The Mother I Never Had by Gary Goldstein

Author:Gary Goldstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Drama
Publisher: Hadleigh House LLC
Published: 2022-07-18T23:48:30+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

Nate had spoken to Jennifer every day since they’d unofficially resumed their relationship a few weeks earlier—“unofficially” because they’d said nothing about what sleeping together again meant nor what their future as a couple might look like. Even though the lines of communication had happily reopened between them in natural and more satisfying ways, they were still both circumspect enough not to rock the proverbial boat. Jennifer seemed to have regained her trust in Nate and the confidence that he wouldn’t disappoint her again. Or maybe she’d just recalibrated her expectations. For Nate’s part, he found himself acting with a greater need to attach and, hopefully, commit; to meeting Jennifer more on her own quite reasonable terms and not let fear guide his choices. It felt like a second honeymoon, but Nate knew he had to do his part to keep their momentum going—and growing.

After the Lucas lunch debacle, Nate caught Jennifer between classes for a quick FaceTime call and got her up to speed on the Fresno experience. He had booked out to his truck, still parked at the curb, and speedily related the highlights of the trip up, the jittery introductions, and what went down around the dining room table. Jennifer told him to hang in there and to remember how difficult it had to be for his grandparents. “After all,” she reasoned, “they’ve been living with this secret a lot longer than you have.” He then told her how Diane had pulled herself together, apologized profusely to Nate for her tuna meltdown (her expression, which made everyone laugh), and how, before she could explain herself any further, Nate locked her in a bear hug and called her Grandma, as he should have when he first had the chance.

“I’m proud of you for doing this, you know that?” Jennifer said as her next group of students assembled in the studio behind her. Nate appreciated that and told her so, to which she responded, with a raised eyebrow and a playful purr in her voice, “Keep up the good work and there’ll be a reward for you when you get home.”

What could he say to an offer like that but: “I’m counting the minutes.”

Nate sat in his truck awhile longer, gazing out at the shady street, enjoying the quiet, thinking about Jennifer, and then his father: What would Jim say if he knew that Nate was bonding—okay, trying to bond—with the people he’d spent almost half his life keeping his son away from? Yet Nate didn’t feel he was being disloyal to his late father; Jim had handled this badly, irresponsibly, so unlike the man he’d seemingly been. It was never too late to right those wrongs, though, if the last few hours were any sign. Still, it surprised Nate that he was leaning into those difficulties and not trying to escape them.

He looked out at his grandparents’ scrubby front lawn and scanty plantings and that overwhelming elm and couldn’t help but conjure up an instant redo—so much for “taking the weekend off.

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