As he sat in a booth at the half-full diner, he recognized that he hadn’t felt the kind of lightness and ease he felt in Acker in a long time. New Jersey was… different. Even before the events that had driven him to escape here, he had felt almost empty.
The movies and theater trips with Josh had been fine, just like the various other outings and parties he’d gone to with his other friends. Francis was starting to realize that maybe he hadn’t actually had any close friends,trulyclose ones, since Marcus’s passing and Padraig’s subsequent pushing Francis away.
He’d felt lonely. Even with all those people around him, even with how much he loved his job at the clinic. He really needed to figure out how to change things to feel alive again, because right now, the thought of going back to New Jersey made his skin crawl.
“Francis!” Leah exclaimed when she noticed him.
“Hey, Leah.” He smiled and rose halfway from his seat to give her a hug. “It’s good to see you.”
“You too, honey, I’m so glad you’re in town!” She glanced to where her husband-slash-cook, Stuart, waved at her from the pass-through window. When he noticed Francis he grinned widely.
“Hi!” Francis called toward him, not sure if his voice would carry over the chatter in the diner.
“Hey, good to see you!” Stuart yelled back, then vanished from the window between the kitchen and the rest of the diner, probably to finish another order.
Leah had sat down and reached for Francis’s hands. “It’s really so, so good to see you back here. I’m glad Padraig got his head out of his ass when it comes to you.” Her gaze was sympathetic, she knew how hard it had been on Francis when he’d come to town after Marcus’s death and Padraig had pushed him away each time.
“Yeah, I’m happy about that too. It seems that Kaos has done him a world of good.”
“Oh yeah, that boy’s a light that Padraig definitely needed. Might be a bit different light than he’s used to, but oh boy do they both burn brighter around each other.” She smiled, looking pleased for them. “I’d ask how you’ve been, but I can tell not good.” Her expression changed to worry.
Francis smiled tiredly. “Yeah, not good indeed. If… If things go like I think they might, there’s a high possibility that you might see me more here sooner rather than later.”
“Oh?” Her curiosity was better than worry, for sure.
“Yeah. I’ll let you know when I know something myself. Or when I reappear in town,” he promised.
The bell dinged on the pass-through, and Leah asked him for his order, then darted to serve her other customers.
* * * *
Half an hour later, Francis had greeted handful of people he’d known from before, including Lotte, who was now dating one of the deputies, Jason Goldstein.
She’d stopped by Francis’s table when he was finishing his meal, while she waited for her take-out order.
“You’re a nurse, right, I remember that correctly?” She sat down, and Francis smiled at the way she stretched her back.
“Yeah, maternity, currently. Why?”
“I’ve been thinking about studying to be a nurse aide, maybe eventually a nurse.”
“Yeah, I could see you doing that for sure. It’s a hard profession, but it’s also very rewarding.”
“And if I got into geriatric care, then there would probably be jobs around here for me,” she mused out loud. “Kind of the opposite from what you do.” She smiled at him brightly.
Francis chuckled. “Yeah, definitely. It’s good to think about continuity when you choose what you want to specialize in, if you get that far. Nurse aides can help with any kind of nursing, after all. What’s brought this on?”
“I’m sure Doc has told you Joie is gender nonconforming?” At Francis’s nod, she continued, “I’ve homeschooled them, but I’ve been thinking that as soon as they get old enough, I’d like to have them at least try regular school again. Times are changing, so maybe there’ll be a supportive school environment I can find for them.”
“It won’t hurt trying, and if it doesn’t work out, you’ve already homeschooled them and know how that’s done.”
“Yeah…. I don’t expect much from any school within tolerable distance from Acker though. But we’re settled here. Their paternal grandparents are nearby, Jason’s job is here, so—”
Leah walked to them with Leah’s order in a bag. “Here you go, sweetheart.”
“Thanks, Leah.”
“I put in a cupcake for Joie, I hope that’s okay.”
