Squire Wilson's Saga

I've taken risks before in my life - I can do it again.

Yeah, like changing professions in mid-career. That was a big risk and it didn't pay off, did it?

But that failed for reasons outside my control.

Maybe so, but the gamble still failed. And what about starting my own law practice? That was another big risk, and it didn't pay off either.

That's true. I knew the odds were against me, but I was too stubborn to admit it. That one was all on me.

But not every gamble I took failed. When I stumbled on Rene's little scheme to frame me for adultery, I gambled on turning the tables on her. That paid off big time.

Yeah, but I was damned lucky.

Who says luck can't be good some times? Confronting Baker took balls, but I went for it and hit the jackpot. So why not roll the dice one more time, especially for something this important?

I made my decision and went to my car.

I was waiting near the ticketing area of Houston Hobby, standing on the terrazzo design from the old airport. As I looked around anxiously, a feminine voice called out, "Robert, is that you?"

I turned to see Mary Margaret Olson hurrying down the concourse toward me as fast as her tight skirt would permit. "I'm so glad I ran into you," she breathed when she came up to my side and grabbed my arm. She glanced down at my rolling bag. "Are you headed out of town?"

I nodded. "Yep, I've pretty well wound up everything here, and I'm off for an extended vacation."

"Good for you - everyone needs to get away once in a while. I wouldn't mind doing that myself."

I wasn't sure if she was hinting, so I kept silent.

"I was sorry to hear about you and Rene," she went on. Her expression didn't display any sorrow.

"Don't be - it was for the best, I assure you."

"I understand," she nodded. She glanced away momentarily. "You know, she told me she was cheating on you."

"Oh really?" I thought about that for a moment. "Was that before or after you and I had lunch together?"

Now she was embarrassed. "Before."

"Why didn't you warn me?"

She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. "I couldn't do that - she's my best friend."

"I thought I was your friend too."

She hesitated at my tone, then went on. "I talked with her a couple of weeks ago."

I couldn't help myself. "So, how's she doing?"

"Not well. No law firm in the city will hire her, so she's decided to move back home to McAllen and go into practice for herself."

I didn't say a word; the expression on Mary Margaret's face told me she was well aware of the irony. But I was still thinking about our little get-together during the summer. "Tell me something, Mary Margaret: why did you want to have lunch with me?"

Her smile grew coy. "I've always liked you, Robert. I figured if you and Rene weren't going to make it, I'd toss my hat into the ring early." She looked down at my bag. "You know, I could probably change my travel plans if you'd like a little company."

I stared at her coldly. "Sorry, I've already asked someone who's more concerned about my welfare."

She winced, but before she could say anything, I looked up. "In fact, here she comes now."

Mary Margaret looked where I was pointing and her eyes widened. "Oh!"

She was striding across the concourse. When she spotted me, she dropped her bag and took off running. A moment later she threw her arms around me so tightly it was hard to breathe. "Squire," she squealed happily. Then she kissed me and I didn't care about breathing. As I held her, one thought kept running through my mind: Thank God I went for it.

When I'd finally decided to take the gamble, I'd grabbed my car keys and driven to the University of Houston. It had been several years, but I still remembered the way.

Yet even as I headed northwest on I45, I was still dealing with my insecurity. What makes you think she's interested in you anyway? She never said anything, and she hasn't tried to contact you since she went back to law school. Besides, she's probably got a boyfriend. Even if she doesn't, you're almost ten years older. Why would she want you?

Despite my anxiety, I exited the interstate onto Elgin, drove under the Alvin Freeway and found a place near the Law Center to park. Then I walked nervously in the main entrance and asked the first student I ran into if she knew Madison Armstrong. "Everybody knows Maddy," she told me. "Right now she's probably in her Legal Writing class. She usually goes to the Commons, after that. If you wait for her there, you'll probably see her."

I found the Commons and took a seat, watching the young lawyers-to-be milling about, chatting, checking their phones or ordering foot-longs from the little Subway in one corner of the room. As I sat there, I gradually became aware that I was drawing furtive glances, and I began to get a little paranoid. What's going on? Do I look a stalker or something? Is my fly unzipped?

As I grew increasingly uneasy, a young woman abruptly marched up to me. "Are you Squire?" she demanded.

"Uh, no, I mean yes, that is . . ."

She crossed her arms and glared at me, then turned on her heel and stalked off before I could say anything else. What the hell was that all about?

The room began to fill with more students, and many of them now lined the walls. They seemed to be watching me, and I seriously considered making a break for the exit.

Suddenly there was a ripple in the crowd as the people at the end of the room stepped aside. Then Maddy walked into the room and hesitantly approached me. She looked terrible: her hair was limp, she had bags under her eyes and her clothes seemed to hang on her. When I stood up and took a step in her direction, she shrank back, almost as if in fear.

I didn't want to hold a conversation in front of an audience, but it looked like I had no choice. Before I could speak, however, she asked, "What are you doing here, Squire?" in a voice so low I could scarcely hear her.

"Maddy, Rene and I are divorced now. We've sold our house and I'm planning to leave town. But I wanted to see you before I go."

A collective gasp arose from the students watching us, and then an angry buzz filled the room. Tears began to run down Maddy's face. I'm doing this all wrong, I thought.

"You don't understand, Maddy. I saw Baker and negotiated a settlement with him. I can't really talk about that, but I've closed my law office now."

She wrapped her arms around her torso, protecting herself from what was to come.

Why didn't I plan out what I wanted to say?, I berated myself.

"I know I'm doing this all wrong, but what I'm trying to ask is, well, is there any way you could go with me?"

"What?" she asked in a small voice.

I shook my head in desperation. "I know it's crazy, but what I'm trying to ask is, could we go away together, you and me?" I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. "I've been so miserable ever since you left, and I just thought that maybe . . ."

She whispered something I couldn't understand

I stared at her uncertainly. "What did you say?"

"Yes, Squire, I said yes," she said loudly, and then she was in my arms kissing me, and I heard a roaring in my ears. She pulled back enough to look up at me. "I thought I was never going to see you again, and it was killing me."

The roaring sound was still there, and it was hard to hear her. I looked around and realized that the students were all cheering and clapping.

"I was afraid you'd changed your mind," I said, holding her there in the airport.

"Are you kidding? I've been totally miserable ever since I started back to law school. My grades went to hell; I lost weight - everybody in my class knew what was wrong." She looked up at me with shining eyes. "Then, when somebody told me you were waiting in the Commons, I thought I was dreaming, but I didn't know if it was a good dream or a nightmare. When you asked me to come with you, I knew my good dream had come true."

"I've been miserable too, Maddy, and I couldn't figure out why. At first I thought it was the divorce and all the crap that went with that. But I finally realized how much I was missing you in my life."

"Well it was about time!" she scolded in mock seriousness before kissing me again.

Mary Margaret had been watching us with a crestfallen expression, and now she cleared her throat to get my attention. "Well, it looks like I'm the third wheel here. Good luck, Robert," she said huskily before hurrying away.

Maddy pulled back a little to watch her go, then looked at me side-eyed. "Who was that?"

I grinned at her. "Don't you remember? That was Mary Margaret Olson, Rene's best friend. She came to have lunch with me during the summer."

"Oh, yeah, I remember her now: Miss Hungry Eyes." She looked at me suspiciously. "What was she doing here?"

"Don't be jealous - she just happened to run into me. And don't worry, I made it very clear that I have no interest in her."

Maddy grabbed my arm and pulled me tight to her side. "Good - and don't you forget it."

"But before she left, she did tell me some interesting news about my ex-wife. After she got fired at Baker, Norton, no law firm in town would hire her. So Mary Margaret said Rene's moving back to her home town to hang out her shingle and go into practice for herself."

Maddy laughed. "Wow, talk about karma. Well, it serves her right after what she tried to do to you."

Suddenly she let go of my arm and pulled away in alarm. "My bag, I left my bag back there!" I laughed as she ran gracefully back down the concourse to retrieve it. Definitely an athlete, I thought happily. Then, arm in arm, we set off toward our gate.

As we neared the check-in counter, I reached into my pocket to hand Maddy's ticket to her. That reminded me. "I've got a couple of other things for you," I told her, and handed her a check.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Those are your back wages for this summer."

She looked at it, then back at me in confusion. "Squire, you don't owe me anything for this summer. I agreed to work for nothing."

"I couldn't afford to pay you last summer, but I definitely can now, so it would be wrong not to do that." Then I handed her the second check, and her eyes went wide when she saw the amount.

"I don't understand - what is this for?"

"You told me you were going to tap into your student loans so you could work for me. Well, this should be enough to pay off your law school debt."

She stared at me with confusion, then her voice grew angry. "Wait a minute, are you trying to buy me? I didn't agree to come with you because I wanted money."

I led her over to a couple of empty seats and sat down with her. "You took a leave from law school to come with me. The least I can do is fix it so you're not saddled with a bunch of student loans."

She started to protest, but I put my fingers to her lips. "Listen, Maddy, all I want is for us to be happy together, to enjoy each other without any worries. I'm not trying to buy you, Maddy, I'm just trying to buy a little peace of mind for the both us, that's all."

"But where did all this money come from?"

"Remember I told you I negotiated a settlement with old man Baker the day you came to say goodbye? Well, it was a very good settlement."

"How good?"

I lowered my voice. "Between you and me, I got $5 million tax-free in exchange for not suing the firm and publicly embarrassing them."

Her mouth dropped open.

"You can't say anything to anyone because I signed a non-disclosure agreement. But I can definitely afford to give you those checks, and we can enjoy ourselves together for a long time without having to worry about money."

She looked at me a moment longer, then her frown vanished and she hugged me again. "That's all I want too, Squire: to be with you." She looked a little embarrassed. "Actually, I've wanted that for a long time. You know, I think I started falling for you the first week I began working at your firm."

"I didn't realize it at first, but I began having feelings for you too. I kept trying to resist because of Rene." I grinned. "I guess that problem took care of itself."

She kissed me again, and we sat there with our arms around each other until I glanced at the time. Hand in hand we walked up to check-in. The flight attendant on counter duty was smiling as she marked us off her list. "You two love-birds should be able to start boarding in just a few minutes," she told us.

As we stood there waiting, Maddy looked at me curiously. "You told me about Rene, but whatever happened with Hofmeister. Do you know anything about him?"

"As a matter of fact I do. After my divorce was final, I had to contact old man Baker to make arrangements for the firm's check to be deposited in my account. When I did, I asked him about Vance. Frankly, I think he wanted to tell someone what he'd done with Hofmeister. Anyway, he said he has Vance doing research for the firm in the Aleutian Islands. He also said he plans to bring the guy home when it's time for his wife to deliver their baby. But once mother and child are safely out of the hospital, Hofmeister will be off to his next assignment: in Kazakhstan, up near the Siberian border."

Maddy shuddered. "Wow - that is one vindictive old man, not that I feel sorry for Hofmeister."

Just then the PA system announced our flight was ready to board, and Maddy and I started down the ramp together. The steward led us to our seats in first class and stowed our bags. Then he brought us each a glass of champagne as we waited for the other passengers to board.

Maddy took a sip and sighed. "I could get used to traveling like this - as long as you're sitting beside me." Then she leaned over the armrest and put her head on my shoulder. Seeing her so happy made me feel better about my life than at any time in years.

Then she looked up at me with an expression I couldn't interpret. "You didn't mention Amber - whatever happened to her?"

"Well, because she helped us so much, as part of my settlement I got Baker to agree not to fire her. And he kept his word - she's still working for the firm, but they're keeping a tight leash on her."

Maddy gave me that funny look again. "You know, if you were going to ask anyone to go away with you like this, I'd have thought it would be her. I mean, she's so gorgeous and everything."

I shook my head and smiled. "Maddy, you're the one who makes me happy, not Amber. And unlike her, you're beautiful on the inside as well as the outside."

She hugged me fiercely again. "Good answer, Squire."

"Besides," I added, "Baker told me something very interesting about Amber."

"Like what?"

"You know how she took that money so her sister could have an operation?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Baker told me Amber doesn't have a sister and she never repaid the money!"

I put my arm around Maddy's shoulder and we walked down to the water's edge. "This is why I wanted to come to Costa Rica."

"It's beautiful - I'm so glad we're here."

"But it wouldn't be half so nice if you weren't here with me, Maddy."

She pulled me even tighter and rested her head on my shoulder. We stood there in silence, watching the sun disappear in the Pacific. Then she shyly looked up at me.

"You remember the stuff we saw on that video back in Houston, Squire? Can we go back to the villa and try some of that.