That is the issue, yes. I have a stopgap in my code that adds in the \u200B character on either side of the delay when it comes up, which seems to fix things. Example of what I'm doing below:
text.Append($"<e={TypeToTextmesh.ANIM_QUIET}>\u200B<d={delayTime}>\u200B<e={TypeToTextmesh.ANIM_TALK}>");