Chapter 11: Doc Thomas

Joe

Five weeks later, we were on our way to Montana. In the weeks prior to that, the telephone wires were overheating while Lori cleared the remaining issues with her parents. Our flight was on Wednesday while my parents with my kids and with Ruth would take a Friday flight. At the Missoula Airport we took a rental car to make the drive to Clearwater. It was early afternoon when we arrived, and the Honeymoon Suite at the Clearwater Inn motel was waiting for us. We showered and changed before we drove out to the Jorgensen farm, and once there we received a big welcome from everybody.

For the next four hours, Lori was in closed session with her mother. Me, I sat with her brother Eric and his obnoxious fiancé, Maxine. Once again, she began her relentless needling about Lori's past, and I could see that Eric was building up steam.

"Look, Max, can't you let it go? She's my sister, for Pete's sake, and you keep badmouthing her."

"Some sister! And now I hear she's even having another porn actress as her bridesmaid! Brides-maid? You can't imagine what I have to listen to at home! Having to go to a wedding with people like that!"

"She's my sister. She's a grown woman now, and she gets to pick her own bridesmaid. You said you want Marlene Stendal as your bridesmaid, and she just about screwed her way through the varsity team."

"Well, she never went with a man for money!" Maxine shot back.

"None of the jocks would have paid is my guess," Eric laughed.

"Eric Jorgensen! How dare you?"

The good Maxine was warming up towards a big hissy fit.

"You don't want me to talk about your good friend Marlene? Then stop trash talking my sister," Eric rumbled. The big guy was getting seriously pissed off. "If your family has problems with her, why don't you skip the wedding?"

She looked at him as if he'd slapped her. "I can't believe this! Fine! You go to your porn slut wedding! And a good thing it is that I discovered what sort of a man you are before I let you ... Never mind! It's over!"

With that, she jumped up and ran for the front door. Eric stared after her for a moment before he shook himself out of his anger.

"Jeez! I don't know what it is with her. Lori's only been kind to her, but she's got that bee in her bonnet that she's something better."

"Her parents, huh?" I asked with sympathy.

"Parents and the whole family. Buncha bigots, the lot of 'em."

"Yeah, well, it's a good thing for Lori that we'll live in Maryland. Small community like this, and she'd never live down her past."

"Amen to that. Most people are just happy that she turned her life around, but Maxine's parents feel like something better. Gentleman farmer is what her father calls himself. Meaning he can't tell one end of a horse from the other."

I had to snort at that, but then I realized that he had probably just lost his girlfriend.

"Will she snap back out of it?"

"Maxine? Sure. She just needs a little drama from time to time."

"If you say so. So, what's happening to Martin? He and Kathleen still an item?"

"Are they ever! That girl knows what she wants and it's Martin."

"She's cute."

"That she is. Martin is so lucky to be shot of that other bimbo. They're both gonna be teachers, too. So, what do you know about Lori's friend?"

"You mean Mizz Greenbaum?" I deadpanned.

"The very."

"Well, I'd say I know as much about her as anybody else with a fast internet hook-up."

"Yeah. It's kinda gutsy of Lori to have her as a bridesmaid. People will have hissy fits."

"I suppose she wants to make the point that she met some nice people too in that business."

"We'll see. I just hope she won't show up in her work clothes," Eric grinned. "Then again, how cool would that be!"

°°°

Friday started out with a family breakfast at the Jorgensens' home. Eric and I would drive to Missoula in an eight seat van borrowed from a neighbor to pick up my folks and Lori's friend Alexandra while Lori would help her mother with the preparations for Saturday's festivities. I liked the attitude displayed by Lori's family. They worked together to get things done. Some neighbors would also show up to help out with preparations.

I gave Lori a big kiss before we drove off to Missoula around noon. We had time to spare before my folks arrived, but the flight from L.A. with Alexandra Greenbaum came in earlier. We saw her emerging from the baggage claim, a tall green-eyed woman. Her black hair was cut short, but her trademark piercings were notably absent. All she wore in the way of metal adornments was a pair of Sterling silver earrings. She was dressed in a black pant suit over a black T-shirt.

"Mizz Greenbaum?" Eric offered.

She looked at us with an open smile. "You must be Lori's brother Eric," she stated. Then she looked at me grinning mischievously. "Ah, the wonderful Mr. Dresdner!"

It was impossible not to smile back. "One out of two ain't bad. Dresdner is dead-on."

Then, to my surprise I found myself in a tight hug.

"I was so happy to hear that Lori finally got you!" she squealed into my ear.

SCHWING! Her black jacket had opened when she hugged me, and there was nothing under that black T-shirt but Alexandra. Another mischievous grin appeared.

"I won't rat on you!" she whispered.

Thank God, now it was Eric's turn to be embarrassed when she gave him the same treatment. We found a coffee shop to sit down and wait for the hour it would take the flight from Chicago to make it. In that hour we learned a few things about Lori's bridesmaid. She was on the verge of leaving the adult entertainment industry. She and a couple of her friends had just finished shooting a documentary on the life of a young woman who had died a few months before, the infamous Charlee Hell. The documentary would indeed raise hell as it detailed the abuse Charlee Hell had suffered at the hands of her abusive father who was a minister of some Midwest fundamentalist church.

Now, Miss Greenbaum planned to pursue a higher education somewhere up in NorCal together with Charlee Hell's younger sister. Apparently, she had invested her earnings wisely, and she would not need student loans.

"Let's see whether I can live down my rep in the long run," she laughed.

My family arrived pretty much on time, and I sweated a little when I introduced Miss Greenbaum to my kids. Bethany was 14 now, and she had pretty good computer skills. No doubt she would run Greenbaum's name through the search engines. My father ogled her a bit too, but then he pretty much ogles every woman. My mom is okay with that since she knows it's only his eyes that stray (I hope).

Ruth was comfortable meeting Xasha. They hugged like old friends, and I realized that maybe they'd met before. That was confirmed when they recounted an evening on the town in New York.

We hit the road then, and in no time we had left Missoula behind and traveled through scenic Montana. Michael made big eyes when we sighted the first good-sized herd of horses, and then Bethany saw a foal, and we had to stop so she could take a picture. Eric promised my kids a ride later in the day causing excited squeals from Bethany's corner.

When we arrived at the farm, Lori came out to greet us all. I could not help it – when Lori and her friend Xasha hugged I had unholy images in my head and I must have blushed. After all, my kids were around and I was starting to get excited. Down, boy! Lori saw my look and grinned. Then she showed her loyalty by engaging Bethany and Mikey in a thorough interrogation over their flight (their first ever airplane travel). That gave me time to regain control over my lower body.

Of course, I had to introduce my parents and kids to the elder Jorgensens. While we had picked up my family at the airport, Li'l Martin had arrived with his Kathleen. More introductions had to be performed, and then I was presented to Sheriff Cramer, a good looking fortyish blonde with a deep tan and an infectious smile. She hugged me spontaneously and pulled me to the side.

"Thanks! We all knew that Lori is a good kid, and you allowed her to prove it."

"Believe me, it was and is my pleasure."

"I heard that you got into a shoot-out over her?"

I sighed. "Sort of. The shooting happened because the perp was afraid of a murder rap if his gun was run through the system. NYPD was quite happy to close a homicide case without doing any leg work themselves."

"I'd imagine," Sheriff Cramer nodded. "'Round here, we hardly get stuff like that. We busted a meth lab two years ago, and then we had a big embezzlement case at a local S&L."

"Nice job if you can get it," I grinned.

Cramer laughed. "You wouldn't say that when we have fresh snow here, and three cars pile up at our one and only crossing because of shitty tires. Happens every year at least once. What cases do you get?"

"Mostly small fry. Possession with intent, theft, vehicular homicide, the whole garden variety. Lori was my first real homicide case."

"Our DA would have never even charged her."

"She had a shitty lawyer, a plea bargain artist. I get of lot of his clients."