After a minute I whispered to Monica, "Run into the lodge, call the Forest Service and tell them we killed a bear. Call Chet and his Dad tell them if they'll come out here and help butcher this thing we'll split the meat with them. Then, get a rifle and some shells and come back here."
Five minutes or so later she cautiously walked back into the barn. She had our 30-06, some shells and more bullets for my 45. The bear had not moved. We went back into the lodge to wait. Three hours later three snow mobiles and a snow plow arrived.
It was late that night before the bear was meat. Chet, his Dad, their two friends, and two guys from the Forest Service helped cut it up. The boys had brought bags to put the meat in. The Forest Service brought two big ice chests. Monica and I wrapped our share in butcher paper and put it in the freezer. We got to keep the skin. I had already picked a spot where it would be hung on the wall. The forest guys estimated it at seven foot and about five hundred pounds.
As we finished cleaning the barn and getting the packages of meat ready to be transported back to town Monica made dinner for all of us. Baked potatoes, green beans, and some venison from the meat locker in town. She would have needed to take the first cut from the bear to have it tender enough to eat that night. As we ate and talked I knew the word-of-mouth about our lodge would be solid and strong before the snow melted.
At ten the next morning the phone rang. It was the manager of the local Forest Service district. He booked all six cabins for the first weekend and the second weekend of May. An hour later he called back and asked if he could come out and see the bear skin. By four that afternoon he had seen it.
At noon the local taxidermist had called and wanted the job of preparing the bear. Monica invited him out to see it and talk to me. He brought ten guys with him. We fed all of them, and made a tidy sum that day.
Even though it snowed steady for a week we had visitors every day. Snow mobiles came, four-wheel-drive pick-ups came and a guy on horseback came by. Each looked, each talked, each booked for later in the year and each ate Monica's cooking.
Monica wanted to go to town. She hadn't seen a woman in two months. She didn't know any of the local women and so she couldn't just call one of them up on the phone. I made a deal with her. If the plow didn't come within five days we would take the snow mobile into town.
The next day the phone rang and Monica giggled and laughed as she talked to whoever was on the line. When she hung up she came to me and said, "You did magic. Thanks."
"What did I do?"
"That call was from a woman in town. Seems all the men who've been out here about the bear and everything have been talking about my food. That woman, Sally, and a few of her friends have booked lunch for today. You are invited to be in the barn or somewhere. This is girl-talk time!"
"What are you going to feed them?"
She stopped and thought for a long moment. She slowly went to the inventory sheets and looked at what was still in our freezer. Then she smiled and started gathering things. Two hours later the lodge smelled like fresh bread and something with chicken. I stayed out of her way.
I heard a truck stop out front and I went out the back door and headed for the barn. Just as it was getting dark Monica, a happy Monica, came to the barn to get me. The fire in the fifty-five gallon drum heater was down to coals when she walked in with a big mug of hot coffee for me.
I followed her back to the lodge. When the door closed she said, "I have friends! They liked my food, too." Three steps later she said, "I saved you some. Hungry?"
I was. She had made chicken and dumplings and they women were right, it was wonderful. She had made the chicken in a thick curry with lots of veggies and the wonderful bread crust on top. She watched me eat and told me all about her new friends. She saved the best news for last.
"All six are booked in for the last weekend in April. Full price, including food."
The snows hadn't started melting and we were booked from the last weekend in April through the middle of June and nearly a third of the whole summer! We spent days finishing cabins four, five and six. That included nights of fun in each cabin. Cabin six was my favorite. In cabin six Monica and I slept in the top bunk of a set of bunk beds. It was even cozier than our first morning together in the RV, months before.
One evening that week Monica and I sat on the porch watching the sun set behind the trees on the other side of the lake. We were sitting in two of the new chairs I had made during the winter.
"Life's funny." Monica said.
After a long silence I said, "Funny how?"
"Less than six months ago I was lonely, feeling lost, alone, worthless and bored. Now I'm setting on our front porch watching a sunset with a man I love, I have friends, and I can say I'm happier than I have been in at least twenty years."
"Oh. That funny. I understand. Two years ago I was stuck in a corporate job I hated, married to a woman who didn't love me or want me and I hadn't been fishing since I was sixteen."
"What happened to us?"
"I got downsized."
Monica slipped out of her chair and knelt between my knees. As she unzipped my jeans she said, "Let me see what I can do about upsizing, just for fun."