The Alberta Connection Read Online Free PDF
Author: R. Clint Peters
for their
stay at the Ranch.
The moment Ryce and Tanya placed their
luggage in the apartment, she wrapped her arms around his neck and
kissed him.
“I hope you don’t ever plan anything this
traumatic again, Mr. Dalton.”
The apartment telephone rang at 5:30 PM. It
was Marge. She asked if they had eaten. When Ryce replied that they
had not, Marge explained there was a ‘family dinner’ in the chow
hall. Fabian would pick them up in thirty minutes, preferably
dressed. Ryce heard laughter in the background when Marge added the
part about being dressed.
Exactly thirty minutes after Marge called,
the doorbell to the apartment rang. It was Fabian and Hollie, who
escorted Ryce and Tanya to the parking lot. The stretch Hummer was
festooned with crepe paper ribbons, balloons, and even a string
tied with cans. On the darkened windows, someone had gotten very
clever with white window paint.
When Tanya began to tear up, Hollie smiled.
“Fabian and I wanted to do this when you got married in Coeur
D’Alene, but we got over-ruled by John. He didn’t think we should
be driving around with a half dozen police cruisers and ‘Just
Married’ painted all over a Hummer.”
When they arrived at the chow hall, they
noticed Marge and Ramona were waiting outside.
Marge turned and shouted, “They’re here!”
The main chow hall had been expanded several
times and could now seat over three hundred diners. Two hundred
additional diners who liked fresh air could eat on the porches. As
they walked in, Ryce noticed that almost all of the interior tables
were occupied. Along one wall, three eight-foot tables were piled
high with wedding gifts from people he did not know. He pulled
Tanya close, saw she was crying, and started to drop some tears
himself.
Ryce eventually heard O2 tapping on a
glass.
“I would like to present Mr. and Mrs. Ryce
and Tanya Dalton.”
The guests erupted in applause. O2 smiled as
he waited for the applause to die down.
“Ryce and I got into a couple scrapes in
Afghanistan. He pulled my butt out of the fire a couple times, and
I actually dragged his butt out of the fire once. Literally.
However, he is one of only two Rangers that I consider my best
friends. Some of you know Ramona, the head chef here at the Ranch
chow hall, is my wife and was a Ranger. Now I have spilled the
beans that Ryce was one, too. And, both of them can shoot the
center out of the Ace of Spades from over one thousand yards.”
Ramona signaled the kitchen, and two waiters
came out with a cart carrying a five-layered wedding cake. Tanya
started crying once again, wrapped her arms around Ryce and
announced to the room that she loved him.
Tanya turned to Ramona. “I still don’t
understand how all this got put together in such a short time. I
wasn’t even engaged to be married until last Saturday.”
Ramona smiled. “We have been getting text
messages from Ryce for almost three months, but the date had not
been carved in stone. Nor did we know where we would do it. John
suggested he could fly you and Ryce to the Ranch, and you could get
married here.
“O2 suggested The Hitching Post, where he and
I got married. Marge thought the place had a cute name. When we
finished voting, The Hitching Post had won. As soon as Ryce put his
stamp of approval on Coeur D’Alene, O2 and I did some checking and
confirmed you needed blood tests to get the license. That was the
biggest hurdle. How could we get your blood tested without telling
you what it was for? Pen, our resident brilliant doctor, solved
that one. She said to make up some killer virus.”
Ramona laughed at the look on Tanya’s
face.
After a few seconds, Tanya looked to Ryce,
and then back at Ramona.
“Ryce told me that he had read something from
the CDC about remote locations in Glacier National Park having some
airborne pathogen. He said he did not remember the name of whatever
it was, but he was sure it was the ‘you are gonna die’ virus. I
went to my doctor, he took
stay at the Ranch.
The moment Ryce and Tanya placed their
luggage in the apartment, she wrapped her arms around his neck and
kissed him.
“I hope you don’t ever plan anything this
traumatic again, Mr. Dalton.”
The apartment telephone rang at 5:30 PM. It
was Marge. She asked if they had eaten. When Ryce replied that they
had not, Marge explained there was a ‘family dinner’ in the chow
hall. Fabian would pick them up in thirty minutes, preferably
dressed. Ryce heard laughter in the background when Marge added the
part about being dressed.
Exactly thirty minutes after Marge called,
the doorbell to the apartment rang. It was Fabian and Hollie, who
escorted Ryce and Tanya to the parking lot. The stretch Hummer was
festooned with crepe paper ribbons, balloons, and even a string
tied with cans. On the darkened windows, someone had gotten very
clever with white window paint.
When Tanya began to tear up, Hollie smiled.
“Fabian and I wanted to do this when you got married in Coeur
D’Alene, but we got over-ruled by John. He didn’t think we should
be driving around with a half dozen police cruisers and ‘Just
Married’ painted all over a Hummer.”
When they arrived at the chow hall, they
noticed Marge and Ramona were waiting outside.
Marge turned and shouted, “They’re here!”
The main chow hall had been expanded several
times and could now seat over three hundred diners. Two hundred
additional diners who liked fresh air could eat on the porches. As
they walked in, Ryce noticed that almost all of the interior tables
were occupied. Along one wall, three eight-foot tables were piled
high with wedding gifts from people he did not know. He pulled
Tanya close, saw she was crying, and started to drop some tears
himself.
Ryce eventually heard O2 tapping on a
glass.
“I would like to present Mr. and Mrs. Ryce
and Tanya Dalton.”
The guests erupted in applause. O2 smiled as
he waited for the applause to die down.
“Ryce and I got into a couple scrapes in
Afghanistan. He pulled my butt out of the fire a couple times, and
I actually dragged his butt out of the fire once. Literally.
However, he is one of only two Rangers that I consider my best
friends. Some of you know Ramona, the head chef here at the Ranch
chow hall, is my wife and was a Ranger. Now I have spilled the
beans that Ryce was one, too. And, both of them can shoot the
center out of the Ace of Spades from over one thousand yards.”
Ramona signaled the kitchen, and two waiters
came out with a cart carrying a five-layered wedding cake. Tanya
started crying once again, wrapped her arms around Ryce and
announced to the room that she loved him.
Tanya turned to Ramona. “I still don’t
understand how all this got put together in such a short time. I
wasn’t even engaged to be married until last Saturday.”
Ramona smiled. “We have been getting text
messages from Ryce for almost three months, but the date had not
been carved in stone. Nor did we know where we would do it. John
suggested he could fly you and Ryce to the Ranch, and you could get
married here.
“O2 suggested The Hitching Post, where he and
I got married. Marge thought the place had a cute name. When we
finished voting, The Hitching Post had won. As soon as Ryce put his
stamp of approval on Coeur D’Alene, O2 and I did some checking and
confirmed you needed blood tests to get the license. That was the
biggest hurdle. How could we get your blood tested without telling
you what it was for? Pen, our resident brilliant doctor, solved
that one. She said to make up some killer virus.”
Ramona laughed at the look on Tanya’s
face.
After a few seconds, Tanya looked to Ryce,
and then back at Ramona.
“Ryce told me that he had read something from
the CDC about remote locations in Glacier National Park having some
airborne pathogen. He said he did not remember the name of whatever
it was, but he was sure it was the ‘you are gonna die’ virus. I
went to my doctor, he took