s grin covered his whole face.  “Don’t I get time to kiss
the bride?”

“She’s not a bride
just yet, and you keep your hands off my woman!” Jack growled.

“Not a chance!”
Will hugged Addy so hard she thought her ribs would crack, and then he just
held her and whispered in her ear.  “Do you have any idea how much I love
you, Gal?  Do you have any idea how happy I am about now?”

“About half as
happy as I am, I would guess,” she whispered back.

“You two knock it
off,” Jack ordered and opened the back door.  “Everybody out.”

They all looked at
each other and started out the door single file. “Everyone except you.” He took
her by the arm and shut the others outside.

“Looks like the
chores are up to us, boys,” Andy announced, as they laughed and made their way
to the barn.

***

“Did you mind, I
mean my telling them?  We hadn’t exactly talked about it,” he
conceded.  She put her arms around his neck and smiled up at him.

“Jack Kilbourne, I
love you more than life itself.  I’ve loved you for so long; I can’t
remember when I didn’t love you.” She kissed him on the cheek.

“That’s once,” he
teased.  “And what kind of a kiss do you call that?”

“The only kind I’d
better give you if we’re going to wait until fall.”

“I have more
self-control than that.” He grinned, as he held her at arm’s length.

“Are you sure?”

“Nope.”  
The next thing she knew she was being properly, well . . . improperly kissed.

“Oh, Cowboy . . .
You’d better go work on the baler,” she advised when she had caught her
breath.  He just laughed, gave her braid a tug, picked up his hat, and
headed for the shed.

“This is going to
be a very long couple of months!” she told herself.

***

“How are you
coming with this machine?”  Will helped Jack out from under the hay baler,
and handed him a rag to wipe his greasy hands.  Jack grinned over at his
dad.  Will didn’t give a rip about the baler right now and they both knew
it. “Are you as happy as you look, Jack?”

“Yes, I am.” 
Jack walked over and leaned on the doorway facing the house.  “I didn’t
think I’d ever get this lucky . . . know what I mean?” Will nodded and joined
Jack in the doorway.  “I mean, I never thought I’d find someone to share
my life with, not the way Mom shared yours.  Did you ever stop to think
how lucky you were?”

“Not for a long
time.  Guess I always figured all marriages were pretty much like ours.”

“You’ve got to be
kidding!” Jack couldn’t believe his dad had been so blind.

“Nope, took almost
losing her, then it hit me . . . what we had was once in a lifetime.”

“You’ve never told
me about it.  What happened?”

“You were about
fifteen.  We had four tough years in a row and I quit talking to her, I
guess.  I wanted to protect her, you know?  Anyway, she got tired of
being shut out.  Said if I didn’t need her, she’d best be on her way and
she walked out.”

“Of the house?”

“Over the
mountain.”

“Holy Cow, Pops,
that’s better than forty miles.”

“That’s what I
thought.  I figured she’d build up a head of steam, walk it off, and come
back. I went right on with my chores like nothing happened.”

“What
happened?”  By now both men were sitting on the big bale, chewing on
pieces of straw.

“Nothin’
happened.  Suppertime came.  I fed you.  Night came and I sent
you to bed; by then I was crazy with worry.  Imagined all kinds of things,
like she got lost or got eaten by a bear.  I saddled up my horse and
headed out after her. I found her halfway up the mountain, sitting by a
campfire, crying her eyes out. Man, oh, man, did I feel like a damned
fool.”  Jack smiled over at Will and drew lines in the dirt with the toe
of his boot.

“Don’t suppose
there’s any particular reason you saved that story for today.”

“Don’t ever make
the same mistake I did.  Addy is the best thing that ever happened to you
. . . with or without this place.”

“I know.” Jack sat
watching her hang the clothes on the line beside the house.  “I forgot to
tell her something.  Can you put those parts in a box and sit them in the
truck for me?”

“Sure thing.”

“And, Pops . . .
thanks.”

“Don’t mention
it!” Will chuckled, as he watched Jack walking towards the yard.

“Woman, is there
any lemonade left?” Jack hollered, as he opened the front gate.

Addy peeked out
from around the clothes hanging on the line.  “In the cooler,” she yelled
and went back to singing and hanging clothes.  She heard a twig snap and
turned to find him watching her.  “Couldn’t you find it?”

“Actually, I came
to find you.  I forgot to tell you something this Mornin’.”

“What’s that?” she
asked through a mouthful of clothespins.

“I forgot to tell
you how much I love you, how much I need you, how important you are to me . . .
” He removed the clothes pins from her mouth and kissed her on the nose. “Now
I’ll get us some lemonade.”

They sat on the
back steps watching Scotty play with the two dogs. 

“Good stuff, this
lemonade.  I should have had some yesterday,” Jack said, as he traced her
cheekbone with his fingertip.

“I wouldn’t change
anything about yesterday.”

“Nothing?”

“Well, I might
raise the temperature of the springs a bit!” she laughed.

“You tried . . .
you certainly tried!” Jack reminded her with a chuckle.

“Not to change the
subject, but . . .”

“You’re blushing .
. .” he observed and continued to run his finger down her cheek.

“Quit teasing . .
. I need to know what we need to take to town tomorrow.”

“Out of my
office?” He had known it was coming.  He had to get all those papers and
bills in some kind of order and he had put it off as long as he could. 
“I’ll go do it right now.” He jumped up and went inside, leaving her sitting on
the steps.  He was standing at the desk, sorting papers when he realized
what he had just done. 
‘Don’t make the same mistake, don’t shut her
out.’
He looked down at the stacks of bills and knew that was exactly what
he was doing.  He didn’t want her to know how bad it was; even if he
borrowed against the ranch, it wouldn’t be enough.

He watched her
through the screen door as she sat on the steps looking over the meadows.
“Addy?” he stepped out on the porch. “Honey, could you give me a hand?” 
She closed her eyes and thanked God. It might take a long time for Jack to
learn to share his life, bad and good, but he’d just taken a huge step.

***

Hours later the
bills sat in stacks on Jack’s desk, paid and unpaid, Mary’s estate, medical and
ranch debts; no small wonder Jack was so uptight.  The ranch bills were
not so far out of line, but Scotty’s medical bills were staggering, as were the
debts left by Jeff and Mary. Addy had put each of the creditor’s bills in separate
folders and the hospital, doctor, and therapy bills in another.  Jack had
been paying a small amount on each one every month, but in most cases, it
wasn’t even covering the interest.  She looked up to see Jack watching
her.

“Still want to be
share my life?” he grimaced and rubbed his neck.  Addy smiled, as she
moved behind his chair and began to rub the knots out of his neck and
shoulders.

“You couldn’t get
rid of me if you tried,” she teased.  “Let’s take a break.  I need to
fix something to eat and you need to do chores.  We can finish this up
after supper.”

 Jack swept
his hand over the top of the stacks sitting on the desk in front of him. 
“How are we ever going to get over these mountains of bills, Addy?” His voice
was filled with despair.

“We will turn them
into a series of small hills, which we’ll climb together, one at a time.” She
kissed him on the neck.  “Thank you, Jack.”

“What on earth
for?” Jack couldn’t believe her attitude. After spending an entire afternoon
wading through this nightmare, she actually acted like she was looking forward
to the challenge of solving this mess, not feeling buried under it, like he had
felt for so long.

“For not shutting
me out, and Jack?” He looked up as she turned in the doorway.  “Remember
God never gives us a mountain we can’t climb with his help.”

“Can you be ready
to leave at daybreak?  We have a lot to cover tomorrow,” Jack asked, as
they walked into the kitchen.  “I thought you said you had to fix
dinner.  It smells great in here.”

“Figured if we
were going to eat, I’d better pitch in,” Will yelled from the basement steps.

“Eats ready in
about half an hour.”

“I’ll load the
truck and tell the others it’s time to wash up.” Jack stopped and turned when
he reached the back door.  Addy was setting the table and rushing around
cleaning up Will’s mess.

“What’s wrong?”
Addy asked when she glanced up and saw him watching her.

“Not a thing.” he
grinned and winked at her. “Not a single thing.”

***

Jack crept into
the room and over to her bed. “Time to get up, sleepyhead,” he whispered and
kissed her on the cheek. 

A smile slowly
appeared on her face, as she blinked away the sleepy fog.  “Good morning,
Cowboy.  What a nice way to wake up!” She rolled over and looked out the
window.  The sun was just coming up.  She rolled back to face him as
he sat down on the edge of her bed.

“Pops is making
the coffee,” he said and made an awful face.  “I’ll bring the truck up and
put those boxes in the back, and then I’m ready to go.” He started to get up
off the bed and she put her hand on his arm.

“Aren’t you
forgetting something?” she smiled up at him, as she traced the muscle in his
forearm with her hand.

“No.  I’ve
had a tough time thinking about anything else the past few days, but I do
remember that I love you, Addy, more than I can ever tell you.”  He bent
down and kissed her on the top of the head.

“You call that a
kiss?” she pouted.

“It will have to
do . . . unlike me, YOU have no self-control.”  He ran for the door, just
as the pillow flew past his head.

***

It was going to be
a very hot day.  By the time they were over the mountain and into the
valley, the heat was radiating off the pavement.