"That's amazing, Leah! We should certainly contact her, see what her expectations are." He glanced at the letter, then nodded. "Chicago...she'll at least be accustomed to horrible winters! We'll need to think about accommodations...especially when they first arrive...I'd hate to have the Wigfall boarding house be their first experience here!"

Leah had to chuckle at his response, especially that part referring to the normally hard winters. "Well, I know that I read this letter three times before I accepted that a surgeon any surgeon would leave the big city for here!"

"She has said that her records are available and that she has already made arrangements to release them on our request. I am tempted to request them and wire her to come ahead." she put forth, "The hotel is the logical place to have her stay. Don't you think? I mean, I agree about putting up a doctor in the Wigfalls boarding house. We might even strike a deal with Mathew."

"Yes, that would be fine, give the young lady a chance to see if she likes the place...and perhaps she'd have some input into what we will need for a surgical suite."

They already had a decent inventory, but there were surely things that he'd overlooked. 

"And, what I was trying to say before, is that there are several rooms in my house, more than I need once they aren't being used as a clinic, so it would make sense to let staff use them...but it certainly not be proper, unless there was a matron in the house."

Maybe he didn't want to give up his privacy that much, but then, he could find something smaller in town, a simple apartment.

"Yes, that would be fine, give the young lady a chance to see if she likes the place...and perhaps she'd have some input into what we will need for a surgical suite."

"Yes, I mean I know you have planned for almost all of the needs, and yes, it is possible that there would be some newer things we would need, I'm sure medicine has advancements we have yet to hear about." She agreed. Jonah had grabbed the proverbial bull by the horns on this project to get the things a hospital would need. "And, Doctor Laurant would know about a good number of things we don't out here. The very latest in equipment and medications.

"Doctor who?" A familiar voice rang out.

"Josiah!" Leah shouted as she came up out of rhe chair and rushed to hug him.

"Dr. Boone!"  Jonah was out of his chair right behind Leah, reaching to shake the older man's hand.  Things could move so much more quickly now, with someone of the doctor's experience could really help in the decisions they were making.  "Good to have you here, please, have a seat, and you are welcome to stay with me."

There was a lot to go over, not the least of which was a tour of the hospital, but first things first.  "Are you hungry?  Join us."

"Good to be here, like being at home I'd say, and yes, long ride, I could use breakfast, an' coffee." Josiah said as he took a seat at the table. "And now tell me, what have you two been up to? Saw the start you've got on the hospital, mighty fine Leah, mighty fine." He smiled and kind of shook his head.

"I still have that place outside town but I do appreciate the offer, Jonah. So, how are you coming with staff, equipment, and the like?" He asked. "No easy chore outfitting a brand new hospital."

"Oh yes, so we've noticed," Leah responded, excited to have the basic team together. "We have a warehouse in Helena with the furniture and the beds we'll need. There is just a laundry list of of utensils, medical equipment, bandages, bed pans, surgical supplies, oh you name it. In fact, Jonah here is better suited to answer that question than I am, as he has the list of the things we've purchased so far.

"Well, I can't wait to see how far along we are, and how far we have to go yet to opening day." Josiah said, then added. "I turned my practice over to Lars Ingrahm, he was a contract surgeon during the war. It will be a trek to the hospital for them, but he understood that when he agreed. So, I'll be in your permanently!"

Leah looked to Jonah hoping he would tell Josiah about Doctor Laurant.

"It's good to hear you are going to stay!" Jonah declared with a smile, "our staff is growing...we have a surgeon who is interested in relocating from Chicago, a Doctor Laurant, and we've sent out inquiries in papers across the country for nurses and other professionals."

Now that he was listing things, and saying them aloud, they really had accomplished a lot!

"I have the books at home...and lists..." he chuckled, "and lists of lists!"  In fact, he had stacked of folders with the notes and scribblings regarding the hospital going back to almost the start.  "We are so happy to have your input, this is going to be a great hospital!"

He was finally starting to let himself believe that this project was really going to work out, and that he had something to contribute.

Leah was smiling, this was how she had envisioned things to be, the three of them working together for the good of Kalispell.

"You and I will have to get together and go over all of these lists of yours, but lists are a good thing, Jonah, a very good thing." Josiah said with a rye smile. "And yes, Doctor Laurant, an old chum of mine, Doctor Louis Laurant's daughter, I thought to send him a letter sometime back, telling him about our plans, which is what they were at the time. And that we'd be looking for staff. Guess he must have had a talk with Angelique about it. Well, good! We can use experienced hands, and young ones too!"

A good endorsement for their new prospective surgeon, that was reassuring!

"It's good that you know the young lady," Jonah commented, "it makes the vetting process much easier."  A done deal as far as he was concerned, so long as the surgeon was still interested in the position.  "When we wire her," he addressed Leah, "let her know that Dr. Boone is here, and that there are accommodations for her."

Certainly, none of the town biddies would complain about the young lady living in what was essentially going to be a boarding house, with the elder Dr. Boone as a resident!

"Oh tisk tisk, no vetting needed, I've known the family for years." Josiah said, then added, "But you should if that's what you feel is best. I've known them, you, on the other hand, have not. So perhaps it is best to request her records since you say she said that had been arranged for."

"Yes, I think was it anyone else, we would certainly do that, so yes we shall, and of course, I will let her know of the accommodations. This is far better than I thought this day would be when I got up this morning."

From being another day, albeit letter in hand, it did not seem to be any different from any other morning until Jonah showed up and then Josiah surprised them. "Now you drove down here this morning, in this weather?"

"Oh no, I came in last evening when it was somewhat worse. Quite the adventure I didn't make it here until after dark, though I actually started bright and early yesterday morning, when it was not as bad, but the roads, are just terrible! Mud like you wouldn't believe. Sometimes I think the snow is better than th flurries, and then rain, and then flurries, and then even more rain!"

"Well, it's good to have you home again," Leah said.

"Yes, yes it is. Now, let's get down to brass tacks. Have you quit dragging this out and gotten serious about this young woman?" Josiah wanted to know.

Jonah chuckled.  "Well, in all truth, she beat me to it," he declared, "and just a short time ago Leah broached the subject."  He chuckled.  "At least formally, although I'd say that for some time we've known.  I've just been hesitant to admit it."

Maybe later, he'd explain that to Josiah, he certainly needed to tell the doctor the truth about his past, at least the past that was pertinent.

"I honestly think she's too good for me, but as you know, she's stubborn and gets what she wants!  And I'm glad for that!"