Author's Note : I looked this up. Joshua Jackson ended up being 6' 2 . I also had to quote Shitts creek even though it is definitely post 1998.

This probably will end up being 4 -5 chapters. I was thinking of having it as a sequel to Minnesota Miracle Man but then decided against it.

December 6th 1998

"Large. Medium roast. Two sugars, "Bombay said to the girl behind the counter.

The girl started to ring in Bombay's order and then stopped suddenly. "You look familiar. Do I know you? " She asked Bombay.

Bombay studied her for a second. He did recognise her. She was short and blond. With deep blue eyes. Bombay could detect a slight Scandinavian accent. Maybe he did know her from somewhere. After all, he was in what was once Hans's old skate shop. But from where? Before he was able to figure it out, the girl's eyes lit up.

"You're Gordon Bombay!" she exclaimed, a little too loudly.

The entire cafe turned to look at them. "Sorry about that," the girl mumbled.

Bombay chucked. "And you are…?"

"It's Astrid," the girl said. "You don't remember me? "

"Astrid," Bombay mumbled, trying to recall how he knew this it came to him. "Astrid. Astrid Andersson?"

The girl laughed as she regained her composure and finished Bombay's order. "That's me. In the flesh. "

Bombay could not believe his eyes. This was Jans's granddaughter. All grown up. It seemed like everything had changed. After Hans died, Jan wanted to stay in Sweden with the rest of his family, so he left the building to his grand daughter. With the ever growing number of sporting goods franchisees popping up everywhere, Hans skate shop was barely able to stay afloat financially. So his granddaughter turned the place into a Scandinavian cafe by the name of Kaffe Skirdsko.

"Here you go," she said warmly, handing Bombay his coffee.

"Thank you," Bombay said, nodding.

He looked around. Even though it was no longer a sporting goods store, all the old pictures and memorabilia stayed as a homage to Hans. "I love what you've done with the place. Hans would be proud. "

Bombay nodded and found a place to sit. He found a booth made completely out of old broken hockey sticks right where Hans used to store all the new hockey sticks. All perfectly aligned in a row.

Bombay closed his eyes and smiled at the memory until he felt a nudge on his right shoulder.

"Gordon."

He felt a slightly stronger nudge.

"Earth to Gordon."

Bombay opened his eyes and snapped back to reality. He immediately saw curls. Blonde curls. With the smell of a delicate perfume. He recognised that combination anywhere. Casey!

"Hey," Bombay said with a smile. Despite the fact that they broke up five years ago, Bombay and Casey always managed to remain cordial for the most part. If only for Charlie's sake.

"Hello, stranger," Casey replied with a smile. "Is this seat taken?"

Bombay chuckled to himself. Charlie really was her son. Bombay motioned for her to sit down.

For a few minutes, the two of them just sat in uncomfortable silence. Finally, Bombay spoke up. He motioned at the picture hanging on the wall. It was a picture of the ducks winning the state championship back in '92.

"This seems like yesterday," Bombay said. Bombay smiled and then chuckled to himself. "I used to be bigger than all of them." Now look at me. "

Casey laughed. "You're telling me. Charlie's now 6'2."

"Really? " Gordon asked, astonished. "He doesn't stop growing, does he?"

"Really."

Casey was going to say something else, but then bit her tongue. Bombay would know if he had bothered to show up for the past two years.

She decided to change the topic. "So, what brings you into town? Not getting enough snow in California? "

"No, it's not that." Gordon paused. He didn't want pity. Least of all, from Casey Carter of all people. But he didn't feel like lying either. "My Mom passed away last week."

Casey's face immediately softened. "I'm so sorry. When's the funeral? "

"Yesterday."

Casey Conway was astonished. "Yesterday? Why didn't you say anything? "

Bombay paused. "I don't know. I just thought that…" He trailed off. "You would be too busy. Or something."

Incredulous. That was the only word that came to Casey's mind when Bombay told her that they would be too busy.

"Too busy?" Casey managed to sputter out. "Too busy? Did you leave your brain in LA?"

Bombay sighed. He didn't feel like arguing with Casey right now. Or ever. Charlie definitely got his tempter from his mother. That was for sure.

"I didn't want to be a bother. I just thought that you, and Charlie, had moved on."

Casey stared at Gordon. "Of all the stupid things you have said to me …" Casey couldn't find the words. " I have never heard someone say so many wrong things. One after the other, consecutively, in a row. "

Bombay was taken aback. He couldn't understand why Casey was so upset with him. "You moved on," Gordon reminded her. "We both did."

"That's not what I'm talking about, and you know it." Casey was furious. "Besides, even if I've moved on, we agreed to be friends. Remember that? And more importantly, there's someone that hasn't, and most likely won't, ever move on. "

"Charlie."

"Yes, Charlie." Casey wanted to bite her tongue, but she couldn't. "Remember him? "

"What about Charlie? The only thing you ever told me was that Charlie could easily get too attached."

"Yes. Guess what happened? Charlie got too attached."

Bombay stayed quiet for a minute. "He wasn't the only one who got too attached, " Bombay said quietly. Casey opened her mouth to object, but Bombay stopped her. "It goes both ways, you know."

Casey softened. She suddenly understood what Bombay was saying. He got attached to Charlie. Anyone could see how Charlie felt about Bombay. Charlie wore his heart on this sleeve.

Bombay preferred to keep his deepest emotions close to his chest. But she knew how Bombay felt about Charlie. Bombay had offered to adopt him when they started to get serious while dating five years ago. It never ended up happening, but she knew Bombay wouldn't have suggested it if he didn't intend to uphold his end of the agreement. And looking back, he did. Even if it was unofficial.

"There's one thing I don't understand." Casey said. "If you really feel this way, why do you always run ?"

"What?"

Casey sighed. "Every time you get close to something, or someone, you choose to run. After things started to get serious between us, you disappeared. Same thing after you got back from the Junior Goodwill games, you stay for a while and then you run back to California. "

Bombay nodded. Casey continued. "And I don't know what you said to him on that day. You came to spend the day with him at who knows what hour, but when Charlie came back that evening…" Casey sniffled. "You really work miracles with him, you know?"

Bombay didn't react. He finished his coffee. "I've gotta go."

Bombay rose, putting on his coat and gloves.

"So you're just going to leave like you always do? " Casey huffed. "Typical."

"You wouldn't understand," Bombay shot back.

Casey wasn't about to give up. "What wouldn't I understand?" She called after him.

Bombay was already gone. He was not expecting to see Casey Carter at the newly formed Kaffe Skirdsko. Although when he thought of it, it made perfect sense for Jan's grand daughter to hire Casey to manage the cafe. She had worked at Mickey's Diner for years. When it was a skate shop, Charlie was there almost every day, so it only made sense for Casey to work there.

What Casey had said to him had stung. He felt a pang of guilt about leaving all the time. When Bombay first left, it would gnaw at him anytime he was alone, but he would reason with himself that it was for the best.

The ducks had former NHLer Ted Orion coaching them. Bombay would admit that Orion was a better hockey coach than he was. Bombay could teach the basics, but he had to rely on trick plays in order to win. Orion could teach them the entire game. Defensive and offensive

Hans had passed away and Jan was now back in Europe. Casey had remarried, and Charlie now had a step father. Bombay felt like he had nothing left to contribute, and if he stayed away, he felt that it would be better for everyone.

But more than anything, Bombay felt fear. And at the same time, he felt himself caring . A lot. More than he had ever intended. And it scared him. So he would run off. Take the easy way out like he always did. Most of all, he had chose that it was worse to love and lose than to never have loved at all.

Bombay chose fear.