1022 Evergreen Place - Debbie Macomber [70]
Now, after two weeks of silence, she still couldn’t get him off her mind. She had to do something, but she was helpless to know what.
Holding her breath, she rang the doorbell and waited for her birth mother to answer. Roy was gone; Gloria had seen him drive away as she turned onto Harbor Street. She remembered that Corrie sometimes took Tuesdays and Thursdays off and hoped she’d be at home.
She was.
“Gloria! What a pleasant surprise. Come in, come in.”
Gloria stepped into the family home and glanced at the photos lining the mantel. The one of her, in her sheriff’s uniform, stood next to Linnette’s and Mack’s high school graduation pictures. The professional family photograph on the wall above the fireplace showed Roy and Corrie maybe fifteen years earlier with their two children and a dog, who must have passed into doggy heaven. She didn’t even know that dog’s name.
“I was just emailing Linnette,” Corrie said.
“How’s she doing?”
“Terrific,” Corrie told her. She walked into the kitchen and over to the coffeepot and refilled her mug. “Would you like some?”
Gloria shook her head. “Would it be all right if I had a glass of water instead?”
“Of course.” Corrie immediately opened the cupboard above the coffeepot and took down a glass, which she filled with ice and water and brought to Gloria.
She sat on the stool and drank half the water before setting the glass on the counter. Her throat felt dry, her skin clammy. “I…I need some advice.”
Corrie dragged a stool to the other side of the counter. “I’m happy to help in any way I can,” she said, sitting down.
“I…met someone a few years back.”
“Male?”
Gloria avoided eye contact and nodded. “I barely knew him and we…” Admitting what she’d done was more difficult than she would’ve guessed.
“You went to bed with him,” Corrie said matter-of-factly.
Gloria nodded again. “I was embarrassed and shocked by my behavior and chose not to see him again.” Her hand tightened around the water glass. “He made numerous efforts to contact me…. I rebuffed each one until he finally gave up.”
“Why, exactly, did you refuse to see him?”
“First, like I said, I was embarrassed. Second, I felt vulnerable around him. Emotionally vulnerable.” She paused. “There was another…complication. Another woman, someone I cared—care—about was interested in him. So even if I’d been willing to risk a relationship with this man, I felt I had to step back.”
Her mother seemed to understand. “Do you still have strong feelings for him?”
Gloria shrugged. “I must, because I can’t stop thinking about him—but there’s more to the story.”
“The other woman?”
“No, she’s out of the picture.” She had to hope Corrie wouldn’t guess that she was talking about Linnette.
“Okay, fill me in on what happened next.”
Gloria could hardly believe the water glass didn’t shatter in her hand from the pressure. She made a concerted but unsuccessful effort to relax.
“About a month ago, this man…he let me know he was moving away and…” She closed her eyes and inhaled. “I asked him to stay. He agreed and we went on a second date.” The lump in her throat felt huge and she tried to swallow it. “The same thing happened all over again.” She said this last part in a harsh whisper.
“You spent the night with him?”
Gloria hung her head. “Yes. I woke up embarrassed and…and furious with myself. I don’t think either of us planned it but…it just…happened. Again.”
“Have you seen him since?”
Her birth mother seemed to intuitively ask the right questions. “No, and I don’t want to.”
Corrie smiled knowingly. “Because you’re afraid.”
“Yes, and can you blame me? The only thing we have in common that I can see is our…our sexual interest in each other. He also knows too much about me. I don’t talk about myself with other people—it makes me uncomfortable.”
“But you do with him?”
“Yes.”
“Are you in love with this man?”
If Gloria had the