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We entered Helen's house through the kitchen door. The scent of baking cookies made me swoon. I hadn't eaten at all today and my stomach rumbled.
"Would you like to sit in here or the living room?" Helen asked taking off her sweater and hanging it on a hook by the door.
I wanted to get a look at the house again. "I'm sure you noticed my bruises." I said smiling slightly. Hell, anyone would notice them. I wondered what Detective Casey had made of them. "I fell down a flight of stairs and I've got bruises all over. A nice soft easy chair sounds heavenly."
"Oh you poor dear" Helen said frowning. "Come on. Let's get you settled in a nice soft chair and I’ll get you some coffee and cookies." Hot damn she said cookies. I was feeling better already.
We walked into the living room and Helen pointed to the large overstuffed chair in the corner. "That one is the most comfortable."
I walked over and sat down. She was right this was a chair that made you want to curl up and take a nape. It was a comfy chair. "Thanks" I smiled.
"Be right back." Helen said heading for the kitchen.
My eyes glanced around the room. They lighted on the upright piano against the wall. On the top were several framed photos. I got up and walked over to take a closer look. Most of the photos were of Merri. A young smiling girl standing by a swing set, laughing by a giant dinosaur statue, an older solemn Merri standing by a weeping willow. She was so beautiful. It made me sad to see how her demeanor had changed from the smiling little girl to the solemn young woman. I picked up one of the framed photos and looked closely trying to figure out where the photo was taken. Something about it seemed off. I heard Helen moving about in the kitchen and was about to set the photo back down when I saw an unframed black and white photo laying on the piano. I picked it up and studied the photo of Merri and an older man. She was smiling at something just out of the camera range. I wondered who the man was in the photo. Hearing Helen's footsteps getting near I set the photo down and returned to my chair.
"Here you go,” she said down a small plate of cookies and a cup of coffee on the table beside me.
"Thanks" I said picking up one of the warm cookies and taking a bite. I closed my eyes and moaned, "Heavenly."
Helen took a seat across from me. "Thanks. Those are one of Merri's favorite cookies."
Her words caused the cookie to lose its flavor. I took I sip of coffee. "Hey, Donna told me Merri called you. That's great." Shit I hate myself sometimes.
Helen smiled, "She did."
"So how is she? Did she say where she's been all this time?"
"No, it was such a short call. She said she's coming home after she takes care of some things." Helen looked down at her hands. "I was just so happy to hear her voice."
I wanted to hug the woman. "So how did she sound? Happy?" I hated myself for asking.
"You know I was so shocked I almost didn't recognize her voice. Can you imagine? What kind of a mother am I?"
"Well, I'm sure you were shocked to hear from her. Did she say anything else?'
Helen shook her head. "No, and that's been day's ago. I'm getting a bit worried."
We sat in silence a few minutes while I chewed on my cookies. Finally I spoke, "I was glancing at your pictures over there." I nodded to the piano. "Merri is beautiful." The voice in my head was screaming WAS. She was beautiful.
"Thank you" Helen got up and walked to the piano. I followed. "This one is my favorite." She picked up the photo of Merri as a child with the dinosaur.
"That's cute. I like the dinosaur. Where was that taken?"
"We were traveling on a little vacation. It was one of those roadside parks. Merri loved the dinosaur."
I looked at some of the other photos I hadn't looked at earlier. Helen told me stories about some of them. Where they had been taken and when. I was heading back to my chair when I noticed a small-framed photo on a bookshelf in the corner. "Is this you?" I asked.
Helen's voice was icy. "Yes, that is me and my ex-husband."
"Oh, I said setting the photo back down quickly,
"Sorry" Helen said sitting back down. "Didn't mean to snap at you. Carl and I parted on bad terms."
"Was Marri close to her dad?" I asked sitting back down.
"No" Helen's answerer was abrupt. "Merri doesn’t even know Carl. He and I broke up when she was a baby."
I looked down at my cookie trying to hide my surprise. How could Merri not have known him? The unframed photo on the piano was of Merri and her father. Why was Helen lying? My cell phone went off causing me to jump. Crap, I had just picked up my cup. Now I had splashed coffee on my jeans.
"I'll get you a tea towel,” Helen said.
I nodded my thanks and took out my phone.
"Where are you?"
Well shit the guy caught me at Helen's again. "I just got through going through the house with the detective."
Gerard sighed, "How bad was it"
Helen returned with the towel. I thanked her.
"Who was that?"
God, did the man have dog hearing? I wiped off my jeans. "That was Helen." I said in a happy tone.
"What the fuck are you doing, Laura?" I was glad Helen had moved back across the room or I'm sure she would have heard him.
I smiled at Helen. "Helen came over just as I was leaving the house. She's feeding me warm cookies."
"Get the fuck out of there." He was pissed.
"Yeah" I said. "She is a sweetheart." Across the room Helen smiled.
"Laura, I'm serious."
"I'll be heading over to your moms shortly" I hoped this bit of info would calm him down. "I'll call you from there."
"Please, don't do this to me." His voice softened. "Get out of there."
"Love you too." I said. "Call you soon." I disconnected.
"You two are so in love." Helen said looking at me.
I smiled, "He's my life." I replied honestly.
"So are you staying with Donna?"
I took another cookie vaguely wondering how many calories I was consuming. "No, I'm just here for a few hours. My flight leaves this evening."
"Going back to Gerard?"
"Yeah, he's still on tour." I confirmed.
"It's nice you travel with him. He's a lovely boy but I always hoped he would find someone to look after him."
If she only realized how much looking after he required. "Actually I work for the group setting up their Meet & Greets with the fans."
Helen was surprised, "Well that's nice." She stood. "I have something special I want you to try. I used to whip this up for special occasions and for some reason I made some this morning. It's a special coffee. Much better than what you're drinking."
"But this is fine." I said
"Just wait until you try this. It's a cold drink. Coffee, Kaluha, special spices."
I shrugged. "Sure, sounds good." I watched as she headed towards the kitchen. My eyes traveled over the photo of Carl again. Why would Helen lie about Merri knowing her father? I wondered where Carl lived. Was he somewhere nearby?
"Here you go" Helen said walking towards me. "Tell me honestly what you think."
I took the glass from her and took a drink. Damn it was good.
A sudden knocking on the front door startled both of us. Hell, ten to one it was my driver. Setting the glass down I stood up quickly. That was the last thing I remember.

When I came to I looked up to see Helen and my driver staring down at me. Let me tell you it was creepy. "What happened?"
"Uh, I came over to tell you it was time to go" The driver said
"You just collapsed." Helen said kneeling down by me. Are you all right?"
I sat up slowly. "Yeah, must have been my blood sugar again."
The driver put his hand out and helped me up.
"Can I get you anything?" Helen fussed around me brushing my hair down.
"I’m fine really." I felt like an idiot. I knew I should have eaten something other than cookies. That added with the stress of the last few days. My head was pounding.
"I need to get you to your mother-in-laws now or you won't have time to see her before going to the airport."
I looked at him. The guy was upset. Man, Gerard must have put the fear of God in him. Nodding I turned to Helen. "I'm sorry I've got to go. Next time we're in town I promise to visit longer. I really want to see Merri's art studio. Hopefully she'll be here to show me it herself." Saying that made my heart hurt. God I felt so badly for Helen.
Helen smiled, "I'm sure she will be. Thank you for visiting me."
Damn it I couldn't help myself I hugged her. I wanted to cry for this woman who was waiting for her daughter to return.
I promised once more I would come back and visit then we left. We were almost to the car when the driver spoke. "Uh please call your husband."
I smiled at him "Give you a hard time, did he?'
"Shit lady." He stopped and looked at me. "He got his call put through to the company car phone. I started to say I thought you were still in the house." He looked down, "I feel asleep waiting."
"It's okay, I know."
"Anyway, he told me where you were and he told me I better get you out of there."
"I'm guessing he was pretty insistent?"
"Uh, yeah. Can't tell you how I felt when she let me in and you were on the floor."
We had reached the car. He opened the back door but I told him I'd rather ride in front with him. "Against policy." He said
"So?"
He nodded, "Yeah, who cares." I slipped in the passenger seat. We were on the way to Donna's when I spoke, "Lets not tell him about the floor incident"
"Okay with me." He sounded relived. "So are you really okay. I mean at first I thought she drugged you or something."
His words shocked me, "I don't think so. I feel fine. I just hadn't eaten all day and go up way too fast." Now my mind was thinking in a way I didn't like. The special drink she had given me. No, I told myself I was being ridiculous. Helen hadn't tried to drug me. Of course I had only taken a small drink. What if I had drank the whole thing?
He glanced over at me. "You sure you’re okay?"
I forced myself to smile, "Yeah, I'm sure but remember you just came and got me. Nothing else."
"Well I won't tell if you don't. I don't want your husband pissed at me."
"Thanks" I smiled, "So I'm Laura by the way. And you are?"
"Jeff" he replied. "Nice to meet you Laura. You’re a nice lady but let me tell you your husband is one scary dude."
Yeah, I thought to myself. He can be.