wasn’t surprised at how much it had changed. Over the years, he’d been aware that it was often one of the fastest growing cities in the state—rivaling the Whitefish area.
Driving down Main Street, he was flooded with memories from the time he’d spent here in his youth. Blanketed in the latest snow and decorated for the holidays, downtown looked as it always had. The light on the Baxter Hotel was blinking, signaling that there was fresh snow at Bridger Bowl. He thought of all the days when he should have been in class during the winter when he’d been up on that hill enjoying the powder.
To be young again, he thought, catching a glimpse of his graying hair in the rearview mirror. Where had the years gone? He sighed, knowing that his melancholy was due to hearing from an old love recently. She’d proven to him that anyone could have a broken heart and at any age. Unfortunately, it had put him into a what-if-I’d-done-things-differently mood, one he was tiring of quickly.
Not one to spend time looking back, he parked in front of one of the stately brick buildings along Main Street and climbed out. He knew that Charlie Farmington lived just a few blocks from here, but he assured himself that Shep would get to the bottom of her problem. If needed, WT would assist, but he wasn’t in town because of Charlie. She was in good hands. He on the other hand was in uncharted waters.
The envelope with its cryptic note was in the breast pocket of his coat as he crossed the icy sidewalk and entered the building. A short elevator ride to the fifth floor and he was standing at the closed door to Judge Margaret Kane’s office. He’d come this far and yet he hesitated.
“You going to stand there all day?” A woman’s voice came from behind him, making him start. He turned to see a slim, petite woman with a head of shoulder-length, wiry red hair streaked with gray. Her big blue eyes had tiny laugh wrinkles around them.
“Hello, Meg.”
She broke into a radiant smile that made him feel as if the sun had just come out. “It’s been a long time.”
“Too long.” He’d had his doubts about coming here, but was now glad that he had.
“Come in, Billy,” she said, stepping past him to open the door.
He followed her in. The office was like the woman, startling in its contrasts. The furnishings were eclectic; a blend of old and new, polished wood, glass and chrome dotted with soft, comfortable chairs and a couch in bold colors. Like the woman, it felt comfortable.
She waved him into one of the overstuffed chairs and busied herself removing her coat and boots. He’d forgotten how small she was because her personality was so large.
“I wasn’t sure you would come,” she said, shooting a look at him. “I’m glad you did.”
“Me, too.” He reached into his pocket and brought out the envelope. “Your note was...intriguing.”
She smiled as she put on a pair of black high heels and smoothed down her suit skirt. Like him, she’d retired but still did pro bono work and mentored youth in a program much like the one he started years ago.
“Coffee? You still take yours black?”
He nodded and she pressed a button on her desk phone. “Two coffees, both black. Thanks.” She disconnected and instead of taking her chair behind her desk, sat down in the opposite overstuffed chair and folded her legs at the ankles. She’d always had great legs. That, too, he noticed hadn’t changed.
“I was sorry to hear about Hal,” he said, remembering his manners. He’d met Meg at law school in Missoula. She’d already been married to Hal by then. Her husband had been older than her, a professor she’d met as an undergraduate.
“I got your card. Thank you. It’s been over a year now.” She settled that blue gaze on him. “You never married.”
He shook his head, rather than say that the right woman had never come along. He suspected she had, but she’d already been married.
“It’s not too late,” she said with a grin as she rose to answer a knock at the door. He laughed. She came back with two cups of coffee, handing him one and settling back into her chair.
“Is that what this is about?” he asked, holding up the envelope. Inside was the note written in her beautiful sweeping script: Remember the promise I made you? That’s all it had said. She’d signed