I blinked. A few months ago, I would have been shocked by that information. If Nathan had been one of the nerds at my high school, I probably would have cornered him under the bleachers and never let him go.
But now that I knew him, I could easily imagine how hard it would have been for him to talk to girls at that age. Flirting was all about innuendo and facial expressions and unspoken hints—all things he struggled with.
He kept going without an iota of shame. “We saw each other for a few weeks before she told me about her daughter. And at first, I thought it wasn’t a great idea to date a single parent. Additionally, even before I realized that Lindsay struggled withaddiction, I knew she wasn’t someone I would ever have a serious relationship with. We were too different.”
I frowned at our joined hands, now resting on Nathan’s thigh. “We’re different.”
“In some ways. But…I believe I understand you, Joni. And I think you understand me.”
My knee-jerk reaction was to argue, but I couldn’t. In the space of a month, Nathan had transformed from an abrupt, imperious doctor and grumpy customer into one of the kindest, most genuine people I’d ever met. He said what he meant and meant what he said. He expected and even valued the same from others. He didn’t need flashy fashion or flirtatious grins or suggestive comments to make him happy.
He just needed the truth.
Huh. Apparently, we did have something in common. Something big.
“I was going to break up with her the day I met Isla. Lindsay and I were meeting at a park, and she brought her daughter. This very small, very smart little girl who seemed to struggle with certain things, like new spaces and certain noises.”
Isla, it turned out, was autistic. As Nathan told it, she also struggled with a lot more than the communication issues he dealt with, although that was certainly part of it. She also had intense sensory issues that often prevented her from eating enough, could not tolerate many changes to her routine, and suffered from extreme anxiety for someone so young, among other elements of the spectrum.
But she liked Nathan. A lot.
“I didn’t think I could break up with her mother with her there. But every time I saw her after that, Lindsay always had Isla with her. And eventually, Isla became attached.”
“Of course she did,” I said. “Who wouldn’t?”
“Most people,” Nathan said dryly.
“Then most people are idiots.” I gave his hand a shake. “You don’t know how wonderful you are.”
He was quiet a moment. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now tell me the rest.”
He sighed. “At some point, it became clear that Lindsay had a drug issue, which wasn’t good for Isla for obvious reasons that were even more intense because of her ASD diagnosis. I finally figured it out when I got a call from Isla’s school asking me to pick her up because her mother couldn’t be found. I was listed as the emergency number.” He huffed. “We found Lindsay at her apartment. She was in the middle of pulling her car apart on the street. The dashboard had been pulled up and was on the sidewalk.” He looked at me. “She was searching for a rock.”
“I’m assuming you mean meth.” People didn’t tear apart their cars for pebbles.
Nathan nodded. “That was when I knew I couldn’t just leave her. Isla, I mean. So I stayed. I tried to help her and her mother too. Lindsay and I even got engaged so I would be able to provide them both with healthcare as a domestic partnership. Rehab for Lindsay. Occupational therapy for Isla.”
“So…that’s who you said you were going to marry?” I said.
Nathan’s eyes swerved to me, dark and sharp. “I said we were engaged. I never said I was going to marry her. It’s different.”
“Not to most people.”
“Well, it was to me.”
What did that mean?
“You couldn’t just…pay for the health insurance?” I asked instead of the question I really wanted to know. My thoughts were dancing all over the place. This story had me reeling.
Nathan shook his head. “My parents have the money, not me. They had cut me off just for going to Duke, so at that age, I was surviving on scholarship funds and what I earned working at a stable in Durham. I didn’t come into my trust fund until Iwas thirty, and even then, it was most stocks in the company. The apartment and everything else I have now belong to me. It’s whatIhave earned for myself.”
“That’s a lot for a twenty-one-year-old to handle,” I remarked, though I couldn’t help thinking of my brother or Lea, taking care of the rest of us when we were small. Or Frankie, who had Sofia on her own at twenty-three. “Your parents wouldn’t help you?”
Nathan shook his head. “Absolutely not. We weren’t speaking much during those years anyway. They definitely didn’t approve of Lindsay.”
Jerks. I hadn’t even met Nathan’s parents yet, but I had a feeling I wouldn’t like them when I did. This was a little girl we were talking about. Someone their son obviously cared about, and they hadn’t lifted a finger for her.
