Chapter 6
Having a pipe break in an old house wasn’t surprising and wouldn’t normally have thrown him. But he’d been halfway through a shower that he’d desperately needed when it had happened, making the situation a whole lot worse.
He’d spent the entire first half of his day on the roof, cleaning each of the fourteen windows, and he’d removed an old bird’s nest from the chimney area.
That had led him to check out the other chimney, and he’d found a similar nest, this one wedged a little further down.
When he’d climbed off the roof two hours after he’d gone up there, he was sweaty, covered in ash and soot, and hungry.
Since he’d run out of food again, he figured he’d head into town for a quick burger and then stop by the hardware store and then the grocery store once again.
He’d made several trips into town in the days since the graduation party. Each time, he’d hoped he would run into Olivia and Simona, but he’d had little luck so far.
He’d thought about their date tomorrow night and had wished he’d gotten her phone number so he could text or call her.
He had run into Rowan at the hardware store, twice. Rowan was in the process of remodeling one of his bathrooms and joked about living in the hardware store and how the bathroom was trying to kill him.
Todd reminded him that he was the only doctor in town and didn’t have the luxury of dying.
It had been nice to joke with someone and be asked to hang out sometime, after the bathroom renovation was done.
In the military, he’d been part of a bigger family. He’d missed that and had hoped that he would be able to find friends to watch a game or have a beer with.
But having only half a shower put him in a mood. Driving into town with his stomach growling, he pulled into the town’s only burger place, Roy’s Diner.
He walked in and took a seat at an empty table. Without looking at the menu, he ordered a burger and fries and an iced tea.
He knew the waitress was trying to be friendly to him, but he just wasn’t in the mood for it and pulled out his phone to go over his checklists.
He was frowning down at a few messages he’d received about his retirement and health insurance when he felt a tug on his shirt.
“Todd?”
He glanced over and felt his heart kick in his chest. All of his anger, his weariness, and stress melted away when he saw Simona standing there, smiling up at him.
“Mommy said I shouldn’t bother you cuz you look upset, but I just wanted to give this to you. I colored it.” She held up a place mat, like the one in front of him on the table, only this one was brightly colored. It was perfect.
“Wow.” He lifted her up easily and set her in his lap. “You did this?” He took the paper from her.
“Yes.” She smiled at him.
“All by yourself?” he asked, his eyes scanning the diner for Olivia. Seeing her watching them from a booth near the back, he nodded his greeting to her.
“Mommy colored this part.” Simona motioned to the small dog, which was colored brown, instead of the bright colors the rest of the child’s menu was covered in.
“I like this part the best.” He ran a finger over the purple house. “Is this your house?”
“No, our house is yellow.” She giggled.
He smiled. “My house is boring gray.”
“Want to come eat with us?” She pointed across the room. His eyes locked with Olivia’s, and he understood immediately that it was okay with her, since she nodded. “We ordered and everything.”
Todd chuckled and stood up, holding Simona in his arms and his iced tea in his free hand. When he walked by the waitress, he told her he was moving tables.
“Hi,” Olivia said when he sat down, letting Simona sit next to him in the booth.
“Hi. This is a nice surprise,” he admitted.
“You looked like you could use it.” She shifted her head slightly. “Bad day?”
He sighed. “A pipe burst in the house and cut my shower short. I’m heading to the hardware store after lunch for what I need to fix it.”
“Oh.” She winced. “Sorry to hear that.” She smiled. “I thought I smelled something.”
He chuckled and for the first time since seeing the water rushing from the wall, he relaxed. “How have you two been?” He glanced down at Simona. “Now that you’re a first-grade graduate, I bet you have all sorts of job offers.”
Simona laughed and shook her head quickly side to side. “I’m only six.” She rolled her eyes before she started coloring again, this time on his place mat.
“Is there a lot of work to do around your home?” Olivia asked.
“Not really. I mean, it’s livable. Just not… updated. I’m actually thinking about doing some upgrades while I’m at it.” He shrugged. “The kitchen could stand to be brought into this century.”
“When we moved into our place, I had to update the bathrooms. I learned how to install tile myself.”
He thought about the bathrooms and realized he wanted to remodel them as well.
“Okay, I might be calling you for help when I start work in the bathrooms.” He thought about all the other things he wanted to update in the home.
He was looking forward to starting some of the work since he enjoyed working with his hands.
“The place has good bones; it’s just been neglected for years and is seriously outdated. ”
“Are you going to do all the work yourself?” she asked.
“Whatever I can do.” He nodded. “A lot of it isn’t hard, just tedious.”
“Like plumbing?” she asked with a chuckle.
“Yeah.”
“Well, I have the name of a plumber, if you need,” she offered.
He figured it was a perfect time to ask for her cell number. But just then, their food arrived, and they shifted discussion to her and Simona’s summer plans.
They were halfway through the meal when he noticed that every single time the diner door opened, she glanced over with a worried look on her face.
“Expecting someone?” he asked casually as he glanced over his shoulder to watch a young couple walk in.
“No.” She shook her head and averted her eyes from his. She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth, a sure sign of worry.
Glancing down at Simona, who was busy eating the pancakes he’d helped her cut into small bites, he lowered his voice.
“If I’ve interrupted your day…”
“No, it’s nothing like that.” Olivia sighed and glanced towards Simona, and he instantly got the hint that, whatever she was worried about, she didn’t want her daughter to know about it.
“Maybe after we finish eating, we can take a short walk in the park?” he suggested.
Olivia thought for a moment and then nodded. “We’d like that,” she said with a smile.
“Park!” Simona yelled jubilantly, gaining the attention of a few people around them, who either giggled or shook their heads in disappointment at the outburst.
“Simona, we’ve talked about this. Yelling in public is not okay,” Olivia said quickly.
Simona covered her mouth and nodded. “Sorry, Mommy,” she said through her fingers, but he noticed a slight giggle escape as well.
He tried not to smile, really, he did. But Simona was just so… fun.
After they finished eating, they headed out into the park and the sunshine. The playground was a hot spot today. More than a dozen kids ran around while their parents sat on the benches and watched or played with the kids themselves.
Since he wanted to see what was on Olivia’s mind, they sat on a bench under a large tree while Simona played with one of her friends, who happened to be in the park.
As with the diner, she scanned the park, returning to her daughter often.
“Want to tell me what has a worried look in your eyes?” he asked.
She sighed slightly. “I received a few text messages the other night.”
“From?”
“My ex.”
“Is that a problem?” he asked, trying not to push her, since she’d made it clear that the topic was off limits.
“Two years ago, no, it wouldn’t have been.” She glanced down at her fingers. “But now…” She sighed.
“Where has this ex been for the past two years?”
“Jail,” she answered quickly.
He tensed as his eyes flew to Simona, then around the park, to scan for danger.
“For?” he asked, turning back towards her.
Since her eyes were locked on Simona, she hadn’t seen his worry.
“It’s a long story.”
“So, now you’re worried since you’re getting text messages from an ex,” he said and she glanced at him and nodded. “One that is in jail?”
“The one that is supposed to be in jail for another three years. I found out that he was released on parole last week, thanks to good behavior,” she answered dryly.
“And you let me take you to a park?” He started to get up, but she placed a hand on his.
“Todd, it’s okay. I’ve been assured that he’s not back in town and that he had to agree to a restraining order as part of his early release. He can’t get near me.”
He relaxed slightly, picking up on the small hints that it wasn’t about Simona. That whatever her ex had done, it was about Olivia alone.
“Yet, you’re still watching who walks in the door and who is in the park?” he asked.
She sighed and relaxed back. “Old habits. When he was first locked up, I jumped at shadows.” She shrugged.
Since she was still touching his hand, he turned his wrist and locked fingers with her.
“If you two don’t want to be alone, I could use some help out at the house?
” he offered. “I can download Frozen for Simona, and you can help me do some plumbing?” he asked with a smile.
He had no hope that she would take him up on her offer, since it was just meant to be a joke, but she surprised him by nodding.
“I think we can lend a hand. We might want to change first.” She motioned towards Simona’s dress.
“You know where I live.” He squeezed her hand lightly. “I’ve got to hit the hardware store first anyway.”
She smiled. “Thanks, I…” She shook her head. “I don’t normally unload like this on strangers.” He winced slightly and she smiled. “Men I have a scheduled first date with,” she corrected, and he chuckled. “I guess you got me at a vulnerable time.”
He lifted her hand and brushed his lips across her knuckles. “Then you can count lunch as our first date.”