His Surprise Son by WENDY WARREN Page A

fidget, ducking her head and fingering the ends of her silky hair. She’d always been a fidgeter.
    In flat sandals with multicolored straps, she looked seventeen again. “You haven’t changed.”
    She snorted. “I’ve changed a lot. Anyway, that’s not really a compliment unless a woman is over thirty-five. Before then, we want to change, and we want it to show.”
    “Interesting. I’ll try to remember that.” A breeze swept the warmth of the sun off their faces as they walked. “You do look the same, though. Except for your eyes. They were always intense, but back then they were unsophisticated, too—in a good way.”
    Today, the giant hazel eyes he’d always loved were hidden by sunglasses as her head snapped to him. “Seriously? You think you can tell a woman she’s unsophisticated in a good way?”
    “Yes, I do. You were innocent. Trusting. And with everything you’d been through...” Nate looked at her, stating the truth. “I was impressed by that.”
    The lower part of her face was a mask of neutrality.
    “How are your parents, Nate?” she asked, changing the subject.
    “I don’t know if you remember that my parents had me when they were older—in their forties. By the time I was in high school, Dad had diabetes and high blood pressure. He had a heart attack in the middle of my freshman year at UI Chicago. He never completely recovered and needed a lot of help. My mom was really protective of him, but it was more than she could handle, particularly since they lived pretty far from town. I didn’t think she could take care of him on her own and work, too, so I convinced them to move out. We muddled through together until I began my career and could contribute more financially.”
    “How is your dad now?”
    “He passed a couple of years ago.”
    “I’m sorry. I had no idea.”
    “Why would you?” Putting his hands in his pockets, he mused, “Dad loved Illinois, said it felt like home. I’m glad of that.”
    Izzy nodded but seemed distracted. They walked in silence for a time, listening to the sound of oars lapping the water and a family’s laughter.
    “And your mother?” she asked finally. “Is she well?”
    “Pretty much, yeah. After Dad died, she moved to a senior cooperative housing project. Keeps busy volunteering now, but I see her aging.” His lips quirked. “She laments the fact that I haven’t had kids.”
    His offhand comment seemed to snap Izzy to full attention. “Is that so.”
    “In fact, she’s the one who convinced me to take the job that’s brought me back to Thunder Ridge.”
    Izzy stopped walking. “What do you mean?”
    He looked at the girl he’d never been able to forget, soaked in the furrow of her brow and the way wisps of her hair were carried by the breeze. “Sometimes you have to take a big step back in order to move forward,” he commented quietly. “That’s what she told me. She said she had a sixth sense that I needed to ‘go home.’ I thought it was strange, because she’s not usually philosophical, and in all the years we’d been away, she’d never once referred to Thunder Ridge as home.” He hoped Izzy believed him when he said, “I’m glad she pushed me to take the job. Glad I’m here again.” He refrained from adding because of you , but that was the truth. What he knew about her life today wouldn’t fit inside a thimble, but something inside him was hoping there was room for him.
    Lowering her head, Izzy moved to the railing that lined their path and stared out at the water. “Did either of your parents ever come back to Thunder Ridge? For a visit, or...anything?”
    Joining her, resting his elbows on the top wooden rail, he shook his head. “Uh-uh. When we were here, we lived on the farm Dad managed on top of his job at the lodge. The housing was free, and some of the furniture belonged to the landlord. There wasn’t much to take with them, and my parents were both east coasters to begin with. No family to come back to in