Montana Morning (29 page)

“You can’t get
your foot that far off the ground,” he joked, as he and Addy ran for the door.

***

“Somehow, I feel like your family is mine already,”
Jack told her, as they finished their breakfast.

“I’m glad. Did you
call home this
morning?”                    
              

“I thought we’d
call when we both could talk to them.  Addy, did you get the feeling
Scotty was a little uptight when we left?”

“Yes, but I was
thinking it was just my imagination.  What do you think is going on in
that head of his now?”

“He’s doing so
well most of the time that I tend to forget how tough his life has been this
past year.”

“When we call,
maybe I can put a bug in Will’s ear.  He’s pretty good at reading people.”

“Pretty good at
seeing right through them, you mean.” Jack grinned, as he watched the rain
glistening on the windowpane. “Let’s wait to call until after my meeting with
the loggers this afternoon; by then we’ll know more about when we can go home.”

“Good idea. 
Maybe we can get the shopping done before our meeting with Doctor
Rodgers.  I’d like to spend the afternoon visiting my daughter.”

“That is one
terrific young lady.  We’re going to get along just fine.  Chad, I’m
not so sure about,” he admitted.

“Speaking of my
son, what did you tell him anyway?  He asked me when I started taking
baths in the spring, and couldn’t quit laughing.”

“Yeah, he’ll be
okay too.” Jack laughed at the look of dismay on Addy’s face.

***

The morning rain
lasted only a few hours and then the sun came back out with a vengeance.

“I think I’m going
to melt before this day is through,” Addy said, as they waited to see Dr.
Rodgers.  She couldn’t help thinking about Helen Simpson.  She was
tempted to call her, she had been so upset, she looked so fragile, and with the
baby . . .

“Doctor will see
you now.” The nurse cheerfully told them as she hurried to answer the phone.

“Ready?”
she asked, as they walked to the
office.         

“No, but let’s get
it over with.” Jack sighed and tried to relax.

“Sarah, we could
use some coffee please.” Doctor Rodgers told his nurse, as he showed them into
his conference room and led them to the table by the window.  “I hope you
don’t mind, I asked the administrator of the hospital to join us.  I’ve
ordered in sandwiches, and after Mr. Kelsey gets here, we can start on this
mess,” he said, pointing to the table, “Have a seat. Ah, here he comes now.”

Dr. Rodgers
brought another chair to the table and stepping back made introductions. “Fred,
meet Jack Kilbourne and his fiancée Adrianna Banks.”

“Nice to meet you,
Mr. Kelsey.” Jack shook his hand and after other pleasantries, they all sat
down.

“Jack, Dr. Rodgers
here brought your problem before our staff and several board members yesterday
afternoon.  I must admit I had no idea how impossible this must look to
you folks, until I saw the whole picture.  We discussed this situation for
better than an hour and finally agreed each doctor, therapist, anesthesiologist
and other technicians, as well as the hospital board, would review their bills
and make whatever revisions they felt reasonable to bring some sanity to this
situation.”

“I appreciate what
you’re trying to do here, but I intend to pay my bills.” Jack started to
object.  

“And we expect you
to.  However, loading you down with a debt, one that will only bankrupt
you and cause you to lose everything you own, won’t pay your bills; it can only
hurt you and your family, especially Scott.  He is and has always been our
first priority, and yours as well, correct?”

“Sure, but just
the same...”

“Doc, have you had
a chance to look at any of these?” Mr. Kelsey asked.

“I just arrived in
the office minutes before Jack and Addy,” Dr. Rodgers told him, as he took the
sandwiches from the delivery boy. 

“Well now, let’s
see what we’ve got then.  Do you want to go through your file first?”

“Why not, I know
what it says.” Doctor Rodgers laughed and put the food on the table between the
folders.   “Dig in.  If we come to anything that’s apt to choke
you to death, we’ll warn you in advance,” he teased and opened the folder containing
his bill for the care he’d given Scotty. “The long and the short of it is this,
Jack.  I went through this last night and removed everything but my costs
and the cost of support personnel.” He saw the looks passing between Addy and
Jack.  “Don’t look so relieved.  It’s still a pile of money, but it
should be something you can handle.  It’s the best I could do.  Let’s
look at the rest.” Most of the professionals had done approximately the same as
Dr. Rodgers. They hadn’t written the bills off, but they had reduced them
substantially.

“Now for the
killer,” announced Mr. Kelsey, as he brought forth the folder containing the
hospital bills.  “If we crossed off everything on this bill that was not a
direct cost to the hospital it would save you around two percent.  I know
it’s not enough to make a dent, however, the board did agree to charge you no
interest on the bill for the next three years, if you pay a token ten dollars a
month.  That will give you some time to pay up the other bills before you start
on this one.”

“It will help a
lot.” Jack admitted, shaking his head in disbelief.  “I don’t know how to
thank you for all this.  I never expected . . .”

“We know
that.  You know, Mr. Kilbourne, we in the medical profession are people
too.  We appreciate your honesty in coming to us, your sincere desire to
meet your family’s obligations; we want to help.”

“I made an
appointment down at the bank for after lunch.  I’m going to try to
consolidate some of these bills into one loan if I can, so I can start paying
them off.”

“I received an
important phone call right before I came down,” Mr. Kelsey said, as he sipped
his coffee, “that’s why I was a few minutes late. Western Pacific established a
grant many years ago with the Community Medical Center.”  Jack and Addy
looked to Dr. Rodgers for an explanation.  He simply shrugged.  “It
covers catastrophic medical costs.” Mr. Kelsey explained.  “The board of
directors voted by phone this morning to allow $50,000 of the fund to be
applied to your account.”

“But, but that’s
better than half of it.” Jack stammered.

“There is one
stipulation attached to the grant.” Mr. Kelsey pointed out.  “If you are
able to repay the grant or any part of the grant, without financial hardship to
you and your family, you are encouraged to do so.”

“You can bet I
will, if I can!”

“You’re still
looking at a huge debt, Jack.” Doc advised him, wishing they could do more.
“Right at $80,000, if I added right in my head.”

“Seventy-eight
thousand, forty-two dollars, and fourteen cents, plus interest.” Addy informed
the men sitting at the table. “It’s still a mountain, but one we can climb.
 Thank you.”

“And thank God,”
Jack sighed. Suddenly the trip to the bank didn’t look quite so hopeless. If
his luck held and the boycott ended soon, they just might, be able to pay off
the bills, not soon, but someday.

***

“I think maybe you
gave Maggie just the push she’s been needing.” Addy exclaimed, as they got in
the truck and headed for home.

“Think so?  I
thought maybe I’d stepped out of line.”

“No. I caught her
watching Red out of the corner of my eye several times during dinner.  Red
is sure excited about your meeting with Mr. Connelly.  When will they be
out?”

“Red is bringing
them up after church on Sunday.  Two days and we’ll have some idea as to
how this horse logging will work, if at all.”  Addy was glad they had
waited until evening to head back.  It was cooler now and a breeze was
blowing. She hadn’t asked him about his trip to the bank. She was sure he would
tell her about it when he thought the time was right.  They rode in
silence to the top of the ridge where Jack pulled over.

“Want to get out
and stretch a bit?”

“I’d love
to.  I think this view is one of my all-time favorites.” She couldn’t help
but smile as she looked into the basin.

“After today, I
have hope for the first time in a long time, hope we can keep our place,” Jack
admitted, as they walked to the edge of the turnout. “Thanks for all the work
you did, getting those bills organized and everything; it really helped. 
I don’t think we ever would have made them understand what we were facing
without that.” He took her in his arms.  “Do you have any idea how much I
adore you?”

“I think so, but
you can keep reminding me, if you’d like.” She gazed up into his beautiful
brown eyes and ran her hand over his beard.  “How did we ever get so
lucky?”

“Scotty. Out of
all the pain came God’s plan for our life.  Speaking of our young man,
Addy, did you talk to Pops this afternoon?”

“Yes, and he said
he’d see what he could do.  Seems Scotty went into a shell yesterday
morning, and hasn’t said more than a dozen words to him or Andy since we left.”

“Oh, great!” Jack
murmured, as he leaned down to kiss the top of her head.  “Just great!”

True to his word,
Will finally found a way to spend some time with his great-grandson. 

“Where did you say
we were going?” Scotty finally asked, as he and Will rode into the thick
timber.

“Line shack. 
It’s a little log cabin in the corner of this section.  When Addy called
from town, she said a couple of fellows might be working up in this neck of the
woods.  I thought you and I should take a look at the cabin, see if we can
fix it up good enough for them to stay in,” Will explained, as they pushed
their way along the overgrown trail.  “What have you been up to the past
couple of days?  We haven’t seen much of you.”

“Haven’t been up
to anything much.”  Scotty saw the clearing just ahead.  “Is the
cabin around here?”  Will pulled his horse to a stop and pointed to the
far edge of the meadow.

“Right over there
by those corrals.” They rode across the lush mountain meadow towards the west
end where the cabin and corrals were located.

“This place is
great!  The grass is so tall I can reach down and touch it without even
getting off the horse!”  Coming out of the forest and into this meadow was
like stepping into the past, and Scotty loved every minute of it.

“The creek runs
right by the back door.  We spent two winters up here trappin’ before your
grandpa was born.”

“You and Grandma
Emily?”

  Will nodded
and grinned at all the happy memories running around in his head. 

“Didn’t you get
lonely?”

“Shucks no!” 
Will laughed. “We were newlyweds. We didn’t need anyone else around; didn’t
want anyone else around.  The movement of Scotty’s horse changed just
enough for Will to know he’d hit a nerve. “Speaking of newlyweds, how do you
feel about your grandpa and Addy getting hitched?”

“I think it’s
great.” 

 Will pulled
up and gave Scotty his best impression of a shocked look.  “Really? 
Sure surprises the heck out of me.”

“Why shouldn’t I
be happy?”  Scotty shrugged.  “I like Addy.”

“Then you’re a
heap more grownup at ten than I was at twenty-two.”  Will saw the smile
creeping across Scotty’s face.  “Let’s tie the horses by the creek.” After
the horses were secured, they hung the saddles on the corrals.  “These
pens will have to be fixed up, that’s for sure.” Will leaned on a good section
and soon Scotty climbed up and sat astride the top rail.

“What did you mean
about me being more grownup than you?” 

Will grinned up at
him and adjusted his hat to keep the afternoon sun out of his eyes. 
“Sometimes, when you’ve had all of someone’s love, kind of like you with your
grandpa, it’s hard to imagine sharing them. Know what I mean?”

 Scotty
shrugged and pealed the old, loose bark off the rail.  “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Well, Son, you
may not believe this, but when I found out Emily was pregnant with your
grandpa, I was so happy I cried for joy and so scared I pretty near cried for
fear.”

“How come?  I
don’t get it.” 

“I guess I didn’t
get it either,” Will chuckled, as he pulled at piece of grass to gnaw on. 
“I was afraid Emily would give all her love to the baby, and she wouldn’t have
any left for me; but it didn’t work that way.”

“It didn’t?”

“Nope!  The
more love she gave the baby, the more she had for me.  Emily explained it
this way; she said, ‘Love divided multiplies’.”

“Huh?”

Will laughed at
the puzzled look he was getting.  “That’s what I thought too, until your
grandpa was born.  When I picked him up and held him for the first time, I
looked over at Emily.  Son, I loved her ten times more at that moment than
I ever had before.”

“Does it really
work that way?”

“Sure does, if
it’s the right kind of love.  Now that Jack’s figured out how much he
loves Addy, he’ll be capable of caring for you, and loving you, even more.”

“And Addy will . .
.”

“She’ll love you
twice as much too.”  Will slapped Scotty on the leg.  “Now let’s take
a look at the shack and see what we can do.” 

Scotty couldn’t
hide his enthusiasm, and made a run for the log cabin. “Do you think we could
fix this place up, just you and me?” 

Will stepped into
the doorway and looked around, “You and me and what army?  What a mess!”

“Maybe Andy could
help us,” Scotty said, as he stood the door up against the wall.

“And what about
Jack?  Is he on vacation?” 

Scotty whistled as
he picked up around the cabin and snooped through the rubbish.  “Kind of
thought maybe he and Addy would like some time alone,” he blushed.