Chapter Twenty-Eight
Allison
First thing in the morning, I run to the market and grab some bagels, cream cheese, and juice for my welcome chat with Ellen. When I get back to the building I go straight to the door across the hall from mine and knock.
“Good morning, Ellen,” I greet when she answers, lifting the grocery bag. “I brought you some breakfast.”
“How nice of you. I was just getting ready to run out myself, but now I’ll have breakfast first. Would you like some coffee?”
“Yes, thank you.” As she’s fixing the coffee, I take a look around. Lots of sunlight comes in from the large windows. The hardwood floor shines from a recent cleaning and all the gym equipment is neatly lined up along the far wall with all the weights and bands neatly stacked on the opposite wall. The kitchen sparkles from the elbow grease only a mother can provide, and it smells clean and fresh. “Wow, everything looks amazing. You’ve done a lot of work.”
“Thank you. My other son set up the weight equipment, and I did the kitchen. Now to tackle the bedrooms. I’ll work on those today.”
“Speaking of your other son…his name wouldn’t happen to be Oliver, would it?”
“Yes, have you met him?” I blush because I most certainly have met him.
“Yes. We’ve run into each other a couple of times at the market, and he mentioned his brother was moving into my building.” What? I didn’t lie.
“Oh, that’s great. It will be so nice for Ty to already have a friendly face living across the hall when he gets here.”
“I’d be happy to welcome him to the building and show him around.”
“He’s been in California for a few years so it might be nice for him to get used to the area again.”
“Are he and Oliver alike?”
“In more ways than one. I just hope they act like the gentlemen I raised them to be when they’re around you.”
“Oliver did seem nice and did treat me to some dinners,” I say, hoping to slide the conversation toward Oliver’s dating patterns.
“That’s nice of him.” She looks me up and down. “Are you sure they weren’t dates? That boy falls hard, and you look just like his type.” I blush.
“You caught me. He took me to Martino’s. We had a great time.”
“Martino’s?” she asks, looking shocked. I’m not sure why and decide to press on. I’ve got to find out what is up.
“Yeah, but uh, I haven’t heard from him in a few days. Do you know where he is?” I fiddle with my hands.
“Unfortunately, he’s been at my house. A pipe broke in my basement while I was remodeling the bathroom and he’s been helping my plumber get it fixed. It’s been a big mess. He lost his phone in the water. I have no phone or cable.” She waves her hands around and then pours the coffee. “My house is a wreck, and the poor thing hasn’t come up for air trying to help me. Now he’s there waiting for the cable company to come put in new equipment.” She sighs and takes a sip of her coffee.
OMG…no wonder I couldn’t get a hold of him.Now I feel bad that I thought the worst when he’s been a doting son.
“Wow. That’s a lot. I’m sorry to hear that happened.”
“It’s not ideal. But at least I’m here helping set up Ty’s apartment so I can be useful.”
“You can put me to work too. I’m here to help.”
“Thank you. Why don’t you start on the bathrooms. Would you mind wiping everything down with cleanser while I find the linen boxes?”
“Whatever you need.”
“Great. And we also need good music.” She turns on some classic rock and we get to work.
By the end of the day, we are sweaty and dirty, but only a few boxes remain in the spare bedroom. They are full of decorations that Ellen decided Ty should put up where he wants.
“Let me know if you need anything else. I have a few projects to work on, but I’ll be around if you need me,” I tell her as I make my way to the door.
“Thank you, Ally. It was a great day.”
“It was. I enjoyed hearing all the stories about Oliver and Ty. They remind me of my brothers.”
“They’re all the same when they’re teenagers. Now, I can enjoy myself and not worry about them quite as much.”
“Speaking of time for yourself, my friend Morgan and I have monthly bar crawls. Would you like to join us?”
“I would love that.”
“Great. The next one is next Saturday. Will you still be here?”
“Yes, it’s all going to take a while to fix.”
“Okay, it starts at nine p.m. and you can go to as many as you want, but we always end up at Finnegan’s around the corner.
“Thank you for the invite. Are you sure you don’t mind a mom tagging along?”
“Are you kidding? No way. You’ve got it going on.”
“True.” She struts and poses for emphasis, and we both laugh.
“You’ll fit right in,” I say.
“Sounds fun. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you later.”
I walk backto my apartment, strip off my clothes, and take an insanely long shower to wash away the sweat and grim. Ellen is amazing, and I can see why Oliver is such a great guy.