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“Oh to be young,” says Evan. “I seem to remember you and Jules having a similar relationship.”
“Come on in,” I say, unlocking my front door and leading them into my mostly empty home. “Make yourselves at home.”
“Nate, I say this with love, but have you considered a decorator?” Evan asks.
“Seriously,” Izzy agrees as she surveys the seemingly endless expanse of Carrera marble tile. “I can hear my own echo in here.”
It’s spartan, I’ll give her that, but it makes the place I grew up in in Tennessee look like a cardboard box, so I’m proud of it regardless. Murphy is the only one who doesn’t seem to mind. He excitedly lopes off to run freely through the empty halls.
“Murphy! Sit! No!” Izzy puts on her most stern “mom” voice.
“He’s alright,” I say. “I’ve actually been meaning to get a dog. I thought it might make the place a little less lonely… but then, I remembered I’m barely home between practice and all the publicity they have me doing. That’s why the house looks like this. I just haven’t gotten around to shopping.”
“Why don’t you help him, Iz?” says Evan. “You’ve got a good eye. You should go shopping sometime.”
She shoots her brother a look that can only be described as betrayal. “I’m sure he is capable of shopping for himself. He’s a big boy. Plus, he has a girlfriend,” she adds with enough bitterness to curdle milk.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I say stepping closer to her, forcing her to tilt her chin up to me, which she does and commences glaring. “I’d actually love the help,” I say matching her glare.
Evan sounds nervous, like he’s watching a slowly inflating balloon about to pop. “Why don’t you go tomorrow? I’ll watch Rory. I have to squeeze in all the Rory time I can while I’m in town.”
I step back and flick my eyes to the little girl, who smiles at her uncle. “Can we go to the mall?”
“We can go anywhere you want,” says Evan. “I’ll pick you up after school?”
I glance again at Izzy, she looks like she wants to run into traffic at the thought of spending time alone with me… but that’s too bad, because I’m going to spend as much time with her as I can until I can get to the bottom of why she never told me she had a kid… why we potentially have a kid. God, that’s a terrifying thought. “Sound good to you, Iz?”
She presses her lips together and gives a silent nod.
“Yes.” Rory gives a fist pump and happily makes her way to the couch and TV, which are the only pieces of furniture in the living room. “You have FIFA?” She holds up the PlayStation soccer game. “Can I play it?”
I look at Izzy for permission. She shrugs and says, “I need a drink.” Then, she walks off to the kitchen.
Evan helps me get Rory set up with her game, then follows me toward the kitchen from which Izzy has yet to emerge.
“How did Izzy wind up with a daughter who loves sports? That’s like anti high school Izzy,” I ask quietly before we round the corner.
A funny look crosses Evan’s face. “Clearly it’s my influence,” he says with a self-deprecating smile, because we both know that the Rossi genes were not rife with athletic prowess.
Later, after Rory has eaten a burger twice her size and gone back to her game, we adults make our way to the backyard to sit on the patio while Murphy rolls in the grass.
It’s nice, and if I squint, I can almost imagine this is my life.
CHAPTER 9
Isabella
Dinner was surprisingly pleasant, despite the awkwardness between Nathan and me. Nathan and Rory traded jokes all through the meal. I’m truly staggered at how similar the two of them are. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner. Maybe I just forced myself not to see it. After all, I never expected to see him again.
Nathan is good with her, another thing that is throwing me for a complete loop. When we were younger, he always said he didn’t want kids. Given the way he grew up, it made sense. So, imagine my surprise to find he has such a natural ease with them.
Evan has also noticed. I can tell by the way he keeps shooting me raised eyebrows anytime Nathan and Rory interact. Between him and Jules, telling Nathan the truth is all I hear about day in and day out. If only it were that easy.
I admit, part of why I never fought harder to tell him the truth was that he never struck me as the family type. His own family life growing up wasn’t great. That’s honestly why he spent so much time at our house. His mom abandoned them when Nathan was in fourth grade… just a bit older than Rory is now. According to Nathan she and his father never got along, and she spent more time out of the house than she did in it, until one day she just stopped coming home all together. I’m sure there has to be more to the story. As a mother, I can’t even imagine. After that his dad checked out… and Nathan did too, I guess. He just started spending all his time with us, and insisted he’d never have kids of his own to ruin the way his parents ruined him.
My parents loved him. For all their faults, they are lovely people when they want to be. Selfless to others, and Nathan was just the kind of son they wanted. Him and Evan—a valedictorian and a football star. No wonder I felt so out of place. I got good grades, but I was shy and gravitated more toward art and reading. I’ve never wanted the spotlight.
Wow, I haven’t thought about my parents in years. Ever since Nathan showed up I’ve been thinking about things I’d been successfully repressing since I left.
