Excellent.

And since he’d brought her up, that opened the door to a few questions.

“You mentioned that you stayed in the relationship for the wrong reasons.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “A few months before I met her, her father had died suddenly. She took it hard. A month after we met, I convinced her to go bicycling with me. She fell and broke her leg, requiring months of rehab and a ton of assistance—which I provided. She didn’t finish with physical therapy until April. Ten weeks after we started dating, her mother was diagnosed with rapidly progressive dementia. Within four months, she had to be put into an extended care facility. Every time I thought about breaking up, I backed off. I didn’t want to add to her stress.”

“I can understand that. But guilt isn’t the best basis for a relationship.”

“Kathleen told me that too. I don’t disagree. So I sucked it up and did what had to be done.”

He’d shared a great deal, but she did have another question that was very important to her—if she could phrase it delicately.

“Eight months is a long time to date in today’s world without getting . . . serious.” She kept her tone conversational, positioning it as a comment rather than a question.

Nate had no difficulty hearing the query underneath, though, and nailing her concern. The man’s ability to read her was both intriguing and disconcerting.

“You’re wondering if we lived together.”

Now it was her turn to squirm. “I wouldn’t ask such a personal—”

“The answer is no. Nor did we sleep together.”

If he was willing to be candid, why not ask the next critical question?

“May I ask why not?”

“I don’t believe in casual intimacy. I was raised with traditional Midwestern values. We attended church every Sunday as a family, and the moral principles my parents and my pastor instilled in me stuck. I took more than a little flak for that in college and in the service, but my values have deep roots and can withstand storms. Becky shared them. Common moral ground has always been important to me in any dating relationship.”

He stopped there, but his implied question was also clear. And she had no problem answering it.

“Since you’ve been frank with me, I’ll return the favor. I didn’t grow up on a farm, but I did grow up in the Midwest with the same values you did, backed by family and faith. I not only respect your beliefs about casual intimacy, I share them.”

“I’d say that’s good news all around—and an excellent omen for the future. I just have one other question.” He leaned forward and folded his hands on the table. “Are there any dark secrets or significant others lurking in the shadows of your world that I should know about?”

Despite his teasing inflection, a shiver rippled through her at his reference to dark secrets.

But that topic could wait for another day.