Chapter 15

"There it is!"

Six year-old Amelia pointed into the western sky toward the mountains and the setting sun.

I looked where she pointed but had no luck picking out the airplane that was bringing Becky home.

Sarah Smith held my arm as we stood in the snow outside the terminal at Great Falls. She laughed and her breath made frosty cloud in front of her face.

"Amelia ... with your eyesight Joe Davenport and the rest of the crew at the Choteau Gun Club will want to recruit you for deer season!"

"Oh so I can help them kill Bambi's mother?" she deadpanned.

Sarah looked at her and then laughed again.

"Amelia ... you are so evil!"

Sarah knew I wasn't a hunter but we often enjoyed the bounty of our neighbors hunting success and she knew that Amelia had no objection to hunters and hunting. She also knew Amelia had inherited her mother's wry sense of humor.

Amelia looked back toward the sky with a "gotcha" look on her face. She pointed again.

"There."

This time the turboprop was plainly visible even to us old folks.

Sarah put one arm around me and I could feel her warmth. She looked up and smiled and said,

"Thanks for rescuing me. If I'd had to deal with one more phone call, or listened to Carrie Ducker and her poisonous gossip for another minute I might have been tempted to do some hunting myself today! How'd you know I needed a break?"

I looked at her face for a second as the wind ruffled her auburn hair. The lines on her face gave it character and added to her mature beauty.

"I watched you Sunday. This is a tough time of year with Christmas so close and this is a tough year. Lots of people need help and you and Evan are pulled in lots of directions. I figured you'd might need a break ... get you out of that tiny office with the constant ringing phone and the busybody drop-ins."

She hugged me and kissed the side of my face.

"What's that for?"

"You are a sweet and caring man Bret Dawson."

I laughed.

"Sometimes I'm an ogre ... just ask Amelia!"

"Right ... your daughter adores you. And it will take some special man someday to ever win her away from you."

"Sarah, can I think about that in thirty years, or so? I'm just trying to get her through first grade!"

She laughed and we watched the plane get closer.

"Daddy, I'm going into the terminal, okay?"

"Okay ... see you in a few minutes."

She ran across the snowy field, her red boots making the snow fly.

"Com'on Jack!" she yelled.

He had been coursing for rabbits and digging holes in the snow, but stopped and dutifully trotted after her.

"That girl has only two speeds, stop and full speed ahead!" Sarah laughed.

We stood in silence, arms around each other watching the plane for a few moments.

"I really am glad you decided to ask me along today. A little time out of that office was what I needed ... And of course a friend to vent to ... That helps a lot."

"I'm glad ... and I'll be forgiven for telling a lie?"

Sarah looked puzzled for a second and then understood.

"Oh you mean when you came in and saw Carrie sitting there?

I nodded.

"That lie was an act of mercy and kindness!"

When I had come into the office I spotted the town gossip parked in a chair next to Sarah's desk, and she was obviously monopolizing her time. Sarah looked harried, so I made up a little fib to get Sarah out of there.

Carrie was a young widow, childless and plain, who made everyone's business her business. For people like her it was a vicious and lonely cycle. The more lonely and isolated she felt, the more she tended to bend people's ears. It was as if she thought if she could spin gossip like some tabloid she'd be popular. But of course it was just the opposite. The harder she tried the more she was avoided and the lonelier she got. So finally she'd latched on to Sarah, who as the minister's wife couldn't really shun her.

I walked into Sarah's office and was forced to acknowledge Carrie.

"Hi Carrie..."

Her face brightened. A new victim had arrived.

"Oh Bret ... I was just telling Sarah..."

I cut her off as I grabbed Sarah's parka from the wooden coat tree.

"Come on Sarah ... we're running late ... Becky's plane arrives in an hour."

Always quick on the uptake, Sarah looked at me, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes, and a trace of relief.

"Oh sorry Bret ... somehow the time just got away from me."

As I helped her on with her coat she said to Carrie.

"I'm sorry Carrie ... got to run." And we walked out, leaving a very puzzled Carrie Ducker sitting there at a loss for words. We held our laughter until we were in the truck and driving out of the church parking lot.

We made the Great Falls airport with a little time to spare and Amelia had wanted to stay outside and watch for the plane, so there we stood in that snowy field near the terminal.

Lost in thought she finally said,

"You're a very fortunate man Bret."

I looked at her wondering where this conversation was going.

"I know ... and I thank God each day for all he's given me. Sometimes I wonder why I've been so blessed ... especially after..." I couldn't go on with the lump in my throat thinking about Abigail.

Sarah hugged me.

"We really don't know why God does things ... but there is a reason."

"I know ... but sometimes it's pretty hard."

"Yes, I know." She said quietly. I didn't know if she was thinking about my situation or her own inability to have children. Abigail told me that they had desperately wanted children and it was a great sorrow to her and Evan they could not.

Smiling and changing the subject Sarah asked,

"How's Becky? Seems like forever since I've seen her."

"Join the club!" I laughed.

"I've heard her mobile vet clinic is a big success."

"That's the problem. Ever since Joe Wilson retired Becky's pretty much been it for the county. I was surprised that she took the time to go to this conference in Phoenix."

"How'd that go?"

She said she had a great time ... well as good a time she could have without me there!"

"Smart woman!" Sarah laughed.

"She probably wouldn't have gone if she hadn't been there to co-present that paper on brucellosis transmission between bison and cattle. Seems there lots of interest and still controversy. Some folks still want to reintroduce buffalo to western Montana."

"She's been a busy girl."

"No kidding ... She started that study last year when she had that fellowship at Missoula and kept at it all her final year at Georgia. The co-author is a well regarded guy named Glenn Fischer at Missoula ... so this really is a coup for Becky."

"I'm glad she's doing well. I was worried at first..."

I was surprised at that admission.

"Worried?"

Sarah looked serious.

Well you know when you came back from Georgia after Christmas ... was it only two years ago?"

"Two years next month."

"Well ... not having met Becky and all ... well ... I wondered if it might be too soon..."

"But you never said anything."

"I know ... and I thought about it ... but ... since you and Abigail were my closest friends ... and you were so happy ... and Amelia was over the moon about Becky ... I thought maybe with you being so far apart it would be a test of the relationship. If it was meant to be that is ... and I guess it was."

"Sarah, I wouldn't have minded if you'd wanted to talk about it. I was taken by surprise by how quickly it happened. One day I was grieving wondering if I would ever be happy again ... and it seemed like the next moment Becky's love wrapped itself around me and Amelia. I found out I could love and be happy again. I never expected it ... never expected the connection with Becky could reestablish itself so quickly. I didn't want to be in love again ... didn't think I could ... didn't want to ever chance feeling the pain of loss again ... but as you say ... God has a reason."

"Yes ... and when Becky came out for spring break, I could see how you loved her and more importantly how she loved you and Amelia. I have to admit I was shocked when you came to church that morning and Becky was wearing an engagement ring."

"I know and I hadn't told anyone. I guess I was worried that she'd come here and decide she didn't want to be my wife after all."

"What nonsense ... Becky loves you with her heart and soul and it appears she always has."

"So, after two years any more misgivings?" I teased.

Sarah laughed.

"Not a one. In the last few months since she moved here permanently ... has it only been since May? She's become so much of this community that I think she could take my place!"

I laughed. "That's doubtful. You can help Evan with their souls and she can keep their critters healthy!"

"I don't know Bret ... if it came to a vote I think the vet wins hands down!"

We laughed.

'So this year, the whole family is coming to the ranch for Christmas?" Sarah asked.

"That's the plan. Mom and Becky's mom have it all organized. I'm glad they've taken it on. With all the additional relatives now they probably feel like travel agents. I just know everyone's going to show up in a couple of weeks ... about the seventeenth or eighteenth of December.

How about Taylor and her Marine?

"Oh they'll be here too. They're at Camp Pendleton now and she's expecting."

"That's wonderful!"

"They certainly think so and Taylor says that the between Erin Logan and the other Marine wives, the support group is fantastic, especially since their husbands are deployed so much."

"Wasn't Brendan just in Afghanistan? He can't be going back again so soon can he?"

"Oh he's been back from there since March. They got married in April and he's getting ready for a four month deployment to Guam."

"Guam? Whatever for?"

"He's an engineer and is on the advance party as the Marines get ready to move their forces out of Okinawa to Guam. Lots of logistics to take care of in moving maybe twenty thousand Marines, support personnel and family members. He told me Guam is feeling overwhelmed and hardly has the infrastructure to support that many additional people."

"Sounds like the move wasn't thought out."

"Well ever since we gave Okinawa back to the Japanese in the seventies they've been uncomfortable with that many American troops on their soil. Plus the cost of keeping those Marines in Japan has been outrageous, even with Japanese subsidies. So off to Guam they go."

"At least no one will be shooting at him."

"Not yet ... but Brendan says Guam has been a pretty sleepy place up to now!"

Sarah laughed, her breath hanging in the air in a fog of ice crystals.

"How are your parents' doing?"

"Oh just fine. Dad's still running the bank and mom's still running the town!"

"She's an amazing woman..."

"Yes she is ... and is looking forward to spending time in California with Taylor, especially after the baby comes."

"So maybe Christmas in southern California next year?"

I looked at the clear blue sky and at the snowy landscape.

"Gee, how could I trade all this for palm trees and temperatures in the seventies? Wouldn't seem like Christmas!"

Sarah laughed and hugged me.

"What happened to that boy from Georgia who used to gripe about the cold?"

"I know but you do sorta get used to it!" I laughed. "And Becky ... well she acts like she never misses Georgia for a second."

"And why should she? She has a wonderful man and a child who both love her. And now the community has discovered it couldn't do without her. Plus she's got that Georgia accent that all the men find so charming!"

I smiled.

"I think she lays it on a bit thick sometimes ... you know channeling Scarlet O'Hara!"

"Well it works doesn't it?"

"Absolutely. She's got the whole town at her beck and call!"

"Hummmm ... I thought that was Amelia's job!"

"They do make a great pair don't they?"

"Yes, they do Bret. They have a very strong bond."

"Tell me about it ... They gang up on me routinely. So much for "a man's home is his castle..." Especially with those two around!"

"Oh you poor thing." Sarah touched my face, her eyes flashing with amusement.

"Forced to bend yourself to the will of two women who adore you!"

I laughed, and looked at the mountains.

"I'm so glad she loves it here as much as I do. I remember the day of the wedding, thinking it was such a perfect Georgia day, spring flowers in bloom and warm sunny weather ... and that morning the Weather Chanel was predicting a low of eleven in Great Falls!"

"You didn't tell her that though did you?"

"Heck no ... didn't want to scare her off!"

"Right, like you could have. I was there remember?" She looked so fantastic in that clinging gown. She was the envy of every woman in the town."

"Because she was marrying me?" I teased.

"No because she has the figure that could pull off wearing something like that! Of course marrying you ... you silly. Why do you think all those women were crying?" She laughed.

"I vaguely remember you were crying..."

"Tears of joy ... and relief knowing I wouldn't get hit up by any more of the women in Choteau and Great Falls about how they should approach you!"

"You're kidding right?"

"Not a bit. There were some very determined women."

"I had no idea."

"I know you didn't. That's what I love about you Bret!"

"So who?"

"Never mind!" she laughed

"Darn. Guess I should have been paying attention!"

"Right. Bret you are a one woman kind of man and when I met Becky for the first time on the porch of the church and saw the way she looked at you ... I pretty much knew you were a goner."

"You're right Sarah. It did happen pretty fast though..."

"Complaining?"

"No..."

"But?"

"Sometimes I feel guilty."

Her smile disappeared as she saw the serious look on my face.

"And sometimes it's hard..."

Sarah hugged me.

"Of course it's hard. That's what makes you so special Bret. You have all those memories inside you about those years you spent with Abigail and all the plans you made. You're not the kind of man to easily forget someone you loved so much and who loved you. You can't suppress those memories, but now's the time to overwrite those memories with your new life with Becky and Amelia. You know Abigail wants you to be happy and Becky loves you with all her heart and is a wonderful mother to Amelia."

"I know. But still, being at the ranch and all the places around is like being around Abigail all the time except I can't touch her or hold her. I love the ranch but ... there are so many memories there. It's a constant reminder of what I had ... we had ... with Abigail."

Sarah looked sad and tears filled her eyes.

"I know ... I see her all the time too ... I know it's not the same ... but I loved her very much and she was my best friend. Closer than any sister."

She put her head against my chest and I could tell she was crying.

Her voice was muffled in my coat as she said, "I'm sorry Bret".

I just held her as I gazed at the fast approaching airplane.