"Imogen what happened to that cafe? It had so much promise. I remember. This was years ago. I visited. And now I hear you're working a regular job. What happened?"

"It was really. really hard to run a cafe."

"Mmm. I bet. But I thought you had a knack for it. The customers really loved you. You know that? I loved you! And I barely went to your cafe."

"Thanks, Aunt Jane."

The two sipped cappuccinos and made sounds of enjoyment while looking out into the white, cloudy day.

"It's nice to see you again."

Aunt Jane looked at 

Imogen Howe

with a more serious look. And then she smiled. "Yeah. It is, isn't it? Where does all the time go? We really should've hung out more."

"Yeah--"

"But never mind that. Best as a lesson for you and how you live your life moving forward. You don't need to worry about me. And what should've been. None of that kind of stuff."

Imogen tried not to cry.

"You're a good kid."

She wasn't a kid anymore. Pushing 30. But for some reason people Aunt Jane's age still thought of her as a kid.

"How's Alan doing?"

"He's. He's doing alright."

"Make sure you tell him you care about him. It's special to have a person like that in your life you know? Me." Jane gestured to her self and smirked her face, nodded, "I'm all alone."

After the coffee Imogen went out to her 

Subaru

and sat in silence for a few minutes. Those moments felt like forever. She didn't want to turn the engine one and start the drive back. She kept delaying until she was unable to convince herself that this was normal behavior.

When she turned the engine on the music came blaring in. She shut it off immediately. Took a deep breath. Then another. And finally she looked in the mirror, backed out and headed back home. Back to 

town

. Where Alan was.