Stella MacLean - To Protect Her Son

“Did he go with her very long?” Gayle asked, unable to stop herself from wanting to know more about Nate.

“He did. When he joined the police academy and moved to Boston, she went with him. They had planned to be married the summer he was injured, a big wedding here in Eden Harbor. Then one morning Natasha told him she wanted out. That she couldn’t imagine being married to a man who would always walk with a cane.”

“What a cruel thing to do! Why did she accept his proposal? She couldn’t have loved him very much,” Gayle said, at once angry at this woman she’d never met and sad for Nate and what he must have faced in the weeks and months after Natasha left him.

“She grew up spoiled, always got what she wanted. And she’d wanted Nate from the time they were in high school. Only not the Nate he became after the shooting.”

“What do you mean?” Gayle asked, becoming more aware of how much damage Nate’s shooter had done aside from the physical injuries.

“Nate had to focus all his efforts on getting well. Gone were the days of partying and staying up half the night, along with skiing or dancing or playing tennis. It was all gone. At the time we had no idea why they’d split up. Nate wasn’t talking and Natasha moved to New Orleans.”

“That must have been really hard on him,” Gayle said. “No one deserves to be dumped in such a heartless way.”

“No kidding! He managed to get to his treatments and appointments in Boston on his own, even though the whole family wanted to help. He fended off all offers, claiming that he had a circle of friends who were there for him, and he needed to devote his time to getting healthy again.”

“Maybe he just couldn’t face everyone’s sympathy over what Natasha had done to him. It must have been really painful to realize that the woman you loved didn’t love you.”

“Natasha expected that Nate would always be there for her, trying to please her, but the accident meant that she had a new role to play helping him. Obviously she couldn’t or wouldn’t do that. It’s too bad Nate had to learn something that heartbreaking the hard way.”

Gayle felt a connection to this man that went well beyond their meeting the other day. He’d had his share of suffering and pain at the hands of someone he’d loved, just as she had. “Natasha’s abandonment had to have changed him.”

“It did. Nate was a different man when he returned to Eden Harbor. He hasn’t hooked up with any of his old gang from school, and the women he dates are all much younger. He only introduced me to a couple of them and they seemed...frivolous. Not the kind of women I would have imagined him being interested in. Maybe he’s just a poor judge of women.”

“Or keeps meeting the wrong kind.”

“Could be. He doesn’t bring any of them home, or so his mother says. She wishes he’d find someone, but...” She shrugged. “Nate won’t talk about it.”

Gayle wanted to know more about Nate. He’d survived injury and rejection and still managed to keep going. To have survived what had happened to him took courage and determination, both admirable qualities in her mind.

“Are you sure there’s nothing going on between you two?” Sherri asked.

“No. Nothing. What made you say that?”

“This whole conversation has been about Nate, so don’t tell me you’re not interested in him.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to share with her friend how she’d felt the other day when Nate was at the house? How being near him made her feel...better about life. But hearing Sherri’s description of the type of women he dated, she began to wonder if maybe Sherri believed her cousin needed a different kind of woman. One that would offer him stability and support.

If Sherri was trying to get her and Nate together to solve what she saw as her cousin’s problem with women, Gayle wasn’t interested. She had enough issues to work out in her own life. “Sorry to disappoint, but there’s nothing to report on the romance front.”

Sherri’s face was one big smile as Neill entered the clinic space. “We’ll talk about Nate later,” she said as she crossed the reception area to greet her fiancé.

* * *

NATE STOOD OUTSIDE Coach Cassidy’s office while he waited for him to get off the phone. Nate had had several appointments with teachers of some of the teenagers he was working with and had decided to drop by and see the coach before he finished his day. In Nate’s experience Coach Cassidy was a very perceptive man, a quality somewhat at odds with his size and his aggressive coaching skills. “A man’s man” was how the principal of the school described him.

Yet many times Bill Cassidy had known almost instinctively which teenagers were in trouble and how that trouble was affecting them. After watching Adam interact with his mother and detecting his poorly disguised hostility at feeling invisible, Nate suspected that the boy was very lonely and it was affecting his relationships with fellow students and teachers. That was to be expected under the circumstances, but also something to cause concern, should it continue or get worse. Feelings of loneliness could easily lead to feelings of alienation, and he didn’t want to see that happen to Adam. He hoped the coach could explain a little bit about Adam and how he behaved around his peer group off and on the basketball court, but more important, why he hadn’t made the team.

“Well, hello,” Bill Cassidy said as he opened the door to his office and beckoned Nate in. “What can I do for you? Or is this a social call? I’m nearly done for the day. Want to go for a beer?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” Nate said, watching the other man grab his jacket, flip his keys out of his pocket and lock his office door all in one smooth movement.

“So how’s life treating you these days? Still busy as ever, I assume,” the older man said as they took the stairs to the back entrance of the school. Nate noticed that Bill didn’t rush down the stairs, giving Nate a chance to keep pace with him.

“Too busy, really, but that’s the way it is, I guess.”

They walked in unison along the cobbled walkway toward the downtown, stopping at the entrance to Missy’s Bar and Grill. “And of course you’re getting ready to be a groomsman at Neill’s wedding. That’s going to be quite a party.”

“I’m looking forward to it. It’s about time those two got married, if you ask me.”

Bill shook his head slowly as they climbed onto bar stools and ordered two locally brewed draft beers. They talked sports, weather and the state of the fishing industry, and all during their conversation Neill sensed that Bill was working up to something.

Bill toyed with the napkin placed in front of him by the waiter. “Mind if I ask you a question?”

His tentative tone aroused Nate’s curiosity. “Sure.”

“How far would you go to find love?”

“What?”

Bill hunched forward. “What I mean is this. Look at Neill and Sherri. They were so in love and planned to be married when they were in high school. Then suddenly it was all over. And if Neill hadn’t come back here they would never have known how much they still loved each other.”

“I guess I haven’t really thought about it.” Nate was feeling a little embarrassed at the turn the conversation had taken. He’d never have expected Bill Cassidy to bring up such a topic. But he had to admit he didn’t really know Bill except on a professional level.

“Take you, for instance. You must have loved someone in high school—Natasha Burnham, if I remember. Would you want to have a second chance at love like Neill and Sherri? What would you do if you got the chance?”

The subject of his ex-fiancée was nobody’s business, and he was becoming very uncomfortable with the direction this conversation seemed to be going. “Unfortunately, it’s not something I’ve given much thought to recently. I guess you could say I had my chance.”