It's Never too Late

“Absolutely not. Strictly compassion. The girl came from a rotten home and really showed potential. Sheffield believed in her right up until she threatened his wife and children. He’s a great guy. I hope you get a chance to get to know him while you’re here in town.” She nodded, but she had to get to the point of why she’d summoned him. “I’d like to leave town, actually,” she told the sheriff. “But we’ll get to that in a second. We’ve got another problem.”

“What? Or should I say, who?”

“Randi Parsons Foster.”

“Will’s sister?”

“Ten years ago, she awarded a full scholarship to Susan Farley after the semester had started and after all scholarship funds had already been allocated.” Pulling the file she’d brought for him out of her bag and handing it over, she said, “Here is a list of names of female athletes who’d applied for scholarships that year but were turned down due to lack of funds. Any of them could claim discrimination or unfair advantage,

most especially considering that Susan Farley has now moved on to such fame and success, which could certainly be attributed at least in part to her Montford education and connections. That’s where the external economic value inherent in a Montford education actually hurts the institution. It makes the institution—and Will—a target for lawsuits.”

“Do the records show where Randi got the money?”

Addy shook her head. “It came from a private source.” She told him about her subterfuge and Randi’s potential offer of a scholarship resulting from her bogus request, based on her “sister’s” academic records.

“At least tell me Susan Farley met Montford’s entrance qualifications.”

“I don’t know that yet. In a court of law it won’t just be a matter of whether or not Montford found her acceptable. I have to research the types of test scores they use, assess the testing agencies, look for case law involving any of them.”

The type of work she could do from Colorado. Work that would really only come into play if they went to court—for Will’s defense—which could be completed at a later date.

“Let me know when you have some answers.”

She nodded. “I found something else odd,” she continued. “I came across a student who’s here on full scholarship, but there’s no record of an application. I befriended the applicant, got friendly enough to ask about his scholarship and he claims that the award just showed up in his mailbox. Prior to that, he’d had no intention of attending college anywhere. I looked up his tuition and it says it was paid with cash.”

With a dry throat, Addy gave the sheriff Mark’s name. “I’ll ask Will what he knows about this,” Greg said.

“I’m worried about something else, with Randi. There were budget changes, requested by her, that pulled funds from men’s athletics and gave them to women’s athletics, the end result of which netted the university little change in the amount of money women’s athletics brought in, and diminished the men’s athletics monetary contributions by thousands.”

“I’m assuming Will approved the budget changes?”

“Yes. And there’s one more. Todd Moore.”

“Will fired him as soon as Moore’s intentions became clear.”

“I know. That’s not the problem. The liability comes in having recommended him for hire in the first place. Moore was his friend.”

“He wasn’t qualified for the job?”

“He was, but maybe not as qualified as the three other applicants—all out-of-towners. But what really hurts is that Moore proved to be a poor choice. It could be argued that if Moore hadn’t been Will’s friend, his lack of moral character might have been recognized during the interview process. In the end, Moore’s fall from grace is proof that he wasn’t the best choice and any of the three other applicants could have cause for suit against both Will and Montford. All three of their names are there.”

“Okay, we’ve got some potential problems here. But at least we’re on top of them. And that’s why we needed you.”

“I have to tell you, I hate every aspect of what I’m doing.”

“I understand. I also know that Will is sleeping at night because you’re here.”

“I wonder if he’ll still feel that way when he knows that I’ve found some things that could cause potential trouble for him.”

“Of course he will. You didn’t make his choices for him. You’re just giving him a heads-up on any choices he’s made that could potentially come back to bite him. Believe me, he’s incredibly grateful to you and even more fond of you than he is grateful. To listen to Will you’d think you were his kid sister or something.”

The tone in the sheriff’s voice, when he made that last comment, told Addy that Will hadn’t spilled the secrets from her past. She should have known he wouldn’t.

She longed for an evening in his company. His and Becca’s. She was living only a few miles from them, from their sweet and miraculous children whom she’d never even met.

She’d wept when Will had called to tell her that after twenty years of trying he and Becca had finally given birth, in their forties, to a healthy little girl. She had a picture of Bethany on her refrigerator. The beautiful child was twelve now.

“So what’s this about you needing to leave town?” the sheriff asked. “How long do you need to be gone?”