Mustard on Top Read Free Page B

velveteen sweat suit. The roast beef with carrots and peas was comforting and tasty.
    They talked about the fire. Relieved no one had been hurt, Helen turned her mind to the repairs. The rebuild would be a serious inconvenience, but her burned out kitchen wasn’t a tragedy. When Theo offered to do the work for free, Helen abruptly ended the conversation.
    Clearly sensing her mood change, Theo held his hands up in surrender then retreated to one of the spare bedrooms. Helen sighed, since Theo’s graduation from high school, his future plans hung heavy between them and Helen didn’t want him committing to anything in the heat of the moment.
    Helen washed the dishes then, hoping to stave off Agatha’s latest advice about Hot Diggitys, picked up a copy of The Wall Street Journal , the only reading material Agatha seemed to own, and feigned interest. Between articles concerning the stock market and the economy, she thought about Ben. How and when would she tell Theo? Her son believed his dad was dead.
    Agatha settled in an armchair across from her. “So,” Agatha began.
    Helen lowered the paper halfway. “Thank you again for letting us stay here.”
    “You’ve thanked me enough. While you were talking to the Fire Chief, a gentleman approached me and insisted I give you this.” She held a business card toward Helen.
    “Oh?” Helen set the paper aside and took the card from Agatha. An egg-yolk yellow, it read: Blake, Esteban & Associates across the top. Beneath was simply Chicago, Illinois 35882 leaving Helen to wonder if Blake, Esteban & Associates had their own zip code. Cooper Manning, Trial Attorney was printed in the middle along with several phone numbers.
    She flipped it over. Scrawled on the back was: I’d like to help with the house and to talk. Please call me, Ben. Beneath the message was an additional number. The pot roast in Helen’s stomach threatened evacuation. “Did he say anything?” Helen asked.
    “Just to make sure you got it.” Agatha cocked an eyebrow.
    The headache between Helen’s eyes pounded. She needed to tell Theo before Ben showed up on Agatha’s doorstep, and Theo got the shock of his young life. “May I borrow your phone?” Helen asked.
    Agatha set her up in her office and closed the door. Her hands shaking, Helen dialed Ben’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “Ben. It’s Helen.”
    “Thank you for calling.” He sounded relieved.
    “Cooper Manning, huh?”
    “My name for the last nine years. How bad was the fire?”
    “Bad enough.”
    “I stayed until they put it out.”
    Helen didn’t know how to respond. A vision of Ben watching her house burn left a foul taste in her mouth.
    The silence stretched until Ben added, “I’d like to help repair the damage.”
    His swooping in was bizarre. She preferred self-reliance. “That’s not necessary. I have things under control.” She hoped her voice conveyed enough dislike to put an end to his offer.
    “I know this is awful timing, but I only have a few weeks and I don’t know when I’ll be able to speak to you again.” He paused. “Is there a chance I can meet Theo tomorrow?”
    It felt as if two tiny gnomes were at war in her stomach. “I don’t want Theo hurt.” Her voice crackled.
    “I won’t hurt him.”
    “You already have.”
    “I won’t hurt him more,” Ben said in a monotone.
    Pinching the bridge of her nose, Helen asked, “How can you say that? You don’t know him. You don’t know how this will affect him.”
    “He deserves the truth,” Ben said.
    The words hit Helen like a shot to the chest. Again, she fell silent.
    “I saw him today.”
    For a second Helen thought he meant Harvey and almost laughed until she realized he was talking about Theo, she grew mute.
    “He was talking a firemen.”
    Helen held her breath.
    “Helen? Are you there?”
    She didn’t want to be. “Yes.”
    “He’s a good-looking young man.”
    Helen twirled the phone cord around one finger. Theo’s uncanny