Your comments continue to humble and surprise me - thank you! I get terribly nervous as I post each chapter, so know that your kind reviews are so appreciated Same disclosures apply, and on to chapter 3. Caution: this chapter gets a little sapy, forgive me.

1 Hour Later

New York is even more beautiful from above, Lindsay mused as she looked out the window of the quickly ascending plane. Something about being suspended so high above the earth made her feel peaceful, as if she were floating along lazily in slow motion. It always amazed her, the physics of it. They were moving at several-hundred miles per hour, yet it felt as if they were drifting like a kite. There is a sense of serenity when the realization comes that a situation is out of one's control, whether it be the physical limitations of an airplane, or something more internal, more profound. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on surrendering, letting go. Maybe that would help her get through the next few weeks.

"Have you been to Montana before?"

The voice of her seatmate jarred Lindsay back to earth. The fifty-something woman beside her had kind hazel eyes, a pleasant demeanor, and coral lipstick that was far too bright for her complexion.

"I grew up there," Lindsay replied, recovering smoothly. "In Logan, just outside of Bozeman. That's where I'm headed today. How about you?"

"I'm flying into Bozeman, then driving to Kalispell. It's where I was born, but I haven't been back in years." The woman accepted a cup of coffee from the steward, blowing lightly on the scalding liquid. She introduced herself as Susan, and Lindsay was growing curious about her new companion. In the few words they had exchanged, she felt a kind of connection between them.

"What brings you back, after all this time?" Lindsay inquired. After she spoke, she hoped fervently the same question would not be asked of her.

Susan sighed. "What brings me back? To open a door I thought had been locked a long time ago." She appeared anxious, suddenly, and cocked an eyebrow at Lindsay. "You up for a long story?"

Lindsay grinned, relieved to have the burden of conversation lifted from her shoulders for now. "I've got about five hours, actually. Let's hear it."

As they sailed over the Ohio valley, Susan talked for nearly an hour, only stopping on occasion to sip her beverage. Growing up in Montana, she lived next door to her best friend, a red-headed, freckled boy named Jeff. They spent weekends playing in the creek and catching caterpillars in glass jars. As they grew into teenagers, their friendship turned into feelings that ran much deeper. But after several awkward make-out sessions in her father's Thunderbird, and a homecoming dance disaster, they decided that friends should best remain friends, nothing more. Though Susan continued to harbor romantic feelings, they went their separate ways to college, not meeting again until a twenty-year high school reunion. At that time, both were already married with families. Susan, a high school English teacher, was in New Jersey; Jeff was in Whitefish.

"Then several months ago, I Googled him," Susan confessed. "He works as a conservationist in Glacier National Park. So I got his email address from the site, and contacted him. I'm now divorced, and it turns out he is a widower. We started exchanging messages, and the sparks just flew… again. It turns out he thought of me every day of his life, just as I had of him. So, today I'll be seeing him for the first time in fifteen years, since the reunion."

Lindsay couldn't help smiling as she watched the lively woman recount her tale of lost-and-found romance. She knew those emotions: the flutter in the pit of your stomach, the euphoria, the way your breath caught when that someone special entered a room. She had experienced all of those feelings with Danny, and then some.

A sad haze drifted over Susan's face. "We've wasted so many years, you know, because we just couldn't be open and honest with each other. We were so afraid of rejection, so worried about what the other person might think. All this time, we could have been together." She waved her hand. "Still, I suppose we can't sit around pondering what might have been."

Lindsay bit her lip as the words washed over her. Fear of rejection, lack of openness? Those phrases certainly hit home, and she felt as though she had just seen her own face on a "Wanted" poster. These people had spent thirty-five years apart, longing for each other in secret. There was awe in the fact that love could last so long, yet grief that so much time was spent apart, wasted.

"I know that feeling… a little bit," Lindsay admitted, then began to explain. "I'm crazy about this guy back in New York. And I mean crazy. But until I deal with some things at home, I won't be ready for a relationship. I don't know if I trust him to wait for me, though. Patience has its limits. It's such a mess… a situation that could follow the path you've been on."

Susan reached over and lightly touched Lindsay elbow, looking her straight in the eye. "Don't let it get that far. Take it from someone who would give anything to buy back that time. Take what's yours. Don't let it slip away."

Lindsay frowned and gazed out the tiny window at the spun-sugar clouds that surrounded the plane like wads of cotton batting. "Unfortunately, this plane is headed in the wrong direction," she murmured.

Her new friend laughed softly. "Well, we can't make them turn around. But how long are you staying in Montana?"

"I'm not quite sure. A few weeks, probably."

Susan nodded affirmatively. "Well, when you get back, you know what to do." She patted Lindsay's arm. "I hope I'm not being too forward, but not everyone is lucky enough to get a second chance like I'm getting. Get to him before that door locks."

Lindsay nodded, and the two women shared a smile before settling back into their seats in silence. After hearing Susan's story, Lindsay felt a new sense of resolve. Everything would be okay – she would get to Montana, do what she had to do, then get back to Danny. And finally move on with her life - a life she would share with him. She had to stay determined, and keep a positive mindset.

When another hour passed, she shifted to study her seatmate once again.

"Do you feel ready?" she asked. "After so many years, do you think it will be hard to pick up the pieces and love again?"

Susan shrugged. "We were apart for a long time. But what's distance to two people in love? What's time? Nothing can stop two hearts meant to be together."

Up next: 1 Day Later