Lightning and Chainsaws

Don't misunderstand, he wasn't lying for me nor was he helping me to break the law. He just pointed out what I should say to avoid certain... things, how to word a few things to keep the wolves at bay, and how to approach my impending divorce.

Two months later, after Chris's attorney got blindsided by the Judge at a hearing, the Judge got aggravated and pretty much shut the divorce proceeding down. After some time thinking about it, he reconvened the meeting and gave a decision that had my lawyer amazed and Chris's lawyer stunned.

"I hereby by grant said divorce under the terms presented originally to this court. I grant said petition by Mr. Charles Masters with prejudice... and no, you can't appeal it Chris. You've been grandstanding for the last two months trying to stretch this out. I can only assume you are trying to get Charles to give up the divorce action against you. I can't agree with your tactics and I'm damn sick and tired of it on top of that. You did what you did and now you must realize it's time to pay the piper. Charles offered half of all marital assets and that's more than fair to my way of thinking."

Chris's lawyer didn't expect the suddenness of the decision, and was caught off guard, but they soon got up to speed.

"Your Honor, my client deserves more than that. She's been supportive of the marriage in the past and has..."

"Young man, if you keep on I will find you in contempt of court. I will toss your punk ass in jail and I may throw away the key. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Uh... yes sir... your Honor sir."

"Chris, I want a few words with you before you leave. Alone." The Judge looked sad as he spoke to Chris.

We were all dismissed. I wondered what the Judge was going to discuss with Chris, but at that moment in time I just wanted to get the hell out of the courtroom and into the fresh outdoor air.

************************************************

"Chris, I'm not sure what you're trying to do here. I know you don't want the divorce, but can't you see that you flagrantly threw your affair with Pete in Charles' face? God Almighty young woman, you traded in a nice car for a pickup that looked exactly like his! What were you thinking?"

Chris looked at the floor. She didn't know what to say to the Judge. She'd had the affair with this man's grandson and he was her husband's friend. She still didn't know what or how it all came to be. All she knew was that a little playful attraction had blown into a rather dangerous situation.

Over the last months she'd been thinking, and trying to sort out in her head why she'd done this to her husband, and she had no answer other than 'just because she could'. And that didn't sit well with her sensibilities. She knew she'd screwed up. She also finally figured out she didn't have a way to fix things either.

Now the Judge was chastising her in his chambers. At least he took it private and didn't keep it in the court room. There were way too many prying eyes and listening ears out there for her taste. Charles wouldn't look at her any more, and the few times he had looked at her reminded her of that day when her whole world tumbled down around her.

Hearing and seeing that chainsaw bar blasting into the bedroom through the door had frightened her more than she could ever say. She'd thought Charlie was going to kill her... and strangely enough, she never really gave a second thought to Pete from that point on either.

She'd taken him to the hospital in order to avoid Mary. She'd taken her husband's advice without question... knowing the whole time it was probably the last advice she'd ever get from him.

Hearing Charlie calling her that name... skanky bitch... had crushed her soul. That pain still had yet to leave her heart too. She must have looked... so bad standing there naked with another man who was also naked... and that man was, or had been, her husband's best friend. She had been a skanky bitch.

The pickup and how Charlie destroyed it... the little things Charlie had done for her over the years that she'd blown off as nothing, even Charlie's making sure Mary didn't get to her... all added up to a lot of foolish thoughts that she entertained on how this whole affair would go.

She never dreamed that Charlie would find out. In her worst possible nightmare she assumed that if he found out, he'd be hurt and they'd have a hard time but they'd get their marriage back... didn't pan out like she'd thought it would either.

She was still worried about where she'd find another job. Finding out that Mary owned the business and Pete was just an employee there shocked her to her core too. First, Pete and her working together in the same office wasn't a good thing... there were rules about what they'd been doing and they had both broken those rules.

Secondly, her new boss, Mary made it very clear that she was going to be terminated as soon as possible, so Chris just quit on the spot, apologizing to Mary as she did. Charlie had always been that one person she could talk to about anything, and now... well, he wasn't there for her at all. Obviously.

Lastly was the fact that all the events that morning had been live to everyone's TV and living rooms that day. The whole world had seen what transpired and it cut deep into her psyche. She'd had it all, and she gave it up for what? The sex with Pete wasn't all that great. She certainly didn't love him.

She thought back to that day and seeing the coffee table Charlie had made for her. She had loved that table. True, she never really showed it by the way she never took care of it, but the fact that Charlie had built it for her, taking the time and patience to do such a thing totally out of love for her had touched her deeply.

Chris thought about it and realized she figured that Charlie would always be there for her, and so, since that was a 'truth', she could treat the things he gave her any way she wanted, since he'd always be there to fix them or make or buy new things for her. He knew she loved him... right? She'd been so selfish.

She'd let him down. She'd let all of them down. Her family, Charles and his family, the Judge and his family... worst of all, Ol' lady Frasier. That old woman had talked to Chris like an adult for years before she had been one. Now she wouldn't talk to her much at all.

Chris could remember the disappointed look on Mrs. Frasier's face when she'd seen her in the grocery store after that day. She'd been there with the Judge and they'd both stayed away from her like she had some sort of contagious disease. It cut Chris to the bone to see that look on her face.

All for some excitement with Charles' best friend. A best friend, who once he had her sexually, began to deride his 'best friend' every time they met. A best friend who led his friend's wife down a merry path to destruction, and then just dumped her like it was all her fault.

Looking back, Chris now realized that love was something she took for granted when given, but didn't really think much about when giving. Just how precious it truly was had hit her only after she'd stomped it out of existence.

*************************************************

I sat back on the porch of the cabin. Josh had owned this cabin for years, and right after my house sold, and Chris and I settled our divorce, he'd offered it to me. I knew about the cabin, of course, but during the title transfer I found out about the seven hundred acres of land that was going with it.

"Josh," I'd said to him. "Have you lost your mind? This place is worth one hell of a lot more than seventy-two thousand dollars you offered it to me for. Seven hundred acres? This isn't right... no way, no how. People will think that you were losing it, going senile or something when I bought it from you. They'll think I took advantage of an old defenseless man."

"Hey now... you wait a minute sonny boy." Josh testily replied. "First of all, you know as well as I do that I'm all there in my head. Ain't nothing wrong with my thinking. Secondly, I can sell my property for any price I choose and to whomever I desire to too. Thirdly, I already turned down three offers from developers for a lot more money than what I offered it to you for. The reason you're getting it for this price is because I know you son. I've known you all your life. I know you won't sell it to some developer who will then turn it into some kind of housing complex, cutting down all the trees and making it...'modern'. I know you will take care of it and that you understand what it is I really want for this property."

"Josh, you know this property is worth millions... you know that."

"Only to some developer type. It's priceless to you or someone like you, right?"

"Well of course, but..."

"But nothing young man. Its price to you is one I know you can afford. Its price locks in the fact that no damned developer will ever get their hands on it and ruin it. Besides, I truly like that you sold your house to the couple you did. They're right nice. You could have sold it for a bit more to that other guy... so why didn't you?"

"You know why. That guy is an asshole. He was just out to turn a profit on the place and he figured that I needed out of it as soon as possible due to the divorce. He was right to an extent... I did want the damned divorce settled as quickly as I could get it settled."

"So, you could have sold it for a hell of a lot more money yet you chose to let it go to that young couple with the two kids. Why?"

"Because they reminded me of a time when life was better and I wanted to help them. I trust them to do the right thing with the place...oh... I see now."

"Yep... I always knew you were sharper than most gave credit for Charlie. You take care of the place, ya hear?"

It is nice and quiet up here. I can look down the mountain and see the whole valley, the lights of the city, and even my old neighborhood. I added a hot tub to one side of the cabin, and in the process a nice deck too. With the other additions I'd made it was now more than a cabin... but I will always refer to it as 'the cabin'.

I added a garage separate from the cabin, but with a covered walkway. With that, the old hip roofed barn and the shop, I had a nice place to live and kick back. The corral added a nice rustic touch to the place and I'd fixed it up to a usable condition. I was even boarding six horses for some of the city folks down below. They had seven hundred acres of private riding grounds and then of course a whole forest of National Park land just behind that.

I still work for the same company, doing the same thing... cruising timber sales and running logging crews. My taking in those six horses was turning into a nice income too. Josh still comes up to see me once in a while on the weekends, as does the Judge and Mrs. Frasier. Of course my old buddies do too.

I haven't seen Chris since we signed the papers, and to be quite honest I do miss her. I truly do. I don't miss what happened and wish it could all go away, but in the end, life's lessons sometimes are un-forgiving and hard to cope with.

I started dating a nice gal after some real careless dating time. She's a keeper and I've been giving some thought to actually doing that. Keeping her, that is. I'm still a bit gun shy about being this close to someone, but she's working on breaking my barriers down quite nicely. Even while she's at work I can see her since she's all over the TV most days.

That's right... the TV reporter who was there that day I felled the old tree kind of caught my attention. It was a while later and a whole lot of lessons learned too, but she interviewed me for a story that was being done about logging. I asked her out and the rest is, as they say, history.

She has a still shot of that old tree lying across those two pickups. It's been on the internet, used in several jokes on TV series, and even used in some funny cards for birthdays and the like. She managed to sell the rights to it pretty well.

I still get a chuckle out of Josh whenever he comes to visit and sees it framed on the fireplace mantle. That's because the picture frame for it is made out of wood from that tree. Instead of the usual shotgun or other clap trap that hangs over the mantle, the Jonsered saw hangs above it in a place of honor.

I never use it to actually cut anything any more, and I haven't since that day. Jessica knows it still works though. I've started it up a couple of times just funning around with her. She gets a look once in a while and shudders.

I've asked her about that, and all she'll say is that she never knew just how well that saw could cut wood. She also mentions time to time that Chris was really stupid to go where she did like she did too. I'd have to agree with her. After all, Chris lost a damn fine pickup and ended up with... well... not quite nothing, but she don't have me any more, and I know that bothers the hell out of her.

Jessica, on the other hand, is happy and secure in the knowledge that I'm a one woman man. Always have been, always will be. I've had some experience with what life can be like when one isn't faithful.

If you look real hard you will see some stains on the wood in that old picture frame. Oil and anti-freeze can soak into even green wood pretty well. I made sure as I built and coated the frame that I left the stains there. Kind of 'rounds' things out wouldn't you say? I know it helps keep my mind on the important things in life.