Montana Morning (36 page)

Addy gathered
every ounce of strength she had and stood up.  She walked over to him and
putting her arms around him, spoke through her tears.  “God knows how much
we love Jack, how badly we need him, I can’t believe he would take him from us.
Our God is a loving God; he will do what is right for us and for Jack.” 
She knelt down beside her husband once again, with Scotty at her side. 

“Addy,” Dr.
Rodgers turned from Jack and took her by the shoulders.  He wanted to look
her in the eye, make sure she understood what he was saying to her. “Addy, he
was just grazed.  It’s a scalp wound.  He should come to any second
now.  It’s really going to be all right. Do you understand?”

 Addy nodded
and took Jacks hand in hers, “Cowboy, I love you more than life; I’ve loved you
so long I can’t remember when . . .”

“Let’s all step
back and give them a bit of room,” Will said, as he took hold of Scotty and sat
down with him in the front pew.  “Son, he’s going to be okay! You heard
the doctor.”

“Why . . . why did
that man shoot my Grandpa?  Why did God let that happen?  I don’t
understand, Grandpa Will.  I just don’t understand,” Scotty stammered and
broke into tears.

Mark joined them
in the pew.  “Scotty, Mr. Mueller is a very sick man, with a bunch of very
big problems.  Like a lot of folks, he can’t seem to take responsibility
for his own mistakes so he blames them on others and ends up with a heap of
hate in his heart.  You don’t have to worry about him anymore.  He’s
gone now.  Will, I told the others to go on out to the grange hall.” He
looked over at Jack who was beginning to stir.  “I don’t know if Addy and
Jack will get there or not, but I thought it best.”

“Good plan,
Parson.” Will said, as he watched Jack open his eyes.  “As soon as we make
sure Jack is operating on all eight cylinders, we’ll join them.”

Jack heard Addy’s
words of love, as he lie cradled in her arms.  He opened his eyes and saw
her smiling through her tears.  “You have the most beautiful green eyes,”
he whispered.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay . . .
but I learned I can’t live without you.  Honestly, Cowboy, my heart won’t
beat and I can’t breathe without you,” she said as she kissed his cheek.

“I’m fine. Just
have the grand champion of all headaches,” he said, as he tried to sit up.

“Slowly,” Dr.
Rodgers warned.  “I have something I can give you for the headache, now
that you’re with us once more,” he said, and his eyes moved to Scotty. 
“Feel up to talking to your grandson?  I think he’s a bit worse for the
wear.”

“Sure, Doc.” Jack
said, as he made his way into a standing position. “Where’s Mueller? Did he
hurt anyone?”

“Just you. 
Good thing for all of us, you have a hard head,” Doc said, as he turned to
Addy.  “Are you going to be all right now?”  She nodded and watched
Jack talking to Scotty.  “Gave us all quite a scare, didn’t he?”

“Oh, Doc,” Addy sobbed,
as he reached out to her.  He held her and let her cry until she was
spent.

“I’ll take you and
Jack to the hospital.  I can clean his wound there and give him a dose of
pain medicine for his headache, and then you can both get cleaned up. 
Your family will be waiting for you at Red and Maggie’s.”

***

Scotty was sitting
wrapped in Jack’s arms.  “Scotty, I’m fine now, I really am,” he assured
his grandson. 

“Addy said God was
a loving God, that he would do what was right.  Why did he let that man hurt
you?”

“Son, I don’t know
and I don’t think anyone else does either.  I do know this,
 sometimes when things are going along real smooth, we sort of forget how
precious our life is, how much we love the folks around us, and when something
like this happens, well, it sure does remind us how much we care, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, it sure
does.” Scotty glanced over at Addy.  “When you were laying there and we
didn’t know how bad you were hurt or even . . . well, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.”

“Addy, still loved
me, she took care of me, even when she was so scared.”

“Didn’t you know
she would?” Jack asked, as he studied Addy from across the church.

“I guess so, but I
guess I kind of wondered if she loved me just because she loved you.”

“Truth be told,
Son, she loved you first.  I think I rode in on YOUR coattails.” Jack
grinned.

“Are you really
okay?” Scotty clearly needed a lot of reassurance.

“Not only am I
okay, but we need to get cleaned up and out to the grange.  We have a
reception to attend and I intend to dance with the bride.  How about you?”

Scotty grinned up
at his grandpa.  Jack was about the toughest man alive, he was certain.
Scotty wanted to grow up to be just like him.

***

Five small
stitches, a small amount of medication and they were on their way to Maggie’s.

“Jack, we should
skip the reception,” Addy said, as they pulled into the driveway. “Everyone
would understand.”

Jack shut off the
motor and turned to face his wife.  “Addy, I’m fine.  The headache is
almost gone.  Now, if we could just get some of the color back in your
cheeks, we’d be okay.  I’m taking you to that reception and I’m dancing
the first dance with my bride.  Okay?”

“Jack, I still ”
she started to plea.

“Woman,” Jack
teased as he growled at her.  “Am I or am I not the head of our
household?”

“Of course, you
are.”

“Then do as I
say!” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her nose. “Addy Kilbourne, I love
you.  I’m not going to let anyone or anything ruin this day, still the
best day of my life.”

 She smiled
and pressed her lips to his.  She kissed him slowly, deliberately, and
passionately.

“Still feel strong
enough to go dancing?” she teased.

“Stronger than
ever.” He grinned down at her.  “I’ve been meaning to ask you
something.  When I kiss you, and you melt like you do, how do you do
that?  I can actually feel you melting, like you become a part of me.”

“I don’t know. It
just happens,” she said laughing.  “It must be the way you kiss me; never
happened before you.”

“Never?”

“No . . . And it
puts me at a terrible disadvantage,” she admitted, as she laid her head on his
chest. 

“Remind me to
continue this conversation later, right now we’d better change into some
different clothes and get to the reception before everyone else goes home.”

Addy looked at her
watch.  It had only been an hour since they had exchanged vows. 
“This is one wedding, no one in town is apt to forget,” she laughed, as they
walked up the drive.

“As long as we
remember, that’s all that counts.”

  The entire
family breathed a collective sigh of relief as they watched them walking up the
sidewalk.

“Thought maybe we
should change into something a little less bloody,” Jack said, truly looking at
Addy’s dress for the first time.

“I really liked
that dress.  Can you buy another one like it?”

“Anything you
say!” Addy smiled up at him.

“Now there’s a
woman who knows how that love, honor and obey stuff is really supposed to
work,” Red teased. The tension was broken and soon they were on their way.

Addy looked down
at the turquoise sweater and jeans she was wearing.  “Not exactly dressed
for the occasion,” she said to Jack as they parked in front of the hall.

“Do you want to
know a secret? If I could have chosen anything in the world, I’d have probably
chosen exactly what you have on,” Jack confessed.  “It’s what you were
wearing the first day I met you;  now if I could have just convinced you
to wear those snow boots,” he chuckled.

“Not a chance,
Mister!” she said as she looked him over once more.  “Are you sure?”

“Good grief,” Jack
snarled at her, “I married a worry wart.”

As they stepped
into the hall a hush fell, and then everyone clapped and cheered.

“About time you
showed up,” Jeff Baker said and he whisked Addy aside.  “Is he going to be
okay?”

“He’s going to be
just fine.  We all are.  Thank you for your prayers.”

“How did you
know?” Jeff gave her a puzzled look.

“We felt the
prayers,” Addy told him. She looked around and found Jack talking with Andy.

 “I think
it’s time to cut the cake, husband of mine,” she whispered in Jack’s ear.

“Married less than
half a day, and she’s already giving orders.” Jack teased, as he excused
himself and they went to the table in the front of the room.  They cut the
cake and the cameras flashed.  Jack got cake frosting in her hair and she
got it in his beard.

When they poured
the wine, Andy made the toast.  “I give you Mr. and Mrs. Jackson
Kilbourne. A man who loves his wife enough to lay down his life for her; 
a woman who loves her husband enough to live her life for him.  May God
bless you both and fill your lives with his grace for years and years to come.”
A cheer rose from the crowd as they toasted one another and their family and
friends.

“The first dance
of the evening, ladies and gentlemen,” Will announced.

 Jack took
Addy’s hand and led her to the center of the floor.  As the music started,
she stepped into his arms and they began to move slowly to the rhythm. 

“Happy?” Jack
whispered, as they waltzed around the floor.

“Um hum,” Addy
answered and they danced, oblivious to the world around them.

Much later when
she was dancing with Will, she noticed Scotty was getting very tired.  “I
think we should leave soon, your great-grandson is worn out.”

Will chuckled in
her ear.  “You and Jack can leave anytime you want.  The rest of us
are on our own.”

“What are you
talking about?”

“Jack told us last
night to get lost for a few days, and so Andy, Scotty and I are going on a
scouting trip for hunting season.”

“Are you sure
that’s a good idea, after all that happened today? “  She asked  as
the music ended. “For Scotty, I mean.”

“Andy and I can
handle it.  You and Jack concentrate on each other, as if I had to tell
you,” Will laughed and gave her hand to Jack.  “The lady is ready to go
home.”

“You sure?” Jack asked.
         

“I’m sure.” Addy
answered and blushed slightly.

***

“It’s been quite a
day, hasn’t it?” Jack asked, as he parked the truck by the house.

“How are you
feeling?” Addy was still worried about him, but he just grinned.

“You’ll
see.”  He took the lantern down from the porch rail; lit it and taking her
by the hand led her to the barn.  Jack went up into the loft, hung the
lantern on the peg and then helped her up the ladder.

 Addy looked
around in wonder.  There on the hay was a feather tick covered with satin
sheets, a comforter and pillows of down.  Sitting beside the ‘bed’ was a
vase of red roses and a bottle of wine. “How?  When?”

“This morning.”
Jack smiled at her obvious pleasure.  “I came up early.”

“How did you ever
get all this done?”

“Well,” Jack
confessed.  “It was a bit close.  I didn’t get back to the church
until ten minutes before the ceremony,” he laughed.  “Thought for sure I
was going to be late.”

Addy smiled up
into at his face.  “You are the most amazing man.”

“I have an amazing
wife,” he said as he began to take the flowers from her hair. He pulled them
out very slowly, very gently, one at a time . . . never taking his eyes off her
face. When he was finished, he looked into her eyes and asked simply, “Addy?”

    With a love so
deep he could feel it to the depths of his soul, she simply said, “Yes.”

Jack took her hand
and slowly led her to the bed in the hay.

***

The birds in the
meadow were singing as the first strands of daylight crept into the
hayloft.  Jack looked over at the woman lying beside him in the hay. 
“Good morning, Mrs. Kilbourne,” he whispered as he laid angel kisses on her
shoulder.

Addy didn’t open
her eyes, but smiled softly. “Good morning, Husband.”

“I still can’t
believe you wanted to spend our wedding night in the hayloft.”

“You said there
was never anything in your life you wanted more.”

Jack traced her
eyebrow with his fingertip and smiled, “Are you always going to give me exactly
what I want?”

Addy gave him an
impish grin.  “Just as long as I want the same thing.”

“Addy
Kilbourne!”  Jack pretended to be shocked, but they both knew he wasn’t;
their joy filled the loft on the morning side of the mountain.

Montana Morning is the first book of
the Kilbourne Clan series.

Coming
soon

The Dawning