After I received the unexpected, polite message from Cincinnati*, I decided to wait a day or two before answering. I was surprised to hear anything from him at all, so I couldn't decide how to respond. But part of me would like to eventually bump up the intimacy.
I'm sure there must be a country and western song that says something like "how can I miss you when you won't go away?". Probably a Kinky Friedman song. So I decided to take the same approach.
I eventually did answer. I admitted I was surprised, albeit pleasantly. I said I was planning to move out of Texas. I made most of the chat about him, not me, although I did mention my new bike.
I can't see that he's changed at all. He still cycles nonstop - he mentioned logging over 6,000 miles in 2018. He is overworked and stressed, but feels he needs to be responsible.
He did say that it was nice to speak to me again, and that he'd missed me. But it doesn't explain why he never tried to reach me this year.
I think I need to be careful that I'm not trying to get him interested in me again, just because he dumped me and my ego was/is bruised. But I have plenty of other pursuits for the rest of the year: clearing out the rest of this house, finding some contract work, and rehoming the rest of the cats. I have decided I don't want any cats at all now. Losing Toby, Walter and Bodhi was so painful.
* See The Usual Suspects.