Montana Morning (33 page)

“Mighty fine job,
you two.” Jack smiled at his grandson.  “Andy won’t be back with the parts
until late this evening.  Would you like to paint the trim on the house to
match?  I’ll do the high stuff.”

“Sure, Grandpa.”
Scotty was so relieved to see Addy and Jack were not cross with each other; he
forgot what he’d said earlier about being sick of painting.

“Get a brush for
me, while you’re at it.” Will cut in.  “I promised Emily a half a dozen
years ago I’d paint this trim, and I’m a man of my word.” he declared as he
winked at Addy.

“Jack, I can do
the high stuff,  heights don’t bother me.” Addy said as they put up the
ladder.

“It bothers me,
but the thought of you falling off bothers me worse, so I’ll survive it.”

“Be neat,
everybody, I’m tired of cleaning up,” Scotty shouted, as he began painting the
rails on the porch.   It was almost dark when Andy pulled into the
lane.  They had just finished the trim and were cleaning brushes. 

“Did you get what
we needed?” Jack asked as Andy got out of the truck.

“And more. 
Jeff Baker was at the implement sales when I got there.  He and Seth are
right behind me with their balers.  We’ll be finished before tomorrow
night.”

“Hot dog!” Will
cheered.  “You should send him to town more often, Jack.”  Addy could
see the relief wash over Jack’s face as he came up to her on the porch.

“All afternoon,
while I was painting, I was talking to the man upstairs.  I promised to
try to turn things over like you said, and you were wrong,” Jack told her.

“What?” Addy gave
him a puzzled look.

“God is going to
bale my hay, through our friends.” He knew everyone in the yard was watching
them, even Jeff and Seth as they pulled into the lane, but he drew her into his
arms and kissed her with all the love in him.

“Jack!” Will
teased. “There is a child present.”

“That ‘child’
better get used to it!” Jack smiled down into Addy eyes.  “He’s going to
be raised in a house overflowing with love.”

“Not a bad deal,
if you ask me!” Andy ruffled Scotty’s red hair. “Speaking of overflowing, I
told Jeff and Seth we’d put them up for the night.   I also told them
we’d give them some supper,” he added looking at Addy apologetically.

“Don’t worry about
it; none of us have eaten yet.  Supper is in the oven and all I have to do
is set the table.  Sleeping arrangements I’ll have to work on,” Addy added
and rushed into the house.

“Grandpa, you
could move in with Addy, and they could have your room,” Scotty suggested.

Jack turned red,
crossed his eyes and looked to the heavens.  Will choked and Andy
snickered.

“Well, they’re
getting married anyway,” Scotty reasoned.  “What’s the difference?”

Will grinned at
Jack and excused himself.  “I’ll show Jeff and Seth where to park and show
them the fields.”

Andy gave Jack a
pat on the back.  “I’ll do the chores while Addy finishes dinner; Jack,
you do whatever it is you’re going to do!  Good Luck,” he chuckled under
his breath.

Jack went over to
the picnic table and sat down on the top.  He patted the spot beside him.

“Another talk,
already?  Now what did I do?” Scotty plunked down and waited.

  
      “Well,” Jack was having a terrible time trying
to figure out where to start.  This was a subject he thought he had years
to prepare for and here it was, bigger than life, staring him right in the eye. 
“Scotty, how much do you know about things?  I mean like the birds and the
bees?”

“Pete’s sake,
Grandpa!”  Scotty sighed like he was bored. “Dad told me all about how
that stuff was done years ago.”

Jack thanked God
under his breath.  “What exactly did he tell you, do you remember?”

“Men and women
sleep together, they have sex, and they make babies.  That’s pretty much
it.”

“Oh, Scotty,
there’s so much more to it than that.” Jack gave his grandson’s shoulders a
hug.

“Really?”  Scotty
wrinkled up his nose in disgust. “But Addy’s too old to have babies, so you
don’t even have to think about that stuff.”

Once again Jack
grinned up at the heavens. 
‘If only he knew. ’
  “Scotty
there’s a right way and a wrong way to love a woman.”

“How do you know
which is which?”

“According to the
Good Book, it goes something like this.  You meet and fall in love. 
You ask her to share your life.  You marry her and have your love blessed
by God;  then you sleep together and have sex, not before. Understand?”

“Yeah, I guess so,
but why?  Lots of Mom and Dad’s friends lived together and they weren’t
married.”

“But if you want
to do what is pleasing to God, Scotty, and we do right?”

“Right.”

“Then you do
everything in the right order, to please God,” he said, as he looked towards
the kitchen window, “and to show respect for the woman you’ve chosen to be your
wife.”

“But you and Addy
are too old to worry about having babies.”

“Yes, Scotty,”
Jack wanted to be sure his grandson understood, “but physical love is a big
part of being married, even if you are my age or even the age of Grandpa Will.

“Honest?” Scotty
gave Jack a shocked look.

“Honest.” His
grandpa flashed him a reassuring smile.

“Then if you moved
into Addy’s room, she’d think you expected . . .” Scotty was really
embarrassed.

“Yeah, that’s
about it, Son.  Now you understand why we can’t exactly do that yet.”

“You won’t tell
Addy what I said, will you?”

“Our secret, I
promise.”

 Scotty made
it a point to tell Jeff and Seth at dinner they could sleep in his room and he
would sleep on the cot in the ‘war room’.  The men around the table gave
Jack knowing winks while Addy wasn’t watching. The hay was baled and most of it
in stacks by mid-afternoon the next day.  They sat in the shaded yard discussing
the upcoming auction, then after an early supper Jeff and Seth were on their
way.

***

The last of the
bales were in stacks and the line shack had been repaired.  The past week
had gone by in a blur of activity.  Scotty helped the men in the fields
while Addy spent two days in town making the necessary arrangements for the
wedding.  She and Jack would walk down the aisle together.  They
wanted it simple and reverent.  Jack didn’t own a suit and truth be told,
Addy couldn’t picture him in one.  She wanted to marry Jack just the way
he was.  They would have a western wedding, right down to the boots. 
Maggie and Amy promised to handle all the details and helped her pick out her
dress.  Her only regret was Chad would not be there.

***

The Wednesday
before the auction, Will, Andy, and Scotty loaded the flatbed trailer with all
the items they were taking to the auction and headed for the grange hall.

“Sure you don’t
want to go along, Jack?” Will asked, knowing the answer.

“No thanks,” Jack
said, as he helped with the ropes securing the load.  “I want to get these
broken bales into the hayloft before they get rained on.”

Will had to admit
the sky looked threatening, but he also knew why Jack was avoiding the auction
. . . pride.  Well, he’d better find a way to get over it in a hurry,
because the auction was only three days away.  “See you around supper
time, I imagine,” Will said, as he kissed Addy on the cheek and got into the
truck.  Soon they were out of sight and Jack was in the hayloft with the
pitchfork, moving the loose hay.  Addy spent the morning baking for the
auction.”

“Jack,” she yelled
up from the corrals. “Time for lunch.”

“I hate to come in
the house like this,” he said, as they crossed the drive.

“You are a mess,
Cowboy.” He was covered with sweat, chaff and black dust. “I’ll hold lunch
while you take a nice long shower and change your clothes.”

“What’s the point?
I’m not finished and I’ll just get dirty again.” Jack laughed.

“You’re missing
the point, my friend.  You will feel better, and besides, I might want to
snuggle.”

“In that case,
I’ll be down shortly.” Jack grinned and went up the stairs.  Addy stood in
the living room, looking out over the fresh-cut fields.  She loved the
smell of the hay and the baked goods in the kitchen. She glanced towards the
staircase and thought about Jack.  He was trying so hard to accept the
auction and the help it would give him and his family.  His pride was
really eating on him though, and it was beginning to show.  She asked God
to help him accept this blessing from his friends with joy in his heart. 
Knowing how he felt about it right now, she truly realized how much she was
asking.

“Are you ready to
snuggle, Woman?” Jacks lopsided grin covered his face as he came down the stairs.

“I even trimmed my
beard.”

“So I see, it
looks nice,” she said, brushing it against her cheek.  “Feels nice too.”

“I’ve been
wondering, do you want me to shave it off,  for the wedding, I mean.”

“Don’t you
dare!  I love your beard.   “I want you just the way you are, no
changes.”

“I don’t have to
wear a monkey suit?”  It was too good to be true.

“Nope, just a new
pair of jeans and a nice western shirt.”

“The one you made
me . . . oops, I forgot, the one Scotty made me?”

“Will be just
fine.” She laughed and took his hand.  “Let’s eat.  You may have been
playing all morning, but I worked up an appetite.”

“Playing?  I
wish!  By the way, have you picked out what you’re wearing to this
wedding?  Not that I care, just as long as you show up.”

“Picked out and
purchased, and no, you may not see it.” They talked about the wedding, the
logging, the hay and the boycott.  Jack never once mentioned the auction
and Addy decided to leave it be.  He would talk to her about it when the
time was right, and not before.

“I’d better get
back to work.  I want to finish putting those broken bales in
today.”  Jack looked to the west.  “Those clouds are getting blacker
and blacker.”

“I’ll bring you
out a drink later, okay?” Addy asked, as he kissed her cheek.

“That would be a nice
idea.  Dry as the dickens up there and hotter than . . . well, it’s hot.”
He laughed and trudged back to the barn.

***

As Addy walked to
the barn, she saw Jack leaning on the door of the loft watching the approaching
storm. He helped her up the ladder with the drinks and pulled a bale close to
the door for them to sit on.

“It’s getting
sultry as the devil.  I bet we’re in for a real electrical storm,” Jack
said, as he brushed the loose hay from his arms and sat down next to her.

Addy could hear
the thunder in the distance.  “Looks like you got it all in.”

“I needed
to.  We will be feeding Connelly’s horses most of the winter, and their
powerful big animals,” he chuckled.  “Have you ever seen them, Addy?”

“Yes, once in a
parade in town. Will we have enough feed?”

“More than enough,
I think; if the boycott ends before we have to feed all those critters through
the winter.” He sighed and sat his glass on the floor.  “To be honest with
you, Addy, I thought Mike Simpson would give in a long time ago.  His buyers
back east must be riding him something fierce by now.”  He got up and
walked to the doorway overlooking the corrals.  “I’ve prayed the boycott
would end before . . .”

“Before you had to
let this auction on Saturday happen?” she guessed.

“Yeah.” Jack looked
like he was being beaten. “I never realized before, when Pops and I gave those
other folks a helping hand, how hard it was to accept help.”

“Jack, what do you
want to do?”

“Call the whole
thing off, but I can’t; I agreed to let them do it and now it’s too late.”

Addy put her arms
around him and wished with all her heart she knew what to say.

“Maybe this
auction is God’s way of telling me I have too much pride and not enough
humility. Suppose?” Jack smiled down into her eyes.

“Maybe.” She
pulled his face down to meet hers and kissed his lips ever so softly.

 Jack picked
her off her feet and laid her gently in the
hay.           “Addy, do you
know how much I love you? How much I need you right now?” he whispered, as he
took her into his arms and began kissing her with unbridled passion. 

Addy trembled and
grew weak with a desire so overwhelming . . .

Suddenly, Jack
grew still.  He rose up, and brushed the hair from her face.  Smiling
down on her, he traced her lips with his fingertip.  “You weren’t going to
stop me, were you?”

“I . . . I don’t
think so,” she stammered, searching his face for an answer to what had just
happened . Then she knew; “no, I wasn’t, but I should have known.”

“Known what?” he
asked, brushing her cheek with his.

“Known I wouldn’t
have to; you love me too much, not to do things the right way.”

Jack rolled over
in the hay onto his back.  “Just when I thought nothing could take my mind
off that dumb auction,” he laughed and then went quiet.  “Do you have any
idea what a wonderful gift you just gave me? To know that you want me as badly
as I want you, makes me feel ten feet tall; kiss me once more, and then I’ll
let you go.  I promise, but I’ve got to confess, I’ve never wanted anything
in my life as much as I want to make love to you right here in this
hayloft.”          

She gave him a
swift kiss, and looking down at him, she said simply, “That makes two of us,
Cowboy.”

***

The thunder
crashed and roared.  Lightning hit the mountains again and again. 
The skies opened up and the rain fell in sheets; it was such a violent storm
and yet so very beautiful.  They sat silently on the hay and watched the
wonderful show.  They were still sitting there, when the rest of the
family came splashing up the lane.