I was putting groceries in my car at Walmart when I heard someone call my name.
"Abby!"
I looked around, but the glare from the sun was blinding.
"Abby!"
The voice was closer now. I put my hand up to block the sun and saw a tall guy walking towards me, smiling. He was around six feet tall with shoulder-length blonde hair and a nice body. He looked good in his jeans and had a manly face, tight beard, and mirror glasses. He was pretty hunky looking but I had no idea who he was. He barrelled towards me and gave me a bear hug that lifted me off my feet. I was apprehensive until he pulled back and lifted his glasses off. Holy shit! It was Ned. But not the Ned I remembered."
"Ned?"
He smiled. "Who'd you think it was?"
I hadn't seen him since the disastrous visit months ago, and he looked quite different. I smiled. "I didn't know who it was. You don't look the same. You were shorter, with short hair, a clean face, and no shades."
He grinned. "Ya! Who would have thought I'd have a growth spurt at my age? I'm two inches taller. Samantha suggested letting my hair grow longer and growing a beard. She likes it. She thought the glasses would look good."
I had to agree. Ned looked hot. Not that he didn't look good before, but now he looked smoking hot and was grinning at me like a fool. I took that as a good sign and hugged him back. I couldn't resist squeezing him. It had been a long time since I touched him. It felt really good.
He pulled back. "My birthday is coming up, and Mom is making all my favorite foods. Samantha is coming and mom told me to invite you. I was going to call, but now I don't need to. Will you come?"
He was smiling at me with a beautiful megawatt smile. I hadn't seen that smile in a long time.
"Of course, I'll come."
"Fantastic!" He exclaimed and gave me another hug. I was stunned and felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. He wasn't upset with me anymore.
I was a bit nervous about the birthday party but it turned out great. The weather was good, and Noreen and Samantha and Ned were all very friendly. It was like the past had never happened.
I learned that Ned had moved in with Samantha, and they looked very happy. You can tell when people like each other. There is lots of smiling and touching. Which there was.
I wasn't sure, but it looked like Samantha had a slight belly bulge. Was she pregnant? But nothing was said.
I was very happy for them and happy for myself. I'd finally been forgiven.
===
I thought I had some time with Mom in our house before her dementia got bad, but I was wrong. Within a few months, she was burning pots on the stove when I was working. One day, she wandered off, and I got a call from a neighbor that they had her. I had her assessed, and she needed to go into a home. She hated being there and was violent with the staff. They had to sedate her. Some dementia patients last for years in nursing homes, but some go downhill quickly. Mom was gone in a few months.
The only good thing was that Dad had a large insurance policy when he died, and Mom had over three hundred thousand dollars in the bank, which I inherited, on top of the house.
So when Noreen said she wanted to downsize to a condo, I jumped at the opportunity to buy her house. I never liked our house. It was a wartime house, and Mom and Dad never did anything with it, so the inside looked ancient. Noreen's house was wartime as well, but tastefully decorated inside and outside. Plus, it's where I spent a lot of my life with Ned. I sold my house and bought Noreen's house and only had to touch a small amount of my inheritance.
Noreen was happy her house was going to someone who would appreciate it. She got a mover to move her stuff. I asked her to leave everything in Ned's room. She didn't care because she wasn't keeping it anyway.
I didn't have to vacate my house for a month, so I leisurely moved my stuff over. Ned helped me move a few large items. The rest was stuff I didn't want. My lawyer put me in touch with a company that cleaned out houses and sold the proceeds. Worked for me! I didn't need to get rid of it and got a cut of what they sold.
The first thing I did was take the pictures Noreen rescued and put them back on Ned's walls. Then I lay on his bed and soaked in the scent of his pillow and looked at all the wonderful times displayed on the walls.
Miranda was wrong. I had slept with Ned many times, just not sexually. There were many sleepovers, especially when my dad had cancer and my mom was at the hospital all the time.
So, for the first few days after I moved in, I slept in his bed, hugging one of his big pillows, pretending it was him, and remembering how his body felt against mine. I went to sleep with warm fuzzies.
Ned was over one night helping me. He was a very handy guy. He noticed the stuff he threw out was back on his walls.
"Where did you get this stuff? I threw it out."
"Your mom rescued it from the garbage truck and gave it to me."
He sighed. "It was the week after I came back, and I was really upset. I threw everything out with your face on it. Then, I regretted it later. All my favorite memories were gone. This is great! It's all back!"
I watched as Ned excitedly commented on different pictures. It was heartwarming to see him happy, remembering us.
I saw Samantha again a few weeks later, walking down the street, and she definitely looked pregnant. I guess she and Ned were getting along well.
Then I saw Ned two weeks later and asked him about her.
He grinned. "Ya, it was unexpected, but we're happy about it."
I smiled and hugged him. "Congratulations!"
He smiled proudly.
===
"All fixed! You should have soft water again. The softener just needed to be cleaned. It's amazing it still works, given how old it is."
"Thanks, Ned! It's so nice knowing someone who works at a hardware store and is handy!"
He smiled. "My pleasure!"
"How is Samantha feeling?"
He smiled. "Good."
"Can you stay a bit longer?" Abby asked.
"Sure."
Abby took me to the living room and sat me down. She looked nervous. She intertwined her fingers with mine.
"There's something I've wanted to get off my chest for a while, but I didn't want to upset you. I was hoping we could talk about what happened at College. If that's okay."
Abby paused for my reaction.
"I'm okay."
She looked at me again with concern.