Redwood Bend

rougher sometimes, like in winter. Winters can be brutal. It’s small, nice people, good schools, clean air, very big sky…”
“Right. So—suppose they like it?”
“If they like Payne and like me, that could make life pretty easy since we should all be together.”
“In Montana…”
“Where to live is up to Katie, all right? If she can’t stand the idea of being away from you, we’ll work with that. I can probably find some kind of job around here…”
“What’s this crap about you being some kind of big star?” Conner asked.
“A long, long time ago. I’m a has-been, and frankly I like it that way. I wouldn’t want to raise the twins in Hollywood. Or this new one, either. I’d rather raise them on egg and milk money.”
“And what the hell does that mean? Egg and milk money?”
“My little airport can probably support a couple of families just on plane storage, maintenance, a few charters, the occasional instruction. The airport is on my ranch, which is about sixty acres—a few cows, some chickens, some goats. I have a hand who likes taking care of the animals. We sell eggs and stock—he bought us a bull several years ago. The little bit of laying and breeding we do just about covers his salary. I lease some grazing land to a rancher but Ham, that’s my hand, he has a big summer garden at my place. We hunt and fish. We process our kill and eat it all winter.”
“You’re not rich?” Conner asked.
“Nope.”
“No big star money?”
“Nope. But I get by pretty well. The way I live—it’s healthy.”
“And you fly? Leave home a lot?”
“Less often than a commercial pilot. And it’s a tight community—we all look out for each other. I live in the valley and we have lots of wildlife—ours can be a little more challenging. We have the occasional grizzly—a lot more aggressive than black bear, but they tend to like the mountains. We have moose, deer, elk, coyote, mountain lions, bobcats, wolves. We have dogs who wake us up if the wolves or cats start pestering the chickens or goats. We keep the barn and pens secure against predators. Why buy a chicken or goat to feed to wolves?” Dylan took a drink of his beer. “Boys and girls grow up strong and healthy.”
Conner put his elbow on the bar and leaned his head on his hand. “I think I want to see this place.”
“Fine,” Dylan said. He smiled. “Summers,” he suggested. “Maybe every other Christmas.”
Conner just laughed. “You going to leave pretty soon? If she agrees?”
“I bought tickets. I took Katie up in a little plane and she puked, so I bought tickets. I think she’ll be okay on a jet. We’ll have to drive to Redding and fly into Butte. My best friend’s wife will pick us up. So…after I get back from L.A. in a few days,” he finished.
“A few days?” Conner asked.
“I’ll get back from L.A. Wednesday afternoon. I have tickets to leave Friday, be back Monday. Can you live with that?”
“We better have another beer. You can tell me more about your plans.”
Dylan smiled. “I guess we better.”
Dylan pulled into the clearing at the cabin and found that Katie was watching the boys on the jungle gym. She sat on the porch with her air horn beside her chair.
The boys ran to him, shouting his name, grabbing on to his legs. “Play catch?” Mitch asked. “No, soccer,” Andy said. “Or kick ball.”
“First I want to talk to your mom and put this dinner in the house, all right? Go play for a little while.”
They reluctantly let go of him. He grinned as they went back to the swing set. He couldn’t help thinking, They like me. He mounted the porch and bent to give Katie a kiss on the forehead.
“What in the world is going on?” she asked. “Having a beer with Conner? Leslie bringing the boys home? What are you up to?”
“Surprise,” he said. “I’ll tell you in a second.” He took the brown paper bag with Preacher’s fried chicken in the house and came back outside, sitting in the chair beside her. He pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket and presented it to her.
She unfolded it—it was a ticketless travel voucher to Butte. “What is this?”
“Well, Katie, I want to take you and the boys to Montana. I want to try to show you what my life there is like. I want to introduce you to my best friend and his wife and kids. I want you to see the town. I think the boys would like to meet the animals.”
“Four tickets,” she said. “Coming back to California after just a couple of