Chapter 14
Falling asleep with Olivia in his arms was by far the best thing he’d ever felt. He’d been exhausted after the good meal and knew that if he planned on a full recovery, he needed downtime to let his body recuperate.
He hadn’t planned on falling asleep before sunset though and, when he woke up shortly after one in the morning, he was slightly surprised that Olivia hadn’t woken him up or left.
He lay there, after checking his bedside clock for the time, and wondered why he’d woken up in the first place. He couldn’t hear anything, but still, something was off.
Gently nudging Olivia from her position lying halfway over his chest, he sat up and looked around.
He still couldn’t hear anything. He almost tripped on his jeans on the floor, then pulled them on and walked over to his window to look down over the front of his house.
He could just make out Olivia’s car parked out front, and then he spotted movement behind it. It took him only a moment to pull on some shoes and get a gun from the safe in his closet.
When he hit the back door, he flipped on the flood lights, knowing it would scare away whoever was messing with her car. Still, he figured it was better than confronting a possible armed burglar or, worse, her crazed ex.
He moved quickly, feeling completely in control, as he rushed down the sidewalk. He could see a dark figure running away from the back of Olivia’s car. He stood in the middle of the road and watched a man of roughly six feet wearing cargo pants and a black jacket run towards the main road.
Pulling out his cell phone, he called 911 and relayed the information to the dispatcher as he looked at the destruction left behind.
When the patrol car finally arrived, Olivia was dressed and standing beside him, angrier than he’d ever seen her before. She was on the phone with her insurance agent and a tow truck, since both of her back tires had been slashed. The entire back side of her car was destroyed.
Two local officers by the names of Tom and Scott, who Olivia introduced him to, arrived and informed them that they had pulled over Eric Torre a few miles away.
The man was wearing cargo pants and a black sweatshirt.
He had a sledgehammer in his trunk and a large hunting knife, which was no doubt used to slit the tires.
Scott said, “He claims he was just out for a walk,” Scott said. “With a sledgehammer.” He chuckled. “He claims that he hasn’t had any contact with Brock in weeks.”
Olivia hung up with her insurance company the moment the police had arrived.
“Why does it sound like you don’t believe him?” she asked Scott.
“Because I went to school with them and know for a fact that those two have remained in contact since the moment that we arrested Brock,” Scott answered.
“We’ll take him in, charge him with the destruction,” Tom added as he handed Olivia a report. Todd had found out that Tom was the chief of police. “Scott here will take some pictures of the damage for the report. I’d suggest you take some yourself for your insurance company.”
Along with her tires being slashed, both of her brake lights had been broken.
The sledgehammer had been used to dent in the trunk and rear side panels.
The rear window and back side windows were shattered.
It was as if Eric had started on the back, afraid that if get got too close to the house, he’d set off the flood lights.
Which he would have, if he’d moved to the front of her car.
“Yes.” Olivia sighed. “They’ve requested I send them some pictures.”
By the time the police left, the sun was just coming up.
The tow truck came an hour later and hauled her car to the local repair shop.
The man who met them seemed to know Olivia well, and she explained that her car had been in for repairs a few times that winter.
He even offered to take the junker off her hands instead of her paying for repairs.
“I really need to get a more reliable car. But I only drive it in town.” She had shrugged. “It’s not like we go far.”
“Breakfast?” he asked once they were alone again.
“Most definitely,” she agreed, rubbing her forehead. “I need coffee. Lots of it.”
“Agreed.” He took her hand, walked towards his car, and opened the door for her to get in.
As he drove through town towards the bakery, they both remained silent, and he could tell there was a lot more bothering her than the destruction of her car.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he parked in the parking lot of Sweet Expectations.
“Yes,” she answered, avoiding his gaze.
He turned off the car and shifted towards her, then took her hand. “Olivia, I can see the fear in there.” He motioned towards her face, then cupped her chin and kissed her. “Remember, I’m not going anywhere. Talk to me.”
“I’m not sure what to do now.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. “How am I supposed to tell Simona what happened?”
He thought about it. “Don’t.”
She laughed. “Right.”
“No, I mean it. You did mention that you needed a new car. Call the repair shop, take the man’s offer, and sell your car. Then we’ll head to the nearest dealer and get you a new car. One that Brock doesn’t know about.”
She was silent for a while, and he imagined that she was calculating if she had enough money to afford a new car.
“I suppose it won’t hurt to look,” she finally admitted. “After coffee.”
He smiled. “Do you think Kayla can watch Simona a while longer?”
“I’ll text her and let her know while I drink my second cup of coffee,” she said as they walked into the bakery.
While he ate his second apple strudel, she called Kayla, who agreed to watch Simona until they returned later that evening.
By the time they left the bakery, Olivia was looking like her normal self. She even had a slight spring in her step when they walked onto the first car lot together.
He hated that the salesmen zeroed in on him when they stopped to look at a used SUV.
“You know, it would be nice to have a bigger car. My sedan was great on gas miles, but not so great when I had to drive in the snow or to get groceries,” Olivia said just before the salesman approached them.
“Welcome,” the man said with a huge smile. “Looking for a new car for the missus?”
“The missus,” he said with a hint of sarcasm, “is looking for a new car. I’m just along for the ride.” He stepped back. To the man’s credit, he turned his full attention on Olivia, who asked a bunch of questions and then moved on to a newer model with fewer miles.
In the end, he followed her out the front door and drove her to another lot on the other side of town to see what options they had. Again, he stood back as she talked to a saleswoman this time.
He was impressed with the Subaru Forester she was looking at. The price was within her budget and, even though it had higher miles than he would have liked, it wasn’t as bad as what she’d been looking at on the first lot.
In the end, she talked the saleswoman down a couple thousand dollars and got her to add on a year of free oil changes and tire rotations.
“Impressive,” he said quietly when the saleswoman disappeared to go get the paperwork for Olivia to sign. “Next time I need a new car, I’m taking you with me.”
Olivia smiled. “I’m surprisingly good at negotiations.” She shrugged. “It comes with the territory of working retail.”
An hour later, they walked out of the building, and Olivia held her new set of keys. The car had been cleaned and detailed while they’d waited for her paperwork to forward to the car dealer.
“So”—he smiled at her new ride— “want to take me for a ride?”
She laughed. “Sure, hop in. You can buy me lunch.” She leaned up and kissed him as he laughed.
They drove to a burger place and sat out in the sun and ate lunch. The entire time her eyes were on her new car.
“I’ve never purchased a car before,” she admitted halfway through lunch.
“What about your old car. You had to buy it at one point.”
“No, Brock purchased it. He had to sign it over to me as a condition of the divorce.” She tilted her head and looked at the new car. “Besides, that was old when I started driving it. This one is… newer. It has a computer and a backup camera.” She smiled. “A radio that works.”
He smiled. “Simona’s going to love it.”
She nodded and rolled her eyes. “I may have to work extra shifts to afford it…” Her smile was back. “But it’s totally worth it.”
He could tell that her mind was no longer on the destruction her ex had caused her. He was happy that they had taken something terrible and made it good.
“Thank you.” She turned towards him. “For today. You didn’t have to tag along.”
He stopped her by pulling her close. “If it means spending more time with you, I’m up for whatever.”
She laughed. “Good to know. You can help out next weekend when I watch Kayla’s kids.”
He could tell she’d meant it as a joke, but the thought of spending time with her again had him agreeing quickly.
“Sounds like fun. I’ll bring the pizza and ice cream. You supply the movies and games.” He smiled.
She looked at him, then shook her head. “That was a joke. You can’t tell me that you want to spend a Friday night with three kids?”
“No, what I do want to do is spend a Friday night with you. If there are three kids running around, I’m game.” He smiled. “I like kids. Thinking of having some of my own someday.”
Her eyes turned soft just before she turned away from him.
“I’d better go pick up Simona.” She stood up and walked over to a trash bin to throw away her trash.
He followed her and when she turned around, he wrapped his arms around her.
“Thank you, for last night and today. I enjoyed the soup and you.” He kissed her. “I’m looking forward to Friday night.” He kissed her again.
“If you really want to deal with three kids, you’re welcome to come over.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’d appreciate the company.”
He followed her all the way back into town until she turned down the street that went to Kayla and Rowan’s place. Then he continued on out of town to his home.
Walking into the empty place, with everything still a mess, he felt a slight jealousy that Olivia had someone to be there all of the time.
He’d been telling the truth. He really did want kids. The fact that he was quickly approaching thirty weighed heavily on him. His biological clock was ticking, and anyone who said men didn’t have a biological clock was just plain ignorant.
For the past few years, he’d been thinking a lot about having a family of his own. Kids to share in the fun of life, a wife to enjoy and to fill his bed.
The fact that Olivia’s and Simona’s images kept flashing in his mind when he thought of his future made him realize that, as much as he wanted to keep things light, he was already beyond that.
He’d never felt so… himself around anyone else. Especially someone he had feelings for. He didn’t want to mess that up.
Even though his mother had been terrible to him, he remembered how she’d been with his father. There hadn’t been a doubt in anyone’s mind that they’d cared for one another. Maybe that was why she’d changed after his father’s death?
Then again, his mother hadn’t really given him any attention even before his father’s death.
His dad had been the parent he’d cared about the most. He’d believed back then that it was because he was a boy.
When he’d been younger, he had always thought that if he’d been a girl, his mother would have paid more attention to him.
Todd had always sworn that he’d never be a parent like that. Whatever gender his child was, he was going to love it, no matter what.
He thought of Simona and smiled. How had the little girl filled his heart so much in such a short time? Much like her mother had wheedled her way into his heart.
Since there was so much on his mind, he figured he’d get to work building that wall Olivia had designed for him.
A few hours later, every muscle in his body ached. But the framing for the wall was complete and ready for the electrician he’d hired to come and install outlets and lighting for the two new spaces.
To the left of the back door would be the mudroom. He planned to build a bench with cubbies like Olivia had suggested. To the right of the back door sat a massive space for the new pantry. The door for that sat directly off the kitchen area.
His mind was still whirling, so he decided to start work on fixing the stairs. He’d picked up the wood planks that would replace each step and had set up his saw on the patio.
When he stepped out to start cutting the pieces, he took a moment to watch the sun sink, changing the colors of the sky.
He flipped on the porch light and got to work cutting what he would need.
When he quit for the night, he had the first set of stairs completed. It was easy work after he found the pattern for the first few steps.
He fell face-first into bed and didn’t move until his phone woke him up shortly after seven the next morning.
Seeing Ethan’s number, he answered quickly.
“Morning,” Ethan said cheerfully.
“Morning.” He sat up and ran his hand over his face. “What’s up?”
“I thought you should know that they picked up Brock Coutts last night outside of Boston for a DUI,” Ethan said.
“Outside of Boston? What happened with Georgia?” he asked.
“Looks like he was making his way back up there. His parole says he wasn’t allowed to leave the state of Maine, so the moment he stepped foot out of the state, he was going to be picked up anyway. I figured you’d want to know that it sounds like he won’t be in your way.”
“Thanks,” he said and glanced over at his clock. “I’ll pass the news along to Olivia.”
“On another topic, I’ve made some headway as to who might be after you and your men.
I’m following a lead out of Houston,” Ethan said.
“I got word that there was a hit on the rental van that had been used in AJ Collin’s kidnapping and Jamie Anderson’s.
It appears the van was found at the bottom of a ravine… ”
“Get anything off of it?” he asked. He may not have been awake before, but this bit of news had him fully awake now.
“I’ll let you know when we find anything out and send it on to your local PD,” Ethan added. “It’s a good lead,” Ethan said before hanging up.
It was a good lead and now that Olivia’s ex was locked up again, he should feel more relaxed. But as he headed downstairs for breakfast, something was eating at him that he couldn’t explain.