It was the end of a long few weeks, the killer cabbie had finally been found and things were beginning to settle down a little. The team were both mentally and physically exhausted and so Mac called in a relief team and gave his team 4 days off. Danny was just clearing the last of his things out of his locker, gym clothes that needed washing, half eaten sandwiches that needed throwing away, when he found the note, stuck to the inside of his locker door.
Danny,
"Meet me in Montana" You'll know where to find me.
Linds
He smiled to himself, next to the note was a plane ticket to Bozeman, Lindsay's hometown. Danny looked at the depature time, 8.15pm. It was 5.30, Danny left the crime lab and headed straight home where he threw some clothes into an overnight bag, grabbed his passport and headed to the airport.
In Bozeman Lindsay stepped off a plane and breathed in the Montana air. A smile erupted over her face as she thought about what she had done. Hours earlier when Mac had informed the team that the next 4 days were theirs she asked finished up a report and headed to the nearest travel office to get two air tickets. One for her for the next flight out and one a little later for Danny. She had gone to the airport with nothing more than her purse and her passport. She gave her folks a quick call to tell them she was on her way home and then got on the plane. After a 7 and a half hour flight with one stopover Lindsay was walking through the terminal to meet her mom, praying that Danny would come and meet her.
Danny was sat at the airport gate re-reading Lindsay's note, trying desperately to work out what she had meant when she had said he'd know where to find her and then a thought crossed his mind. He pulled out his iPod and turned it on. He browsed through his tracks until he found the one he was looking for. He skipped it forward to the chorus and allowed it to play.
Won't you meet me in Montana,
I want to see the mountains in your eyes,
Oh! Oh! I've had all of this life I can handle,
Meet me underneath that big Montana sky.
Danny smiled to himself as he thought about the first time he and Lindsay had heard the song. They had gone to an open mic evening at one of their favourite bars. They were chilling out, just sat at one of the tables, drinking their beers when someone got up and began to sing the song. Danny had grinned as he listened to the chorus.
"It's your song, Montana." Danny whispered.
"Funny." Lindsay replied as she hit him gently on the arm.
Danny had gone home that night and downloaded the song and stuck it on his iPod right away. Whenever the song would play he would think back to that night, the two of them together, before Reuben had died, before things had gone so wrong. Now he was determined to make things right, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a small blue jewellery box, he sat running his finger over it for a while and then he heard his flight being called for boarding. He placed it back into his pocket, grabbed his rucksack and made his way through the gate and onto the plane.
"Well this is a surprise." Lindsay's mom said as she embraced her daughter.
"Well, I have four days off, figure there's nowhere better to spend them." Lindsay answered.
"Everyone's so excited to see you." Her mom replied.
They got into the family truck and they began the ride back to the farm that Lindsay had grown up on. As she sat in the truck Lindsay reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone, she wasn't sure why, it was just a habit, checking for voicemails and texts from work. A part of her was hoping that there was some kind of message from Danny telling her that he was on his way to Montana. But there was nothing from Danny, nothing from anyone at all.
"Linds, there won't be any messages on there for 4 days." Her mom said smiling at her daughter.
"I know, it just seems weird to not have any." she said trying to hide her disappointment at the fact that there was no message from Danny.
"So come on, tell me everything, met anyone special, what's going on in your life?" Her mom asked her.
"Everything's good. I'm just about to move into a bigger apartment, works pretty good." Lindsay said.
"What ever happened to lovely young man, you know the one who came over when you were giving evidence?" Her mom questioned.
"He's still around, but we're not together, stuff happened, we drifted apart." she answered with a hint of regret in her voice.
"Well, we're almost home now. No need to worry about New York for 4 days." Her mom replied.
Lindsay suppressed a giggle as she thought of what she had done and that Danny might just be on a plane on his way to her at that very moment.
On a plane Danny sat nervously thinking about Lindsay and what awaited him in Bozeman. Their whole future would be decided against a backdrop of mountains. Up until now adreneline had been spurring him on and now 1 hour away from his destination the logical part of his brain had begun taking over. He knew that he wanted to be with Lindsay for the rest of his life, he knew that she was the only woman he had ever truly loved in his life but he still couldn't help but wonder whether he had done right thing by getting on the plane. Danny sighed and tried clearing his mind of all the negative thoughts. There had been too much of that lately he thought to himself, now the future had to be more bright, more hopeful.
Lindsay and her mom turned into the dirt track that signalled the beginning of their small farm. The drove up in silence, Lindsay's thoughts had turned to Danny, wondering if he was on his way to her. She barely noticed the truck grinding to a halt outside the house.
"Lindsay, come on." her mom said getting out of the truck.
Lindsay got out and followed her mom into the house. They were greeted by her Father, younger brother and her uncle who were all very excited to see her. The family had much to talk about and over dinner they did just that, they laughed about the funny things that had happened to them since they had last spoken, they discussed the latest news, politics, Lindsay gave them the latest news in her life. After dinner the sat and played cards like they had done when Lindsay was in her teens, Lindsay had left her cell on the table and every so often would look at it, waiting for Danny's call.
"So what's going on?" Lindsay's mom asked about an hour.
"With?" Lindsay answered.
"Your cell. You are waiting for a call." Her mom replied.
Lindsay grimaced slightly then spoke,
"Danny, that guy we were talking about in the truck. I left him an air ticket and a note, telling him to meet me here. I'm hoping he'll come. Hoping there's still a chance for us." she said with a tear running down her cheek. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I should head to bed." She said standing up. Lindsay walked up the stairs and to her old bedroom pushing the door open slightly she smiled, her mom had placed her favourite duvet on the bed and put Henry, her faithful teddy bear on the pillow. She walked over to the wardrobe and opened it, she grabbed a nightie and put it on before climbing into her bed and falling to sleep right away.
"We have just touched down in Bozeman, we'd like to thank you for travelling with us and wish you a safe onward trip, wherever you are heading." The chiming voice of the air hostess said via the tannoy system. Danny listened as she went through the landing procedures, her chiming voice droned on as the plane taxied along to the walkway. All Danny wanted to hear was Lindsay's voice, all he wanted to see was Lindsay's smiling face. It had been a ling trip and now he was almost at his final destination.
The morning sun flooded Lindsay's bedroom, as she stirred slightly. She was about to roll over and go back to sleep when her cell rang, she shot out of bed and answered it immediately.
"Hello." she said.
"Won't you meet me in Montana, I want to see the mountains in your eyes, Oh! Oh! I've had all of this life I can handle, meet me underneath that big Montana sky." Danny's voice sang down the phone.
"Where are you?" Lindsay asked him.
"Outside, watching the sunrise." he said.
"I'll be right down." she said as she hung up.
She ran down the stairs and with a smile on her face ran past her mom, her mother giggled knowing that there was only one reason why her daughter would be smiling. Lindsay ran outside and looked for Danny, she found him standing by the fence looking at the sun rising up from the mountains.
"Hey." She whispered as she stood next to him.
"Hi." He answered.
"I'm glad you came." she said.
"It's beautiful, Lindsay, it's just..." he began.
"Shhh... Just watch it with me." She said.
"No, cos I didn't come here all the way to watch this, there's something I need to do first." he said turning to face her. Reaching into his pocket he began to speak,
"Lindsay Monroe. Montana, you've been the one constant in my life since we met, you've always been there. I know I've not been the nicest guy to be around lately but I love you with all my heart, and I'm hoping that you'll forgive me enough to answer this question." he said as he lifted the jewellery box out of his pocket and opened it. He got down on one knee and spoke, "Will you, Lindsay Monroe, Marry me?" he said.
Lindsay looked at him, the one man that he had ever truly loved and smiled.
"Yes, yes of course I will. Danny I love you so much." she said.
Danny stood up and placed the diamond ring on her finger before pulling her into a kiss. As they parted, just for a moment they could see mountains in each others eyes. They smiled at each other and then turned to face the mountains and the sun rising on a new day and a new future for the two of them.
