Chapter 18 #2
All he could do was keep his eye out for anything out of the ordinary.
In such a small town, that would normally be easy.
But Silver Cove had been flooded the past few weeks with tourists, so he was sticking close to home.
He was looking forward to going shopping this weekend with Olivia and for their standard Friday night sleepover.
With Simona’s party next week, he’d figured that he would do something different this weekend with the girls. He wanted to take them out on a full day excursion but hadn’t been sure what to do.
Then he’d run into Adam at the grocery store, and he’d started talking about taking his family out on Saturday on his sailboat. Adam convinced him to bring Olivia and Simona to tag along.
While he was standing in the bread aisle, he sent Olivia a text message and got her immediate reply that they were excited to go along.
So he and Adam spent the rest of the time in the store planning out a full day’s worth of food for four kids and four adults.
He actually just stood back and let the man do what he was best at.
When he returned home, he had three loads full of groceries. It was satisfying to put everything away in his new pantry.
He’d made a point to purchase some of Simona’s favorite snacks. He figured that a few days after Simona’s birthday, he’d invite everyone over to his place to see all the work he’d done and to celebrate the Fourth of July at his place.
Adam mentioned that, normally, they’d get together on the boat, but since the group had grown so big, they hadn’t planned anything yet.
So he’d put the word out that the party was at his place.
He had the perfect place for a large gathering of kids and parents.
He figured he could grill out while the kids played games in the yard.
He would need some more tables and chairs for outside but there was still plenty of time to either purchase them or make a few picnic tables. He’d started rethinking his yard and doing yard work the following day.
He rebuilt part of the fence that had fallen over and had purchased some blooming flowers, including some lavender, to plant along the house. He’d been told at the nursery that lavender kept the bugs, including mosquitoes, away.
He spent an hour or so trimming bushes with his new hedge trimmer, making them all perfectly round. When he stood back and looked over the yard an hour before sunset, he realized how much better his yard and home looked than before.
He was standing in the middle of the road when a dark SUV pulled down the road and stopped in front of his garage.
“Evening,” Javan said, smiling at him.
“Evening.” He leaned on the side of the van. “I didn’t know you were still around.”
“Just got back. Boss wanted me to hang around for a while,” Javan said.
“Oh?” Todd instantly grew worried.
“Nothing to worry about. He just has a hunch. My boss is never wrong, so I tend to listen to him,” Javan added.
“Well, you’re welcome to the room.” He motioned to the garage. “If you need it.”
“Thanks,” Javan said with a nod. “You won’t even know I’m here.”
“Do you have a family?” he asked the man out of the blue.
“No, mon,” Javan answered. “No woman has been able to tie me down.”
Todd chuckled. “Sometimes it’s nice to be tied down by a woman.”
Javan slapped him on the shoulder, almost knocking Todd over completely, as he laughed.
“You doing some yard work? The place sure looks nice.” Javan motioned to the house.
“Yeah, getting ready for a party here on the Fourth,” Todd answered, looking over the yard once more. It did look good. He’d trimmed the yard down and had the sprinklers going now, and the entire area smelled of summer and fresh cut grass.
“Fourth?” Javan frowned. “Oh, right, Independence Day.” Javan climbed out of the SUV. “I’ll just make myself at home again. I’ll park inside.” He walked over and punched the code on the garage door.
“Let me know if there’s anything I should be concerned about,” Todd said.
“Will do.” Javan waved and then climbed in the SUV and pulled it into the garage next to Todd’s own car.
When Todd stepped inside the house, he realized he’d forgotten his cell phone inside. There were a few messages from Ethan telling him that he was sending Javan back down to stay with him for the next week as a precaution.
He replied that Javan had made it there. Then he read the message from Olivia and, instead of replying, called her.
“Evening,” she answered on the second ring.
“Evening.” He sat on the sofa and put his feet up. He hadn’t realized how hard he’d worked, but now that he had stopped moving, his entire body ached. “Are you still at work?”
“Until ten. I only have a moment to talk.” He heard the sound of the bell that chimed every time the store door was opened, signaling customers had come in. “I wanted to tell you that Simona is staying with Crystal this weekend, so we’re all set for our shopping trip.”
“Wonderful,” he said, knowing that she had to go.
“Talk to you later tonight,” she said before hanging up.
An entire weekend together. Alone. He couldn’t wait. With all of his house and yard work done already, he figured he could spend the entire weekend building up enough nerve to tell her just how he felt about her.