Glen, or Michael Cooper, from what Wendy described.”
“Can you say more on that?”
Nina gave it some thought.
She was reticent to admit it aloud, but if ever there was a safe place to share, it was here. “I guess…” She cleared her throat. “I guess, lately, this tension between us, over my job mainly, it’s made me feel a little more uneasy about my decision to move in with Simon.”
Dr. Wilcox’s brow furrowed. “Why do you think that is?”
“I’m not sure,” Nina said. “I knew getting married, even engaged, would be too much change too fast for Maggie and Connor, for me as well, but honestly I didn’t think Simon living with us would create so many challenges. He keeps saying my working is bad for Maggie, but I get the feeling it bothers him for some other reasons.”
“Maybe those insecurities of his.”
“Maybe. And on top of all that, my good friends, Ginny and Susanna, are upset with me because I’m not seeing them nearly as much as I used to—dinner plans, movie plans, all canceled at the last minute. I know they blame Simon for it, but there’s always a valid excuse.”
Nina told Dr. Wilcox about the most recent incident, when Simon bought theater tickets as a surprise for the same night she had had dinner reservations with her friends.
Simon had been upset about the conflict, but told Nina to go to dinner if that was her preference. Of course she couldn’t go; it didn’t seem right, and those tickets were expensive. But finding a new date to get together with her friends was proving to be a bit of a chore.
“It seems I’m always canceling plans with them,” Nina lamented. “And my new job isn’t helping matters any.”
“Have you talked to Simon about it—his issues with your work, your friends’ concerns?” asked Dr. Wilcox.
“No, because I’m sure he’d deny it all. He’d say he was happy I was working again and that Ginny and Susanna were overreacting. I know he means well.”
“Good intentions don’t preclude your feelings. Perhaps now would be a good time for Simon to come in and we could meet together, or separately if he’d prefer.”
Dr. Wilcox’s suggestion made Nina cringe. It seemed incredibly indelicate to bring this to Simon now that he, not Glen, was the focus of these sessions.
“You’re hesitant for him to come here,” Dr. Wilcox said after a brief silence.
Nina thought of several lies she could tell but opted instead for the truth. “I haven’t told him I’m seeing you,” she confessed.
“Really? Why not?”
Nina explained that she didn’t want Simon to think she wasn’t perfectly happy with him, or saddle him with doubts at the start of their new life together.
“It sounds to me, Nina, like what you’re really confessing here are your own doubts.”
“I can’t afford to make another mistake with a man,” Nina admitted.
“We’ve talked about this before, but let me ask again. Have you learned more about Simon’s past, his family?”
Perhaps this was at the root of her mounting anxiety. Therapy was a magical thing, and Dr. Wilcox had helped reveal something Nina had tried to deny. The shock and wounds she’d suffered with Glen made it impossible to feel totally comfortable with Simon, and his newly revealed insecurities around her job were compounding the issues.
“There’s not much on his family other than what I told you—father was strict, ex-military, rule oriented.” Nina didn’t go into Simon’s fixation about the tree branches, and how his upbringing probably played a role in that obsession. “And from what Simon’s told me, aside from her depression, his mother was a very kind, loving, stay-at-home mom. Both his parents sadly died when he was in his twenties.”
A slim shadow crossed Dr. Wilcox’s face. “Of what?”
“Ovarian cancer for his mom, and a heart attack for his dad a few years after. Simon says his dad died of a broken heart.”
Dr. Wilcox’s tight smile acknowledged the bittersweet sentiment.
“What about other family?”
“He was an only child,” Nina said. “And I think there was animosity with extended family on both sides after his parents died. Bad blood from settling two estates. He hasn’t been in contact with any of them for years, and he doesn’t talk about it much.”
“Not the first time that’s happened. Death is easiest for the deceased. What about his past relationships? Do you know much about them?”
“No. Allison, his first wife, ran off, Emma killed herself, and that’s all I know.”
“Any photographs?”
“Of Allison, no,” Nina said. “After she left him, Simon had a