The Shanghai Clipper, an Asian fusion restaurant with a modern decor, was on the second floor of an office tower a few blocks from the Reed, Briggs offices. Large windows looked down on a section of the Park Blocks, a row of parks that started at Portland State University and stretched from north to south through the city with only a few interruptions. Brad and Ginny found a table in a dark corner of the bar next to a window and ordered beers and a few appetizers.

“Alone at last,” Ginny said.

“It is good to get out of the office.”

“You’ve got to watch yourself, pardner. A little overtime is okay, but you don’t want to court a nervous breakdown.”

“Is this advice of the ‘do as I say, not as I do’ variety? You worked as late as I did.”

“Touché.”

“Besides, it doesn’t much matter whether I’m at home or the office.”

“Whoa, you’re not feeling sorry for yourself, are you?”

“Actually, I am. Today is the anniversary of a really rotten event.”

The waiter appeared and placed between the lawyers two cold bottles of Widmer Hefeweizen, a selection of sushi, and a plate of fried won tons with a dipping sauce. When he left, Ginny cocked her head to one side and studied Brad for a moment. Then she closed her eyes, tipped her head back, and placed her fingertips on her forehead.

“I am seeing an image of a woman,” she said in a fake Hungarian accent.

Brad sighed. “It’s that obvious, huh?”

“When a guy is morose it’s usually a safe bet that a woman is the cause.”

“You got me.”

“Want to talk about it? I’m a good listener.”

“Yeah, sure, why not bore you with my tale of woe. Once upon a time I was madly in love with Bridget Malloy. She was-is still I guess-the girl of my dreams. She’s smart and beautiful and she accepted my marriage proposal the third time I made it.”

“Uh-oh.”

“Yeah, I know, I should have taken no for an answer the first time, or at least the second time, but I can’t think straight where Bridget is concerned.”

“This story has to have an unhappy ending.”

“It does. We were going to be married after I graduated from law school. The hotel was rented, the save-the-dates sent off, the wedding planner hired. Then Bridget asked me to meet her for drinks in the restaurant where I’d proposed for the second time.”

Ginny put her hand in front of her eyes. “I can’t look.”

Brad laughed bitterly. “You’ve obviously figured out the punch line to this sorry joke. Bridget told me that she couldn’t go through with the wedding. I think she said something about me being a great guy who was sure to find someone more worthy and something else about not being ready to settle down, but I can’t really be certain. After Bridget dropped her bombshell the rest of the evening is a blur.”

“I’m guessing you didn’t handle this well.”

“Nope. At least not right away. I spent the next two days drunk or in bed. I was in really bad shape. But then the clouds cleared, the sun came out, and I had an epiphany. Bridget said she was too young to settle down and I decided she was right and that maybe I was too young, too.

“Before Bridget backed out of the marriage, we’d planned to live in my apartment in the city. I was on my third callback to four Manhattan law firms and I was going to take the best job offer and work my way up to partner while Bridget completed her masters of fine arts and pursued her dream of being a writer. We’d have a child or two and move to the suburbs where we’d both grown up. There was a large home in a wealthy area of the North Shore and a country club membership somewhere in the plan. Then middle age and retirement after the kids were finished with grad school. It was all very tidy and awfully similar to the lives our parents had lived.

“After I sobered up I looked back over my life. I’d gone to high school in Westbury, Long Island, and college at Hofstra, also on Long Island and not too far from home. Except for a trip to Europe with my folks and a trip to the Continent on my own after college, I’d spent most of my life on the East Coast of the United States. Now that I wasn’t on the marriage-career track anymore I asked myself why I should stay in Manhattan when there was a whole world out there. So, I went online and scoped out firms in Colorado, California, Oregon, and Washington state. When Reed, Briggs asked me to interview, I flew west and returned with a job offer. And here I am.”

“But you’re not completely over Bridget yet?”

“I am a good part of the time. Most of what I see in Portland doesn’t remind me of her. That helps. But every once in a while I’ll hear her favorite song on the radio or an old movie we watched together shows up on TV and it all comes back.”

“And there’s this anniversary.”

“Yup.”

“Is that why you buried yourself under Clarence Little’s files?”

“ Reading about the case helped me forget.”

“Until I pulled the scab off your wound. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It helped to talk about it. Getting it off my chest is better than holding everything in.”

“Glad I could help, then.”

“What about you, any tragic love affairs in your past?”

Ginny took a swig of her beer before answering. “I’m not sure.”

“And that means…”

“I do have a boyfriend. He’s in med school in Philadelphia.”

“That’s pretty far away.”

“Yes it is. We’re taking a break from each other to see if absence makes the heart grow fonder.”

“At your suggestion or his?”

“My, aren’t you getting personal.”

“I spilled my guts. You can spill yours.”

“It’s sort of mutual. I mean, he proposed it, but I didn’t fight very hard.”

“How long have you been going out?”

“Freshman year of college.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Yeah, but people change. Besides, that’s seven years of togetherness. Seven years is when the seven-year itch kicks in for married folk. There must be a reason for that, don’t you think?”

“So you’re in Portland to see if you miss him?”

She picked up her beer bottle and nodded.

“And…?”

Ginny shrugged. “I’m not certain. We talk on the phone a lot, and that’s nice. But I think he’s seeing someone.”

“Oh?”

She shrugged. “Matt’s a lousy liar. What bothers me is that I don’t care. I think I’m relieved, actually. Maybe he was right and we need to move on.” She sighed. “Time will tell. Tune in next week.”

Brad smiled. “We’re two pathetic losers, huh?”

“Speak for yourself, Bud. I see myself as someone on the verge of a new adventure in living.” She looked at her watch. “I also see that it’s way past my bedtime.”

Brad started to reach for the bill but Ginny beat him to it. “You bought the greasy pizza. This is my treat. You can get it next time.”

“Deal,” Brad said, knowing that Ginny was too strong-minded to back down and happy that she was thinking that there’d be a next time.