Homecoming for Beginners

Chapter 6

TY TRIED not to overthink things while Ollie went to the games room to talk to Theo. Instead he focused on the sauce. It needed another five minutes, maybe, before the tomatoes broke down to his satisfaction and started to get sweet. Meanwhile, he washed and chopped the fresh basil, took the sausage off the heat, and shredded the cheese.

Theo would want to move in, right? He loved the house when he first got here. Ty would give him the fancy globe he liked so much. Hell, he could have the games room for his bedroom if he wanted… as long as he was willing to let Ty play pinball after school.

Okay, no, he couldn’t sleep in the games room.

But this was a perfect solution, he told himself as he spooned the sausage into the sauce. Ollie and Theo would have a place to live, and Ty wouldn’t have to be alone. Hell, if Theo had enough toys to scatter around, it wouldn’t look anything like the place where Ty had grown up.

He’d drained the pasta and mixed it and the sauce into the casserole dish along with the cheese by the time Ollie returned to the kitchen.

And honestly, now was not the time for Ty to have second thoughts, but he maybe should have considered the fact that Ollie was the kind of man who could look edible in a security guard uniform.

Oops.

Ollie slid back into his seat at the island. “I have conditions.”

Ty forgot he ever had a single reservation. He slid the dish into the oven and picked up his wineglass again. “Hit me.”

“I haven’t had a roommate in a while. I want to make sure we’re on the same page.”

Ty rummaged in the junk drawer until he produced a pen and a pad of paper. He wrote Ground Rules at the top.

Ollie snorted. “I didn’t mean literally, but sure, that works. Okay, so rent—”

Oh God, this was going to suck.

He cut himself off midword at the sight of whatever Ty’s face was doing. “Wow, that bad?”

Ty groaned and put down the pen so he could scrub his face. “No. Maybe? Let’s call the issue of rent ‘logistically complicated.’”

When he pulled his hands away from his eyes, Ollie had his brows raised.

“I am living in an income tax nightmare,” Ty explained, “and I don’t want to make it worse.” His dad had died, and Ty was probably going to have to file his income taxes at least twice if not three or four times.

He should’ve let the hate group take the money.

“Ah.” Ollie considered this for a moment. “Utilities?”

“Fifty-fifty,” Ty offered.

“Done.” Ty wrote it down. “House and yardwork? Do we want to share meals? I’m not much of a cook, but I don’t mind it.”

Ty tapped the pen against the notepad. “How do you feel about riding lawn mowers? Because pretty soon the grass is going to start growing and there is… a lot of it.”

“How much is a lot?”

“Five acres, I think. But only one of them gets cut.”

“So you’re thinking you do most of the cooking, I do most of the mowing?”

“Works for me if it works for you. And we can sub out as needed.”

Ollie nodded, his lips pursed as though in thought. “Okay, what about if my kid starts to drive you crazy?”

“I’ll go elsewhere?” What a silly question. “I’m a big boy. I’m perfectly capable of running away. Either in my truck or elsewhere on the aforementioned five acres.”

“I meant—you can tell me if he’s bugging you, you know? And I’ll deal with it. You don’t have to. He’s not your responsibility just because he also lives here, but….” He blew out a breath. “I don’t know, I don’t want you yelling at him either.”

Ty didn’t mean to get stuck on that, but he did. “Huh.”

Ollie’s pretty eyes went the tiniest bit flinty. “Problem?”

“Oh God, no.” Ty shook his head, smiling a little. “It just occurred to me that you might be the first good father ever to live in this house. But seriously, I like kids. I didn’t volunteer to help coach the baseball team because I think I’ll enjoy watching them lose.”

Laughing, Ollie leaned back on his stool. “I take it they’re, uh, not very good this year?”

“I asked Coach Tate about a mercy rule.”

“Oh man.” Ollie reached for his wineglass. “I was thinking about taking Theo to the game this week, but I don’t want to traumatize him. Maybe we’d better skip.”

“Try the lacrosse team instead,” Ty advised wryly. “I hear they’re good.”

Ollie grinned. “Noted.”

“Speaking of Theo, do either of you have any allergies or medical conditions I need to know about?”

“Aside from recent chemo recovery and PTSD?” He tilted his head. “Theo’s allergic to bee and wasp stings. He has an EpiPen. Three, actually—one he has with him all the time, one we keep at home for backup, and one at the school office.”

Ty made a mental note. Jesus, the poor kid—as if he didn’t have enough to worry about. And Ollie had to be living in perpetual fear. But maybe living with a paramedic would help with some of the anxiety. “It’s a big house. We should have an extra extra, maybe, when we figure out where the best place to keep a second one is.”

Shit—that had just come out, the automatic thought of someone who’d been a paramedic for four years. He hoped Ollie didn’t think he was overstepping.

But Ollie’s expression didn’t hold a hint of offense. Instead his amber gaze had gone thoughtful, and he was tilting his head like he was reevaluating something. Ty felt his ears start to heat up under the weight of it; it made him want to squirm. “That’s… actually a really great idea. Thanks.”

“Uh, no problem.” Deflect, deflect, deflect. “What about you, though? Anything I need to know about the PTSD? I know it’s not always predictable, but if you know you have certain triggers…?”

Perfect deflection—Ollie broke the gaze and glanced down at the countertop. Ty felt simultaneously relieved and disgusted with himself. “I keep it together pretty well when I’m awake. Some days are better than others. Hot, loud days are the worst, but out here in the middle of nowhere, I should be okay. ”

Four years as a paramedic had made Ty pretty good at hearing the details people didn’t say out loud. “And when you’re not awake?”

He winced. “The nightmares can get pretty intense. I’ve been lucky so far—nothing too bad with Theo in the room with me. He has this kind of wheezy snore when he sleeps, so when I wake up from one and I can hear that… it helps.”

“Okay. It’s a big house, so you can pick rooms that are close together if that’s easier for you, or far apart if you want to be able to, uh, wake up screaming from a nightmare without ruining your kid’s sleep schedule.” Maybe he should let Ollie pick two bedrooms. It wasn’t like Ty was going to use all of them.

“You’re surprisingly chill about this.”

“Yeah, well.” Ty gave a half-smile. “I might never have been in a combat zone, but I’ve had my share of nightmares after bad calls.” Especially in his first year on the job, when the pandemic had just started and everyone was either terrified or defiant. “If I’m around when you’re having a flashback or a nightmare, what’s the best way for me to deal with it?”

Ollie was already shaking his head. “Ty, no. It’s not for you to deal with, all right? I can handle myself.” And then his face got a pinched look, and he closed his eyes and added, “Just—if you can keep Theo distracted, keep me away from him. I don’t want him to see me like that.”

From the defeat in his voice, it had cost him a lot to ask for that. “Hey, no, Ollie, I wouldn’t have asked if I minded, okay? There’s a reason I became a paramedic. I’m not, like, trying to play hero or anything. It’s just, if I can help, I can’t… not help.”

The tension of the moment broke. Ollie’s lips twitched.

“Oh my God, shut up. You know what I mean.” Ty rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to live here, we’re going to be friends . And friends don’t let friends suffer if they can help it. So tell me what to do.”

Ollie snorted. “Bold of you to assume I know what works.”

Right. He probably hadn’t had anyone around to help him. Ty could do some internet research and trial and error and figure out what worked. For the time being, stay out of punching range seemed like a good place to start.

“Anyway,” Ollie said, “we kind of skipped the part about your rules. It’s your house. ”

“Unfortunately,” Ty agreed. “It’s kind of a lot, as you’ve noticed. The whole second floor is locked, mostly because I don’t want to pay to heat it. It’s not like I need the space. But it’s probably best if nobody goes up there in case there are racoons living in the walls or something.” He wondered if he could get the house condemned if there were and skip the whole bit where he had to live here.

“Racoons?” Ollie teased. “Not bats?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. We don’t have a belfry.”

“What even is a belfry, anyway?”

“No idea. I always assumed it was, like, a bell tower kind of thing. Now that I think about it, it’s kind of surprising we don’t have one. My dad was definitely the type.” A big ostentatious tower with a big loud bell in it he could ring so everyone in town knew how important he was. “Anyway, we’ll do a full walk-through on the weekend, maybe, because you’ll have a better sense of where you don’t want Theo going than I do. The regular garage is probably okay, but the pole barn with the gardening and landscape equipment is probably a supervision-only zone for an eight-year-old.” Maybe he could incorporate a segment on Household Goods to Leave Alone in his first-aid class.

“Makes sense. I guess that just leaves, uh….”

Was Ollie blushing? Or was it the wine? “Yes?”

Nope—his cheeks went pinker. Definitely blushing. Fascinating. Ty figured the Army would’ve drilled that out of him in basic training. “I think we should have a protocol for if you’re going to have adult company.”

What? Then the penny dropped. “Oh my God, Ollie, you can say ‘sex.’”

He groaned. “Sometimes I forget Theo isn’t listening to everything I say.”

Yeah, Ty could see how that could happen. “I mean, I’m definitely going to make fun of you for that, but what are we worried about, here? I’m not going to sexile you and your kid.”

“So the sex dungeon is soundproof?”

Ty shuddered. “Ollie, please. This was my parents’ house.” And Ty didn’t need to be thinking about Ollie and sex dungeons either.

“I just mean, uh…. God, I’m not a prude, I just don’t want to answer any of Theo’s questions about why there’s a strange half-naked woman in the kitchen at seven in the morning. ”

“Now who’s assuming?” When the question didn’t seem to register a reaction, Ty added, “It’s just as likely to be a half-naked man.” If he had to rescind the offer because Ollie turned out to be homophobic, that would suck, but better to know now.

The only reaction he got was an eye roll. “Whatever. Look, I’m not trying to cramp your style. But I have a kid to think about. There’s nothing wrong with casual sex—”

“Casual adult company,” Ty interrupted, unable to help himself.

“—but I don’t know if I’m comfortable with strangers around my kid, potentially unsupervised.”

“No, I get it,” Ty assured him. “You don’t have to worry, though. I am really bad at casual adult company.” Wait a second, that made it sound like Ty was bad in bed.

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Sorry, Grandma, but I will be mocking you for life. Seriously, though, I was kind of wild when I was younger, and it tanked my self-worth. If I’m sleeping with someone, it’s serious enough for you to internet stalk them before you have to worry about Theo meeting them.”

Not that Ollie would have to worry about that, since Ty didn’t intend to date anyone here when he’d be leaving town as soon as he could.

It did beg the question, though—

“What about you?”

“What, my sense of self-worth?”

“What if you want to get laid, smartass?”

“Then I’ll hire a babysitter and go out.”

Well… duh. It made sense he’d have to go elsewhere since Theo would be here and that would not be conducive to a casual adult good time. “Good point.”

“So is there anything else? You have a rule about which side of the driveway you want me to park on or which days we can drink orange juice out of the carton?”

“You can park in the garage. There’ll be so much room once I move all Dad’s precious babies into the yard.” If he had to live here, at least he’d have the pleasure of watching the luxury car collection slowly rust. He was going to put his father’s favorite antique under the mulberry tree to get crapped on for eternity. “And everyone knows that’s allowed any day the carton is almost empty as long as you finish it off. ”

Ollie laughed. “I think I can agree to those terms.”

“Okay, then.” Ty stuck out his hand. “You got yourself a roommate.”

Ollie shook. He was a good three inches shorter than Ty, but his hands were just as big. “You got two.”

OLLIE HAD the impression Ty would’ve been fine with them moving in that night, but he didn’t have the energy after stuffing himself with delicious baked pasta, even if Theo fell asleep at the kitchen table during dessert. Ollie bundled his kid into the car and took him back to the motel. Then he had a two-minute shower and collapsed into bed.

After the day he’d had, he expected to wake up sweating from a nightmare of being shelled in a Humvee. Instead he dreamed about driving the armored truck through the halls of Ty’s mansion, Theo in the passenger seat next to him as they called out Ty’s name. Ollie didn’t put a lot of stock in dreams—he knew they were really the brain’s way of organizing information. This one wasn’t so hard to interpret—their new home was going to be an amazing setting for hide-and-seek. Also maybe Ollie should make a map.

He dropped Theo off at school with his lunch of leftovers, courtesy of Ty, and then delivered himself to work for day two of training.

He changed into his uniform, signed out his weapon from the armory, and met up with his partner, Lucy, in the vehicle bay.

“Morning, Ollie. You’re looking chipper.”

“Solved my housing crisis.” For the first time in a while, he felt like he had a handle on his life. Theo was healthy and back in school. Ollie had a job, and they had a nice place to live. And apparently he hadn’t totally forgotten how to make friends. “It’s better than therapy.”

Lucy laughed. “Oh, he’s got jokes this morning. Okay. I’m glad you’re in a good mood, because you have a very important job today.”

Ollie raised his eyebrows.

Lucy said, “You’re going first in Fuck, Marry, Kill.”

“Oh God, I wish I’d had more time to prepare,” Ollie deadpanned. They didn’t listen to music in the truck because it could distract them from being aware of their surroundings, but not talking at all would lead to daydreaming, which wasn’t any better. “Where’s my clipboard? I need to start making notes. ”

“Hilarious.” She followed him into the kitchen while he put away his lunch, and whistled when she saw the packed container. “Damn. You manage that in a motel kitchen?”

Ollie closed the door. “Nope. The new place came with a personal chef.”

As they went over the list of the day’s pickups and deliveries, he told Lucy about his moving plans. “Theo’s really excited. There’s a whole room of games. We had to drag him out of there last night so he’d eat dinner.”

“Sounds like you got lucky.” Lucy smiled at him. They’d been friends in high school, as much as new-kid Ollie had managed to have friends. “You deserve it, though. I still can’t believe you have a kid.”

“Lots of people our age have kids.” Granted, not usually an eight-year-old and not usually one they’d had out of wedlock with a friend almost a decade older than them.

“Lots of people our age still live in their parents’ basements,” she countered as she stacked the paperwork for the day and passed it over to him. Ollie looked through it to make sure it was all in order, switched the second and third sets, and handed it back. “Meanwhile you landed a sweet gig as a companion animal.”

Ollie wasn’t sure if that was more of an insult to him or Ty. “Hey.”

“Relax, G-man. It’s just sour grapes.” She tossed him the keys. “Come on, our chariot awaits.”

Lucy had stuck a cotton-candy-scented air freshener to the dashboard in the truck, which might have bothered Ollie except that he could still smell the coppery weirdness of money under that, and it always smelled like blood. The air freshener at least gave him flashbacks to high school instead; it smelled like one of the body sprays that had been popular with teenage girls back then—bright and pink and sugary.

Ollie slid behind the wheel and turned the ignition. “Okay, first set. Fuck, Marry, Kill. Paul at the diner on Main, Tanya at the front desk, or your grandmother.”

Lucy let out a scandalized gasp. “Ollie Kent! You twisted motherfucker.” She paused for dramatic effect and then asked, “Maternal or paternal?”

“Your choice. ”

“Hmm.” While Lucy thought about it, Ollie took a left out of the garage toward Main Street. They were servicing ATMs today, which Lucy had likened to performing a rectal exam on a bear on an acid trip. Should be fun. “Fuck Tanya, marry Paul, kill Nana.”

Now it was Ollie’s turn to gasp dramatically. “Your own grandmother?”

“She’s ninety-two! She had a good life.” She shook her head. “Besides, what, I’m supposed to marry or fuck my grandma?”

“If you had different equipment you could be your own grandpa.”

“Funny.”

Lucy was doing the actual ATM servicing. Ollie could only watch from the truck since one of them had to stay in it at all times and he hadn’t done the training for the machines yet. He kept an eye out for traffic or any suspicious activity, but the most suspicious person in the area was a dog who was unsatisfied with the placement of his pee on a fire hydrant.

From what Ollie could tell from the truck, service calls for this particular bank’s ATMs involved ritual cursing of the gods along with the regular expletives. Theo would have enough money in the swear jar to put a down payment on a car. Ollie had the easy job. All he had to do was watch Lucy’s back.

He hated that it made his palms sweat. It was only early April. The truck’s AC worked just fine. He was in a small town in Connecticut. It was his brain that needed to chill out, not his body.

Damn, that dog could really pee.

With one final middle finger, Lucy finished swapping out the ATM’s contents. She stowed the old one in the back of the truck and slammed the door hard enough that the sound echoed off the library across the street. A moment later she clambered back into the passenger seat. “One down, fifty to go. Your turn. Velma, Daphne, or Fred?”