"There is never any rhyme or reason to what my father might or might not do, or even when," Leah said in a voice that had a hint of anger. "I have men available to stand guard, men that know him and most all of those who ride for him, so they would be the men to hire, not that there aren't others we might retain."

"And that's a good point, knowing the men on sight if not personally would be a huge benefit." Josiah reasoned. "I take it those men are still here in town then, and again, that is good. You asked about bringing the equipment here to store, I'd be asking Addy. Maybe have her meet the wagons halfway, or her and some armed men take the trip to Helena and back. But as soon as the roads dry up some would be as good a time as any."

Jonah laughed.  "So, we should make up some wanted posters?  Tack them up on the wall just inside the door?"  Well, it would be an idea, anyway, although he hoped that once the place was up and running, Steelegrave (Papa?) would leave well-enough alone.  "But we can't leave you unprotected," he added to Leah, "so we'd have to find more men.  And I agree, it's something we should seriously look into.  It would be a shame to come this far, only to have..."

More than a shame, especially since they didn't have funding to rebuild, and a late night fire could go unnoticed long enough to get a good foothold.

"Of course, it's important not to show concern."  Leah knew that well enough.  "It will be fine...we're prepared."

Leah sat, taken aback a little by Jonah's statements regarding the 'what ifs'. It was her father after all, and he was unpredictable. But to this point, he had not done anything that warranted greater concern, especially for her. The men she had were quite capable.

"I doubt he has plans to do harm to the hospital, Jonah. I mean, that anything done to the hospital would certainly blow back on him." She argued. "I know he is unpredictable, and I know he does get angry. Well, he seems that way most of the time. Listen, our concern is getting it finished and open."She paused.

"We cannot run around afraid that Elias Steelgrave is going to erupt and his men will attack the hospital, We just can't. That man is truly unstable at best, but to risk a fire that could destroy Kalispell? No, I don't believe he would go that far."

Josia simply nodded in agreement with the young woman.

"So, alert but not paranoid."  Jonah had spent most of his life being at least a little paranoid as a way to survive, and he suspected that Leah had a bit of that as well.  Maybe someday they could both put that aside and just relax and enjoy life.

He chuckled.  "This will be past us in no time, and we'll be wondering what all the fuss was about.  And then the focus will be on running the place..."

Jonah sighed, doing a poor job of hiding his dismay.  Helping Leah to realize her dream had been a fun challenge, mostly because it had him working closely with Leah.  And in the meantime, he'd come to like playing at doctor (well, except maybe for Miss Jemima's boils!), but once that was done with, and the hospital was operational, there would be all the administration to see to, ordering supplies, managing accounts and staff, sitting for hours at a desk going over books and forms and papers...the mere thought gave him a headache!

"Oh, well of course she'll stay on," Jonah declared even as he realized he had no right to say that.  And to his embarrassment, it hadn't occurred to him that Leah might take on a good bit of the administration tasks.  She'd be perfect at it!

Out of habit, he glanced toward the door as the bell announced the arrival of a new customer, noting the woman who swept in, elegant, looking out of place in the simple cafe.  After the initial glance, he wasn't inclined to pay her any mind until she spoke.

"That's my little girl!"

Jonah was a little slow to catch on, although he quickly put the pieces together.  Even if she hadn't moved so elegantly, the woman bore a strong resemblance to Leah.  Not to mention, she was looking right at their table.

But...Leah's mother was here?  He didn't really know much about her, although he suspected there was no love lost.  Still, he stood, nearly tipping his chair, the gentlemanly thing to do, then glanced at Leah.

The room sort of fell silent as the door closed behind the women. The smile was wide and real as she looked at Leah who was stunned.

"I am back at least for a while, a few things I need to settle out on the Evergreen. But girl you look wonderful." Elinor said as Leah stood then almost ran to hug her mother.

"Where, when, wait," Leah said stepping back, then stepped back in to hug her again. They separated and turned toward the two men.

"Hello, Elinor. It's good to see you again." Josiah said. "Been a while."

"Yes Josiah, and how about this child of mine? Building a hospital, and you are Jonah Danforth, I remember you." Elinor went on. " My goodness. This is a great day, I had heard about the hospital and, well, it was time to come home, at least for a bit."

"I'm so glad you're here." Leah gestured to the open chair, "Please, join us. We were just talking about the hospital. Jonah will be the Medical Director, and, he is courting me. Now Doctor Boone here will be his assistant and Mother, we have a female surgeon on her way, or close to it. Oh, this is just so special to have you here. Are you out at the ranch?"

"No. I'll be at the hotel unless we lost the suite." Elinor said cooly. "Your brothers? Have you seen or heard from them?"

"Oh no, the suite is still available. Only Case, and it's been a while since we spoke." Was the response. "Zeke, or Clay, or Ben, they haven't been here since before you left. I think there was trouble between them and Dad, I don't know. Case? Well, he's Case, Mister Unpredictable."

And so Elinor was back, and that alone was fodder for a hundred questions.

"Mrs. Steelegrave."  Jonah bowed a bit softly, taken aback, but at least relieved that Leah was happy to see her mother.  "I'm so happy to meet you."  He held a chair for the woman, easily seeing where Leah got her elegance and grace from.  Elinor had bearing and confidence that she'd passed on to her daughter, but when he thought about it, a woman would have to be strong to be married to Elias Steelegrave, or she'd lose herself.

"We'll have to give you the grand tour of the hospital after we're done here."  He settled back into his seat.  "And I'll have to ask your blessing to court your daughter."

"We'll have to give you the grand tour of the hospital after we're done here." He settled back into his seat. "And I'll have to ask your blessing to court your daughter."

"Seems I am just in time." Elinor beamed, "I assume by your agreeable disposition that you are comfortable with this development?" Aimed directly at the elder doctor.

"Mother!" Leah protested.

"She'll do no better than this man right here." Josiah said sitting straighter and leaning forward. "They've been seeing one another on many and varied honorable pretenses for quite some time, including the planning and building of this hospital, which is yet to be completed, but will be before summer, if not late spring."

"Admirable, Doctor Danforth. You have my blessing then, if this old codger says you're good, then it has to be the truth." She turned to Leah, "and your gather? What has he said about this?"

"This happened earlier this morning, so he has no knowledge of our plans, nor do I care what he might think. This is my life, not his." She stated rather bluntly.

"Well, it could be argued that Josiah's age taints his judgment," Jonah chuckled, flattered, although this just gave him another expectation to live up to.  Funny, though, for the first time in his life, he was actually looking forward to to a 'respectable', normal life.

"As for Mr. Steelegrave, I haven't met him, and I'm not sure that I'm inclined to...that will be up to Leah."  Jonah had certainly heard enough, and not just from Leah, to have an opinion of the man, and he wasn't sure how well a meeting would go.

"Are you here for the long run, Mrs. Steelegrave, or just passing by?"