Big Sky country is the name America gave Montana. And, the state earned every bit of its title. "God's Country," as people called it. And Lewistown, the centermost town, attracted new workers to the mines. Beth and Danny were two people who moved there in June of 1972.

A Mayflower van backed to the door and parked. Men unloaded their possessions.

"Where do you want this?

"The kitchen's fine," she said about a dish pack.

Beth Anne carried a box of dishes from the backroom as her husband hurried out the door to his new job at the gypsum mines. "I'll be home right after work," he said then rushed to his truck.

Danny Willis, 28 years old, handsomely boasted large brown eyes. He was 6 feet tall, with light brown hair. He wore an orange hard hat, brown tie, light beige trousers, white shirt, tie, and gray Hush Puppy shoes. He was a mining engineer and just got the job as Mine Superintendent.

She was natural light blonde haired, green eyes and of medium build. Most usually she wore Wranglers, knit tops and tennis shoes. She plugged the stereo in and pushed the Credence Clearwater Revival 8 track tape into place and turned up the volume. She unwrapped the dishes.

By 5:00 P.M., the time Danny was due to come home, the Mayflower men had all their possessions unloaded, she'd signed the papers that they'd finished. She only was able to unload the dishes and pots and pans.

By 5:30 P.M., she became a little concerned because Danny had not come home from work, so she called the mines. "This is Dan Willis' wife. Has my husband left there yet?"

"He probably went with Bob Stewart and a few others to "The Grapevine," she said unemotionally.

"I'm sorry, the Grapevine?"

”It’s a bar on the edge of town."

"Thanks," Beth Anne said, her temper flaring.

Just wonderful, she thought. Would Danny actually leave her there in such a mess to go drinking at a bar? No food, no car, no money, and no curtains on the window?
He staggered in the door at 8:30 P.M. that evening. I made the bed and covered the windows with sheets. He could just forget it if he wanted sex, she thought. "Where were you?"

"I jus don wan to hear nothin' about it. I'm goin' ta bed."

"I need to know, Dan, why you were so late."

"These guys I work with--they kept buying me beers." Undressing, he made his way to the bed and collapsed onto the bedspread. He fell asleep moments later.

She awoke long before he did the next day. He didn't want breakfast, so she made him coffee. Beth Anne said, "Maybe I should go out and find a job, too."
"Not right away," he said. "Why don't you just get us squared away here at the house."

Beth Anne just left her own job at Pacific Telephone to accommodate him and his career change. Beth Anne hoped quitting her job in Los Angeles hadn't been a mistake.

"Hopefully, I'll be home at a normal time tonight," Danny said.

Those words were a comfort to her. They smooched as he headed out the back door for work.

Beth Anne unpacked more boxes and hung the drapes and curtains. She unboxed all the bathroom supplies and toiletries. "Do you have my car finished?" she asked the mechanic at Ace Garage.

“It's finished. We'll bring it by tonight around 6:00 P.M."

"I sure do appreciate it," she told the owner. Hopefully, her husband would be home to pay him cash for fixing the brakes. The trip to Lewistown from Los Angeles wore the pads out.

The kitchen was not really large, but it stocked all the modern conveniences and had a fresh coat of white paint. There was medium sized window over the sink and a bar separated the living room and kitchen.

She stood in the kitchen and watched television as she stirred the spaghetti sauce she had simmered a better part of that afternoon. She used her good china and even brought out the cloth napkins. She set the table formally for their standards in commemoration of the new job and the move.

The clock read 5:30P.M. He was not home. She checked the time every 5 minutes until 6:00 P.M. And he didn't come home.

Ace garage delivered the Mustang. "That'll be $150.54," the mechanic said pointing to the figure written on the bottom of the page.

"My husband said that he'd be here by this time and I'm sorry. I don't have the money to pay for it."

"I can take a check."

"I'm sorry. We just moved here and we haven't opened a checking account yet. I planned on doing that tomorrow when my car was fixed."

"That's fine," he said nodding. "You can bring it by tomorrow."

"Once again, I apologize for the inconvenience."

********************************

Night after night for the next year Danny headed to the bars after work with several of the other men whom he worked with.

She was not happy with him and she thought about divorcing him. She could pack her bags and move to Indiana to live with her mother.

Beth Anne became involved in art classes at the local high school, took on a part time job in a drug store and each night she cooked his supper and put it on hold on the range.

June of 1973 sunset, she sat out on the back steps by herself listening to the crickets, wondering what her husband was doing in the bar.

A good-looking man about her age approached, but went on by. He was tall, strongly built, with chestnut brown hair and blue eyes. She felt his eyes, so she glanced his way and smiled warmly. They didn't speak, though. Several times, she'd seen him go by and figured he was exercising. Beth Anne didn't want to be snobby, so she said, "Hi. How are you?"

He smiled back warmly. "Hey yourself," he said and kept on running.

Each evening she sat outside from then on for three weeks they smiled warmly and spoke. One evening she cried and was sitting waiting on her husband. She daubed her tears with Kleenex and grasping dandelions between her tennis shoes.

She was about to end the marriage. It was evident that Danny was only interested in drinking at the Grapevine every night.

"Hi," Tom Cochran said in passing.

But Beth Anne was too hurt to even speak. She couldn't speak and kept her head down on her arms sitting on the steps.

"I'm sorry," Tom Cochran said, "But are you going to be okay?" He left the sidewalk and stopped near the steps.

She was still too choked up to speak her eyes glistened, she frowned and tears welled. Her eyes were swollen from crying.

"Nothing's worth getting depressed," he said in a calming tone. "Nothing. "He kept his eyes fixed on her and waited.

"I'm so sorry. Please. I'm just beside myself. It's my--"

"I know. I work at the same place he does." He said looking in down the road.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm going to be just fine."

"If you’re sure, I'll go on."

"This is so embarrassing," she tried to laugh, but it didn't come out of her mouth correctly.

*****************************

July 3, 1973

At the company picnic, Beth Anne sat at the picnic table with other wives practically widowed to the Grapevine Bar, and most of the wives seemed embittered about the men going as a group to the dive that ruined relationships and brought the men to the brink of alcoholism. The wives were a very unhappy group of married women.

She glimpsed her husband at the bar with the other men, laughing as he came back to the table.

"These guys are something else." He glanced her empty Coke glass. "Why don't I get you a drink dear?"

She didn't answer him. She shook her head no. "I'm going home, everyone" she said. "Good night." She glimpsed Danny's ugly frown. Beth Anne climbed in her car, eyed Tom Cochran, and backed from the park.

She saw Tom Cochran nightly as he passed by for the next month.

*********************************

She climbed in the Mustang and drove out to the tavern, one night. She parked the car 3 blocks away in an abandoned grocery store lot and walked to the Grapevine.

She approached it carefully from the rear and found one small-impaired view of the bar and the dance floor. It was dark and lightning streaked far off: heat lightning.

In the shadows standing on bricks, she watched the activity inside the bar. It took 30 minutes of spying to find out that the men had girlfriends.

They danced with the women and murmured sweet nothings in their ears until they left; her husband included.

"What are you doing?" asked a familiar male voice.

Startled, she almost fell, but he caught her. He was Tom Cochran.

The scenario was evident. Her face turned the color of ripe tomatoes and she was glad it was dark outside. "Oh, no." She climbed down. "I think you can probably figure it all out."

He shrugged. "I've known it."

"Ever since we moved here, he got messed up with that one group of men."

"Where are you parked?"

"Don't laugh, but that abandoned store parking lot."

He smiled. "You may as well laugh about it."

"This whole thing has kept me torn up a year now."

"Want to go to my place for a drink?"

Tears welled. She didn't know what Tom Cochran thought. Now he was asking her to---she didn't want to think about it. She just wanted out of there. She ran across the empty lot. He had adultery in his mind just like her husband with that hussie in the barroom.

"Wait, Beth Anne." He said, "I didn't mean nothing by it."


*********************************

"I know what you are doing in the bar."

"What are you talking about?" asked Danny.

"I saw you through the window in back of the building," she said throwing clothes into the suitcase.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving."

"Where and how, is what I want to know?"

"I've got the credit cards. I'm going to Indiana."

He broke down and cried. He knelt at her feet and pleaded. "My god. I'm sorry. Please."

She walked to the door prying her arms from his hands. "Goodbye," she said. "It's over for you and me." She didn't feel as bad about the move as she planned. She strode to the Mustang, opened the trunk, put the suitcases inside and pushed the trunk lid closed.

"Now you can go on up and drink yourself silly with no wife holding you back." She backed out of the driveway and sped to a nearby gas station. "Fill it up please."

Tom Cochran's Lincoln pulled up beside hers. He climbed out of his car and approached her. "What's going on now?" he asked.

"I'm leaving. I've had all I can take."

"Where you headed to?" he captured her eyes with his rubbed his nose and peered down.

"Indiana." She dug in her billfold for the credit card and passed it through the window to the attendant. "I'm leaving him."

"Seems like you are making the right decision, except one."

"What's that?"

"You shouldn't let him run you out of town."

"I don't know anyone here at all to stay with."

"You have me." He said nodding.

The gas attendant brought her card back and she pressed her head to the steering wheel. "Oh wow." She shook her head slowly.

"Follow my car to my house."

She pressed two fingers to her forehead. "You work with him. This'll ruin your job."

"Nah, besides," he paused. "I have my ranch and money to fall back on if I have to."

"Come on. It'll be okay. Really. I'll let you sleep in the other bedroom. Come on. Don't take off across country."

She really didn't feel like driving. Perhaps she'd sleep in the extra bedroom and leave in a day or two.

Tom Cochran seemed to be a world-class person and one of the nicest men she'd ever met: a prince charming of sorts.

She sighed. "Okay. I guess. I don't want to put you out. Are you really sure about this?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he said.

"Okay then," she said again trying to think of another option, short of heading for Indiana.

He pulled into the street and she turned on the signal indicator checking left and right for traffic and closing the gap between her car and his Lincoln.

Deep into the forest, north of Lewistown, she followed his taillights, turning left when he turned left and right when he turned right.

Her heart beat a little faster than usual because the journey down the rural roads got spookier and darker. In the darkness, iridescent animals’ eyes peered at the headlights along the side of the road.

Maybe she should turn around in the road and drive on to Indiana. Tom was a relatively unknown man to her and Beth Anne followed him mindlessly down a dark road. The whole scenario was crazy.

No one would ever know where to look for her body, if he was a serial killer. Doing an emotional flip-flop, she pooh-poohed her apprehensions. He seemed to be so nice.

He pulled off the edge of the road, his brake lights flickered and he stopped. She pulled along side the Lincoln, stopped and rolled down the passenger window. She waited.

His window whirred down and he smiled. “Almost there.”

“You must have someone you visit in town.”

“My mother. I go to check on her. Cancer.”

“I’m awfully sorry that—“

“Thanks, “ he said.

An owl hooted. “This is not like Los Angeles out here.” She peered into the darkness.

“Madam, you are in the Montana wilderness.” He paused. “Two hundred feet and we are there.” His window whirred back up and he once again took the lead.

A large log home emerged among the distant fir trees. A halogen lamp lit the area near a garage and he waved her inside the garage. She turned off the engine and stepped out of the car.

She opened the Mustang’s trunk and he pulled out her suitcases. She closed the trunk lid and he said, “Welcome to my abode. This is Blackberry,” he motioned with his head.

In a cutesy voice Beth Anne said, “What a wonnerful, wonnerful dog.” She patted his head.

“He likes the attention.” He paused and laughed. “He likes you.”

“Well, Beth Anne likes him. Yes.”

He let her climb the eight steps first. “I’ll unlock the door.”

She stood to the side as he unlocked the door. “Blackberry,” he said, “You stay and guard against wild animals.”

”Oh?” she shuddered. “Wild animals?”

“Occasionally a bear or a wolf. But nothing to be alarmed about." He laughed and looked at her expression of horror. “No, I’m just kidding.”

Feeling much apprehension, she said, “I hope you have thought this through about me coming here….” She said in awe of the illustrious rugged décor of interior of the cabin.

“I have. I’m going to fire their asses. I’ve been meaning to do it for a long time. But I couldn’t find the right men to replace them. Engineers with the expertise I need are hard to find.”

Besides that, if I would’ve fired your husband I would’ve lost you.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I own the company.”

She laughed. Her mouth formed an “O”. “You’re kidding.”

“Come on up here,” he said climbing the steps with her following. “I’ll give you this room here.” He pushed the door open and turned the light on.

She gazed at the open-air space of the cathedral ceilings “This is amazing.”

“Thank you. I like it here.” He placed her suitcases on the floor, showed her where everything was and said, “I’m going downstairs and make a few business calls.

You make yourself at home. He pulled the door closed and left her in the room alone. It was lovely but she was just too upset to appreciate the lovely bedroom.

There was a red, white and blue double wedding ring quilt on the poster bed, a wall size bookcase full of novels, a floor length mirror, a walk in closet, a floor lamp, easy chair foot stool, a full bathroom, a sliding glass door with a balcony.

She wondered what kind of a view it had. She hung up her clothes and went downstairs as he hung up from one call and dialed another.

She sat on a swivel barstool at the kitchen snack bar, head in hands, and relived the evening’s events. Eyes tearing, she sniffled.

He stated into the phone, “Hold on a second.” He hurried across the room, whisked several Kleenex from a box and took them to Beth Anne. “Here you go, sweetheart.”

“Thank you,” she said.

He strode back to the phone. “I’m back,” he said eyeing Beth Anne. He hung up the phone at 11:00 P.M. came into the kitchen. In a cheerful tone he asked, “Are you hungry?”

“A little,” she sniffed again.

His arm slid around her shoulder and he hugged her slightly. “Let me make you something to eat."

A fresh batch of tears welled. “Oh, I can’t put you out like this.”

He brought her a handful of tissues he pressed them into her hand. “I want to.” He caught her eye. “Do you like salad?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like steak?”

“Yes.” She blew her nose. She finally left the bastard, she thought. She was free.

“There’s 2/3 of the meal. I’ll scrounge around for a vegetable of some kind. How’s that?”

“Only if I can help you.”

“That’s a deal.”

“I thought a man like you’d be married and taken.”

“My wife passed away 2 years ago.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to bring up—“

“It’s alright. I’m almost over it. Now it’s Mom.”

“I’m so sorry for what you must be feeling.”

He brought the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, and green peppers from the refrigerator. He retrieved a knife. She washed her hands and broke up the lettuce.

“You probably shouldn’t leave the state if you’re divorcing Dan. I mean there’s state laws involved here,” he said slicing a cucumber.

"I know." She finally quit crying and cheered up a little. They chatted through the preparation and the dinner. After eating, they rinsed the dishes and stacked them into the dishwasher.

“I’m getting tired. I’m thinking I should get to bed.” She yawned and she didn't feel like talking to anyone. Not even Tom.

“Me too. But I’m not going in tomorrow.”

“You’re not?”

They climbed the stairs to the bedrooms. “I think I’ll hang out here. And take a day off.” His hand closed gently over hers. His eyes surfed her bosom, neck, ear, he turned her head with his fingers and his lips skated hers.

He quit abruptly and scanned her face testing obviously to see if she enjoyed what he offered.

“A day off for you?” Her eyes opened and her face reddened. “Oh.”

An internal alarm sounded; she wasn’t divorced quite yet. Danny’s image formed in her mind.

“I understand,” he said.

“I’m—it’s me.”

They ascended the stairs and parted company between the two rooms.

Several days passed. He took a vacation from the mines and she made a few calls to friends and family. The most difficult call she made was to her mother. “Mom, I’ve filed for a divorce.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m staying with a friend near Lewistown.”

“How are you feeling about it?”

She glanced Tom’s way, “Mom I’m relieved that it’s over.”

In a reassuring voice she said, “I’m so happy you’ve gotten out of that mess.”

Tom carried their suitcases to the Lincoln, opened the trunk and put the luggage inside and pushed the lid closed. They climbed into the car, traveled to Yosemite National Forest, stayed in separate rooms, hiked and viewed scenery.

She scooted to the center, his arm on the back of the seat, they drove to Jackson Hole, Wyoming stayed overnight in separate rooms and drove back to Lewistown enjoying each other’s company occasionally sharing a kiss and holding hands.

After passing Lewistown’s city limits she asked Tom, “Could you please stop by the post office so I can get my mail?”

“Sure,” he said smiling.

Dressed in a trim white pantsuit, sunglasses and her hair pulled neatly into a topknot, she said, “I’ll be right back,” smooched Tom, climbing from the Lincoln. She ascended the lengthy post office steps as Tom waited in the idling car.

She pulled the brass handles of the heavy door open, entered the echoing corridor and her high heels clicked across the marble floor to her new box. She turned the tumblers and opened the door. A chubby white-haired lady stamped a box inside the window. “Hello,” Beth Anne said.

“Good afternoon,” the lady said.

Vaguely aware someone stood beside her, she shut the mailbox door. She peered in the person’s direction. Danny stared back. Stunned, she gasped and backed away.

“Beth Anne,” he said, grabbing her wrist. “Are you living with him?”

“Leave me alone,” she said. “It’ my business.”

“You’re not even divorced from me yet.”

“After what you’ve put me through---?” She walked away from him.

With force, he spun her around and his hand closed hard on her upper arm. “You’re going back with me. We will start over.”

In vain, she pulled away long enough for him to recapture her other arm. “That hurts.” She froze. “No,” she screamed, “Will you call the police?” she asked a postal employee.

“I already did,” the lady said behind the counter. She fought him hard but he was able to recapture her.

A strong hand reached for Danny’s shirt collar, whirled him around 90 degrees. “Did you hear what Beth Anne said?” asked Tom.

Angered, Danny dropped her hand, drew back a fist and connected with Tom’s jaw. Tom reeled from the hard blow.

“Go outside,” Tom said holding his split lip, “and wait for the police.”

Oh God, oh God, she thought. “They’re coming up the steps now,” she said. “Hurry up,” she said.

Teeth clenched, Danny’s eyes locked on Tom’s, then Danny screamed, “You’re fucking my wife.” His fist then connected with Tom’s jaw twice.

“Buddy, you should have stayed at home. Tom’s right hook hit his nose.

“Ahh,” said Danny staggering backward. Regaining control, he ran head down and head butted Tom into the post office boxes.

Rushing through the door, three policemen separated the men, pushed each man in the opposite direction.

“Grab his arm,” an officer said.

“Son-of-a-.“ Danny slugged a policeman.

The cops wrestled Danny to the marble floor. One cop kneed down on his legs. Danny kicked, screamed and writhed.

The postal employee pointed at Danny, “He was the problem maker, officer.” The mail clerk gave the officer her story and Beth Anne told her story.

Much to her relief, the police arrested and hand cuffed Danny and escorted him to the cruiser. The flashing lights on, a policeman put Danny in the back seat and closed the door.

She drew in a breath of relief. “Am I safe now?” she asked then blinked in disbelief and her eyes tearing. “I thought he’d hurt me.”

“Ma’am, you need to get a court order,” the policeman said and explained how to go about finding a judge. In a warning tone he said, “He won’t be in the jailhouse too long.”

Holding a handkerchief to his bleeding lip, and after the police car drove away, Tom asked, “Are you ready to go?” He draped his free arm over Beth Anne’s shoulders and a flock of pigeons fluttered upward.

Not quite believing Danny’s crazy action, cheeks wet and body shaking, she said, “Yes, sure.” She paused. “I’ll get you back and put an ice bag on your jaw,” she said recognizing the passion, which flickered in his eyes.

the end.