Page 51 of Stepping Into Tomorrow

“But not anymore?” she pressed.

He sighed. “I’ll be honest. I don’t have relationships in my life except for my family, because they’re stuck with me.”

“Oh. I see.” She hugged herself, turning her face away from him.

Nash reached out, his palm sliding over the soft skin of her knee.

Her attention snapped to him.

“You’re part of my family now.”

24

ISABELLA

Isabella was more shocked by his words than his touch. You’re part of my family now.

Nash pulled his hand back, angling his body a little farther away like he needed space after his statement that felt more like a confession. The flash of vulnerability in his dark eyes was like a streak of lightning in a storm—one flicker of a second when all his emotions were illuminated. Fear was the easiest to read. Regret. Grief. Guilt. And anger. But was it because of his past or the pregnancy? Perhaps a bit of both. This was the side of him she’d sensed that night of the wedding. The softness beneath the stone.

“Tell me about yourself,” she said.

“What do you want to know?” he asked, pulling out a water for himself and a container of mixed fruit. He peeled the lid and offered it to her.

She picked up a grape. “Why a fisherman?”

“The sea has always called to me. My dad used to take me and my siblings out, charter a boat a couple times a year. It was a blast. I enjoyed farming, but I didn’t want to do it full-time. The ocean’s different. It . . .”

“It’s calming.”

He looked at her. “Yeah.”

“It’s kind of magical too. I mean, it’s sort of like staring up at the stars. You realize just how small you are in the scheme of things when you stand by the sea.”

“Knowing that the force of nature is unmatched keeps a man humbled,” Nash added.

She finished the grape and grabbed a strawberry, the sweetness bursting into her mouth as she bit into it.

“Anyways. I got hooked as a kid and made it a reality a few years ago after . . . well, when I needed some change.” His eyes clouded over. “Seems Eli might be even more interested than I was. I think you have a fisherman on your hands.”

She chuckled. “It’s been his obsession since he was seven. Before that it was dinosaurs.”

“Did his dad take him?”

She nodded. “Yeah, Robert loved it. It was one of the ways they connected.”

Nash remained silent.

“Thank you for answering all his questions and being so patient with him. I’m sure you noticed Eli has his own way of doing things. He has Asperger’s.”

“Is that a form of autism?”

She nodded. “Yeah. He was diagnosed when he was five.”

“He’s a good kid. Smart. And persistent.” He chuckled.

She smiled. “He is.”

“We should plan a day for me to take him out with me. If you’re still okay with that.”

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