“I know. He told me he asked you to go.”
Simon looked at me. “I didn’t want you to think I overstepped any boundaries because I happened to see that flyer. If he hadn’t come up with the uncle idea…I would never have—”
“No, I understand what happened. He’s very hard to say no to when he gets excited about something. I get it.”
He could apparently sense that there was something more on my mind.
“What’s wrong, Bridget?”
“I’m just a little concerned he’s going to get attached to you.”
“You think it’s bad that he’s getting close to me…”
“I don’t know.” I just kept shaking my head. “I don’t know what the right answer is.”
“If he looks to me like a favorite uncle, I suppose there’s no harm in that. As long as it’s not like…” he paused.
I finished his sentence. “As long as he doesn’t look at you like a father.”
“Yeah. I suppose that’s what I was getting at.”
“The only problem is, I know my son, and there’s really no limit to how he loves or gets attached. I don’t know that he’s truly able to compartmentalize. I think the longer you’re around, the more attached he’s just going to get regardless of what label he places on you.”
“What are you suggesting, then?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I’m struggling with this myself.”
“If you think it’s best that I keep my distance from him, I—”
“I didn’t say that, Simon. I’m just confused.”
He held out his hand. “I get it.”
Simon seemed a little upset, so I attempted to change the subject.
“So, Miss Santoro was smitten with Uncle Simon, I take it? She’s attractive, too.”
“Yes, she is. And she wants to tie me up.”
“What?”
“Just kidding. Sort of.”
I felt like my jealousy was smoking out of my ears. “So, are you gonna go for it?”
“No.”
Swallowing, I asked, “Why?”
“Not gonna cross the line with Brendan’s teacher. But moreover, I don’t want to piss my sister off.”
“Your sister?”
“You. I told her you were my sister.”
“Oh God. Are you kidding? How did you explain the accent?”
“I spent some time in England while you stayed back here?” He flashed a crooked smile.
“Goodness. You’re teaching my son lying?”
“He’s a pretty good fibber all on his own. Trust me on that one.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “I don’t even want to know.” I watched him steep the tea then continued harping on the Miss Santoro issue because I just didn’t know when to stop. “So, you really wouldn’t ask his teacher out?”
“Even if she weren’t his teacher, she strikes me as the type who wants to nail down a man, settle down.”
I used the opportunity to ask, “Have you ever had a serious girlfriend?”
“Once.”
“What happened?”
“We realized we were much better off as friends. Then we went off on our separate ways to different colleges.”
“Do you ever think about her?”
“Only when I’m interrupting her yoga class to stare at the variety of apple bottoms.”
It took a few seconds before it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Wait.
Simon dated Calliope?
“Oh my God. Calliope? You…and Calliope?”
He laughed at my reaction. “She’s my best friend, but she was my girlfriend for a brief time. I like to think of it as a small lapse in sanity.”
“Wow. She never told me.”
“It was a long time ago, long before she ever met Nigel.”
“Does Nigel know?”
“Yeah. We make jokes about it. He’s cool with it.”
My mouth was agape. “Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”
“There is nothing to say. It was eons ago.”
My face was hot with jealousy. “No other steady girlfriends?”
“No.”
We moved to the table to sip our tea and carried on a casual conversation about happenings at the hospital until I decided I wanted to delve a little deeper.
“What made you decide to become a doctor?”
He kept steeping his tea and staring into his cup until he looked up at me and said, “I have an unhealthy and incessant need to save people, I guess.”
That was sort of an odd answer.
“You wanted to be like a real-life superhero?”
“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” he said, almost under his breath.
“Did something happen?”