From Here to There (10 page)

 To come to Montana had involved more complications than Phillip cared to remember. It had taken him almost a week to get his business affairs in order for an absence longer and more complete than the two week honeymoon he'd planned, a honeymoon which had been conveniently planned to incorporate business with pleasure, visiting several offices he had contracts with in Europe.

 It wouldn't be easy to keep a handle on his various enterprises while working at the isolated Rocking H, but with computer, fax, telephone, and a plane when he needed to fly out for a quick meeting, he thought he could manage. Dale Cranston, his assistant, had vehemently disagreed until Phillip sharply reminded him who was boss. A month or two wouldn't be catastrophic. He hoped.

 "So, you ready to ride with us?" Amos asked, slapping Phillip on the shoulder with good humor, obviously quite pleased with himself over his scheme, whatever that scheme was.

 "Ride?" Phillip asked. He looked back at his new truck.

 "Curly and I were just saddling up the horses. We were going to take a mosey up into the hills looking for a five or six missing steers. Tally came up short last week when we brought the main herd down from the summer range. You can dump your stuff into the bunkhouse and change while we finish saddling up."

 Phillip looked down at his new jeans, expensive suede leather jacket, and Justin boots. "Change into what?"

 Curly laughed derisively, more a cackle than an expression of humor. "I could tell he wasn't no cowhand. What's going on here, Amos?"

 "We'll talk about it while we ride," Amos said. "On second thought, I think Phil and I can scout the area out alone. Curly, why don't you drive into town for the salt blocks and vaccine."

 Curly snorted with derision but seemed relieved to escape Phillip's company and headed for Amos's truck.

 "It appears Curly doesn’t think much of me," Phillip understated.

 "He'll come around as he gets to know you."

 Phillip raised his eyebrows. "I take it from his laughter this isn't quite the clothing to wear riding."

 "The brush'd be the end of that jacket, assuming it was warm enough, which I doubt. High country gets nippy in the fall. Don't feel bad though. No way you could know that. Tell you what. I got a sheepskin lined coat Rafe left afore he headed off for Abilene. I think it'd fit you fine."

 Phillip shook his head with disbelief and a growing sense of unreality. He drove his truck down to park in front of the bunkhouse and unload his gear, wondering all the time what in hell was he doing. He'd ridden horseback all of two or three times in his life and then on a riding trail with an English saddle. He had no idea what rounding up cattle entailed, but it looked like he was about to find out. He tossed his expensive but evidently useless jacket over a wooden chair and gave the sparsely furnished bunkhouse a cursory look. He'd lived in worse places but hadn't expected to do it again.

 When Phillip got back up to the barns, Amos was sitting on his horse, holding the bridle for another mount, a tall horse that looked anything but friendly. Its ears were erect as it turned to watch Phillip with about the same level of mistrust Phillip felt.

 "This here's Sunshine," Amos said with a grin, transferring the reins to Phillip's hand. "We call him that for his disposition."

 "Is that anything like the same reason for Curly's nickname?" Phillip asked with a wry smile as he shrugged into the thick jacket Amos had thrown over the saddle.

 "How'd you guess?" Amos asked, kicking his own mount lightly in the side and leading off.

#

 Seated at Nancy's round oak table, scratches and dents in its surface from seventy years of McGuire family's use, Helene might almost have forgotten a year had passed since she had visited with her friend. Might almost that is if Nancy's dominantly protruding stomach weren't a constant reminder of her approaching motherhood.

 "I wish I could have come to your wedding. I'd have loved being one of your bridesmaids or in my case I guess that would have had to be matrons!" Nancy laughed as she opened the oven door and took out two trays filled with oatmeal cookies. She tested their doneness with a fingertip before she took the spatula and began piling them on a cooling rack.

 "No airliner would have likely let you fly. Besides, you didn't miss much," Helene retorted, sipping her coffee, "and if you'd found a way and gone into labor in Boston, Emile would never have forgiven either of us. You know he's planning on this baby being a born and bred Montanan."

 Nancy grinned, her good natured face not particularly pretty but infinitely appealing in an elfish sort of way. Short red hair and blue eyes gave her a gamine look, something Nancy's puckish sense of humor reinforced. "He sure is acting like a mother hen with one chick--babying me like I've got a disease instead of a bun in the oven." She shook her head.  "If it wasn't for Mom having six of us with nary a slip, he'd be worrying even me."

 "Encouraging genetic data for a rancher."

 Nancy wrinkled her nose. "You'd think so, but you know how men are."

 "I only wish."

 "You must know at least one of them pretty well."

 "Uhmm... That's the thing I wanted to see you for, to explain in person. The marriage didn't work out."

 Nancy's eyes widened as she turned to stare at Helene. "How could it not work out that fast?"

 "I am getting an annulment."

 Nancy sat down, plopping heavily into a chair. "I wondered why you were out here but never imagined... Isn't there a waiting period or something for a divorce?"

 "No need for a divorce under the circumstances."

 Nancy frowned. "Well, for heaven's sake, why? Does he prefer guys? Did he beat you? Is there a mistress he refuses to give up? Come on, tell girlfriend what happened?"

 Helene told her the gist of it finding Nancy as shocked as anybody else had been. There wasn’t any good way to make sense of it when she didn’t understand it still herself. She knew it didn’t show her in a good light, but she deserved that.

 "Lordy. I can't believe any of this. What did your mom and pop say?"

 "We’re a modern family,” she said with a cynical smile. They are busy getting their own divorce."

 "You are kidding."

 Helene sighed. “You know everybody isn’t like your folks or you and Emile. I think my father only waited to assure himself my mother didn't fall apart at the wedding. Actually it shouldn't have been a surprise to mother or me, except the way she carried on; I guess it was to her."

 "Why are they divorcing or is that nosy?"

 Helene shrugged. "Father has a new friend. Sharron, I think her name is. Maybe that's why, maybe not. My parents haven't loved each other for years."

 "This is unbelievable."

 "Seriously, don’t you pay attention to what’s going on out there? This is all the American way. Marry. Divorce and remarry. I just rushed the process with my own situation." With her fingertip, she traced a design on the table. "In just the two weeks I've been out here, I've received three phone calls from Mother and two from Father, trying to get me to talk to the other one."

 "About not getting a divorce?"

 Helene laughed humorlessly. "About who gets what in the property settlement. Their biggest problem is in dividing the spoils. It would be funny if they had to stay together because they couldn't decide who got the house."

 "Oh Lordy."

 "I shouldn’t have hit you with all this. It is kind of depressing when so much is going well with you.”

“It’s not like nobody gets divorces in my family—just not many.”

“My mother should have done it twenty years ago. She’s not been happy for at least that long."

 Nancy shook her head. "Well then, you'd think she'd be glad you escaped the same fate."

 "It's like the African women I read about recently who were circumcised by their mothers when they were five years old--just as their mothers had been circumcised by their mothers. It was all done so the women couldn't enjoy sex and wouldn't disgrace their families."

 "Ugh." Nancy wrinkled her nose with disgust as she digested that. "Where on earth do you read stuff like that?"

 Helene smiled. "Editorial page, I think."

 "My goodness. Good thing we stopped taking a paper. Not that I think our local would run that kind of story anyway." She protectively ran her hand over her belly.

 Helene looked down at her own hand, noting the short, unpolished broken off nails. Not much like they'd been a month earlier. "It's the same thing as parents who beat their child when they've been beaten. Once they understand the pain and suffering, why perpetrate it onto their child? Wouldn't you think we'd want to pass on only the best to our offspring?"

 "You're not expecting me to have the answer, I hope," Nancy shot back.

 "I don't think anyone has the answer to those questions. Depressing subject anyway. Let's talk instead about your presents." She pushed forward two gift wrapped boxes.

 Nancy started to protest but grinned instead. "I never could resist presents. What did you get me?"

 Helene handed her one box. "What do you think, dopey?" She watched with a smile as Nancy tore open the wrappings of the first box. Inside she pulled out four dinosaur patterned sleepers, a dinosaur rattle, and a white baby blanket.

 "I'll buy the fun outfits when you make up your mind if you're having a boy or girl. I can hardly wait. My friend, Michelle, and I nearly went crazy in the store when we saw what cute clothes they have for babies these days."

 Nancy held up the soft sleepers. "Emile and I drool... Well, at least I do. He's playing it cool. You know how men are. We just didn’t want to know the sex. We’ll be happy either way" She stopped and grinned. "Come on back and see the way we've fixed up the nursery."

 "I want to, but first open the other box."

 Nancy tore into the wrappings and drew out a filmy turquoise negligee. Wow!" She grinned. "Emile is definitely going to approve of this."

 "I wanted something special for you--for afterward."

 "Well, this is it," Nancy said with a laugh. She ran her hand under the sheer fabric. "I love it. Thank you. I can hardly wait until I can fit into it."

 "My pleasure. When I went shopping, I had a hard time resisting the urge to buy one of everything for myself." Except of course, she would be the only one to see anything she bought, which seemed to make the purchases unnecessary extravagances.

 Nancy giggled. "So, you bought it for me. I wondered for a minute if this was a discard from one of your showers."

 Helene laughed. "No, although that's not a bad idea. I have some pretty outrageous things, or at least I did until I sent it all back to the givers."

 "Want a cup of herbal tea? It's about all I'm allowed these days."

 Helene nodded and watched as Nancy struggled to her feet. Heading for the cupboard, she kept shaking her head. "You've always been such a composed, together sort of person. I thought you knew exactly what you wanted." Taking a steaming tea kettle in one hand, she grabbed a box of tea bags and snared two cups over her little finger.

 "Oh, I'm together all right," Helene said with a derisive snort. "Altogether a mess!"

 "Peach okay?" When Helene nodded, Nancy said, "A mess? How do you figure that? College degree, career, cool wardrobe. I figured the husband and 1.7 kids were next on the schedule." She set the cups and box of tea on the table.