Chapter 1

Hi, I'm Jim Ryan. I work for an energy company that my grandparents started more than forty years ago. He passed away a few years back. Gram now holds the company in her hands. She is grooming me to take over when I have learned enough and she feels I am capable. She has had me starting at the bottom. I've been in sales, procurement, personnel and transportation. For the last month I have been troubleshooting. Next month I am going to be working with equipment. That scares me a little. Gram says when I learn the inner workings of the company, it is then time to learn how to hire managers to oversee the actual work.

What worries me is the selecting of the perfect person for a particular job. Case in point: I've not been too successful in the women I have been interested in. Pat, the first woman I was engaged to, one I felt I could spend my life with, turned out to be a gold digger. Then, while attending college, I found Kate. She now works for a small company here in town as a finance officer. She is smart and reasonably attractive. I thought when I married her that she would be the ideal mate in helping me run the company that was coming to me.

I've been reticent in telling Kate what my job is, the reverse of how I handled Pat, with whom I had been very open. I also have neglected to lay out how much time I've had to give to the company. This has led to a contentious relationship.

The fight this time was a doozy! I called Kate about 3 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon and told her I had made dinner reservations for us and a guest I very much wanted her to meet. I also said I had to go out of town on business Friday morning, but would be back to get ready for our vacation trip to the mountains.

"No! I am not going to dinner with you and I definitely am not going to the mountains! I'm going to the Red Lion for drinks after work and I'll just stay for dinner and dancing. I'm sure I can find someone to entertain me better than some stuffy old guest of yours."

"But Kate, remember you made the vacation reservations last year and you agreed that we would not go to the beach again until I had a chance to show you the mountains. I have booked us into a nice log cabin in West Virginia near my home town. You'll love it. Gram is my only living relative and she wants to meet you. She still can't understand why I haven't brought you to see her. We've been married for two years, and I can't make anymore excuses about why you haven't met her."

Kate and I were having some problems in our marriage. A lot of it was my fault as I was working long hours and was out of town on business often due to my job as troubleshooter. The energy company had interests all over the United States. It seemed that Kate and I never talked anymore without fighting. I was fast getting fed up with her being, in my mind, so unreasonable. I hadn't been totally open about my life and prospects, but I felt justified in keeping a few facts from her. She did not know what my grandmother did or how I was tied in with her.

My wife, for some reason, had a real dislike for anything she thought was connected to, or considered "hillbilly." She stereotyped the people, the music, and even their cuisine from the different parts of the country that she felt were hillbilly. This was one of the reasons I never pushed having Kate and Gram meet. Gram and I met and talked all of the time, but I always did this during working hours.

Anyway, this unleashed a firestorm from Kate. She told me that no way was she going to spend time with a pipe smoking, tobacco spitting old lady named Maudie, sitting in a rocking chair on some dilapidated old porch, even if she was my grandmother. Kate had always denigrated the name "Maudie," and I never knew why.

This pulled my chain as this was the most unlikely description of my grandmother you could imagine. My grandfather, as a young man, was a wheeler-dealer and astute enough to grab up thousands of acres of land in West Virginia. When the coal barons began prowling through the hills, he signed his first lease, took his money and went to Philly a-courting.

Gram, the only daughter of a dry goods store owner, fell in love when Gramp first came to the city. She was twenty-five and pretty much resigned to a life of spinsterhood. Her father wanted a free manager to manage his store and various other endeavors. All of her friends were married before they were twenty so she felt life had passed her by and she would never marry.

The story goes that Gramp could be a joker, especially when he was in unfamiliar situations. After buying a suit off the rack, Gram asked him where he was going in his new duds. "Well, I'm in town a-courtin'. Do you know of any likely lookin' gals that want to get hitched up? I'm from the hills, and I own a bit of land, I'm honest, and anyone who knows me would say my prospects are pretty good."

Gram, whose day with her father hadn't gone well, answered with a gleam in her eye. "I'm twenty-five, I'm honest, and I would like to own a bit of land. If you want to see what you would be getting if you married me, just follow me." Gramp followed her into the office and watched as Gram took off her work smock, unbuttoned her dress far enough so she could pull her chemise up and bared her breasts. "If you like what you see, we'll be married in two weeks. If you don't like it, get out and never set foot in the store again." Then Gram blushed red and near tears of shame at what she had just done, proceeded to cover herself.

Gramp stood there with his mouth open, turning red himself. Two weeks later Gramp made the trip back to the hills with his bride at his side. He and Gram lived and loved each other and never stopped courting as long as they were together.

There is more of my family history. I'll tell you that my dad, Ted, was born less than ten months after Gramp returned to the hills. He was the only child to bless Gram and Gramp. Dad married my Mom when he was twenty and Mom was eighteen. Mom came to the hills to teach school in our village, and met my father. They were married before her first year as a teacher was completed. Before her third year was out, tragedy struck. There were seven adults and eleven little ones swept away in a flash flood. There would have been more children dead if my Mom and Dad hadn't died saving the ones they could before they were swept away themselves. This left me, Jim, an orphan before I was a year old.

Gram and Gramp raised me and saw to my education, with Gramp passing away the year I entered college. The company I worked for was wholly owned now by Gram and privately held in her hands. As her only living relative, I was being groomed to take over in a few years. Gram, far from the stereotype that Kate had of residents of the West Virginia hills, was a beautiful, elegant and intelligent lady. She had what people would describe as "presence." You know, when you enter a crowded room full of people, your eyes just naturally are drawn to certain ones that stand out. That is "presence" and Gram had a full measure of it.

In the second year of college I met Pat and fell in love. I was open about my future, maybe bragging some. The sex was good and she was a beauty. I asked her to marry me. She agreed. I was happy until I overheard her and her roommates laughing about how she had snagged a good one. She told them that what was between her legs was what caught me. Who needed love if the sex was good and "dumb Jim" was going to have all of that money. I had been made a fool of, but not for long. After college my attention centered on Kate, whom I ran into at a reunion. She had been behind me in college and had been in a few of my classes. She was lighthearted and upbeat most of the time. Kate, tall and statuesque, had long auburn hair. Also she was proportioned to give any red-blooded male night dreams. You just naturally were drawn to her. I could have kissed the moon when Kate agreed to a date with me, I was that high off the ground. After a period of a few months, we started dating each other exclusively.

The first year that Kate and I were married, we were as blissful as could be. We had a simple ceremony in front of a justice, with a few friends. Kate has claimed to have no family, and Gram wasn't present as she was at an energy conference in Washington. Gram sent me the title to a fairly large house for a wedding present. She thought I should tell everyone I was renting, because she knew about my former fiancée. I couldn't have been happier.

We had some trouble that started at a party that was thrown when I got my first promotion at work. Some of my co-workers had grown up with me. Gram always made sure that any of my friends with promise would have a good education and offers of jobs after school. This party where things started going downhill had a theme, a Sadie Hawkins dance. Everyone came dressed as hillbillies and brought costumes for Kate and me. We were supposed to dress as Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae.

Kate would not participate at all and soon left the dance. She did say she was sorry when I got home, but the whole thing was a downer for me. I tried not to resent her actions and said I forgave her, but I suppose I didn't really. She had spoiled what should have been a happy time for me.

I pressed her for an explanation for what I considered an unreasonable hang-up. She would not discuss it at all. After several arguments I avoided the subject altogether. Bigotry and racism were things not in my make up. Kate seemed to have more than a smidgen of both. I felt if I confronted her with my feelings, I might soon be without a wife, so I let it pass. My friends at work resented her non-participation at the party, and delighted in calling me Li'l Abner where she could hear them. Needless to say, it made for strained relations, and I soon learned to avoid situations where Kate and my friends would come together.

I did not see Kate that Thursday night until much later. My guest for dinner was my grandmother. Gram expressed disappointment that Kate wasn't to dine with us. I had now reached the point where I didn't think my marriage would or could continue. I told Gram all about my home life when asked.

I confessed that I still loved Kate dearly. I was in a quandary as to how to repair the rift in our marriage. As far as I knew Kate had been a faithful wife, and I had been faithful to her. "Gram, would you come home with me, stay over and talk to Kate in the morning? You need to meet her. If I can't bring her to you, you will have to come to her. In many ways she seems a lot like you. That is what attracted me to her. She is smart and attractive much like you and carries herself well. I just can't understand this hate she has for the mountains and the people who live there." I even told Gram what Kate imagined she (Gram) was like.

"Jim, how much do you know about your wife?"

"Not much really. I know that she is an orphan like me, adopted out when she was twelve and had a pretty lonely upbringing with her adoptive parents being quite elderly. They paid for her schooling and she really worked hard to be a credit to them. Kate blossomed in college and I guess that's what made me notice her. Her adoptive mother now lives in a nursing home. She has Alzheimer's and her father has passed away. There is not much in their estate but Kate manages it. She sees that her mother has what she needs to be comfortable."

"Jim, take me home now and we'll have coffee. I probably know more about your wife than you do. When you were talking about getting married, I had Kate checked out. I think I can explain what some of Kate's problems are. As long as you two were doing okay and happy, I wasn't going to interfere. Maybe I should have interfered sooner. I guess it is time to tell you what I know."

Kate wasn't home when Gram and I got there. I took her bags up to one of the guest bedrooms. I came down and made coffee. While it was brewing she sat back in a recliner in the living room. I was shocked at how much she was showing her age. "Gram, I never asked, but how old are you?"

"Well, Jim, I'll be sixty-eight in a couple of months. I'll admit I am getting tired of running this business. If I didn't have you to take over before I'm seventy, I would sell out and retire now. That is why I have you in such intensive training programs. Maybe it hasn't been such a smart move. After talking to you tonight, it looks as if it has caused a lot of your problems. I hadn't intended this to happen and I do want you to be happy.

"As I told you, I had someone run a check on Kate before you married. Catherine O'Toole is not the name Kate was born with. The person I had check, said her name was Hattie Mae Gruber before she had it legally changed the day she came of age. You have heard Jeff Foxworthy make jokes about red-necks. I was told that could be a description of her parents. They are still alive. Her father's name is Billy Bob Gruber and her mother's name is Daisy Mae. She has two brothers and two sisters, she being the youngest of the family. She often was made to stay with an old lady named Maudie. Whether she is a relative or not, I don't know.

"Kate was a problem child, running away from home as she got older. Child services finally stepped in, made her a ward of the state and had her put up for adoption. So you see she grew up in a cracker family with all of the typical connotations. When she imagined what I was like up in the mountains, she was just describing her own family who are still living. What a shock it must have been to find out you had someone named Maude for a grandmother."

I guess both Kate and I had kept secrets from each other. I had never told Kate about the future that was planned for me. Theoretically I was worth millions, or would be when Gram retired and I took over. I wanted Kate to love me for myself, not for money. I just never found the way to tell her what my future held. Finding out about Kate's family seemed to answer some questions about her hang-ups on hillbillies.

With the decision to level with Kate and what I had learned about her, I felt we would somehow work things out and become the loving couple we were when we first married. Gram went up to bed and I curled up on the couch to wait for Kate to come home.

The phone woke me up. I glanced at my watch. It was after midnight and I heard, "Jim, this is Alice. I'm at the Red Lion with Kate. Can you come and get her? She is passed out in the ladies room. The management was going to dump her out on the street because she has caused some problems here. I told them I would take care of her until someone came for her. Please hurry!"

Alice, I knew, is a friend of Kate's from work. She hung up before I could question her. I left as soon as I got my jacket on. It was only a fifteen minute drive to the Red Lion. I was puzzled as Kate never drank enough to lose her senses. It seemed so out of character. Maybe she was sick.

The Red Lion is quite a large establishment, with live music Thursday night through the weekend. It catered to a loud, fun-loving clientele. It had a decent restaurant, but its accent was the bar, having tables near the small stage and booths along one wall in the back.

I was able to park near the front door and was directed to the ladies room. After informing the hostess what I was there for, she escorted me toward the restroom at a fast walk. She said over her shoulder that she didn't want that woman in here again. The Red Lion would not stand for the disturbances that had happened here tonight. I was totally mystified as to what she was talking about.

Alice was standing by the door when we got there. The hostess said again that Kate was never to come in again and left. Alice said to me, "Good, you have your jacket. Let me have it. Hold her bag while I see if I can get her."

I could hear Alice trying to get Kate to stand, finally shouting through the door for me to come in and help. Pushing the door open, Alice was trying to put my jacket on Kate, who was totally passed out. The first thing I noticed was that Kate was half-naked and her dress was torn. From her undressed state I could see that she didn't have a bra on. She definitely needed my jacket! "What happened?" I said to Alice.

"Let's get her out of here and I'll tell you later." I finally got Kate covered up. I also noticed that she had a nosebleed and had an eye that was fast closing up. She was going to have a beautiful shiner. Immediately I was concerned.

"Is she all right? Does she need a doctor?"

"No, she is just drunk. She was really putting them down tonight. Too bad she didn't pass out earlier. Or maybe not. She might have had more than a black eye to worry about."

I grabbed some wet paper towels and soaked her head for a few minutes. The cold roused her enough so she could stay on her feet with Alice and I both holding her. Being as inconspicuous as possible we finally made it to the car. I asked Alice if she had a ride home. She didn't as she had come with Kate. I asked her if she was able to follow me home with Kate's car. She said she would.

Wouldn't you know, Kate got sick and barfed all over my car as soon as we started moving. This wife of mine sure had some explaining to do! Alice helped me get Kate out of the car and up the stairs into our bedroom. Gram heard the commotion and stuck her head out of her room. I just said Kate had got sick and her friend brought her home. I didn't clean Kate up at all, I just dumped her in bed. I did make sure she was breathing okay before I drove Alice home in Kate's car.

I asked for and got a rundown on what Kate's evening was like. Kate and Alice and two of their friends went to dinner at the Red Lion. They were all at the bar waiting to be seated, when John and Tim from work stopped by. Drinks were bought and refills were at hand. More drinks were consumed at dinner. John, whom Alice thinks is a sleazeball, started to do some heavy flirting with Kate. She knows he is married, but for some reason tonight she seemed more receptive to his advances.

After dinner when John suggested that they all move to a booth, Alice said no. John was not with his wife and Kate wasn't with her husband. Alice said it wouldn't look right. Kate told Alice to mind her own business, if she wanted to sit in a booth with a friend, she would. Tim left shortly after that, and the two others left an hour later. Alice loved to dance and was on the floor most of the night with different partners. As the evening progressed Kate was getting bombed and too drunk to dance. John and Kate continued necking and petting. Alice saw Kate put her panties in her bag and knew what was going to happen if things continued. Alice said she went and looked up John's phone number and called his wife.

"When John's wife answered, I just told her that John had some bimbo he was making out with in the Red Lion. Fifteen minutes later, John's wife showed up swinging. She pulled John out of the booth and clobbered him with her handbag. Then she reached in the booth where Kate was cowering in the corner. Grabbing Kate by her dress she pulled her out and socked her in the face. Kate, being pretty drunk, flopped on the floor. John's wife didn't let go, she tried to kick Kate and rip her dress off.

"By this time there were Red Lion people all over, trying to contain the fight. I asked them to put Kate in the ladies room until I could get someone to come for her. That is when I called you. Did you guys have a fight or something? I'm not Kate's confidant or anything, but she was really mad at you. It seemed like she had given up on you and didn't care what happened to her. You know if I hadn't stepped in, Kate probably would have been screwed tonight--and not by you either. As it is, she got pretty well fingered up."

"Thank you for helping, Alice. I guess I have been insensitive to Kate lately. But she has been pretty damned unreasonable herself. Thank God things stopped when they did. I don't know if I could handle it if that sleazeball had got any further."

I dropped Alice at her apartment and headed home. I knew that I wouldn't be able to talk to Kate before I left in the morning. Damn, why did I have to go. Well, I would smooth things over when I got back. Maybe I wouldn't insist on us going to the mountains after all.

Gram apparently was still sleeping. I decided since the night was most gone, I'd just clean Kate up a little and leave early. I went up to our bedroom and found Kate still out of it. Stripping the torn dress off, I could see where that sleazeball had marked Kate. She had hickeys all over her neck and breasts. Her eye had already turned black from his wife's punch. She also had a huge red mark on her thigh. John's wife must have landed at least one good kick.

Kate didn't have any panties on. Alice had told me Kate had taken them off. It still made me mad. My resolve to be forgiving was gone when I saw how red and puffy her privates were.

I left Kate a note on the night table for her to find when she woke up. I was still pretty pissed, so didn't show her much kindness.

Kate, I borrowed your car. You puked in mine on the way home last night. When you get up, look in the mirror. You had better put some ice on your eye, as it is still swollen. Your privates looked well used when I undressed you. Your panties are in your handbag. I never found your bra. Needless to say I am pretty upset. Oh yes, you may not believe it right now, but you have a friend that really took good care of you. I wish I didn't have to leave, but we will talk when I get home tonight. Love, Jim

I hoped the note didn't drive Kate away from me. The more I thought about it, I wished I had just said I would see her tonight and not put in the crack about her physical condition. Oh well, I didn't see much I could show her respect for.

Gram met me at the door when I arrived home. "You better talk to your wife, and I mean now! She may have deserved it, but that was a pretty nasty note you left. Why didn't you tell her I was here? If you love that woman, you better start thinking of her instead of yourself all of the time."

I looked at Gram. She looked disgusted with me. "Where is she?" Gram pointed upstairs.

I went along up. I guess somehow Kate and Gram had bonded and that left me as the bad guy. I opened the door to our bedroom, finding Kate sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me. Kate had on slacks and a turtleneck sweater. Except for the black eye which was disguised somewhat with makeup, Kate appeared quite normal. I was speechless. I figured I would find my wife in tears begging for my forgiveness, instead of appearing defiant.

"Kate, you're looking better than you did this morning." I let the statement hang there.

After a few seconds of silence, Kate, contrite now, burst out, "Jim, I've been stupid, really stupid! Yesterday when you told me you had vacation plans for the mountains, I lost it. I'll admit now that I was being unreasonable and I think that can be explained. However, last night I didn't care what happened and it looks as if things have happened that I can't take back.

"God, I wanted to die this morning when I woke up. I was hung over and then I read your note. I threw up before I got to the bathroom and then I looked in the mirror and barfed again. You saw me and you know what a mess I am. I so regret being unfaithful. Believe it or not our marriage vows mean a lot to me. Why I fight with you and put myself in a position to possibly lose you, I'll never know. I would like for you to forgive me, but I will not beg. I've lost respect for myself and I don't even know what I did last night. Not knowing--that hurts me almost as much as I have hurt you. I do love you, please believe that."

We kept our distance and looked at each other. I guess I was almost ready to forgive her, but not yet. I could make it easier for her to accept by having her call Alice. I was dying to find out about her and Gram. "I guess you finally met my grandmother."

"Of course. I wish my grandmother was like her." Kate looked shocked to have admitted she had a grandmother, maybe hoping I wouldn't pick up on it. I let it slide for now.

"She scared me out of my wits. I was in the bathroom trying to pull myself together, when I smelled coffee. The door was open. I turned and here was this elegant lady standing there holding a cup of coffee.

"She said, 'Would you like your coffee now or after you put on your face? Actually you better have coffee, because it's going to take awhile to fix your face. Don't look so shocked. I came in earlier to see what you looked like. You definitely are a mess and it's going to take some major work to make you presentable before my grandson gets home.'

"She is a dear! To think I have lost two years in knowing her. All because of my stubbornness. I can't understand why you didn't make me meet her."

"Kate! Come on! You have been so obtuse when I have mentioned my grandmother. Lately I have had to avoid talking about her altogether. Yesterday I was going to take you to dinner and surprise you. I knew you would like her when you did meet. I'm sorry you aren't at your best, but don't lay the blame on me."

"Oh, I've made such a damned mess of my life. I could kill myself. I can't go back to work after messing around with John. I went and told my best friend Alice off. She'll never speak to me again. I've been unfaithful to my husband. To top it all off, I've ridiculed your grandmother to you and she is such a dear. This all in twenty-four hours."

"You might want to include the fact that you can never go to your favorite club again either. You've been banned." I said this last with a smile, trying to ease her pain a little. "Why don't you go give Alice a call? I'm sure she'll talk to you. She will fill in what you can't recall about last night. Remember I said in that note that you had a friend who took care of you. Also don't forget how that note was signed. Now go call Alice."

I went downstairs to Gram who was getting a meal on the table. "I didn't hear you screaming at her."

"No, I didn't, I love her too much. She is calling her friend now to find out what she did last night. Myself, I know how far she strayed. She has a friend that saved her from doing some things that I couldn't live with. Maybe with you here we can get our life straightened out. I realized today that I should have trusted her more. I just was never open about a lot of things. I was open with one girl I thought the world of, until I found out she was out to take me. I realize now that Kate isn't like that."

"No, she isn't like that. This morning while I was getting her to eat a slice of toast, I told her I was rich. I offered her twenty-five thousand dollars to get a divorce. She turned me down. She said she had messed up but still loved you. She hoped you would forgive her, but if you didn't, she would go on with her life much wiser. If she ever found someone to love her again she wouldn't make the same mistake, but hoped it wouldn't come to that. By the time I raised the amount to a half million and was still turned down, I believed her.

"I have found out a lot about your wife today. I'm impressed with her intelligence. She is basically taking care of her ill adoptive mother. She has worked her way up in her job, rising to assistant financial officer. She would have been chief in a couple of years if she hadn't screwed up last night. Now she says she would be too humiliated to return to her job. She knows the company she works for wouldn't trust the books to a person that goes out, gets drunk and runs around on their husband. As I say, she is smart enough to realize that.

"I admitted to her that I know a little about her birth family. Kate is shocked that someone knows of her past. I think some of what is bothering her is guilt. Escaping the 'red-neck' tag and feeling that she has abandoned her family, she wonders if she has done the right thing in disowning them. How she is going to resolve that, I don't know."

I could hear Kate coming down the stairs. "Gram, I know how much you are interested in our lives. Thank God you were here to see Kate today. I am especially glad you were because it has kept me from venting my feelings about Kate's actions last night. There was a short time I felt like throwing her out. I'm glad I didn't and it's all because you were here. I do think though, it is something we have to settle ourselves."

I didn't want to tell Gram to leave. I didn't have to.

"Kate, I'm going upstairs and lie down for awhile. Jim and you must have a lot to say to each other. I'll get a slice of toast and a cup of tea later." Gram walked over and gave Kate a brief hug before going upstairs.

Kate turned to me saying, "She's so wonderful. I love her already." Then she came and put her arms around me. "I have hurt you terribly, haven't I?"

"Yes you have. I can't understand why you set out last night to let someone else play with you. Have I treated you that poorly?"

"How you treat me is a matter of perception. If you had asked me that yesterday, I would have said I was being treated badly. Today--well after last night, I think I'm being treated very reasonably. You haven't thrown me out. You are still talking to me without calling names, like tease or slut or even whore, which I guess you have a right to do. I'm sure those people who saw me at the Red Lion think that's what I am.