Ottilie gave me her blessings to do whatever I wanted to do. She even agreed to let Micah help me. Micah was excited to have something to occupy his time. The shipping problem was on hold.
After the cold weather passed, Micah and I had some nice crisp days to start our little project. We decided to do the trees that were easily accessible first. The biggest problem was having to make so many trips back to the barn. The utility cart did not have that big a capacity. Micah was more than happy to be the designated driver. Luckily the barn was big enough to store all that we could collect. As the barn got fuller, we cut back on our gathering. Micah and I were both sleeping well.
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Ottelie and I had never talked about ourselves or our situations. I didn’t want to intrude on her privacy and I think she felt the same way. It had been quite a while since I left home and I felt that I should contact my daughters at the least. I no longer had a phone so I had to borrow Ottilie’s.
“Rose! It’s your father.” They shared a dorm room, but I didn’t know which one I would get. I recognized her voice.
‘Dad! Dad! Is that you? My God where the hell have you been?
We have been worried to death. Mom is beside herself. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, honey. Honest, I’m fine. I just had to get away for a while. I was afraid that I might do something if I stayed around. Didn’t your mother explain it to you?”
“Mom said she came home one day and was putting the groceries away when you had a fit and stormed out of the house. She said she hasn’t seen or heard from you since.”
“That’s it? That is all that she said?”
“Yep! She sat around for about two months and then went out and got a job stocking shelves at Target. The night shift pays more and she needed the money. She hasn’t been making the house payments, and can barely keep the utilities on. She said the bank has been harassing her. Dad, what the hell is going on?”
“Rose. I could try and take the high road and tell you that your mother should be the one to reveal what happened, but it is a little late for that now. I don’t want to be the bad guy, but your mother cheated on me.”
“Bullshit! I don’t believe that. How do you know and with who?”
“She spent the afternoon having sex with an old boyfriend named Brad Mercer. While she was in his room, taking a shower, he called me using her phone and bragged about it. When she got home, I sort of confronted her and she just walked out of the room. That was when I left.”
“What do you mean by ‘sort of confronted her’?”
“She took her hair driver with her when she went to meet him. Why would a woman take a hair dryer along to meet an old friend? It was premeditated and she knows that I know it.”
“Damn, Dad. Iris and I are going to see her this weekend. We are going to get this straightened out. Can I call you back at this number?”
“No! It belongs to a friend. I am going to block your number after we hang up. I’ll call you in a month or so.”
“Okay. Take care of yourself. Bye.”
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I didn’t know it, but Ottilie was standing nearby and heard the entire conversation, just one side of course.
That night after Micah turned in, Ottilie and I were in front of the fireplace, drinking wine and making popcorn. Yes, I had firewood duty also.
“I am sorry about what happened between you and your wife.”
“You overheard?”
“Yes. I couldn’t help it. I think I understand, but I don’t want to intrude on your privacy.”
That’s okay. She cheated and I left. Not much else to it. But now that that is out in the open, what is your story. Tell me what a beautiful, vibrant young Jewish girl is doing hiding in Wyoming?”
“Wow! You missed three out of four there. I am not beautiful. I am not vibrant and I am not hiding. I am Jewish however if that matters.”
“You are avoiding my question.”
She sighed. “My husband cheated on me and he got himself murdered.”
“Got himself murdered! What the hell does that mean?”
She leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Micah killed the son-of-a-bitch.” I am sure I heard her giggle a bit.
Now I knew why they were in Wyoming. Micah was in hiding and she was just taking care of him. Nice setup.
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We never did figure out a good way to ship the barkwood. I guess it would be better to say that we lost interest in trying to find a good way to ship the barkwood. I never made any attempts to sell the wood, other than the initial contacts that I had made with a few distributors. I sort of just forgot about it. However, Micah and I had gotten into a routine of harvesting it. It was therapeutic for both of us.
It was a nice day, so we decided that rather than harvest, we would spend the time clearing out a few access trails to get to some of the harder-to-reach trees. Both of us were totally spent at the end of the day and surprised to see the barn empty when we got back.
Ottilie was smiling as we dragged ourselves up on the porch. She had some beer ready, although it was cool enough for coffee.
“What happened?”
She was still smiling. “Two guys from Smokey Mountain Timber got here right after you left this morning with a truck. I showed him what was in the barn and he wrote me a check for $4800. They had it loaded and were gone before noon. I didn’t know how much it was worth. I hope I did all right.”