Chapter 22 - Nolan’s Mother Came Back
Dana Holloway met me at a coffee shop on Thursday.
I had seen photographs.
That was different from seeing her walk through the door.
Nolan had her eyes.
Same gray-blue color.
Same habit of looking at the room before choosing a seat.
She was forty-one, neatly dressed, and nervous enough to stir an empty coffee cup for ten seconds.
“Thank you for meeting me.”
“Does Wade know you contacted me?”
“No.”
That immediately concerned me.
“Then why me?”
She looked down.
“Because Nolan talks about Tessa.”
I waited.
“And you.”
“Does he talk about his father?”
“Not much.”
That was not an answer to any question I wanted to hear.
Dana had moved to Arizona after her second marriage.
Nolan had stayed with Wade.
At first she visited.
Then less often.
Then her marriage became unstable, money became tight, and distance turned into excuses.
She did not dress it up.
“I failed him.”
I shifted.
“That’s between you and Nolan.”
“I know.”
She looked at me.
“But I heard about the laptop.”
I almost laughed.
Of course.
The laptop had become the family’s Book of Genesis.
“What did you hear?”
“That Wade let Nolan take Tessa’s computer, and things exploded.”
“That is an extremely compressed version.”
“Nolan told me more.”
I sat back.
“He calls you?”
“He started again three months ago.”
I had not known.
Neither had Tessa.
“He said you made him pay toward the file recovery.”
“Yes.”
Dana smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
I did not expect that.
“For making him pay?”
“For not turning him into the villain.”
I thought about Nolan standing outside Tessa’s door holding seventy dollars.
“He wasn’t.”
“I know.”
She looked out the window.
“Wade has always loved him by removing consequences.”
There was history in that sentence.
“Dana—”
“I’m not asking you to take sides.”
“Good.”
“I’m asking if he’s okay.”
That was harder.
“He’s growing.”
Her eyes filled.
“That wasn’t what I asked.”
“No.”
I understood why Mom always did that to me.
“He seems okay. But you should ask him.”
“I’m afraid he won’t answer.”
“That might happen.”
She nodded.
Then came the real reason for the meeting.
“I’m moving back to Indiana.”
I stared at her.
“When?”
“Next month.”
“Does Nolan know?”
“No.”
“You should tell Wade.”
“I will.”
“Before Nolan.”
She bristled.
“Wade doesn’t get to control whether I see my son.”
“I didn’t say he did.”
“Then why—”
“Because Nolan has had enough adults surprising him with decisions.”
That stopped her.
I softened my voice.
“He deserves time.”
Dana looked down.
“You’re right.”
I hated how often those words made people look sad.
We finished coffee.
I told Wade that evening only after confirming Dana had already called him.
He was furious.
Not loud.
Worse.
Controlled.
“She disappears for years and now she wants to come back because she heard things are difficult?”
“I don’t know what she wants.”
“You met her.”
“She wanted information about Nolan.”
“You gave it to her?”
“I told her to speak to him.”
Wade exhaled sharply.
“I don’t want her destabilizing him.”
I heard something familiar.
Protection.
Fear.
Control beginning to dress itself as care.
“Then don’t decide for him.”
“Elise.”
“He’s sixteen.”
“He’s my son.”
“Yes.”
“Not yours.”
The words hit harder than he intended.
Silence.
Wade immediately said, “I’m sorry.”
I believed him.
Still hurt.
“I know he’s not mine.”
“That wasn’t—”
“I know.”
I looked toward Tessa’s room.
“But I care about him.”
Wade’s voice softened.
“I know you do.”
The next day, Nolan found out.
Not from Dana.
Not from Wade.
From Denise.
Of course.
She texted him:
Heard your mother’s coming back. Hope she doesn’t mess you up again.
Nolan left school before lunch.
Nobody could find him for forty minutes.
Wade called me in panic.
I called Tessa.
“Have you heard from Nolan?”
“No.”
Then her voice changed.
“Wait.”
A message arrived.
He sent her one photograph.
A bus shelter.
The old downtown plaza.
Tessa stood so fast her chair fell backward.
“He’s there.”
I was already grabbing my keys.
We reached the plaza in twelve minutes.
Nolan sat on the wet bench beneath the narrow awning.
No coat.
Backpack between his feet.
Tessa approached first.
He looked at her.
“You told my mom about the competition?”
“No.”
“My dad?”
“I don’t know.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Everybody knows everything except me.”
Tessa sat beside him.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then she said, “The bench still sucks.”
Nolan looked at her.
“What?”
“The bench.”
She pointed.
“It’s wet.”
He stared at it.
Then laughed.
One sharp sound.
Then another.
Then he started crying.
Not quietly.
Tessa did not touch him until he leaned toward her.
I stayed back.
Wade arrived five minutes later.
He saw his son.
Stopped.
And for once, he did not rush in with an answer.
He sat on the other side.
Nolan wiped his face.
“Do I have to see her?”
Wade swallowed.
“No.”
“Can I?”
“Yes.”
“What if I don’t know?”
Wade looked at me.
Then at Tessa.
Finally back at his son.
“Then you don’t know yet.”
May you like
That was the right answer.
And all four of us knew how hard he had worked to learn it.
