CHAPTER ONE
Six Months Later
Patrick
“Oh, my God,”Simon wheezed out between bouts of laughter, “that wasawesome.”
“I know,” Patrick agreed. “Who would have thought you’d be so good behind the wheel of a go-kart?”
“Hey. Are you insulting my driving skills?”
Patrick shrugged. “If the shoe fits….”
“Asshole.” Simon shoved his fist into Patrick’s biceps, a friendly punch to emphasize his words. Patrick grinned in response, rubbing his upper arm. “I’ll have you know,” Simon continued, “I have an unblemished record. You’re looking at a guy with a perfect driving history.”
“Yeah,” Patrick chuckled. “That doesn’t surprise me, because you drive like a grandma.”
Simon didn’t take the bait. “There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe and sticking to the speed limit.” Patrick raised a brow and Simon winked. “Anyway, I’m not sure aboutyourgrandma, but my gram was a crazy old lady. There was nothing safe about her on the road. We almost had to put out a public service announcement as a warning whenever she got into the car. Adultsandchildren used to run a mile when they heard the beast reversing out of the driveway. It’s a miracle she didn’t cause more accidents with that tank of hers. It was bad enough….”
Simon’s voice caught and he turned away suddenly. Patrick watched as Simon emptied his pockets, dumping the phone and keys on the kitchen counter, and waited for him to continue.
When Simon finally looked at Patrick, his eyes were full of sorrow. “You know how much damage can be done by acapabledriver, let alone one who isn’t focused anymore, and there was no way we were putting anyone at risk. However, no one had the guts to stand up to Gram and tell her the time had come to give up her license. Instead we played the game of continually hiding her keys, and someone always conveniently had errands to run that fit in perfectly with whatever Gram needed to do.”
“It must have driven you mad, the idea of her on the road.” Patrick knew Simon was a stickler for safe and responsible driving, always offering to be the designated driver when they were out, or insisting they get an Uber. Patrick assumed it was something to do with Simon’s job as a paramedic, seeing death and destruction every day, lives changed by people’s moments of stupidity or thoughtlessness.
“Yeah.” Simon stared out the window above the kitchen sink. He turned and looked at Patrick, a sad smile playing at the corners of his mouth. His voice was soft. “I miss driving her around, though. She may have been as crazy as a coot, especially toward the end, but there was never a dull moment. The stories she would tell….” Simon stared out the window again, obviously lost in his memories. Patrick was tempted to ask Simon some questions but didn’t feel comfortable with prying. Simon didn’t like to talk about his family very much, and Patrick sensed he’d been through some tough times.
Simon turned when Patrick gently placed a hand on his arm. “Sorry to be such a downer.”
For a moment Patrick wanted to haul him in for a hug. Instead he offered a smile and stepped away. He immediately missed the warmth of the skin under his fingers and regretted not hugging Simon when he had the chance. He forced a cheery voice. “C’mon, the day’s not over yet. I’ll grab some snacks. You go choose a movie.”
Simon smiled. “I can do that. Any preferences?The Fast and The Furious?”
Patrick rolled his eyes, but was pleased that Simon’s voice held a note of humor and his smile had returned. “Whatever you want is fine with me.”
He stared after Simon as he left the room. He was such a strong man, at least physically. Tall and fit, with short dark hair and expressive hazel eyes, which totally appealed to Patrick. He was also one of the most decent men Patrick had ever met. His career was about helping people, and he was always putting other people first, including Patrick when he’d offered him a place to live. But there was a small part of himself that Simon seemed to hold back.
Simon had let a few things slip over the months they’d shared the house, and as they got even closer and spent more time together, Patrick hoped Simon would come to trust him enough to share whatever secrets he was keeping. In the meantime, he’d make sure Simon reclaimed his earlier good mood and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon.
Patrick raided the pantry for corn chips and a jar of salsa, and grabbed some drinks from the fridge. He dumped the lot on the coffee table in the living room before bounding upstairs to get changed into some sweats.
He grinned at Simon’s shouted request to hurry back as he took the stairs two at a time.The rambling old two-story house had been Patrick’s home for the last six months—the best six months of his life. He couldn’t believe he’d gone from a position of hating living in his old apartment and worrying about keeping his job, to living in a house with a relaxed atmosphere and knowing his job was relatively secure.
And he had Simon to thank for it. And Charlie, of course.
Becoming friends with Charlie at the school where they both worked had been one of the best things to happen to him. Charlie was a schoolteacher at Halls Ridge Elementary where Patrick worked as a school administration assistant. Charlie had taken Patrick under his wing, keeping an eye out for him at work—being the new guy meant Patrick wasn’t familiar with all the routines of the school—and introducing him to his friends. Charlie was easygoing and friendly. He hadn’t hesitated to welcome Patrick into his family.
But the best thing about Charlie was the fact that he’d led Patrick to Simon. Someone had been looking out for Patrick when his workmate, Charlie, turned out to be dating Josh, who worked with Simon.
Patrick had a smile on his face as he threw open the door to his bedroom and headed straight to the closet. He grabbed a pair of sweats and a clean T-shirt from the shelf, and tossed them both across the room and onto the bed while toeing off his sneakers. The rest of his dirty clothes followed suit and ended up in an untidy heap on the carpet. Patrick kicked them into the bottom of the closet and shut the door on the mess. He’d worry about cleaning up tomorrow. Right now he just wanted to get back downstairs to Simon. A lazy afternoon spent watching movies after their action-packed morning seemed a perfect way to end the day. He yanked his socks off before straightening and turning his attention to the clean clothes on the bed.
The envelope grabbed his attention immediately.
The white paper with the neat handwriting on the front was propped up against his pillow. The bright rectangle stood out in sharp relief against the deep blue of his bedding.
PATRICK
That’s all it said. Just his name, in block print. Patrick.
