Yeah, this is worrisome. At first, I was willing to give the new guy the benefit of a doubt and presume that he couldn’t move for whatever reason (can’t find a job in the woman’s city, has a house he can’t unload, has to care for elderly parents who have nobody else), and that maybe the child didn’t want to move away from the place he grew up in, and dad was willing to put up a fight to keep the kid from having to move (which it does sound like is a possibility.)
I could see not getting a ‘part time’ apartment, because that could rack up bills they might not be able to afford. And I could honestly understand why he might not be comfortable with his wife-to-be staying at her ex-husband’s place.
Long-distant parent doesn’t necessarily mean ‘uninvolved’. I have friends, divorced from each other, who should honestly be the models of how divorced parents should function. During the recession, the dad’s job relocated all the way across the country. He figured his choices were 1.) Go, and continue to earn money to support his child, or 2.) Stay, and risk having no job (again, the worst part of the recession) to support his child. He and his ex-wife talked it over, and it was agreed he should go. He did, but he did a fantastic job of keeping the connection with his kid going. His ex-wife said he called 30 minutes before the kid’s bedtime every night without fail to talk to him about his day. The kid went out every summer and certain holidays. The dad came back to this state for the kid’s birthday every year–he only missed one due to a snowstorm shutting down the airport where he lived. The ex-wife said she wasn’t sure who was more disappointed–her son, or her ex-husband. (She has always been firm in stating that while maybe he hadn’t been the best husband, she would defend his parenting to anybody who came along.) Recently, he was offered the chance to come back to this state–less money, but he could be near his son again. He jumped on it, and moved back four weeks ago. It may not be ideal, but it can be done, if the parents are willing to put in the work for their kid/s.
But the new guy sounds…off. It does sound like he’s practicing separation of the woman from everybody else. I’d be very worried, and it may be a good thing the child won’t be in that household.