It was, in his opinion, the strangest thing he had ever seen, and it kept happening. People were drawn to her . . . just like he was, though he sure as certain wasn’t going to pour his heart out to her.
He had to drag her out of the hospital or they never would have left.
“Why are you in such a hurry?” she asked, trying to keep up with him as they walked down the hospital corridor.
“I have things to do,” he said.
She checked the time and then said, “Do you have plans tonight?”
“Yes.”
No further explanation, just a simple “yes.” She guessed what that meant. He had a date. Probably with that lawyer, Amanda Something-or-Other. She wasn’t going to grill him. If he didn’t want to tell her, she wasn’t going to nag.
“That nurse . . . ,” Michael began, as he turned the key in the car’s ignition.
“What nurse?”
“The one behind the desk.”
“You mean Terry,” she said, turning toward him. “What about her?”
“When did you talk to her?”
“I’ve talked to her several times on the phone,” she explained. “I’d called to check on Detective Walsh, and she answered. She’s a lovely woman, isn’t she?”
“Yeah, sure,” he said. “She thanked you for all your advice, but you didn’t give her any, did you?”
“I asked her how her day was going, and she told me.”
He shook his head. “It’s the damnedest thing.”
“What is? That people need someone to listen to them? There are a lot of lonely people in the world who don’t have anyone to turn to. You wouldn’t understand because you come from such a big family. If you need anything, you can turn to your brothers and sisters, and you have parents who love you. I hope you realize how fortunate you are.”
He glanced over at her and said, “Yes, I do realize how fortunate I am. What about you? Were you lonely growing up?”
“No, not at all,” she replied. “I was very close to my mother.”
“And your sisters?”
“Yes.”
“But they weren’t around all that much, were they? Kiera was away at college and medical school, and Kate went away to college, then got her graduate degree in business—”
“Okay, no, they weren’t home all that often, but I knew they would be there if I needed them.”
Several minutes passed in silence, and then Michael said, “Were they home when your mother got sick?”
“Off and on,” she answered. “Toward the end our aunt Nora moved in to help.”
He nodded. “I understand now.”
“Understand what?”
“You have tremendous empathy for others, and that’s why they’re drawn to you.”
“They? Who are you talking about?”
“Terry, the nurse,” he said. “And the orderly. What was he telling you? He looked agitated.”
“His name is Cruz, and he was upset. He told me he’s one of six children, and their single mother raised them. Now she’s sick, and none of them want to take her into their home and care for her. The more he talked, the more he realized that her children have an obligation to take care of her.”
“What do you think?”
“Brothers and sisters and parents should be loyal to one another, no matter what.”
He reached over and put his hand on top of hers. “I agree.”
Michael was slowly beginning to realize how much he liked being with Isabel. When he first met her at Dylan’s wedding and wasn’t trying his damnedest to avoid her, he had thought her opinions were naive, but now he realized how strong her character was. He had learned not to trust anyone but his family and his SEAL team brothers. Trust was unconditional with all of them. Outsiders weren’t to be trusted. In his past line of work, that was the reason he stayed alive.
“Do you trust Dylan unconditionally?” he asked.
“Yes, I do.” There wasn’t any hesitation at all.
“Do you trust me unconditionally?”
“Yes.” Again, no hesitation. Before he could gloat, and Isabel was sure that he would, she added a caveat. “And I can’t give you a reason why.”
On one hand, Isabel aggravated the hell out of him, and on the other, she made him feel good. His only explanation was that his reactions to her were just plain crazy.
“I’m not going to ask if you trust me unconditionally,” she continued, “because I know the answer.