A Montana Christmas Reunion

by Roz Denny Fox

  “Let’s eat before we talk.” Sid gulped his bourbon.

  Saxon spun his beer glass around, grateful when their waiter appeared with bread. He buttered a slice.

  Seeming to reconsider talking, Sid leaned close. “What I’m gonna say is on the q.t., Saxon. Based on sales for your latest single, coupled with attendance on this tour, Fred’s number crunchers say there’s a high probability you’ll be nominated for CMA Entertainer of the Year. It’d be best if we make sure your uncle gets lost again so he doesn’t make waves.”

  Saxon choked. “Those awards are fan nominated.”

  Talk was suspended while the waiter delivered their food.

  Spinning his pasta around his fork, Sid grinned. “Yes, but Fred’s people know stuff. By the way, according to him, it’s a piss-poor time for you to take time off.”

  Saved from answering by his cell phone chiming, Saxon dragged it out of his pocket and started to silence the ring. Then he saw the incoming call had a Montana prefix. An unexpected pleasure marched up his spine. Assuming Jewell was calling to tell him what his uncle wanted, he put a smile in his voice. “Hello there!”

  “Saxon?” A woman he didn’t recognize hesitantly breathed his name. Not Jewell.

  His throat tightened in disappointment. “Yes, but you caught me at lunch. Who is this?”

  Two voices blurted, “Myra Maxwell and Lila Jenkins. Soon to be Maxwell also,” one speaker added. “We only need a second. Jewell said she told you about the Artsy Ladies’ quest to secure a snowy owl refuge. We’re raising money for land. Since you’re our most talented favorite son, we wonder if you’d come give a charity concert here. On Labor Day if possible. All funds earned above your expenses will go toward a refuge.”

  Too stunned to find his voice, Saxon mentally seized on the request. He wasn’t sure which woman delivered it, but he knew Sid had heard some of the call when he vigorously bobbed his head. Surprised, Saxon managed to say, “That may be doable. Like I said, I’m at lunch. Can I get back with you? Which of you shall I ask for at this number?”

  “Lila. We attended part of elementary and high school together. But are you shuffling us off? Whether you say yes or no, we’d like to know today. Labor Day’s close, and my wedding is this Saturday. I’ll be gone awhile, so if your answer is yes, our group has major work to do to get out the word.”

  “I will call back. Now I have a question. Does Jewell know about this?”

  “Yes.”

  “Ah, is she on board?” Saxon asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “She gave us your number.”

  “Okay, give me half an hour.” He heard the caller say thanks as he hit Disconnect and set his phone on the table.

  Sid rubbed his hands together. “We can hype another worthy charitable event to your advantage with fans. While you’re there, you can quietly dispense with the stickier issue of your uncle.”

  “I still need time to write. Sid. When I was up for Male Vocalist, I was expected to perform something original.”

  “True. Let’s see.” Sid punched up a calendar on his cell. “I took the liberty of booking you and the band this weekend at a famous bar in Bakersfield. Merle Haggard, Buck Owens and other country singers got their starts there. And I arranged a show at a club in San Francisco. Fred asked me to book you in several events between now and the CMAs. How much time off are we talking?”

  “A month. Maybe I can do it in less. But anything I write, I want the sole copyright.” Saxon glanced up as the waiter returned to ask if they needed anything else.

  Sid waved the man off. “You win this award, I’ll get you your song rights.” Sid waited until the server left. “Mind if I ask, what the hell are snowy owls?”

  Picking up his phone, Saxon tapped a few buttons and extended a photo. “They’re a sight, especially when they hunt. Their wingspan can be three or more feet.”

  “Do people eat them? Are they like wild turkeys?” Sid downed more pasta.

  Saxon clicked off the picture. “No! I remember we were kids when Jewell found a stray one in the area and nursed its broken wing. Her trip east had to do with seeing some government committee about a refuge. The owls may be endangered.” He tried to recall what she had said.

  “No matter. Send the promo department those photos and a bit of history. Leave out Jewell’s name. I’ll have Fred have photographers do shots of you there.”

  Saxon toyed with his salad. “I promised my band a break. I’ll do this Montana event alone.”

  Sid blotted his mouth with his napkin. “Good. Perfect, in fact. I’ll get you travel vouchers and a credit card to rent a vehicle.”

  Saxon broke a piece off his garlic bread. “So you want Dean to drive my bus back to Nashville?”

  “That’ll work. We can spread the word that you’ve requested privacy to write new material. That will satisfy fans.”

  “I doubt you’ll be surprised to hear I left hard feelings and unfinished business behind in my old hometown, Sid.” Even as he said it, Jewell’s pretty face loomed in his thoughts. And he wondered why she hadn’t been the one to call him.

  “Well, don’t rock any boats. Oh, and Donovan has the info on the California side events. He’ll handle CD sales. Shouldn’t you be calling that woman back?” Sid checked his watch, dropped his napkin and swept up the check. “I’ll fill Fred in. Be sure you keep in touch. Entertainer of the Year is a big damned deal.”

  Saxon knew it was. He picked up his phone, but in the periphery of his mind fear crept in about going home to where he’d hurt and been hurt—to where he’d burned bridges. Jewell might have given his phone number to her friends, but did she want to see him again? Or was her involvement all about the owls?

  His stomach balled. He could as easily call Lila back and decline. Yes, he could. But he wouldn’t.

  He wadded his napkin and set it next to his plate.

  The anxious-looking waiter appeared. “Were the meals not to your satisfaction?”

  Saxon stood. “They were fine. Business cut short our lunch.”

  The man picked up the plates. “The cashier would like your autograph, but she’s too shy to ask.”

  Saxon wove past other diners to stop at the register. “I hear you’d like an autograph.”

  “Oh, yes. I so love your music,” the young woman gushed. “I have tickets to your performance in the park. All of my friends do.”

  “Thanks. We’ll be giving away T-shirts. Be sure to get one.” Saxon smiled and left the restaurant. He did have loyal fans, he mused, and hit Redial on his cell.

  Chapter Six

  Jewell still wasn’t sleeping well. She’d worked hard all week helping a local sheep rancher vaccinate his flock. She’d taken Shadow along. He seemed a natural at herding. The dog was so adept Jewell wondered if he’d lived on a sheep ranch. She’d had him a month and no one had inquired about him.

  It was after dark when she got home. She really expected a message from Lila or Myra saying they’d struck out getting Saxon to agree to a concert. She hated feeling dejected at no news. But she was.

  * * *

  AT SIX TEN the next morning she dragged herself into the café for breakfast and spotted her friends at their usual table. Early-rising ranchers filled other spots.

  Doreen slapped the bell sitting on the pass-through. Jewell saw Lila jump up and rush to deliver steaming plates.

  It wasn’t until Jewell was deep into the restaurant that the smell of cooked bacon curdled her stomach. She reached her friends and sat heavily in an empty chair.

  “Hey, you look peaked,” Tawana said. “What’s the matter? Are you sick?”

  The other women stopped talking and turned to look at Jewell.

  She shook her head. “Doreen burned bacon. For a moment the odor was overwhelming.”

 
; Myra laughed and patted her protruding stomach. “Boy, am I thankful to be past the first three months of pregnancy. Before that every cooking smell in the morning had me retching. Now I’m just hungry for everything in sight.”

  As the other women commiserated, an odd fear raced through Jewell. Letting their talk swirl around her, she racked her brain to recall if she’d missed her July cycle. Her periods weren’t like clockwork. And Saxon had used protection, after all.

  She pressed a hand to her belly. These flu-like symptoms had occurred with increasing frequency since she’d returned from the trip where foolishly she’d been carried away by old feelings. Really, she’d been weak. No, her brain argued—those feelings for Saxon hadn’t changed. But what if other things had?

  Lila reappeared and slid into her chair. “Okay, getting together today may not have been my best idea. I forgot there’s a ranchers’ association meeting at the Grange Hall this morning. The guys always come in for breakfast first. Where were we? Myra, did you tell Jewell that Saxon agreed to come give us a show?”

  Jewell’s breath stalled as her gaze bounced from one to the other of her friends.

  Myra said, “So, Jewell, we’d barely told the others. We caught Saxon at lunch. He phoned Lila back. To our shock, she didn’t even have to talk fast to get him to agree to come. Not his band. They’ll be elsewhere. But he’s who people pay to see and hear.” Myra finished and took a big drink of her milk.

  Lila jumped up again. “Mindy, our orders are up. Come help, please. Jewell, what can I have Mom fix for you?” She paused as Mindy headed to the pass-through.

  “Uh...nothing,” Jewell struggled to say. “You aren’t kidding? Saxon really said he’d perform here?”

  “Really. He didn’t argue or anything. He didn’t mention Leland, but maybe you set him to thinking when you took him that letter.” Lila moved to let Mindy place plates of pancakes and eggs in front of Tawana, Shelley and Myra. “Come on, Jewell, order a short stack. I can tell our news sent you reeling, but you need to eat.”

  Their news stunned her, but she was already off-kilter from Myra’s offhanded comment about morning sickness. She concentrated on unrolling her silverware from a napkin. “Tell your mom I’ll have dry toast and apple juice.”

  “If you’re sure that’s all you want, I’ll turn in your order and deliver food to Hank Watson’s table. While I’m gone, start talking about the best way to advertise the show. Time is short, you know.”

  All eyes rotated to Jewell.

  Tawana waved her fork. “Right before you arrived, we all said how much we like the flyers you tacked up about the dog you found. The letters stood out and the picture was visible at a distance. If you did something similar, maybe showing Saxon with his guitar, we could each take a stack and post them here and in neighboring towns.”

  “I d-don’t have any ph-photos of Saxon, with or without his guitar,” Jewell stammered, all the while picturing the T-shirt with his likeness that she’d gotten at his concert. A T-shirt she’d been wearing to bed since coming home.

  “Can you snag one off his label’s website?” Shelley asked.

  “Possibly.” Jewell fought down mounting panic. “I gave Leland a business card for Saxon’s agent. I could call him. Maybe he’d email me a professional photo.”

  Lila returned with her own plate in time to hear Jewell. “Is it wise to tell Leland? What if he tries to contact Saxon in advance and it turns Saxon off?”

  “Guys, Leland shops in town. Anyway, given how fast rumors travel, he’s bound to hear. Plus he’s my neighbor. Isn’t it better he hear this from me?”

  The others shrugged. Finally, Myra said, “You know them both better than any of us. And if the concert nets enough money, someone, probably you, Jewell, has to approach Leland about buying his timber for the refuge.” She let the sentence drop since Lila’s mom came out of the kitchen, bringing Jewell’s breakfast.

  “Are you talking about Leland?” Doreen asked. “I saw him yesterday afternoon. I took Rory to get his cast off. Leland was at the clinic to see the new cardiologist who recently joined Dr. Rice’s practice.”

  “Heart doctor?” Jewell crumbled the crust from a slice of toast.

  “Yes. He’s been seeing someone in another town for skipped heartbeats. That doctor gave him medication, but his condition hasn’t improved. We talked when he stopped at the desk to request records from the other doctor. I’m going to take him heart-healthy lunches for a while. Jewell, could you go by at suppertime with grilled chicken or baked fish? He fries way too much.”

  Lila stared openmouthed at her mother. “Mom, why would you take on all that extra work? How can you leave the café at lunchtime?”

  “He’s a nice man who doesn’t have family, Lila. Over the years he’s spent a lot of money here. I asked if he’d eat at one o’clock instead of noon. He’s fine with that.”

  Lila continued to gape, so Jewell touched Doreen’s hand. “I’ve tried to stop by often to see if he’s okay. Now that you’ve suggested I take him supper, I’ll be glad to.”

  Shelley tapped her knife on her water glass. “Hey, are we going to talk about Leland or figure out our chores for this concert? I have a class coming to my ceramics studio in half an hour.” She opened a small notebook and pushed her plate aside. “Someone needs to book the Grange Hall. Mrs. M., can you supply cookies and soft drinks? We’ll pay for ingredients...right?” She belatedly included the others.

  “Definitely,” Tawana said, stacking her plate with Shelley’s and Mindy’s since she, too, had finished eating.

  Jewell checked her watch. “I need to get back to my clinic to check on an older cat I’m boarding after surgery. I’ll make flyers, but we need a place and time first.”

  “I’ll list what I need,” Doreen said, then left, stopping along the way to pick up plates and patrons’ money.

  “Since tomorrow’s my wedding and then we’ll be away until late Tuesday, I can’t see about the Grange Hall. If it’s not available, could we set up in the park? Maybe borrow folding chairs from a couple of churches.”

  “I’ll leave here and go see about the hall,” Mindy volunteered. “The park is a lot more trouble. What about a sound system? We can’t ask Saxon to provide one.”

  Jewell, who’d eaten a half slice of toast, brushed crumbs off her lips. “The Grange has a sound system. Give me a shout, Mindy, if the hall is free. I’ll start on a flyer once a spot’s nailed down. Unless I get super busy at the clinic, I can place ads in surrounding newspapers. We’ll need them to run next week. That only gives us four weeks to sell tickets.”

  “Boy, we didn’t allow ourselves much time to pull this together,” Tawana said. “I’ll ask Hunter to go tack up flyers in Wolf Point. He’s in limbo waiting for his leather-craft stuff to be delivered.”

  “Is he staying at Lila’s B and B?” Jewell asked.

  Tawana blushed bright red. “He...uh...is bunking at my place.”

  That had everyone but Jewell teasing her. She tried to act happy—for all her friends. First Myra fell in love, married and was now pregnant with twins. Lila was about to be married. And Tawana was clearly on top of the world. Only a jealous witch wouldn’t be ecstatic for them. She didn’t want to be like that, so she swept it from her mind and took money out of her wallet to pay for her breakfast.

  “Mindy, what time should we be at your salon tomorrow? Are you sure you want to do everyone’s hair?”

  “I do. I found the sweetest fake baby roses in peach. I showed Lila how they’d look braided in our hair. She loved them. Since the wedding is at two, come at ten. I’ll serve lattes and biscotti.”

  “Who’ll weave the roses in your hair?” Shelley asked.

  Mindy laughed. “I’m good. Don’t worry. I practiced on myself.”

  “After Mindy finishes our hair, we can all go to the Owl’s N
est to dress,” Lila exclaimed. “Myra’s mom and Seth and Zeke’s mother will meet us there with the dresses.”

  Tawana set out her money. “What about Seth? You don’t want him to see you in your gown the day of the wedding. That’s bad luck.”

  “My gown is just a cocktail dress. And that’s a silly superstition. Apparently, though, Seth believes it. He’s taking Rory to Zeke’s until guests arrive. Did I tell you Seth bought Rory a new suit? And got them matching ties.”

  “That’s cool. What a great guy.” Mindy sighed. “I hope you all left some good men out there for me to find. What about you, Jewell?”

  She’d gotten up and was pushing her chair back under the table. “What about me?” she asked with a start.

  “I said I hope all of our friends who are suddenly attached to fabulous men left some. Don’t you wish that, too?”

  “I haven’t thought about it one way or the other,” Jewell muttered. “Listen, I’ve gotta dash. I’ll see you all in the morning.” She left quickly, trying not to picture the fabulous man she’d kicked to the curb not once but twice.

  She drove home to check on the cat. The surgery site looked good, so it was with shaking hands that she sat down with a calendar to count the days since her last period. That sent her from vague fear into high anxiety. But, she still clung to the fact Saxon had used protection.

  She grabbed her keys again, loaded Shadow in her pickup and headed to a nearby town she knew had a twenty-four-hour pharmacy—a store where she could buy a home pregnancy test kit without being recognized. “Shadow,” she said, “I’m probably agonizing over nothing. Stress could be the problem, right?”

  The spaniel woofed and lapped at her cheek.

  That did make her laugh and gave her momentary calm.

  She arrived before eight. Other shoppers were already in the pharmacy. Jewell rolled her pickup windows down a couple inches to give Shadow air and slapped on a cowboy hat to hide her face as she went inside.

  Cruising down an aisle advertising pregnancy test kits, she was astonished to see five or six kinds. Knowing nothing about any of them since she dealt with pregnant animals, not humans, she took a moment to read a few boxes. All worked similarly. Pee in a cup, moisten a stick, wait one to five minutes, and lines either appeared or didn’t. A digital type showed a display with the words pregnant or not pregnant in a frame. That seemed less likely to be disputable, so she chose that one. Then, not wanting to look desperate to a clerk, she added toothpaste, hand lotion and dog treats to her basket.