Joe woke to a strange buzzing sound. ‘This isn’t my room’, he thought as he fought his way back to alertness and sat up. And then he remembered where he was and why – his Aunt’s condo in New York which meant that horrendous noise was the buzzer!

Yawning, he looked at the time – 7:16 – and decided death would be too easy for whoever it was! Reluctantly he got out of bed and went into the hallway in time to meet his equally blurry-eyed mother.

“I’ll get it sweetie,” she said, stifling her own yawn. Joe nodded but went into the kitchen anyway to grab a glass of water.

“Hello?” he heard his mother’s greeting and was surprised when he heard the other voice – it was Gwynne!

[Laura, I hope I haven’t woken you – can I come up?]

“Gwynne?”  Apparently his mother was as surprised as he was.  “Isn’t it kind of early?”

Joe heard the other woman’s chuckle before she responded [It never used to be, Ms. Scott].

Laura sighed, “Fine.  Come up.”  She pressed the buzzer opening the lobby door and then turned to Joe.  “We have company.”

“What did she mean by that last remark?” Joe asked, even as he left the kitchen and headed back to his room.  He did not want this strange woman seeing him in his skivvies!

“Oh, that was just a comment on the old days.  Horse people are up at the crack of dawn – anytime after seven would be considered ‘sleeping in’,” Laura explained as she followed her son into the hallway, intending to grab her housecoat.

Joe shook his head but never said anything – inwardly very pleased that seven was NOT considered ‘sleeping in’ in his life!

* * *

“I know it’s kind of early,” Gwynne gushed as soon as Laura opened the apartment door.  Joe had decided to grab a shower – not really that keen on seeing the woman, anyway.  He was a bit concerned about her reaction to seeing him again; a feeling bolstered by their last two meetings!  “But I just had to grab you before you had a chance to make any plans for this morning,” she continued, stepping into the room.

“Well you’ve done that,” Laura said dryly, going into the kitchen to put on the kettle.  Now that she was up, she knew it was pointless to think that she’d be able to get any more sleep after Gwynne left; apparently Joe felt the same way too.

“I want you and your son to come out to my place,” she smiled widely at the blond woman, “to go riding.  Oh come on, Laura, it’ll be fun!  I have some nice horses – not champion show-jumper quality – but still pleasant rides!”

“I don’t know—” Laura started, hesitantly, but the other woman cut her off.

“Please, consider this my attempt at an apology.  I did a lot of thinking after you left my office yesterday, which is why I dropped by last night.  I wanted to call a truce and see if there was some way that we could try and be friends – you know, make amends – if nothing else, for Paul.  I’m sure he would have wanted it this way.”  Gwynne’s dark eyes shone brightly.

Laura turned her back to the brunette as she got two cups out of the cupboard and considered the offer, wary of this sudden change of heart, but curious as to what she might be up to.  So she decided to play along for now, resolving to keep her guard up.  Smiling, she turned around and nodded her head as she said slowly, “Okay, that sounds fine to me, but I’m not sure Joe will want to come.  He’s not exactly a ‘horse person’ and I’m not sure if he’d want to spend a morning in New York riding and hanging out with us ‘old folks’.”  Laura meant it as a joke and was taken aback by how defensive Gwynne got.

The dark haired woman rebuked her, “I hardly consider myself ‘old’, Laura!  In fact I have taken such painstaking care of myself that boys as young as 18 years old are attracted to me and have asked me out!”

“I hope you declined!”  The words were immediately out of Laura’s mouth as she thought of Frank, and was horrified to think that a woman as old as Gwynne would consider going out with someone young enough to be her son!

The dark haired woman shrugged and smiled, “It’s all a bit of harmless fun, now isn’t it?”  Before Laura could answer, Gwynne continued, “I do hope your son will take me up on this offer as well, though.  New York City isn’t exactly the kind of place you’d want him wandering around by himself – bad things happen to good kids here. I’m sorry, what was his name again?  Jamie or something?”

“Joe,” Laura said; her wariness increasing.

“That’s right – Joe – how could I have forgotten?” Gwynne commented and then the sound of the shower turning off made her smile.  “Like I said, I think it would be nice.  I’d like to get to know your family a lot better.”

“Well…like I said, don’t be surprised if Joe doesn’t want to come,” Laura reminded her and then poured two cups of tea.  One for herself and one for Gwynne, knowing her son didn’t like tea and preferred a cold glass of orange juice in the morning.

“That’s fine,” Gwynne smiled and then took a sip of her drink, “but maybe once he hears about my outside pool, he’ll come with us anyway – if nothing else, for a refreshing dip.  It’s supposed to get up to 105 degrees today; another August scorcher!”

Laura had to agree, a swim did sound rather refreshing faced with that weather report, and the two settled into small talk as they waited for Joe to get dressed and come out of his room.

* * *

Dressed in lightweight shorts and a pale blue t-shirt, Joe sat on his bed and frowned.  He would have liked to call Frank, but didn’t have the heart to wake him up.  ‘One of us should get to enjoy another hour of sleep, anyway’ he grumbled to himself as he stalled leaving his room for as long as he possible.

He could hear the murmuring of voices and knew Gwynne was still here.  But after about ten minutes, a rumbling stomach told him that it wanted something to eat – so, reluctantly, he stood up and headed out into the kitchen, hoping the woman’s reaction upon seeing him was a little less extreme than before!

* * *

“Good morning, sweetie,” Laura greeted her son, warmly, when he trotted into the kitchen.

“Well, hello,” Gwynne smiled at the blond haired youth.

“’morning,” he responded, giving his mother a peck on the cheek and then nodding a quick hi to the other woman before turning towards the fridge to get the orange juice.

“Did you sleep well?” Laura asked as she watched him pour himself a glass of juice and then open the cupboard to get down a bowl.  She got up and rooted out a box of cereal for him as he reached back in the fridge to get the milk.

“Not bad, considering it’s a strange bed, strange place and all,” and then he flashed his mom a smile as she passed him the box of cereal.  “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she said and then sat back down.  “Gwynne has invited us out to her place this morning to go horse-back riding—”

“And swimming,” the other woman added, her dark brown eyes watching the blond teen intently.

Joe sat down at the table with his bowl of cereal and orange juice.  He shrugged.  “Sounds like fun, but I don’t know—”

“My cousin Blair does an excellent BBQ and I think I can convince him to fire one up for lunch,” Gwynne cajoled and then looked at Laura.  “You remember Blair, don’t you?”

Laura nodded – oh yeah, she remembered Blair too well; suddenly she was even less keen about going to Gwynne’s than before.

The other woman continued talking: “He takes care of the horses for me and I just know he’ll kill me if he finds out you were in town and I never had you over – the both of you.”  She turned her dark eyes on Joe again, but he wasn’t looking at her, he was busy finishing his cereal.

“So what do you say?” Gwynne asked, addressing Joe again.  She reached out and touched his arm, briefly.  “Please.  You will enjoy yourself, I promise.”

Joe moved his arm, slightly, and then looked at his mother.  He didn’t feel right about letting her go by herself – he was just picking up some pretty weird vibes from the brunette….

“It really is up to you, honey,” Laura said. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Sighing, he looked back at Gwynne and gave her a polite smile.  “Okay, I’ll come.  I don’t have anything planned, anyway.”

“Excellent!” the woman actually gushed, “Well, hurry up so we can go!  You guys can ride with me.”  She smiled widely at Joe as she added, “And don’t forget to pack your bathing suits!”

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Laura and Joe followed Gwynne down to her car. She looked at the blond woman apologetically.  “I think it might be better if Joe rides up front with me – he’s taller and there’s a lot more leg room up front.”

“I’m fine in the back,” Joe put in quickly, but the brunette shook her head.

“Trust me, Joe.  It’ll be much better up here for you.”

“Actually, Gwynne, I’d prefer to sit up front,” Laura said, wary over the amount of attention the other woman was paying to her son, and aware of Joe’s discomfort around her.

Joe shot his mother a grateful look and then slipped into the backseat before Gwynne could protest.

The brunette shrugged.  “Whatever.  But don’t complain when your legs get cramped.  My place is about an hour’s drive from here.”

“I’ll be fine,” the teen quickly assured her, buckling up in the seat behind his mother.  ‘And if I’m not, you’ll never know,’ he added to himself.

* * *

As they drove towards the countryside, Laura frowned, not liking what she saw.  While Gwynne drove, she kept up a litany of conversation directed at both her and Joe; however, she noticed that the other woman could hardly keep her eyes off the rearview mirror – off Laura’s son.

Joe, for his part, wasn’t saying much, but keeping his eyes firmly fixed out the side window and only putting in a word or two only when necessary.

But Gwynne….Laura was suddenly overcome with a very strong feeling that maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, after all – and then when Gwynne pulled up in front of her house, she knew for sure it was a mistake… a big mistake.

“Welcome to my place!” Gwynne said, getting out of the car and smiling broadly.

“Ohmygod,” was all Laura could say as she got out of the vehicle and looked around.

“What?” Joe asked, seeing the look of horror on his mother’s face. “Mom, what’s wrong?”

“This—” Laura indicated the property and then looked into her son’s vibrant blue eyes, her own pale ones almost translucent with shock.  “This is – was my father’s house!”  She looked at the beaming brunette.  “You bought my father’s house?”

Gwynne shrugged nonchalantly.  “Well of course I did.  I bought it for Paul.”  And then she headed towards the house.  “Come on in – I think you’ll love what I’ve done with the place!”

“Mom,” Joe’s voice was soft and anxious sounding, “I really don’t have such a good feeling about this.  Maybe we should—”  Whatever he was going to say was lost when a tall, black-haired man rushed towards them, grabbed Laura up and swung her around!

“My lordy, Laura Scott, you are a sight for sore eyes!” the man said, setting Laura back down and smiling at her.

“Blair Smart,” Laura said, recovering her breath and standing by Joe again, “Forward as ever.”

“Well some things never change, darling,” he said and then he turned to look at the young man standing next to her, and his ruddy face paled.  “Oh – my – God…he’s him all over – back from the grave….” Blair reached out to touch Joe, who instinctively stepped back.

“This is my son, Joe,” Laura said, moving to stand between the teen and the older man.  “Mine and Fenton’s son.”

Hearing Fenton’s name seemed to break the trance Blair had been in and he scoffed, “Please Laura, let’s not ruin our good morning by bringing up your husband.”  And then without saying another word, he turned and walked towards the barn.

Joe looked at his mother, who just sighed and shook her head.  “It’s a long story, sweetie.  I promise I’ll tell you about it later.”

“That’s two you owe me now,” the teen reminded her, referring to what had prompted her impromptu trip.  Slipping her arm around his waist, his mother gave him a quick squeeze.

“I haven’t forgotten,” she said and then indicated the house.  “So, do you want to go inside and see where your poor old mom grew up?”

“Well from the looks of this place,” Joe commented, ”I’d hardly say you were poor…but yeah, I’d love to see it.”

As they started to follow Gwynne, Joe added, “I can’t help but think we should have stayed at Auntie’s, though.”

“Me neither,” Laura agreed and then smiled up at her younger son, “so we’ll just stick together and make a break for it as soon as possible, okay?”

“You read my mind,” Joe chuckled, and then the smile vanished from his face as he saw the look Gwynne was giving him as she stood on the front veranda in the doorway and waited.

* * *

Gwynne couldn’t keep her eyes off Paul – no, Joe – as he and Laura walked up the steps towards her.  For one moment she was seventeen again…and then she smiled.

Welcome into my parlor, said the spider to the fly….