"Hey, you know the old William's place," Eck said while he waited for Mary to finish up with closing chores at the coffeehouse. "Looks like the man who used to live there is back. Or else he sold it and the new owners have moved in."
Joey, who had stopped in to pick up coffee on his way to work, felt his heart stutter. Mary on the other hand let out a whoop. "Glenn's back." She turned to Joey's mother. "Did you hear that? He's back."
Miriam nodded, her eyes focused on Joey. "Like Eck said, it's probably someone who bought the place. I doubt he'd come back after all this time."
"Who's Glenn?" Eck wanted to know.
"Just a man we sort of knew," Joey told him. "He lived there for a short time then moved. Guess he didn't like small town life."
Mary looked like she would refute that until Miriam shot a look at her. "Yeah," she said instead as she linked her arm with Eck's, "he was sort of a friend for a while. He was nice," she added almost defiantly.
"Nicer than me?" Eck teased.
"Well…" Mary pretended to think about it then grinned. "Not even."
With a kiss to her forehead, Eck suggested they'd better leave or they'd miss the movie. When they were gone Joey ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply. "Why now?"
"You don't know it's him," his mother pointed out. "And even if it is, why does it matter? You have Nate and you care about him. Don't go looking for trouble, Joey."
He gave a slight nod. "I know, mom. But why is he… Why would he come back?"
"The house does belong to him. Perhaps he's there to pick up whatever he left behind?"
"After more than two years? Come on."
She walked over to stand in front of him, her eyes searching his face. "Do you still care about him?"
"I never stopped," he said sadly. "I put him out of my mind, as much as possible, but not out of here," he touched his chest.
"But you and Nate…"
"I like Nate, I really do. We're good together. We mesh, if you know what I mean. But…" Joey turned away, looking toward the window.
"The passion isn't there," his mother said, understanding.
"Yes, I suppose that's it. I don't feel as if it would be devastating if he…well, if he suddenly decided to move on, or move away. I'd miss him but…but not like I missed Glenn. And that's so stupid." He spun back to look at his mother. "I hardly knew Glenn, not really."
She smiled softly. "No, but you were attracted to him from the first moment you saw him. I remember how you tried to pretend you weren't but a mother knows. The question is what are you going to do if he shows up in town? Because if it is him, and if he has moved back, it's inevitable that he will."
"Run like hell in the other direction?" Joey replied with a small quirk of his lips. "Honestly, mom, I have no idea. I just know that when Eck said what he did it felt as if somehow my prayers had been answered. Stupid, huh?"
"No, not at all. Whether or not there was more between the two of you than just being momentarily attracted to each other because of the circumstances, you never had closure so of course you still feel that he's…important for lack of a better word."
"He didn't feel the way I did, I know that, so why am I still hanging on to the dream?"
She looked at him, debating the wisdom of revealing what she knew of Glenn's feelings for him.
He returned her gaze, saw something in it, and asked, "What?"
"He did care. I think, no I'm certain, that's why he left." She smiled slightly. "I did the mother thing and talked to him. I needed to know… I didn't want you hurt so I had to find out if there was any chance that he might have felt something for you."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" Joey asked, anger surfacing.
"It wasn't my place to at the time, and afterward what good would it have done? It would have just made you put your life on hold while you hoped he'd come back to you. For you. Something about his life, and I don't think it was entirely the age thing, made him fight the idea that he could be what you needed."
Joey scrubbed a hand over his face. "So now what do I do?"
"That I can't tell you. It's your decision to make."
He nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess it is."
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