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He heard Dianna’s laughter before he saw her. She waddled into the cabin, with Mathew attached as he hugged her tight around the middle. “Okay, buddy. Let’s get in far enough that we can shut the door before all the cold air gets in.”
Mathew darted toward the couch.
Dianna glanced in Tristan’s direction. She smiled at him, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Hey,” she said timidly.
“Hey.” His stomach swirled and he itched to go running toward her much like his child had. But instead, he stayed back. After this morning, he didn’t want to do anything to cause her any anxiety. He didn’t have to wait long.
She wandered over toward him, a small smile on her lips. She leaned against the counter, her elbows resting on the vinyl countertop, and she tilted her head. “Smells good.”
He beamed. “How do you like your steak?”
“Medium.”
Tristan checked on the macaroni. “Wouldn’t be dinner without this. You don’t have to have any if you don’t want—”
Dianna laughed. “I’m notthatpicky.” The humor in her gaze dissipated, and his nerves shot out of control. But before he could say anything, she spoke. “About this morning.”
This was it. Here was the moment he’d been dreading since he started cooking. Either she wasn’t interested or she wasn’t ready to deal with the baggage he had. He should tell her he was okay with waiting. He could be patient. But that sounded like a lot. Telling her that would only scare her off.
Dianna traced her finger along the designs on the counter and her gaze dropped.
“Look, I get it—” he started.
“I just wanted to apologize.”
Their gazes met and they smiled. He flipped his steak then moved closer to her, touching her arm briefly. “You don’t have to apologize.”
“Oh, I know.”
That wasn’t the reaction he’d expected.
She let out a shy laugh. “I didn’t do anything wrong. But I wanted to apologize because I don’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
His brows furrowed. He didn’t like where this was going.
“This morning I wasn’t prepared to deal with everything. I have this—thing—about needing to analyze everything from every angle before I can even begin to deal with it.” She finally looked up at him. “I was never officially diagnosed, but I have some autistic characteristics.”
Tristan didn’t move. This wasn’t as big of a reveal as she probably thought it was. And it didn’t bother him in the slightest. He just didn’t want her running off in case he didn’t respond in the way she was hoping he would.
She stared at him as if she were just as frozen as he was. “Well?” she said.
“Well, what?”
“Aren’t you going to say something?”
“Do you want me to say something?”
She let out a frustrated sigh. “I just told you that I have a condition that makes me see the world differently, and it’s obviously going to continue affecting any relationship I will have with someone. If you can’t bother—”
“Dianna,” he said in a low voice, moving closer. “If you’re expecting me to make excuses and tell you I’m no longer interested, you need to change that thought immediately.”
Her mouth shut and her eyes widened.
He gave her a crooked grin, then placed his palm against her cheek. If only she knew how amazing she was. “The way I see it, no one is exactly the same, right? No one’s relationship is typical by definition. We would both have to learn how to deal with each other’s quirks.”
A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “Really?”
“Really.”
