What would you do if you suddenly discovered you had won the lottery? Okay, I know I'm not your typical lottery winner. I almost never played the thing. I only bought the ticket because I was feeling so depressed. My divorce had become final the week before. Hell, we hadn't lived together for over a year, so that shouldn't have depressed me, but it did.

I was also having problems at work. I was an electrical engineer and had been working for the same company for five years. My boss told me I was doing great, so why did he keep giving me the shit assignments? So, what did I call a shit assignment? How about doing the controls for a conveyor system in the freezer of a grocery distribution center? Okay, maybe that wasn't so bad, by itself, but try doing it in January in Rochester, NY.

That job lasted five weeks and I never appreciated warmth more than when I finally got out of there. Then there was the time I managed to have six days at home in thirteen weeks. During that time I was in a different city every week. When I asked my boss why he gave me jobs like this, he said, "Because I know you'll get them done." I guess that was a compliment.

After my wife left me because she said I was boring, I tried the dating scene. What a disaster. I asked Shelly, who worked in the personnel department, for dinner and dancing one evening. Shelly is as cute as a button and a lot of fun to talk with at work. Away from work she is a party animal. By the time I finally got her home, I was so tired I politely turned down her offer for a nightcap in her apartment.

I met Maria in a bar. I bought her a couple of drinks then she said, "Let's go to my place and set the mattress on fire." Okay, I'm not a prude, but that was a little too fast for me. Hell, I'd only known her for an hour.

Then there was Julie. She was the defining example of a dumb blond. My friend, Bill Parks, wanted me to go out with his sister-in-law, Alicia. Alicia seemed nice enough, but she chewed gum all of the time. Jenny was on coke. Cindi had a weird laugh. Marj was too skinny.

Okay, so maybe it was me. I didn't want to date. I didn't want to have to date. I wanted sex, Oh God I wanted sex, but I didn't want to have to go through all of the contortions society makes a man go through to get it.

So, there I was, going through the checkout of a Pick-n-Save on a Friday evening, buying a six-pack of Miller, knowing I was going to be drinking it alone. The sales girl was a cutie, but much too young for me. In fact, I was surprised she was even allowed to sell beer. She teased me every Friday about my drinking habit and this Friday was no exception.

"I see you're still working on becoming an alcoholic, Mr. James," she said.

"Yeah, Linda, it's really getting bad. Last week I was out of beer by Wednesday."

She flashed me a smile and asked, "Will there be anything else?"

"Yeah, give me a quick pick on the lottery," I told her.

She rang up the purchase and I made my way home. I had stuck the ticket in my wallet with my change without even looking at the numbers.

I was listening to the evening news the following Thursday, sipping on my first beer when I heard the announcer say, "The winner of last week's $64 million lottery has still not come forward to claim his prize. That's right folks, one lucky winner got the whole bundle and he or she still hasn't claimed it."

"Nah," I thought. "Totally impossible. Still..."

I got the ticket out and looked at it. I didn't remember one of the damned numbers they'd flashed up on the screen, so I booted up my computer and went to the lottery web site. Did you ever have someone hit you in the stomach? Hard? Well, that's what I felt like. The numbers matched. Every damned one of them matched.

I must have checked those numbers ten times and every time they matched. I had no idea what to do next so I started scanning the web site. I'll have to say they have a good site. It told me where to go to claim my prize and everything I needed to know.

Okay, so I slept in. I figured I was going to be doing a lot of that from now on. I called in and told my boss I was going to be late getting to work. He didn't ask why and I didn't tell him. I took my shower and shaved and took off for the lottery office. After all of the bullshit was over, I found I'd be getting a little over $3 million each year for the next twenty years. I figured with a good tax accountant I could probably keep around $2 million of that.

The first thing I did after I got out of there was take the check they gave me down to my bank and deposit it. I filled out a deposit slip and took it and the check to a regular teller and told her I'd like to make a deposit. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw the amount.

They made a big fuss over me and asked if I'd like to open any other accounts. I told them I wanted to talk to a tax attorney first and I guess they saw the logic in that. I did keep out a chunk of walking around cash.

My next stop was at the Pick-n-Save. My flirty little checkout girl was working the counter, so I got in line. When it was my turn she looked at me and asked, "No beer today, Mr. James?"

"No, Linda, I just wanted to come by and tell you that the lottery ticket you sold me last week was a winner. I also wanted to give you this," I said as I counted a thousand dollars out on the counter.

Linda's mouth fell open and she said, "I can't take that Mr. James."

"Oh, yes you can, Linda. You've always been pleasant to me and I appreciate it. I won $64 million. The least I can do for the person who sold the ticket to me is give her a tip. You have a good day," I said with a smile as I walked out. Linda was still staring at the money.

My next stop was work. My boss was on the phone when I went in, but he waved me to a chair. When he got off the phone he started telling me about a new project he wanted me to head. I held up my hand and said, "Jim, I hate to tell you this, but I just came in to turn in my resignation."

"What? Ed, if it's a matter of money, I could probably get you a raise," Jim said.

"Well, actually, it is a matter of money," I told him. "I won the big lottery this past week. I just went in to collect it. I'll be getting a little over $3 million a year for the next twenty years. I just can't see working with that much money to play with."

"Damn... I can't say I blame you Ed. If I'd won that much money, I don't think I'd have even come in. I'd have just called and said fuck you," he said as he reached his hand to shake mine.

We kidded around for a few minutes then I went over and cleaned out my desk. I wondered if I'd miss the place, then decided there was no way. One thing I did miss though was my peace and quiet.

I called the attorney who had handled my divorce and he recommended a tax attorney. He even got me an appointment for that afternoon. I talked with the taxman for over an hour about how to handle the money so I would have to pay the least amount in taxes. I did tell him I wanted to buy a house or some property, so he figured that into how we should do things.

I spent the rest of the day enjoying my new wealth. I bought a car, well actually an SUV. I think that is mandatory. I also went out and had the best meal I had ever had. Then I went home to a ringing telephone.

Over the next couple of weeks I received phone calls from every known charity, and from some I think were made up for the occasion. I also received calls from every newspaper reporter, television reporter, and radio reporter in the state. I received calls from every single woman I had ever known and from several married ones just wanting to know "how I was doing?"

I finally had to have the damned phone turned off. Then, the women started just dropping by. They'd bring a casserole or a cake or a batch of cookies, "Because I know how it is for bachelors." Why didn't any of them think of that before I won the lottery?

Okay, so maybe I was paranoid. It just seemed like everyone wanted something from me. Some of them were even willing to trade, like the women who were willing to trade pussy for financial security. The problem was, I didn't want to buy pussy. I guess I was old fashioned. I wanted to fall in love with a woman and have her fall in love with me. I didn't want her falling in love with my money.

I met with a financial planner and an investment broker. They helped me lay out a strategy for investment. Even though the lottery payments would stop in twenty years, I knew I'd never have to work again in my lifetime. Between the lottery payments and the return on investments, there was just too much money coming in to even think about spending it all.

I spent nearly a month holed up in my house. I almost never went out and I didn't answer the door when someone knocked. I guess I was becoming a recluse. The problem was, I didn't want to be. I missed people. I missed having a drink with the guys from work and just shooting the shit.

So, I decided to get out of the state, where no one would know me. I packed up my SUV and took off one morning before 5:00 AM and headed east. I was away from San Francisco and on my way. By 8:30 AM I was in Reno.

I've always loved Reno. There are thousands of people there and not a single one gives a damn who you are. I got lost in the people. I'm not much of a gambler, but I did play the slots some. Over the next few days I took in a couple of shows and enjoyed eating in the different restaurants.

I guess I had spent too much time alone recently, because after a few days the throngs of people started to get to me. I felt the need to escape. I continued east, stopping mostly in small towns. This was better, but there was still something missing. I enjoyed talking with some of the oldtimers who hung out at the little cafes in the towns I stopped in, but I needed something more. I just didn't know what it was.

I was considering going back and holing up in my old house. Maybe I just needed more solitude before I was ready to face the world again. I was in a little town in western Kansas that morning, having breakfast, when I picked up a realestate brochure to read while I ate.

I was thumbing through the brochure when I saw it. There was an entire valley for sale in the Colorado mountains. "Wow," I thought. "Wouldn't that be something." I kept reading and found that there was a little over two thousand acres in the ranch. There was a ranch house and a bunkhouse along with various barns and outbuildings. It sounded a little too good to be true, but I decided to call the realtor anyway.

The realtor was a lady by the name of Missy Green. She worked out of an office in Denver and seemed to be very pleased to hear I was interested in the property. "How far is the ranch from Denver?" I asked.

"It's about fifty miles. There's a county road that runs right up to the property."

"Why are the people selling the place?"

"The man who owned it died about six months ago. Although his children were raised on the ranch, none of them want to go back there to live. His wife passed away a few years ago."

"I'd like to see the place," I said. "I'm in Kansas right now. Could I meet with you the day after tomorrow?"

"The day after tomorrow is a Sunday, Mr. James. Normally I wouldn't let that bother me, but it's my little girl's birthday and we're having a party for her. Could we meet on Monday instead?"

I assured her that would be fine and she gave me directions to her office. I hung up the phone feeling better than I had since I won the lottery.

Okay, let me say right up front that no matter what kind of mood I had been in, I would have still been captivated by the ranch. It was beautiful. The valley was wide. It was probably a mile or more across. There was a nice stream, maybe thirty feet across flowing through it. As I was driving across the bridge to the ranch house, a large trout cleared the water and went back down with a splash. I was sold right then.

The ranch house was made of logs. There were solid hardwood floors put together from boards that were five or six inches wide. The floors were so shiny you could see your reflection in them. There was a great room, when you entered that had to be thirty feet square. This room housed the living room, dining room and the kitchen. There were two bedrooms on the main floor and a huge sleeping loft. A nice, modern bathroom separated the two bedrooms on the main floor and there was a huge bathroom next to the sleeping loft.

It looked like the gutters might need a little work, but I couldn't see anything major wrong with the house. The electricity was still hooked up to it, so I tried out the water tap in the kitchen to see if the well pump was still working. It ran clean immediately, so I cupped my hands under the stream and took a big drink. It had to be the best tasting water I'd ever experienced.

I was smiling as we walked out to check out the bunkhouse. It was clean and neat, but fairly Spartan. The barns and outbuildings were in good repair and well taken care of.

We talked about the water supply; it was a well. We talked about the electrical power; there was a backup generator. We talked about mineral rights and a hundred other things.

Finally, I asked, "Okay, Ms. Green, I know the asking price in the brochure was $650,000. What is the minimum they'd take?"

"Well, I don't know, Mr. James. First off, it might be a little hard to get financing on this place because it is so remote. If you have financing, up front, they might take a little less. If it is a long drawn out process, they won't."

"Ms. Green, I'm talking cash, as soon as I can be shown a clear title to the place."

"Oh, in that case, you could probably get it for as low as $550,000. The title is no problem. They already had a title search done and have agreed to title insurance as well."

"Okay, write up an offer for $550,000, for immediate occupancy. Be sure the offer states that I want all of the mineral rights."

Missy Green was smiling from ear to ear as we got back into the car. "You know, Mr. James, the ranch is going to be totally cut off in the winter. The county might snow plow the county road once a month. From where the county road ends and yours begins, you're on your own."

"Thank you for being so honest, Ms. Green. I had kind of figured that out for myself. I think I'll also be looking for something on the well-maintained section of the road. Something with a large garage or pole barn."

"I'll look into it for you, if you're interested. I'd assume you'd want something as close to the ranch as possible, but still on the maintained area of the road."

"Yes, it could be just a piece of land. I could always have a garage built. I won't need it until the end of summer, but I'd take it as soon as you found it."

We drove on back into town. She wrote up the offer and I signed it. I told her I'd be at the Radison until I heard from her, and then I went to get some dinner.

I had a million plans running through my mind as I ate my Surf and Turf. I knew I'd want to get a good 4-wheel drive vehicle of some kind and I'd want a couple of snowmobiles. I'd do some research during the summer to see if there was anything that would work out better.

I had noticed a stock gate across the road at the edge of the property. I decided I wanted to put in a better gate and some chain link fencing to make things a little more private. I'd ask Ms. Green who I might get to do the fencing after my offer was accepted.

Things went a lot more smoothly than I thought they would and I was living in the ranch house within a week. Two weeks after that and I had a new gate across the road. I had the contractor run 8' chain link fence for a hundred yards on either side of the gate. The ends of the chain link were out of sight of the road.

I bought all new furniture for the house and had it delivered shortly after I moved in. I also bought two large chest type freezers and had them put in the bunkhouse. I had the electricity put into my name and had the phone connected with an unlisted number. Then I arranged with a satellite company for satellite TV and Internet access. I didn't expect I'd watch a lot of TV, but I wanted it if I should decide to indulge myself.

I stocked the pantry with every type of canned goods imaginable and filled the freezers with beef, pork, chicken, frozen veggies and frozen juices. I didn't touch any of the frozen stuff, but made regular trips to the grocery store instead during the summer and fall. I wanted the frozen stuff for winter, which was now coming on.

I was cleaning out the gutters on the house one day and repairing a couple of sagging areas when I met Jethro. I looked out across the yard and saw this disreputable excuse for a dog making his way slowly toward me. He was huge, with a shaggy, yellowish-brown coat and soulful brown eyes. His head and tail were hanging down and he looked like he was on his last legs.

I got down from the ladder and walked toward him. At first, I don't think he even saw me. When he did, his head came up and he gave his tail a little wag. I walked to within about ten feet of him then got down on my knees. He increased his speed slightly, but you could tell it was an effort. When he got to me he tried to lick my face, but I held him off while I looked him over.

I couldn't find any injuries, but he was foot-sore and malnourished. I invited him in the house, although he stunk to the high heavens, and cut up a porterhouse steak for him that I'd taken out for my dinner. He liked that just fine. I didn't want to over feed him, so I let it go at that for the time being.

Jethro went over to where sun was streaming in through the patio doors and went to sleep. He slept all afternoon. Why did I name him Jethro? I'll be damned if I know. He just looked like a Jethro. I gave him a bath that afternoon.

I fried up some hamburger and made some rice, then mixed them together for his supper. He ate like he'd never had a meal before. I made my new friend up a bed in the living room and went off to bed myself. I awoke in the middle of the night with a large not quite so smelly creature cuddled up to my backside.

I took Jethro to the vet in Denver the next day. The vet pretty much concurred with me, so I had him give Jethro all of his shots and check him for heartworm. The vet told me I should bring him back in six weeks for follow-up and boosters. Oh, well, the pooch had only cost me $200 so far. Then I hit the grocery store and stocked up on a winter's supply of dog food.

We got our first snows in October. They weren't very deep and they melted off fairly quickly. It was in the first week of November when we got our first big one. The television said we'd gotten around fourteen inches in the mountains, but I measured eighteen. The temperature dropped from the upper twenties just before the snow started to nearly zero within a few hours.

Jethro and I were snug and warm, without a care in the world, until Jethro started acting up. He started running to me then to the door then repeating the maneuver. I thought he just wanted out, so I opened the door for him.

Jethro ran outside, then turned and started barking at me. I started to close the door and he ran back to it. I opened the door for him and he ran away about fifty feet or so then stopped and started barking at me again. I had no idea what was going on, so I walked outside a few feet. Jethro ran another twenty feet, then stopped and started barking again.

"Okay, the furry idiot wants me to follow him," I thought. I went back inside and put on my heavy parka, gloves and boots. When I went back outside, he was still waiting. When I got nearly up to him, Jethro took off again, running another fifty feet or so, then stopping. He kept this up until I was a couple of hundred yards from the house. I was thinking about going back to the house and getting one of the snowmobiles when Jethro stopped and started pawing at a mound of snow.

When I got to where he was I could see that it was a person lying there. It was dark enough that I couldn't tell if it was a man, woman, or child. It looked small enough that I was betting on woman or child. I managed to get the person in a fireman's carry and started trudging back toward the house. Jethro was excited, bouncing back and forth like a puppy.

"It's easy for you to be excited, fuzzy face. I'm the one who has to carry the load," I told him. It didn't dampen his mood.

When I got my burden inside the house, I could see it was a young girl I'd brought back. She was wearing earmuffs, a medium weight jacket, and ski pants. She had tennis shoes on her feet, which had gotten wet and had frozen.

I tried to wake her up, but all she would do was moan. I knew I had to get her warm quickly and I knew her cold, wet clothes had to come off. I started with the shoes. The laces were frozen, so I used a knife to split the laces. I got her shoes and socks off and rubbed her feet for a couple of minutes before going on.

The earmuffs had done a fairly good job of protecting her ears, but I worried about the rest of her face. I chaffed her forehead and cheeks, letting the warmth of my hands warm her face. As I started removing her jacket, Jethro started licking her face. I almost stopped him, but decided it might be good for her.

I got the jacket off and found she had a short sleeved shirt on under it. I gave her arms a good rubdown, then tried to wake her again. She still wasn't responding, so I removed her shirt and ski pants.

I rolled her over on her stomach and started rubbing her back. I rubbed until there was a rosy glow to her skin, then moved down to do her legs. When I first saw the girl, I thought she was probably thirteen or fourteen. Now, I upped my estimate to fifteen or sixteen. She had the cutest little bubble butt sticking up, just begging to be caressed.

I was a gentleman. I ignored it. Well, I did look at it, but I didn't touch it. Anyway, I rubbed her legs one at a time until I got down to her feet, then rubbed them again. I rolled her over and repeated the process on her front side. Actually, I was pretty proud of myself for avoiding her naughty bits.

After the rubdown, her skin didn't feel that cold, so I figured she'd wake up shortly. I rolled her up in a blanket and laid her in front of the fireplace.

I decided to make some hot chocolate, more for myself than because I thought she might wake up. I had just poured myself a cup when I heard her groan. I took the cup with me and walked over by the fireplace. She was rolling around as if she was having a bad dream, so I set the cup on the hearth and gently shook her shoulder.

"Miss? Miss? Wake up Miss."

The girl's eyelids fluttered, then blinked open. Then she screamed.

Okay, so I know I'm not Brad Pitt. I'm not Lon Chaney either. I said, "You're okay, Miss. Jethro and I carried you in and warmed you up."

She looked at me suspiciously and I started laughing. "What are you laughing at, shit head?" she asked in a snotty voice.

"I'm laughing because the first time you saw me you screamed," I told her. "I didn't think I was that ugly."

"You're ugly enough, pervert. Where are my clothes?" She was glaring at me like I had stolen her teddy bear.

"Your clothes are in the dryer, Miss. Everything you had on was wet and some things had even frozen. They should be dry in another half-hour or so. Would you like some hot chocolate?" I asked, extending the cup to her.

She took the cup and mumbled thanks then she asked, "Where the fuck am I?"

I looked over at Jethro and asked, "Jethro, why couldn't you had found us a nice, sweet, innocent damsel in distress, instead of the Wicked Witch of the West?"

Jethro didn't answer.

"I asked you where the fuck we are," the girl said.

"I know you did, Miss, I don't answer questions that have the word fuck in them though."

The girl took a sip of her hot chocolate and glared at me. I went to the kitchen and got myself a cup. When I came back she asked, "Would you tell me where we are, please?"

"Much better," I said. "I'm Ed James and we are on my ranch. It's about fifty miles from Denver, in the mountains."

"Can you take me to Denver?"

"I'm afraid not, Miss. We are in the midst of a blizzard. If the snow doesn't melt, you may be here until spring."

"Oh fuck. You'd enjoy that, wouldn't you?"

"Not especially. I prefer my women to be a little more grown up. I don't like little girls who have to use profanity in every sentence to try to prove they're an adult."

"Fuck you!"

"No thanks."

"Huh?"

"You said fuck you and I was just letting you know I didn't want you to fuck me."

The girl didn't say anything for a couple of minutes, so I said, "There are two bedrooms downstairs. You can use either one of them. Both have locks on their doors. I sleep in the loft, upstairs. There is food in the kitchen. If you would like to get dressed and fix yourself something to eat, feel free. If you'd like to crash for the night, go ahead. If you'd like to get dressed and go back out in the snowstorm, you're welcome to do that too. I'm going to bed."

She didn't say anything else and neither did I. I got up and climbed the stairs to my bedroom. I put some Mozart on the stereo and turned the volume low, then removed my clothes and climbed into bed. I thought I'd have a hard time falling asleep, but I was out within minutes.

I awoke to sunlight coming through my skylight. Evidently the storm had blown itself out during the night. I went through my morning routine, showered and shaved. I got dressed and went down to make some coffee. I was surprised to find the girl already drinking a cup.

"Good morning," I said. "Did you sleep well?" I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down across the breakfast bar from her.

"Yes... Look, I'm sorry I was acting so badly last night. Thank you for bringing me in out of the snow."

"You're welcome, Miss. Would you mind telling me your name? I'm getting tired of calling you Miss."

"I'll tell you, but if you laugh or make a joke, the wicked witch will be back and I'll scratch your eyes out. It's Tina Tolliver."

"I think Tina is a very pretty name. So, tell me Tina, Why were you out in the middle of nowhere in the middle of a blizzard?"

Tina started crying softly. I didn't know if I should try to comfort her, or let her work it out for herself. She looked up before I could decide and said, "My parents died a week ago in a car accident. My uncle, who I hadn't seen since I was a little kid, came to Steamboat Springs to get me. He was supposed to take me to Denver to live with him and my aunt. When we got out in the middle of nowhere, he pulled off the side of the road and told me I could either give him a blowjob or I could walk to Denver. I jumped out of the car and ran into the woods."

"Tina, the closest highway to here has to be at least twelve or fifteen miles away. Did you walk all that way?"

"I guess I did. It was around ten o'clock yesterday morning when I ran away from him."

"My God! That's a hell of a feat in good weather. I'm amazed that you made it this far. Do you have any other relatives we should get in touch with?"

"No. Mom only had the one sister. Dad didn't have any siblings. I'm all alone except for my aunt and her pervert."

"I'm sorry, Tina. What would you like to do?"

"I just don't know, Ed. I was thinking last night I'd try to get to my aunt and tell her what her husband did, but now I'm not sure. Mom said her sister has pancreatic cancer and that she isn't going to live very long. If she died I'd be left with the pervert or placed in foster care."

"How old are you, Tina?"

"I'm fifteen. I'll be sixteen next month."

"If your aunt has pancreatic cancer, she isn't going to last two years, Tina. Were you close to her?"

"No, I don't remember seeing her more than a very few times in my life. The last time I saw her must have been five years ago. Mom and her exchanged phone calls a couple of times a month, but we didn't visit. I never knew why."

"How long ago did your Mom tell you about your aunt's cancer?"

"I'm not sure. It was several months ago though."

"Tina, I suspect your aunt is near death. That's probably why your uncle felt he could get away with what he did."

Tina started quietly crying again. I reached over and placed my hand on top of hers. "Don't worry, young lady. We'll work something out. For right now, I doubt you have anyone looking for you. You can stay here for as long as you like."

"Oh, Ed. I can't put you out like that. I don't have any money or any way to repay you."

"Don't worry about it, Tina. The only expense you're going to be is for a little food and some clothes. I'll get you into something on the Internet so that you can finish high school or at least get your GED."

"That would be so nice, Ed. Could I cook and clean for you to help pay my way?"

"You can do your share, Tina, but I like to cook, so I'll be doing at least some of that. As for cleaning, fuzzy face over there makes more of a mess than I do. If you want to help with the cleaning that would be fine, but don't get obsessive about it."