Chapter Seven

Five minutes before the oven timer pinged, Dad’s doorbell played a few bars of the Bonanza theme. It was a no fail eye-roller. My dad was a walking western cliché and he was proud of it. Embarrassed when I was young, as the years went by, I found my father’s efforts at being a stereotype charming. Except the taxidermy.

“Oh, it smells like one of Connie’s gloriously garlic-laden casseroles in here. That badger’s atrocious; can I have it?” Then Billy wrapped his arms around me and let me bury my face into his cologned neck. He stood, both feet planted, rocking me and rubbing my back. “Oh, poor, poor girl. I’m here to hold you up when you need me.”

I didn’t really cry so much as moan into his neck, and I felt like a little kid. I could do this with Billy. When his nephew died in Iraq, I held Billy for hours. He loved his sister’s boy almost like he was the kid’s father. We still toasted that boy and shed a few tears every time we were together. The whole tragedy would always break my heart.

“Yeah, the badger’s yours.” I sniffled into his collar. Then I looked at him, scrunching my eyebrows together. “What in the hell do you plan to do with that thing?” He grinned on one side of his mouth. “Never mind. I think I’d rather not know.”

“Oh, Jilly-bean, just think of the possibilities.”

“I have no idea. But let’s eat and get a little smeared on Dad’s good wine. He’d want it that way.” I wasn’t in the mood for one of Billy’s twisted ideas.

The casserole was devoured, the wine polished off, and a new bottle opened to breathe. Billy and I lay at opposite ends of my father’s enormous couch, discussing funeral arrangements, town politics, and how the two were so inextricably entwined.

“You know, dearie, the whole town in going to be there, including people who hold grudges against your dad.”

“Of course, they’ll be there to gloat and to verify whether they are off the I-owe-Dean-O’Hara hook. Should they be off the hook? I have no idea what kinds of agreements Dad made with people. I know there are plenty of them. Arnold Potter settled one with me today.”

“Oh, yes, the Arnold story. Isn’t he a piece of work? I suppose he’s handling the funeral gratis. Trust me, he owes your dad lots more than the price of one of his cheap-ass funerals. I suppose you know that your dad actually owns the funeral home? Correction, you own the funeral home.”

“Oh God, this is going to get so messy.” I sat up and poured a glass of glorious Petrus. I reasoned Daddy would want me to.

“You don’t even know the half of it, girlie, but I’m here to help. In the last few years, your dad shared a few things with me. You know, late at night guy talk, sitting over a glass or two, smoking his superb cigars. By the way, do you want his cigars?” Billy was staring at Dad’s cigar box on the table.

“You can remove every tobacco product from this house, and take all the dead animals while you’re at it.”

“I’ll stick with the tobacco and the badger. Gotta leave something for Connie. Now, we have to discuss the Martin farm before you go downtown tomorrow and say something not cool.”

“Can’t Dad’s attorney in town fill me in on all that? I just want to drink great wine and not think for a while. I’ll go downtown and see his lawyer in a few days.”

“Um, actually, your dad created a new law firm in Great Falls.”

“Created a law firm? What are you talking about? Damn!” I had sloshed a few tablespoons of the wine on my shirt. “That bottle cost over two hundred dollars. Shit.” I marched into the kitchen to get a wet cloth and dabbed at the red splotch while I went back to the couch.

“Careful with this liquid gold, Jillie.” Billy had refilled his glass almost to the brim. Sometimes he could be a lowlife. “Back to the issue at hand. Your dad’s estate attorney is in Great Falls.”

“No offense, but what was my dad doing telling you about his estate planning? I’m a little confused here.”

Billy sat up and faced me on the couch with one knee resting on the couch back. “Here’s what Dean, your dad, said to me. ‘Billy, you’re the only friend of Jill’s I can trust. I don’t know her friends in Seattle, and I’m not sure which ones she’s slept with. You can’t trust women you’ve slept with and dumped.’”

Billy was doing a pretty good imitation of my dad, I had to admit.

“I think your old dad sort of enjoyed the fact that his little girl was cutting a swath through the women in Seattle. Anyhow, since he knew you and I had never known each other carnally—”

“How did he know that? And how did he know about my sexual habits?” I was getting nervous. There were some things parents shouldn’t know about their children.

“Well, I assured him that you and I never have, and never will, indulge in a biblical study of each other. He trusted me to be a stalwart friend to you. Which I will be if I can have his humidor.” A total boor.

“The humidor’s yours. Now what about the Martin farm? You said Dad was discussing it when he…fell over.” I couldn’t say the word “died.” My lips just couldn’t shape it.

Billy went into one of his windy explanations that included lots of digressions into snatches of yummy local gossip, the kind that thrilled the locals but bored the bee-jeebers out of anyone else. Okay, I was enthralled.

To sum up Billy’s thirty-minute monologue, Daddy had been gradually including Billy into his business dealings. He and Billy were driving all over the Hi-Line, visiting my father’s real estate acquisitions, setting up new ones, and coming up with new locations for casinos in seven different towns in eastern Montana.

The Martin farm was my dad’s purchase that was causing a legal battle between the owner’s sons and my father. They wanted that farm back and expected my dad to return it, one way or another.

That it was suspected the Martins were up to something shady on that farm wasn’t surprising. Old man Martin’s sons, Josh and Eric, had been messed-up troublemakers since the days they came into town for high school.

It was common that farm kids would go to rural schools, one-roomers, and move into town for high school. Sometimes they lived with a family, but other times they would have their own apartments. Usually this was harmless enough because they were good kids and their parents had folks who would check up on them. It was different with the Martins.

The Martin boys were blond and muscled the way hardworking farm men became after spending their childhood bucking bales and picking rocks. The Martins became known for recklessly driving testosterone cars, dispensing drugs, and beating up anyone who pissed them off. Eric, the younger, had obvious mental issues, while his big brother, Josh, was just plain mean. Handsome but vicious described the Martin boys.

To make things more bizarre, the whole town was talking about Sheriff Terabian having a little affair with Josh.

“You mean that bitch is boffing Josh Martin? I hope he lives up to his family creed and pummels her once in a while.” I cringed when Billy lifted a disapproving eyebrow. “Okay, that was out of line. Men hitting women sucks. She just pissed me off today, that’s all.”

“Honey, Sheriff Terabian is a great sheriff for this pathetic little burg. She has experience up the wazoo and has been the catalyst for a serious reduction in border crime. She does have bad taste in men, though, if the rumors are true.”

“I never thought I’d see Josh Martin cozy up to the law. Of course, she’s something I’d probably cozy up to if she wasn’t such an ice pack. Funny, I really thought she’s a dyke, but I’ve been fooled before.”

“Haven’t we all, baby girl.” Billy gave his half glass of wine a melancholy look and slammed back every last drop in one gulp. I winced when I realized he didn’t even taste it. My daddy’s Petrus. “Do you want me to stay with you tonight? I hate for you to be alone in all this.”

“I’m not alone, baby boy, as long as you, and all this taxidermy, are in the world. And thanks, but you go home and get some rest. I’ll call you tomorrow. By the way, expect to be my escort at the funeral, will you?”

“I’ll be here for you as long as you need me, hon. I’m canceling the games for that night. Some frantic oil man is going to miss losing money at my tables, and I don’t feel sorry for him. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Billy left, badger under one buff arm, an unlit cigar in his mouth, and an extra in the badger’s. He looked pleased with himself.

“If only he were a girl…” I muttered as I watched him pull out of the driveway. Within a few seconds of Billy pulling out of the extensive driveway, a large dark motorcycle rolled into the circle of light cast by the security light. The bike continued down the hill behind Billy, the engine low and the rider covered in oiled black leather. I waited for the rider to disappear into the night, then closed the front door and turned off the brass lantern-shaped porch light.

I finished the wine by myself.