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  HEART OF MONTANA

  by

  C.K. ALEXANDER

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  Heart of Montana. 1st Edition Copyright © C.K. Alexander Publishing 2013. All Rights Reserved.

  Cover Art and Design by Humble Nations

  This book is a work of fiction. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locations are intended only to provide a sense of authenticity, and are used fictitiously. All other characters, and all incidents and dialogue, are drawn from the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real.

  No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, either by electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is for a reviewer who may quote brief passages in the review. This publication is presented to you for informational purposes only and is not a substitution for any professional advice.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

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  PROLOGUE

  Adrian looked around his empty apartment. The third floor of the aging triple-decker off Central Square in Cambridge had been home for the last five years, but now it was 'So long Massachusetts' and 'Hello Montana.' The few things he had of any value had gone to the attic of his parent's home in Portland, Maine, and the rest he'd given away to friends or donated. He had shipped a few boxes of necessities out to the clinic in Red Wheel: sheets and towels, some kitchen basics, his winter clothes, and, of course, his reference books. Everything else he needed, he would have to acquire locally.

  As he swept the hardwood floors, Adrian pondered the wisdom of his decision to head west. What was a born and bred New Englander doing going off to the middle of nowhere? He had never lived more than twenty minutes from the Atlantic Ocean during his entire life. Not to mention that he was used to living in a real city with all its amenities: museums and galleries, a world-class symphony, restaurants and shopping. Boston had it all, plus you could escape to Maine or Cape Cod or Providence in a heartbeat, and hopping a train to New York was done easily enough a few times a year. He didn't even own a car; it was so seldom he needed one, he just rented a vehicle when he did. Now, he was heading to the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park and a community with a population of 5,162. Well, when he got there, 5,163.

  The one thing he knew for certain was that he'd gotten a terrific education at Harvard's Medical School, and he received great practical training during his internship. But while his scholarship had helped, between school fees and living expenses, he was still a staggering $120,000 in debt. Not a great way to start your professional life, he thought. Then along came the Montana Rural Physician Incentive Program. For five years of service in a community desperate for doctors, he'd receive $100,000 in debt relief in addition to making a salary. It didn't seem like a terrible trade-off from a financial standpoint; he'd only be thirty years old when he finished his stint, and if it was truly horrible, he could bail earlier, and just be stuck with more debt.

  The biggest concern Adrian had was what his social life would be like in Red Wheel. The few doctors around were probably older and settled with families, and he was fairly certain, he'd be the only gay one. Billings was an hour and a half drive away, and while it did have a handful of gay and gay friendly bars and clubs, it wasn't like you could jump in the car and drive 90 minutes every time you wanted to have a beer and some company. And even if Billings was a pretty tolerant and open-minded community, he wasn't sure the same would be true of a small town like Red Wheel. He'd been out of the closet since he was fifteen, and had no intention on stepping back in at age twenty-five.

  Adrian dumped the contents of the dustpan into a garbage bag. He turned out the lights, locked the door, and returned the keys and broom to his landlord on the first floor. His landlord gave him a check for his security deposit and wished him luck in his new ventures out west. As Adrian dropped the final garbage bag into the trashcan on the curb, it hit him that he had just discarded the last remnants of life, as he knew it.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Thunk, thunk...thunk, thunk. Adrian sighed. It was the unmistakable sound of a flat tire. Easing the truck to the side of the dusty road, he wondered if he even had a jack and a tire iron. That used car dealer in Billings had seemed a little dodgy, he thought, but the price had been right on the small, white pick-up. There was some rust on one fender, and some dents in the doors, but the motor turned over on the first try, and all in all, in had driven beautifully.

  He had to think a minute about where the spare tire was located, and then remembered the dealer mentioning that it was beneath the rear of the truck. As Adrian crawled under the backend, he thought that it was a pretty stupid place to put a spare, but he managed to spin the wing nuts off without catching a face-full of rubber. Next, he dug around under the seat, and found a small jack and a tire iron. He set to loosening the lug nuts before jacking the truck up, sweating from the effort. Four of them came off fairly easily, but the fifth was proving incredible tenacious, even after stomping on the tire iron with his foot. Wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, Adrian studied the situation. He didn't have any kind of roadside assistance service, and had no idea where to call in the area. The nearest place, for all he knew, was the little town he'd passed through twenty miles back.

  Down the road, Adrian saw a truck heading toward him, a puff of dust trailing behind it. It was a full-size pick-up, a lot newer than his, in a dark green that seemed to fit into the surrounding hills. As it got closer, the truck slowed, and then came to an idle next to him. It had the National Park logo on the door and a head popped out of the driver's window.

  "I was going to see if you could use a hand, but it looks like you've got things under control," he said with a friendly nod. Despite the big black smudge across his face, the ranger could tell the stranger was handsome: short, sandy hair with longer bangs, and powerful green eyes with a determined look. He wasn't too tall, maybe 5'10", and he looked athletic, which he definitely liked.

  "The truth is, I've got four of the lug nuts loose, but the fifth one is putting up a fight." He gave the tire a disgusted look.

  The ranger pulled his truck up to get off the road, and cut the motor. Adrian could see that he was digging around looking for something and then he jumped out. He had a can of WD-40 in his hand, "This will work like a charm!"

  Adrian smiled, "Work smarter, not harder, eh?"

  "You got it." The ranger sprayed the stubborn nut, waiting for the lubricant to soak in. He grabbed the tire iron and popped it with the flat of his hand. He spun the lug nut off and handed it to Adrian.

  Adrian smiled, "Well, I guess you've earned some good karma points today."

  "Hand me the jack."

  "You know, I can take it from here," Adrian said.

  "I know." The ranger hummed a little as he pulled off the flat. Adrian rolled the spare over to him and he grabbed it with one effortless move and positioned it in seconds. He made short work tightening the lug nuts as Adrian handed them to him one by one, and in moments, the spare was good to go. He stood up and dusted himself off.

  Adrian studied him. He was tall, a little over six feet, and muscular, and clearly he was at least part Native American. His straight, black hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail.
High cheekbones carved his face, and he had a sensuous mouth. The ranger was, by anyone's standards, incredibly handsome. It was his dark, piercing eyes and easy smile though, that got Adrian's attention. There was a warmth and charm that spoke to there being more to him than just those broad shoulders and sculpted arms.

  "That was above and beyond the call of duty."

  "Welcome to Red Wheel. Clearly, you're not from around here." He laughed a little, "Everybody who lives in Red Wheel knows...everybody who lives in Red Wheel. Uh, you know you have a big smudge..." he gestured to his own cheek.

  Adrian started rubbing at it, which only served to spread it further. The ranger started to chuckle a little, and then took a clean bandana from the back pocket of his dark green uniform pants. "Here, try this."

  Adrian scrubbed at the black mark.

  "You headed up to the hospital?" the ranger asked.

  "Yeah, how'd you know?"

  "Not much other reason to be on this stretch of road if you don't live this way. Nothing but some fire roads and a half dozen homesteads beyond the hospital."

  "I'm a new doctor, just going to meet my new boss."

  "You're the new doctor?"

  "Yep, My name's Adrian Cook."

  "Obviously, I'm a park ranger, but I'm the supervisor for Emergency Services and Firefighting for this quadrant of the park. So I interface with the hospital and clinic in Red Wheel quite a bit." He flashed a smile, "In other words, I pretty much have the skinny on everything that goes on around here."

  Adrian laughed, "You got a name? Or do I just scream "Ranger" when your team is bringing someone you've rescued into the ER?"

  He stuck out his hand, "Randall Banks." Adrian felt a pop of electricity between them as they shook hands. His gaydar was making his ears perk up.

  "Well Ranger Banks, I think I owe you a coffee or a beer or something for bailing the new guy out."

  "I just might be interested in the something," he said a little suggestively.

  Adrian could feel his stomach flip a little. Was Randall flirting with him? "Okay, I guess I better get going. Dr. Booth is going to wonder if I've chickened out."

  "A word to the wise, Adrian. You better get some new tires. You drive all the time in Montana, and the roads are hell out here."

  "Yeah, I will, thanks Randall. See you around."

  The small hospital and clinic was only another two miles up the road. There weren't thirty cars in the parking lot, hardly what Adrian was used to thinking of as a hospital. He'd trained in a world-class facility with more than a thousand beds. The Bear Paw Hospital of Red Wheel had forty-five beds and anything more complicated than an appendix or gall bladder surgery was referred out to Billings. His job would include taking rotation in the Emergency Room and treating patients coming into the clinic.

  Inside the main doors, Adrian scanned the board listing the locations for different offices and departments, trying to figure out where he should go. A woman, maybe thirty, in bright turquoise scrubs saw him looking perplexed, and came over. "Hi. Can I help you?"

  "Hi-yeah, I'm Adrian Cook, I'm supposed to be meeting Dr. Booth, but I got a flat, and I'm running late."

  She looked at his dirty clothes and laughed, "Yeah, I can see that. My name's Karen Burkhart, Dr. Cook-I'm a physician's assistant here."

  "Wow a PA, that's great." Adrian extended his hand, "Call me Adrian." He lowered his voice to a whisper, "Confidentially speaking, I haven't gotten used to the idea that I'm a real doctor. But don't tell anyone."

  Karen laughed. "Your secret is safe with me. Come on, Dr. Booth's office is down this hall."

  Adrian could tell Karen was used to moving at high speed, her long ponytail bounced on her back as she walked. He felt himself starting to relax a little. He had met two residents of Red Wheel and they both seemed really nice. Maybe Montana was going to be okay.

  Karen showed Adrian into Dr. Booth's office. Dr. Booth was staring out the window, and turned as Karen knocked at the open door. "Oh hello."

  "Dr. Booth, this is Dr. Cook, he had a little flat tire adventure on the way here this morning."

  "My apologies for being late." They shook hands.

  "Have a seat Dr. Cook. Thanks, Karen." The medical director took a seat as well.

  From their phone conversations, Adrian was expecting a much older man, but Dr. Booth was maybe thirty-five and was clearly trim and fit.

  "So are you cut out for this Dr. Cook?" His tone was cool, and not very welcoming, Adrian thought. "Or are you just another big city doc using our community to get out from under your student loans?"

  Dr. Booth's brusqueness caught Adrian by surprise. Either this guy was having a really bad day or he was an utter jackass. "Dr. Booth, I certainly intend to give every one of my patients the best possible care. I even boned up on tick-borne diseases to prepare for what I might encounter out here."

  The doctor nodded in response, "I'm sorry, I've had a terrible night. We had to have an eighteen-year old girl from Chicago airlifted to Billings early this morning. She had never been camping before, and put food in the foot of her sleeping bag."

  "Grizzly?"

  "Yeah, she was hanging on by a thread." Dr. Booth rubbed his eyes. "The only reason she made it here at all is because the ranger who's in charge of Emergency Services in the park is so good."

  "Randall Banks."

  "You know him?"

  "Weirdly enough, he stopped to give me a hand with my flat tire."

  Dr. Booth nodded, "That's Randall, up all night, on his way home from a terrible ordeal, and he stops to help someone he's never seen before change a tire."

  There was something in Dr. Booth's voice, an emotion, that seemed to be more than just admiration for a good citizen, Adrian thought. He had that intuitive 'ping' hit him, maybe Randall and Dr. Booth were both gay. What would be the chances that the first two guys that he met in a tiny town like this were both gay? Adrian shook it off; in a big city, maybe five to ten percent of men were gay, but in Red Wheel? That would mean like 100 to 200 gay men. It seemed improbable, but then again...maybe not.

  "We've got some really lousy coffee in our cafeteria, would you like to go get some?"

  "With an endorsement like that, how could I refuse?" Adrian smiled, and Dr. Booth offered a weak smile back.

  "Coffee is always free," Dr. Booth said as he poured. Adrian had a chance to look his new boss over. He had a runner's build, he thought, muscular, but slim. He looked like a westerner: brown hair cut short, faded blue eyes, a weathered complexion. He had little creases around the corners of his eyes and a slight furrow to his brow that spoke of concentration. What was it about Montana, though, Adrian wondered, were all the men incredibly handsome?

  "What do you take in your coffee?" Dr. Booth asked.

  "If it's truly awful coffee, then a splash of milk."

  Dr. Booth held up a plastic creamer, and asked with a little laugh, "One Mini-moo or two?"

  They sat down at one of the tables in the tiny but cheery little cafeteria. There were hard red and yellow plastic chairs, and the walls were also painted in primary colors. There was a big bulletin board with children's artwork.

  Dr. Booth indicated the space with a wave of his hand. "Not Mass General, I know, but we like it." He took a sip of his coffee. "Tell me why you wanted to come out here, I mean, other than to get rid of your loans."

  "Well, yes, the loan relief was a huge incentive, but you know, I've spent my whole life east of the Mississippi. I'm from Portland, Maine, went to school in Boston, and I guess the idea of working in a community that really needs a doctor has its appeal after being some place like Boston that has amazing doctors out the wazoo. And I liked the idea of getting really different types of hands-on experience, I think it will help if I decide later to specialize."

  Dr. Booth nodded, and his expression relaxed. "Believe me, you'll get experience."

  "What about you, how'd you end up in Red Wheel?"

  Dr. Booth rubbed his jaw. "I grew up in Red
Wheel and I went to med school in Seattle. My dad-from what my mother has said-was a guy from back east who worked for a summer spotting forest fires. He got my mom pregnant, and disappeared back to the East Coast and left her to raise me alone. He coughed a little nervously, "So, anyway, here I am." He rubbed his head. "That probably comes under the heading of too much information."

  "Why don't you give me an overview of things? Anything particular you think I should know?" Adrian inquired helpfully.

  Dr. Booth seemed relieved to change the topic back to work. "Karen finishes the pediatric clinic at two o'clock. Frankly, she's keeps this place together. She helps me with the scheduling and she can tour you around the facility and introduce you to folks. There are two internists, two family medicine docs, one surgeon and a nurse anesthetist. We have a dozen RNs and about that many LPNs. There's a nutritionist, a pharmacist with an assistant, a lab that can handle the usual stuff, and a radiology department consisting of a doctor and a tech."

  "Sounds like you've got things under control."

  "We try. Anything complicated-like the bear victim this morning-we stabilize and then send them on to the regional medical center in Billings."

  Adrian found that he was warming up to Dr. Booth. He seemed like a good doc, like he cared. "Dr. Booth..." Adrian paused, but then he thought he should just be blunt, "Is there anything I should know about being a gay doctor practicing in a small Montana town?"

  To his credit, Dr. Booth didn't flinch at the question. "If you're doing your job, and you don't run your sexual orientation up the flagpole, people for the most part will accept you just fine. With the staff, I think you can be yourself, no one expects anyone to keep their life under lock and key. Our pharmacist is a lesbian, and we have an openly gay, male nurse. No one really pays too much attention."