Chapter 12
Todd had driven by the little yellow house just on the outside of town plenty of times. It sat directly on the main road and was on a triangle-shaped lot between the road that led out of town and towards his place and the road that led down to the library and the town square.
He hadn’t realized she lived there until she’d sent him her address after she’d agreed to let him come over. He liked the cute cottage home. It was one of the nicest smaller places in downtown Silver Cove.
He parked just outside of the garage. He hadn’t known she lived there because she parked her car in the garage.
A narrow stone pathway led into a yard with a white picket fence and to the front door. He shifted the packages of muffins, coffee, and chicken soup he’d brought along as he opened the gate and then knocked on the front door.
Olivia answered the door a moment later, her dark hair still wet from her morning shower.
“Morning.” She smiled and took the coffee from him.
“Morning.” He stepped in when she motioned for him to enter.
“I’m going to apologize right now about the state of the house. I’d like to blame it on the sick kid, but…” She shrugged. “Just having a kid is the real reason my house looks like this.”
He smiled. “I’ve spent the last few days tearing out all the carpet in my place. I think I can handle a little mess from a six-year-old.”
“You’ve been warned.” She motioned for him to follow her into the living room. Simona was propped up on the sofa, watching a movie, looking a little pale. She had a mop bucket sitting next to her. “She’s thrown up two more times since I took her out of the bath.”
He walked over and set the soup and muffins on the kitchen countertop, which was filled with coloring books, papers, and toys. He moved over to sit next to Simona on the sofa.
“I heard you were sick?” he asked.
Simona nodded slightly. “I threw up on Mommy.” He glanced over at Olivia, who sighed and nodded.
“Are you feeling any better now?” he asked Simona.
She shook her head slightly and then groaned. He saw what was going to happen before it did and thankfully managed to get the bucket under her just in time. Olivia rushed forward and started to rub her daughter’s back as she mouthed, “Sorry,” over her head.
When Simona was done, Olivia picked her up and disappeared down a hallway. He could hear them washing up and Simona getting sick again.
Worry for the little girl outweighed everything else in his mind. How could so much come from such a small thing?
He took the bucket to the front door where he’d seen a hose out front and rinsed it out and brought it back inside.
“Oh,” Olivia said as she came out of the back. “I thought…” She shook her head and relaxed.
He smiled. “A little puke isn’t going to scare me away.” He held up the bucket. “It’s all clean.” He handed it to her. “Simona?”
“Lying in bed. She says the TV is giving her a headache.” Olivia took the bucket from him.
“Should she go to the doctor or something?” he asked.
“No, she’s not running a fever.” She leaned against the counter. “And I received a text from Kayla letting me know that the stomach bug was going around after yesterday’s event. CJ is stuck in bed today too.”
“Oh,” he said, glancing around.
“I’ll just take this back to Simona.” She started down the hallway.
He watched and waited until she returned. He could tell she was feeling slightly frazzled and embarrassed about the state of her house. But as he’d mentioned, his place currently was a wreck. He couldn’t even use his kitchen, as most of the furniture from upstairs was piled in it.
The only room that was somewhat put together now was his bedroom, only because it had had hardwood floors instead of carpet in it to begin with.
When she came back out, she sat down at the table and picked up her coffee cup.
“It’s probably cold now.” He sat next to her. “If you want…”
“It’s fine,” she said after taking a sip. She grabbed a muffin from the box of sweets he’d brought along. “Mmm,” she groaned. “I hadn’t realized I was this hungry.”
They took a moment to enjoy the muffins and the lukewarm coffee.
“If you want, I can help you clean up?” He motioned to the stack of clothes in a bucket that she’d no doubt just pulled from the dryer.
“Oh god, it’s that bad, isn’t it?” She moaned and laid her head on the table.
He chuckled. “Seriously, you really should see my place now. I understand not everyone can be tidy all of the time.” He took her hand. “I’m just here… offering a hand if you want it.”
She glanced up through her hair and sighed. “If you’re offering and really want to spend time with me, then I guess you can keep me company while I fold the clothes.”
“I can help…” he started to say, only to have her give him a look. “Fine.” He held his hands up.
He watched her fold towels on the kitchen table and talked to her about what he was working on around his place.
How he’d pulled all the furniture from each of the rooms to yank out the carpet and discovered that several rooms had amazing hardwood floors under them.
He had rented a sander to clean up the floors but wasn’t due to pick it up until Wednesday.
Which meant he was going to be living in a disaster zone for a few more days, possibly a week, since he planned on staining and sealing the floors once he was done.
“I had these floors redone completely.” She motioned to the floors.
“These are tiles, right?” He bent down and touched the wood looking tiles.
“Yes, the old wood floors in here were too far gone. Rowan, Ben, and Adam all helped me install these.” She smiled. “Best decision I ever made. You can barely see dirt on them.” She leaned slightly towards him. “Not that they’re ever dirty.”
He chuckled. “Of course not. Six-year-olds wipe their feet each time they come into the house.”
He enjoyed the sound of Olivia’s laughter. “I’d better check on Simona,” she said once all the towels were folded. She hoisted the laundry bucket on her hip and disappeared down the hallway.
He gathered up the empty bakery box and her empty coffee cup and looked for her trash. He found it in a massive walk-in pantry. The thing was impressive, and he stood there and tried to figure out just how and where he could build one in his house.
“Problem?” Olivia asked, directly behind him.
“No.” He smiled. “This is nice. I’m trying to figure out where I can build one in my kitchen. There is only a small floor-to-ceiling cabinet. Something bigger like this would come in handy.”
“What about that little closet just as you come in the back door? You could expand it.” She walked over and grabbed one of Simona’s papers and crayons and started drawing. He moved next to her and watched as she redesigned the main floor of his house.
She had some really good ideas, including adding a mudroom off the side porch, which would allow for a massive walk-in pantry across from it.
“You can do a built-in bench in the mudroom, you know, the kind that have cubbies under it for shoes and boots, with hooks for coats or scarfs.” She continued to draw, and he could totally see what she was suggesting.
“If you just build a wall right here and a doorway here”—she drew more— “it doesn’t really take away from the space here.
” She motioned to a square he assumed was his kitchen area.
He was very impressed that she remembered so much of his house.
“I mean, that room was massive already.” She glanced up at him.
“Who needs a twenty-foot-wide entry area on the side of their house? Besides, you have the really great entry just inside your front door, with those beautiful stairs and the high ceilings.” She sighed and rested her chin in her hands as if dreaming.
“You’d get more use out of a mudroom and a walk-in pantry.
This way, you don’t touch the beautiful sunroom off the back, overlooking the water. ”
“I guess I need to figure out how to frame a wall.” He laughed.
“You should do power, you know, have lights, outlets, and such installed as well,” she suggested.
“Thanks.” He sighed. “I have the guy you suggested coming to do some other electric work in a week or so. I’m afraid of what he’ll say needs to be done around the place,” he admitted.
“It’s far better to have it done than to have a fire. This place was a fire hazard when we first moved in. Every time I turned on a light, another one flickered.” She shook her head.
“I’ll call tomorrow and see if he can come earlier,” he agreed, knowing that he’d had problems with his toaster yesterday morning. “You’re really good at this sort of thing.”
She smiled. “I had to be. When we moved in here”—she shook her head— “let’s just say, your place looks a hundred times better than this one did.”
He glanced around; the place looked like a home.
Lived in, comfortable, and full of love.
He liked her simple style of decorating and figured that, with Simona around, there couldn’t be any needless trinkets or priceless items that easily broke.
Unlike the home he’d grown up in. He’d never really been allowed to be a kid, to run, play, and accidentally break things.
His mother had been too refined for such antics.
Now, however, he could easily see himself living comfortably, the way he wanted, with no restraints. Now that he was finally free to decorate a space, he was finding it difficult to decide on a style.
“I’d never know. You did an amazing job,” he said. Her smile grew.
“Thanks.” She stood up. “I’ll just go check on Simona.”
He walked around the space, thinking about adding a few elements of her decorating style to his own place.
She had a light, airy beach style that he liked, with a few paintings of lighthouses like the one on the end of the point he lived on.
Leaning closer to one, he realized it was the same lighthouse and point.
He could just make out the shape of his home and smiled.
“Like it?” Olivia said from behind him.