Chapter 9
Helena locked the door and only then did she hear Nolan walk down the hall. She leaned against the door and took a deep breath. What was wrong with her? Her life was in danger and Bella had been hurt because of her, yet here she was lusting after a firefighter.
But it didn’t feel like lust. Well, that’s not completely true. There was a lot of lust, but there was also something deeper. Nolan was a good, nice, loyal, and brave man who had done nothing but show her kindness, respect, and been protective of her.
Helena groaned, walked over to the bed and dropped down on it. She pulled out her cell phone and called Quinn.
“Hel! Where are you? Are you okay? Nolan’s been keeping me updated,” her best friend who was more like a sister said so quickly it took a second to separate the words and understand what she said.
Helena smiled to herself. She felt so much better hearing Quinn’s voice. “I’m at the bed and breakfast. I feel much better. I was a little dazed from the airbag hitting me in the face. Besides being sore, I’m okay.”
“Do you have a concussion? Nolan didn’t tell me you had a concussion!”
“Q, calm down. I don’t have a concussion. But I am very confused,” Helena admitted.
“About what? Do you know your name? What year is it?”
“Quinn!” Helena called out, interrupting her friend. “I’m confused about my feelings for Nolan, specifically feeling guilty I’m even having them right now.”
“Ah,” Quinn said, suddenly sounding very excited. “Then we need girl time. I’ll pick you up for dinner tonight at the café. Then I want all the details! Oh, and if anyone offers you tea, just say no. Trust me, that will not go well for you.”
“Um, okay. See you soon.”
Helena hung up and smiled. Quinn was the best. She looked at the phone to see the time. She had time to take a shower before dinner. She was about to plug in her phone to charge when it beeped in her hand.
It’s Nolan Flynn. I wanted to make sure you had my number. Do you need anything? I can bring you dinner if you’d like.
Helena sat back down in bed and typed back: Quinn is picking me up for dinner in an hour. Thank you for offering, though. That’s so kind of you.
The three dots appeared and she waited with anticipation to see what Nolan was typing. It wasn’t kindness. It was wanting to see you again. Text me when you get back from dinner so I know you’re back safely.
Helena’s heart was fluttering as she read and reread the text. I will. Thank you, Nolan.
Helena plugged the phone in and hurried into the shower with a bounce in her step. She had so much to talk to Quinn about.
The Blossom Café was the heart of Keeneston.
It was the only restaurant in the small town, but it was far more than that.
It was the meeting place for the town. It was gossip central.
It was a family night out. It was friends laughing.
It was the townspeople teasing each other and getting caught up with everyone.
And, of course, it was the place where plans were hatched and support was given.
It had been a bit of a shock for Helena to walk in with Quinn and have every single person call out to welcome her back to town and ask how she was feeling after her accident.
But that wasn’t all. They knew about her work in South Sudan.
They knew about Kazim Garang sending people after her, and they also knew all about Bella.
“Look.” Quinn pointed to a table of four that had two women sitting at it.
“That’s Bette Vanhorn. She works at the Lexington Thoroughbreds with the corporate sponsors and the other woman is Gianna Rossi.
She works for Sebastian Abel’s tech firm, which recently moved its executive offices here.
They’re both really nice. Let’s see if we can sit with them.
I wasn’t expecting it to be so packed tonight. ”
Helena had noticed there wasn’t a table to spare, so she’d been expecting to wait, not just sit down with two women. However, Quinn was already on the move so Helena hurried to catch up.
“Hey ladies,” Quinn said, sounding so much more outgoing than she had in college when she’d been a computer nerd. A very lovable computer nerd, but an introverted one for sure. “Can we join you?”
“Of course! Hi, Helena. It’s good to see you again,” Bette said with a kind smile.
Bette Vanhorn was a classic beauty. She was also heiress to the Vanhorn fortune, but you’d never know it unless you realized some of the clothes and shoes she was wearing cost a small fortune.
Helena had met Bette the last time she was in town and they played six degrees of separation.
Although, most of the time there was overlap, not separation.
They knew a lot of the same major players.
Bette’s boarding school roommate had been Helena’s friend in the fancy elementary school in New York City.
The Vanhorns were power players in finance, while the New York branch of the Diakos family was in real estate.
However, Helena’s family in Greece was in shipping and banking, and they knew Bette’s parents.
It just took Keeneston for these two to meet.
They’d clicked instantly as they both came from money, but were determined to make it on their own.
“It’s good to see you too,” Helena told her as she took a seat at the table.
“This is Gianna Rossi,” Quinn said, and Helena got a good look at the woman around her age with curly brown hair.
“Oh! I remember you. You and Bette were bidding on firefighters too! Which one did you end up with?” Helena asked.
“I bought Conley. And please, call me Gigi. Mr. Abel is the only one who calls me Gianna. You should have seen his face when I suggested he call me Gigi.” Gigi giggled and everyone at the table did too.
Sebastian was a brilliant tech billionaire, and while he loved his wife and newborn twins, he was slightly uptight. “And you bought Nolan, right?”
“I did.” Helena couldn’t stop the smile and the giggles started again as they all shared a look of understanding. Gigi was into Conley just as much as Helena was into Nolan. “What about you, Bette?”
Bette sighed and leaned forward. “I bought Flint,” she said seriously.
“And, you might get this Helena. Our family accountant tracks all my charges even though it’s my money I make on my own, and told my parents.
I got a phone call from my mother demanding why I was spending money on a firefighter charity for a town no one has heard of.
They thought it was a fraud charge.” Bette rolled her eyes.
“When I told them it wasn’t fraud and I’d bought a firefighter, you would have thought I told them I’d squandered the family fortune.
My mother, regardless of all the times I have told her I am not interested in the sons of her friends or the sons of my father’s business partners, keeps the delusion I’m going to quit my job and beg to get married to Chad, Brad, or Thad.
” Bette let out a huff of frustration and sat back in her chair.
“Unfortunately, too many of our friends have gone down that road and are absolutely miserable,” Helena said. “I’m lucky, my parents don’t care who I marry, as long as I have a prenup and give them grandbabies. My mom said my eggs die a slow death every month I wait.”
Gigi nodded. “My family is the same way. Not about money, we don’t have money. But about babies. My younger sister has two children and you would think I was an old maid. I’m twenty-seven!”
“Well, I didn’t meet Conley but for a minute today. However, Flint was amazing. He helped the U.S. Marshal and me. He’s quiet and very serious, but every now and then you see a trace of mischievousness when he teases one of the guys.”
Bette’s eyes brightened. “Yes! And all I want to do is crack that serious exterior and see what’s inside. He’s a puzzle I’m dying to get my hands on.”
“Uh oh,” Quinn whispered. “The terrible three are incoming.”
“Who?” Helena asked.
“The new Belles,” Quinn replied. “Amber, Lola, and Felicity.”
“I saw Amber all over Flint at lunch last week,” Gigi whispered. “It was embarrassing.”
“They’re all vying for president since Tandy is getting married,” Quinn told Helena and Bette too, since she wasn’t a resident of Keeneston.
“Isn’t this the charity group?” Bette asked.
“Some are in it for charity. The others are in it to nab eligible bachelors,” Gigi answered.
“I learned that really quick after moving here. Tandy was so nice and invited me to a meeting. I went, and Tandy tried so hard to keep it on track. But then Amber whipped out a power point on the most eligible men in town. The whole thing gave me the ick so I didn’t join.
Tandy has raised a lot of money and done a lot of good for the town but I saw the writing on the wall.
The future of the Belles is leaning toward full-time husband hunting. ”
“Hey ladies,” Poppy said, interrupting them to take their order. “How’s your room, Helena?”
“It’s beautiful. Thank you for letting me stay. I worry I might bring some trouble your way though. Are you sure it’s okay for me to stay there?”
Poppy laughed. “Lucas and Talon are off for the next two weeks. Give it two more days and Lucas will be begging you to make a public post about where you’re staying so he can catch some bad guys.”
The table placed their order and continued to talk about their jobs and life until the food was served and the Belles were seated several tables away so they couldn’t hear. That’s when the interrogation started.
“I heard Nolan wouldn’t leave your side at the hospital,” Quinn said with a smirk, knowing she was starting the interrogation.
Helena set down her fork and glanced around to make sure no one was paying any attention. “Does he have a girlfriend?”
“No!” Quinn said with surprise. “Why would you think that?”
“I feel as if I’m pretty obvious about my attraction to him, but he never makes a move. I live in New York. It would be a no-strings-attached fling that we’d both very much enjoy. But—”
“But, what?” Gigi asked.