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I nod as she walks to the side door of the garage, leading into the house with our bags. I guess since I haven’t seen her in ages so it would be rude to just run away.
I turn around to see her coming up the driveway. “Hi!” I try to sound as enthusiastic as I can.
“I thought that was you.” She smiles as she assesses me. “You look well, Emmerson. I’m so pleased to see you.”
“Youdo too, Gillian.” She reaches out to hug me.
“It’s been a long time.”
“It has,” I concede.
“Can we catch up for a coffee?” she asks me. “I know it might be a little weird for you after everything. But I’m genuinely interested in what you’ve been up to all this time.”
“I’d like that,” I say, because it’s the polite thing to say. I was always fine with Taylor’s mom, just not after that day she accosted me. It felt very personal, but I guess that’s because it was.
“I’m in town until the end of next week.”
“Perfect, let’s set something up.”
I nod with a tight smile. I hope it’s not too glaringly obvious that I don’t have any intention of sitting down with Taylor’s mom.
I don’t even know what I’d say.
“All right, I’ll see you later,” I say eventually.
I’m about to slip back into the house when I feel her touch my wrist lightly. “Emmerson,” she says, suddenly looking stricken.
I feel my throat tighten as I turn my head to look at her. “Gillian? Are you all right?”
She still holds on to my wrist, seemingly trying to form her next words. “I don’t know, I mean, I thought I was…”
I’m a little confused and can’t hide it from my face. “Mrs. J?”
“Look, I burned some bridges with you all those years ago… If you’ll hear me out, I’d like to talk about it before you leave?”
I swallow hard, speechless for what seems like eons. “Gillian… it’s fi-”
“It’s not fine, please?” She squeezes my hand. The pain in her eyes is apparent and I have a feeling creeping over me that is a lot bigger than I first thought.
I nod. “Of course, when would you like to have a coffee?”
“How about tomorrow morning at ten?”
“Great, I’ll come over then.” I guess there’s no getting out of it now.
She finally lets me go, but there’s something wrong, something very wrong. I feel it in my bones. “Thank you, Emmerson, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She walks back to her house, still clutching the mail as I make my way inside.
One thing is for sure, I’m not going to deny Taylor’s mom. I mean, I could, but I’m not going to. Everyone deserves a chance to explain, I suppose.
I shoot a text to Taylor before I step in the front door. I didn’t want to seem too eager messaging him straight after I’d seen him, but I think following up with him would be good.
Hope you're ok & recovered after the game.It was really great seeing you Taylor.
I’m not going to blurt out right now the fact I just saw his mom and she was acting a little bit strange, or that I’m having coffee with her. I am a little intrigued to see if he will reply, or if he wants to catch up like he said he did last night.
I haven’t gotten him off my brain. It’s almost like torment coming back to haunt me, reminding me of all the shit I did wrong and how I messed up.
