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“Does it?”
“No.”
She shrugged. “Sorry.”
Tristan shoved both hands into his hair and spun around to face the dark yard. “Whatdidshe say?”
“I don’t think I’m allowed to tell you that.”
He huffed. The misery he currently drowned in would probably be better than hearing whatever Dianna had told her sister anyway.
“But I’ll tell you what I know.”
His whole body froze. Her shuffled footsteps wandered across the frozen wood planks of the porch and she rested her elbows on the porch railing, not looking up at him. “Out of all my sisters, I know Dianna better than the oldest ones, but not as well as I know the ones around my age. Keep that in mind when I tell you what I’m going to say next.”
Tristan peeked at her. Her brows were furrowed and she wore a frown that mirrored his own.
“Dianna keeps to herself. Comfort. That’s what I get from her.”
“What does that mean?”
Grace lifted one shoulder and shot a look in his direction. “Dianna thrives when things are the same. She doesn’t like change—which is why I think we were all surprised when she decided to start working for Shane. She just doesn’tdostuff like that.”
“I fail to see how that has anything to do with our relationship.”
Her frown deepened. “Don’t you have a kid who deals with similar stuff?”
“What? Hating change? We all hate change. Kids are just worse at dealing with it.”
One brow lifted and she let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. “That’s where you’re wrong. My dad wasterribleat accepting when my mom died. Then he was in complete denial as each one of us started maturing. I’m sure Dianna told you about his rule when it came to marriage.”
He nodded, shifting his focus away from Dianna’s sister. “She mentioned it. She also said that he changed his rule recently.”
“Yup.”
Tristan let out a heavy sigh. “With all due respect, I’m in the middle of trying to pick up the broken pieces of my heart. You’ll understand if I don’t have patience for your cryptic storytelling.”
She let out a laugh. “Is that what you think this is?” Turning to face him, she leaned one elbow on the rail and set a stern gaze on him. “Dianna isveryparticular. She likes her things just so. When something big changes, it throws her off balance, and it can take her weeks or months to get through it. While that’s happening, you have to understand that she needs her space to examine everything from every angle. Does any of that sound familiar?”
Confusion must have been plain on his face.
Grace let out an exaggerated groan. “She’s probably more like your son than she is like you. She functions a little differently than you or me do.”
Realization dawned on him.
She let out a sigh that sounded almost like relief. “See? Dianna will immerse herself in things so much that she will get in her own way because she can’t focus on anything else. If she thinks it’s a bad idea to date you for whatever reason, she’s not going to suddenly change her mind. It can be a good thing, but in this case, it’s bad. I’m sure you’ve noticed that she’s almost obsessively passionate about certain things too. She’s dedicated, and whatever she’s good at, she turns it into something she can excel at.”
“But she doesn’t act like someone who’s on the spectrum.”
“That’sjustit. There is literally no single way to describe someone on the spectrum. They have different strengths and weaknesses than even other people who have the same diagnosis. Contrary to popular belief, some autistics are more social but have a harder time with change or emotional regulation. Some don’t speak at all. There was this article I read once that even said people with autism experience deeper emotions depending what facet of their personality is affected. With Dianna, she’ll probably come around. You just don’t know when that will be.”
Her words had the strangest effect on him. While he really wanted to hold onto his anger and frustration, he couldn’t. Dianna was different. Wasn’t that one of the reasons he liked her so much? More and more realizations fell into place, and he looked at Dianna’s sister once again. “You sure seem to know a lot about her—about what it’s like to be on the spectrum.”
She sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I had a friend in high school. He shared a lot of the same tendencies as Dianna. I don’t know if she’s even realized it herself. She probably just feels like she’s different.”
“You haven’t talked to her about it?”
Shaking her head, she looked away from him out into the yard.
