She replied. Pulling up now. Will obey orders, sir.
The car pulled in front of Helen’s restaurant as her phone beeped again.
I wish. Only in my dreams do you ever obey orders.
She snickered as she put the phone in her front pocket, almost able to hear Simon speaking those words out loud in a disgruntled voice. “Thank you, James. I’ll see you in a little bit.” She smiled at the kind, elderly man as she reached for the door handle.
He grinned broadly at her. “Have a nice visit, Ms. Kara. I’ll be here waiting for you. Give Helen my best.”
James had worked for the family for several years and knew everyone.
“Will do.” She slid from the vehicle, lifting her hand in a wave to James as she reached the door.
Even during the slower hours, Helen’s Place wasn’t lacking customers. The place was well known in the area for having reasonable prices and great food. Kara made her way to a corner booth and was about to seat herself when Helen came rushing from the back doors, a wide smile on her face and her arms open wide.
Kara hugged the older woman fiercely as she arrived beside the booth, breathing deeply, taking in the welcoming scent of vanilla that always seemed to radiate from Helen.
Helen pulled back and grasped Kara by the shoulders. “How is my son treating you? You look good. Rested.”
“Let me get us some coffee.” Kara went behind the counter and snatched two mugs, filling them with steaming coffee, before making her way back to the table, grabbing a bowl of creamer on her way. “I’m doing well. Classes are good. It’s getting to crunch time.” She slid a mug in front of Helen before seating herself in front of her own.
“Honey, you don’t have to serve coffee. You aren’t an employee anymore.” Helen shot her a grin, one so similar to Simon’s that Kara was momentarily distracted.
Leaning back, she studied Helen for a moment, trying to find other similarities to Simon. There really weren’t many. After viewing tons of photos of the two brothers with their mother, Kara had come to the conclusion that Simon must take after his dad, even though she had never seen a photo of his father. Helen looked like Sam, with her short, wavy, blonde hair and green eyes. Her friend had always dressed with casual elegance. Today, it was a paisley calf-length skirt with a button-down pink sweater. Large, pink, dangling earrings fell from her delicate ears, bumping against the side of her neck every time she moved her head. Helen’s rather flamboyant earrings were the only ostentatious thing about her. She was a truly kind, gentle soul.
Kara smiled. “I need my caffeine fix.” She dumped liquid creamer into the steaming brew. “I just got you some at the same time.” She added sugar and picked up her spoon to stir the mixture. “And Simon is treating me fine. More than fine. He’s a wonderful…friend.” Kara nearly choked on the last word. Well, Simon was a friend.
Helen sighed. “He sounds happy. I talk to him almost every day. I haven’t heard him so upbeat in a long time. He sounds completely smitten.”
“He’s not.” Kara answered quickly, nearly choking on a sip of coffee. “We’re not. I mean, we’re friends.” God, she couldn’t lead Helen to believe there was anything permanent in her relationship with Simon.
“Uh huh. And Simon talks about you every day, nonstop for an hour because…why?” Helen shot her a teasing look over the rim of her mug.
Kara shrugged. He did? Really? “I live in his home. He’s helping me. It’s only natural that he talks about a roommate. We see each other every day.”
Helen snorted. “Sweetie, he and Sam see each other every day, too, and he certainly doesn’t ramble on about his brother. And he’s never talked about a woman before.”
Kara tried to get her hopeful heart under control. Just because Simon mentioned her in his conversations with his mom didn’t mean anything. “He and Sam don’t live in the same home.”
“You like him. And he likes you. A lot.”
Her shoulders slumped as she set her mug back on the table and toyed with a napkin. She had never been able to hide much from Helen. “I do. I just don’t want to expect too much. Simon isn’t into commitments. I get that.” Sort of. “He’s never even had a steady girlfriend.”
Helen reached out her hand, resting it over the fingers that Kara was using to slowly rip up a paper napkin. “It doesn’t mean that he can’t or won’t.” Helen let out a heavy breath. “Something happened to Simon when he was sixteen and he’s never been the same, Kara. He’s always been quiet, my intelligent little boy with his face firmly planted in a book and as studious as any parent could ever wish for. But he was also humane, the type of child that would rescue any stray. I remember how badly Sam used to tease him about his bleeding heart. There was hardly a day that went by that Simon wasn’t dragging home a lost animal or trying to right some wrong.” Helen squirmed uncomfortably on the bench seat. “But I think he lost that when he was sixteen.”
Kara squeezed Helen’s hand. “He didn’t lose it. It’s still there. Look at how he’s helping me. I know something happened. I don’t know the specifics, Helen, but he’s still as kind as he’s always been.”
“That’s just it. He wasn’t before he met you. You’re the first person outside of the family who he’s cared about in a whole lot of years. It gives me hope.”
Kara flinched. “Please, don’t get your hopes up. We’re friends. That’s it. Just consider me a stray that he’s rescuing.”
Helen beamed as she pulled her hand away and grasped her coffee mug, shooting Kara a knowing look. “Yeah, well, then you’re the first stray he’s taken in for about sixteen years. I’d say that’s kind of significant.”
Kara did the math, her heart pumping. Of course, the party. Simon’s turning thirty-two tomorrow.
“I’m sure that’s not true. He probably just didn’t tell you.” Certainly, she couldn’t be the first person he had helped since the unknown incident that had changed him at the age of sixteen.
Helen laughed and said cryptically, “I’m his mother. I have eyes in the back of my head. Ask my boys. It irritates the hell out of them that I know things even when they haven’t told me.”
Do you know that Simon can only have sex with women if they’re blindfolded and tied? Kara was pretty sure that Helen wasn’t privy to that information, and she sure as hell wasn’t telling her. There were just some things that mothers shouldn’t know. Still, she wondered about Simon’s supposed years of isolation, of containing his rescuer tendencies. It made her chest tight to think about what had happened to Simon, what had changed him from that sweet young boy to an isolated, detached adult.