Sometimes They Came Back: A Love Story

By Ron Neff, Ph.D

Markus owned – and was duly proud – of a well-used, but still fast and flashy Porsche sports coupe. Was that flashy car one of the reasons that young pretty after young pretty came chasing after him?

Only a freshman in college, Markus had no idea.

Women were a mystery, to be sure. Albeit a welcome mystery.

Sometimes he thought he’d really like to find “the one.”

But what was the rush?

In the meantime, this fledging undergraduate had become a collector.
When one of his flames dumped him, she would often leave behind a bracelet, an earring or two, a scarf, or some other personal item. Markus would stash away any such item with care. It was a way to keep a part of every one of those lovers with him.

Besides, sometimes they came back.

Markus was a dreamer. He was also an incurable romantic.

That’s why he stashed away every little item a lost partner might leave behind.

Every one of those cuties was special to him. And maybe – just maybe – one of those special cuties would come back someday, not to claim her lost item or two.

But to claim him.

If only it were that simple. Love never is, of course. Instead, Markus finally had to admit that his heart had made a claim of its own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Aug 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781663243164

Ron Neff, Ph.D

Ron Neff (Ph.D University of Iowa) is a semi-retired professor and psychotherapist. In recent years he has published several self-help books: Goodbye, My Love: How To Mend A Broken Heart (2016), Loving Well: Keys to Lasting and Rewarding Relationships (2016), Your Inner Mammal: How To Meet Your Real Emotional Needs And Become Stronger - For Self And Others (2017), and Surviving Divorce & Winning in Family Court (2021). He has often been told he should write novels, probably love stories, since he has studied and worked with issues of the heart most of his life. Hence, The Color of the Moon (2017), Daisies in Hell (2019), One Heart Over the Line (2019), Heroes, Hellions and Hot Rods (2019), and now Sometimes They Came Back (2022). At other times, his novels have been more in the “action adventure” or “science fiction” genres, including Enough With Those Humans: Was It Time for a Higher Intelligence? (2020), The Trouble With Eve: Forbidden Fruit in a Big Sky Paradise (2020), Sidewinders & Sassy Skirts: Blame It on Texas (2020), Up to Alaska: The Rush Of 2032 (2021), and Post-Earth: Searching the Stars for New Life (2021).

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Copyright © 2022 Ron Neff Ph.D.

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ISBN: 978-1-6632-4315-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-4316-4 (e)

iUniverse rev. date:  08/11/2022

Contents

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1     Young Hearts Be Free Or The Mind – and the Hormones – Boggled at the Possibilities

Chapter 2     Were They All Crazy? Or Was He?

Chapter 3     Were We All Looking for a Lighthouse . . . on the Turbulent Seas of Love?

Chapter 4     Of Words, Wounds and Wistful Hearts

Chapter 5     Who Knows Where Your Feet Might Wander. . . While Your Head is in the Clouds?

Chapter 6     Once You Love Them, Do They Never Part With Your Heart?

Chapter 7     Some Guys Have All the Luck Or Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing?

Chapter 8     Lo, a Beautiful Flower Appears & Recites Verse. Was it Just in Time?

Chapter 9     Taken

Chapter 10   Getting Big Air Off the Jet-Ski Ramp

Chapter 11   Running in Circles?

Chapter 12   The Best Laid Plans

Chapter 13   Do We Find Love? Or Does it Find Us?

Chapter 14   Taken By Storm

Chapter 15   Is It Better to be Lucky Than Good?

Chapter 16   Freedom to Roam

Chapter 17   A Little Spring in Your Irish Step

Chapter 18   Car Trouble

Chapter 19   Super Greta

Chapter 20   A New Roommate?

Chapter 21   Twists and Turns of the Heart

Chapter 22   A Reprieve?

Chapter 23   Back to the Chase

Chapter 24   Tossing and Turning

Chapter 25   Perhaps It Was Time to Make a Choice. But at Whose Expense?

Chapter 26   Worried Sick?

Chapter 27   Healthy Again

Chapter 28   Two Hearts on the Line

Postscript

About the Author

Acknowledgements

First, the author would like to thank Christy Tinnes, who once commented that a remark I made, Sometimes they came back, would make a good title for a book. Yes, without Christy’s feedback, this book would never have happened.

Christy also served as the editor of the book’s early chapters, as the story was just starting to take shape.

Next it delights the author to acknowledge Jason Shepherd, who graces the book as Rusty, a colorful character that he named himself – and who shares his own penchant for entertaining, if sometimes also outlandish, mischief.

Jason also served as the first reader of each chapter, providing a few edits and, more important, encouraging the author to keep it coming.

Jason’s wife, Teresa, appears as his girlfriend in this tale, and -- just as in real life – tries to keep him from taking his crazy antics too far.

The volume also features a cameo appearance by young and gifted Kimberly Mae Goodwin, who graces this tale as a captivating poetess. The future is hers.

Finally, we must all thank David Neff, my son, who edited the publisher’s galley proofs for the volume, rendering the final product free of typos and otherwise more pleasing to read.

Chapter 1

Young Hearts Be Free

Or

The Mind – and the Hormones –

Boggled at the Possibilities

Markus couldn’t decide if he wanted to be a big business tycoon or a writer.

Most people in his family thought that neither of those careers were realistic. To them, he was just a crazy dreamer.

But Marilee believed in him. Or so she said.

Well, she had believed in him for a while.

Now, she was spending her free time with Ruben, as nearly as Markus could surmise.

That was troublesome. No denying that.

Still, Mindy had shown up right away after Marilee had moved on.

Did women have some kind of radar for that? Could they just look at a guy and tell that he was recently dumped . . . now raring and ready for a new bird to share his nest?

Or did those wily birds have a secret grapevine where they exchanged such inside information?

Whack, whack, whack.

That loud intrusion didn’t sound at all like Mindy’s knock. Someone was at Markus’s door.

He peaked through the small window in that front door.

Now his stomach churned.

It was the police . . .

Wasn’t it bad enough that both the campus police and the city cops had run up his car insurance rates with a collection of speeding tickets? Were they now coming to take him away?

Slowly unlatching the sliding bolt lock, then the safety chain, the college boy eased open the door.

Sorry to bother you, young man. But we are looking for an intruder. We have received reports of a large, bearded man, breaking into cars in this area.

Have you had your vehicle broken into?

Well, that was a relief.

Or was it?

I guess I don’t know, Markus replied, after recovering his breath.

Let me get my car keys. I’ll come out for a look.

Markus owned – and was duly proud – of a well-used, but still fast and flashy Porsche sports coupe.

He certainly hoped that ride hadn’t been damaged by some intruder.

Was that flashy car one of the reasons that young pretty after young pretty came chasing after him?

Markus had no idea.

Women were a mystery, to be sure. Albeit a welcome mystery.

Sometimes he thought he’d really like to find the one.

But what was the rush?

In the meantime, this fledging undergraduate had become a collector. He was building a collection of some of the items those pretties left behind.

When one of his flames left him, she would often leave behind a bracelet, an earring or two, a scarf, or some other personal item.

Markus would not be eager to tell anyone, but he would always stash away any such item with care. It was a way to keep a part of every one of those lovers with him.

Besides, sometimes they came back.

Markus was a dreamer, to be sure.

Although he didn’t know it, he was also an incurable romantic.

That’s why he stashed away every little item a lost partner might leave behind.

Every one of those cuties was special to him.

And maybe – just maybe – one of those special cuties would come back someday, not to claim her lost item or two.

But to claim him.

For the time being, it was exciting just to be at the university.

Well, it was exciting to be in Iowa City, the home of the University of Iowa.

Compared to the small town where he’d gone to grade, middle and high school, Iowa City was like Paris.

It was cosmopolitan. There were people from all over the world there, because of the university.

He was meeting new people nearly every day. People who were excitingly different than anyone he’d ever met before.

And, yes, that included the young pretties that just kept coming.

Was Markus serious about his studies?

Well, no.

He made A’s on most of his class assignments.

But that came easy for him.

As a freshman, he was just taking basic core courses in English composition, literature, history, and math. It wasn’t like he was studying nuclear physics or molecular genetics.

In his high school, this dreamer had been considered a delinquent.

By most of his teachers. As well as by the principal.

He had spent lots of time sitting up on the stage – of the room that doubled as a small theater and the school’s cafeteria.

That during lunch period . . . when it was supposed to humiliate him.

His crime? His sin?

He, as usual, had spoken up in a class. To correct a misinformed teacher.

In fact, Markus liked most of his high school teachers.

But they did not like him.

Ah, except for Ms. Crocket, the literature teacher.

Ms. Crocket was single and, let us say, not without hormones.

She was the one who had persuaded Markus to apply for college scholarships.

She had also encouraged him to take both the ACT and the SAT college entrance exams, standard achievement tests essential for acceptance into any accredited college or university.

Most prospective college students take either the ACTs or the SATs. But Ms. Crocket had encouraged Markus to take them both.

Why? Because she knew he excelled at taking such multiple-choice exams.

Her young prodigy had scored in the upper 3 percentile of students on the ACTs. And in the upper 2 percentile on the SATs.

That is most of what landed him a full-ride scholarship to attend the University of Iowa. Full-ride means not just tuition and all other fees waived, but also money for his books and supplies, as well as room and board.

Any money of his own – from savings, summer or school-year employment – Markus could spend simply for his preferred recreational choices.

That was why he could afford that well-used but still flashy Porsche sports coupe. Other than clothing, it was essentially his only expense.

That little coupe was both fast and fetching to the eye.

He called her Greta, which is German for A Pearl. Fitting that, as Porsches, of course, are examples of fine German engineering. And, yes, also styled to look like the street racers they are.

After the disturbing knock by the police, Markus had gone out to find that Greta was just fine. Not a scratch. And she was still securely locked.

The local intruder the police claimed to be pursuing had not molested his ride.

Rap. Rap.

Another knock at the door. This one didn’t sound like Mindy’s knock either.

Peeking again through the door’s little window, Markus was surprised to see Marilee.

Was she, he wondered, back for her necklace? Or back for him?

The first would be fine. The second still finer.

But wait . . .