Less of a Timmy and more of a Tim.
The lights shone from the windows as she pulled into the driveway. Timmy was in the family room, the football video game blaring from the television screen.
"Glen called," he told her when she joined him.
"Did you bring in the mail?"
"It's on the counter. Nothing interesting, just bills."
Jody sorted through the small stack, disappointed not to receive so much as a single Christmas card. Her own had yet to be mailed.
"Are you going to call Glen back?" Timmy wanted to know as he expertly manipulated the game control.
"In a minute." She scooted the ottoman over to her son, who was kneeling on the floor, intent on his game. "Can we talk?"
"In a minute, Mom, I'm just to the good part."
"Are you ready to save the world again?"
He broke his concentration long enough to cast her a disgruntled look. "You can't do that with football."
"Oh."
Apparently having lost, he groaned and set aside the controller. "Okay," he said, looking at her expectantly. "I'm ready."
"Glen wanted to take us out to dinner one day this week. What do you think?"
Timmy's eyes brightened with enthusiasm before his gaze slid to the row of trophies he'd set out the night before on the fireplace mantel.
"I don't need another dad."
"I remember you said that earlier, I just wanted to be sure you meant it."
Although he looked disappointed, Timmy said, "I meant it. You'd better call Glen back and tell him no."
Timmy was unusually quiet during dinner, but Jody wasn't up to much conversation herself. After she'd finished the dishes, she phoned Glen, and was grateful when his answering machine came on. It was a cowardly thing to do, but she left a message on his recorder declining his offer to take Timmy and her to dinner.
Timmy was sound asleep when the doorbell chimed. Jody glanced at her watch, wondering who'd be dropping by unannounced at this late hour. She hesitated, then realized anyone who intended to do her harm wasn't likely to ring the doorbell first.
Glen stood on the other side of the door.
"Glen."
"I know it's late, but do you have a moment?"
"Of course," she said, stepping aside.
A blast of cold air accompanied him as he stepped into her house. He rubbed his hands together and cast her an apologetic look.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?"
"If you don't mind," he said, continuing to look uneasy. "I shouldn't have come."
Jody felt a twinge of guilt over the way she'd rejected his offer to take Timmy and her out for pizza. It had been a cowardly thing to do.
"Please, sit down," she said, motioning toward the kitchen table while she assembled a pot of coffee and waited for the liquid to drain through.
Glen stood until she'd finished with the coffee before he took a seat himself. Jody guessed that this didn't have anything to do with manners. He seemed preoccupied and nervous.
"I'm not exactly sure what I want to say," he began, stretching his arms across her tabletop. "I don't doubt that I'm making a fool of myself. I seem to do that when it comes to dealing with women."
"I'm sure that's not true." Jody's guilt was mounting until it was a palatable thing. Glen was one of the nicest men she'd ever known.
"I guess the real reason I'm here is to ask you what I did wrong."
"You didn't do anything wrong."
"I realize I was rushing you and if I haven't already apologized for that, then I am now. I . . . it's just that I think the world of you and Timmy, and knowing I'd done something - "
"Glen," she said, interrupting him. "Believe me, please, it isn't anything you said or did. Timmy received a package from his grandmother, Jeff's mother, with things that had been Jeff's as a boy, and now . . ."
"And now," Glen finished for her, "Timmy feels another man in his life would be betraying his father's memory." Glen grew silent for a moment, then slowly he leveled his gaze on her. "More important, so would you. I know how much you loved Jeff," he continued, his voice gaining conviction, "that was one of the things that attracted me to you the most. You're not the kind of woman who'd give her heart lightly, and when you do, it means something."
The compliment made her uncomfortable.
"That appeals to me, Jody, because I'm that kind of person myself. I didn't fall in love until recently and it's been hell getting over that relationship. Love