Chapter 18
Over the next couple of weeks, he continued to work on turning his place into a home.
Not just for himself, but for Olivia and, more importantly, Simona.
Which meant his old schoolroom had to be updated and made safer.
He couldn’t believe some of the old things in there and how hazardous they were for kids of any age.
First, he found out that the paint on the walls was lead based.
He’d hired a crew to come out and strip the walls so that he could put a fresh coat of safe paint on and hang up the old chalkboards.
He’d thought about replacing them, but since the old ones were still in good condition, he figured they would do for now.
Olivia was true to her word. Not only did they have one night a week where it was just the two of them, but now, at least two to three nights a week, he got to hang out with both her and Simona.
It was becoming the standard that the two of them spent every Friday night at his place, which worked out perfectly, since Olivia’s work schedule allowed them to spend all day Friday together.
On two occasions, they had gone out to East Haven Resort to go swimming and have picnics on the beach. He could tell that it was Simona’s favorite place in the whole world because she often mentioned it two or three times when they were out there.
Since their talk, he’d noticed a huge change in Olivia.
She was more open with him and seemed less afraid to tell him about her past. He felt more relaxed as well.
He even opened up to her about how his life had changed after his father had passed.
How his mother had twisted and grown colder and more distant.
They sat on his back patio, watching the sky change colors as the sun set over the town and talking about Olivia’s fears about Simona going into second grade.
“Isn’t second grade a lot like first?” he asked, unsure. He couldn’t really remember anything before fifth grade.
Olivia rolled her eyes at him. “Seriously?” She smiled. “That’s what Simona does if you ask her the same question.”
“She’s a diva all right.” He smiled.
Olivia chuckled. “I wonder where she gets it?”
He reached over and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He glanced through the sliding doors to where Simona was watching cartoons on the television and eating a yogurt. He could see she was totally engrossed in the show and smiled.
“She is pretty amazing,” he said, turning back to Olivia.
“So are you. All the things you’ve seen and done in your life.” She sighed. “I’ve never even been out of the States.”
“You haven’t?” He leaned in and kissed her. “We’ll have to plan a trip. Where do you want to go?”
She tilted her head slightly as she thought about it for a moment.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Canada,” she finally said.
He laughed. “Seriously? It’s only a day’s drive from here. Why haven’t you gone?”
“Time, money, and, oh right. Can you imagine spending ten hours in a car with a six-year-old?” She smiled.
“Right.” He nodded. “Okay, where in Canada?”
“Prince Edward Island.” She rested her head back against his shoulder.
“Anne of Green Gables fan?” he asked.
She glanced up at him. “I can’t wait until Simona is old enough to get hooked on the stories.”
“When is her birthday?”
“July first.”
He sat up a little. “That’s only a week away.”
“I know,” Olivia answered.
“That doesn’t give us a lot of time to plan the party.”
Olivia frowned over at him. “Party?”
“Yes. Don’t we need to order a cake, presents, invite people.” He stood up and started pacing the deck as he ticked off everything that he believed they’d need for a seven-year-old’s birthday celebration.
Olivia laughed and stood up to stop him from walking.
“Easy, I have everything handled.” She rested her hands on his shoulders.
“You do?” He frowned, feeling a little let down that he hadn’t been included in the details.
“Yes.” She smiled. “Simona wants a swim party out at the resort. I worked everything out with Sarah months ago.”
He relaxed slightly. “A pool party?” He could see the benefits of that. He could get her a gift… He stopped and turned to Olivia. “What sort of gift does she want? I mean, what do seven-year-old girls like, besides movies.”
Olivia wrapped her arms around him. “We can go shopping together. I still have a few more things to get for the party.”
“This weekend?” he asked, holding on to her.
“Sure.” She rested her head back on his shoulder. “I love that you’re so concerned about this.” She looked up at him.
He brushed a strand of her dark hair away from her face and bent down to kiss her. “She means a lot to me. Both of you do.”
Her entire body relaxed against his, and he knew that he’d won this small battle. Not too long ago she would have tensed.
“Let’s go inside and finish watching the show with Simona,” he suggested. The sun had fully set, leaving them in darkness.
Since it was the middle of the week, he knew his time with them that evening was limited. So he sat on his sofa, snuggling with the two girls in his life, and watched Moana for the third time that month.
Then he carried Simona out to Olivia’s car and locked her in the car seat while she was dead asleep. He gave her a kiss on the forehead before kissing Olivia goodnight.
Since he was too revved up to head to bed, he worked on building the wood shelving for the pantry. When he was done hanging the last shelf, he was tired and sore. He had decided to paint them all white instead of staining them like he’d originally planned.
Tomorrow, he would conquer the bench with built-in cubbies under it for his mudroom.
He’d ordered some rustic seahorse hooks for his coats and hats and wanted to stick with light blues and a nautical theme throughout the house.
He’d found some whale’s tail hooks as well but planned on putting those in the bathroom for towels.
Olivia had actually picked them out for him along with a few sea-glass lamps and vases to go on the bookshelves.
The more he looked around the house, the more he realized it was beginning to feel like a home. Especially when Olivia and Simona were there.
For the next two days, he worked on the house while looking forward to that weekend and going gift shopping with Olivia.
He’d done a little research online about what seven-year-old girls liked as gifts.
There were so many choices, so many toys, games, or outfits to choose from.
He was hoping Olivia would help him narrow down the choices by telling him what Simona liked or wanted.
Since Rowan had finished his remodel on the bathroom, he no longer ran into the man at the hardware store as much as he had before. But Todd was becoming familiar with a few other people in town.
He hadn’t known who Eric Torre was at first, other than by name.
He’d seen the guy walking around in his paint-covered jeans and shirts at the hardware store and had even thought about approaching him and asking him for a quote to paint the outside of his house since he’d seen the sign on the man’s van for T&T Painting.
But then Dave, one of the workers at the hardware store, pointed Eric out. Since then, he’d noticed that the man was always staring him down, no doubt telling Brock every detail about him.
Thankfully, the man hadn’t been any more trouble for Olivia. He had been sentenced to community service, and he’d seen the man on the side of the road in an orange vest, picking up trash along with a bunch of other people.
He didn’t figure there was anything special about Eric, other than he knew everyone in town. Still, most people that knew him seemed to dismiss his behavior, as if the man had always acted crazy.
Even Olivia seemed to be over it. The only way Todd could be sure the man wasn’t going to try anything else was to keep an eye on him. Which meant knowing everything about the man—where he lived, where he worked, and who his friends were.
He dug deep into the man’s past. It wasn’t hard, seeing as that is what Todd had spent most of the last ten years of his life doing for work. He and his team had been paid to know everything about their targets.
He even looked into Olivia’s ex, Brock. After causing a fender bender while high, he’d led the police on a short chase and had ended up destroying two cruisers while he was at it. The chances of him getting out of prison this time were extremely slim.
The fact that he still blamed Olivia for his troubles weighed heavily on Todd.
There was video of the man’s court hearing where he punched a bailiff and yelled profanities, all while screaming that he’d get revenge on Olivia.
Eric had been sitting in the audience, which assured Todd that Olivia’s trouble with the duo wasn’t over.
As far as his own troubles, there hadn’t been any more word on the murders of his team members. He was still very watchful and continued to try and figure out who could be after them.
But the fact was, his team had gone on over thirty missions together. They had enemies everywhere, in more than a dozen countries.
Naturally, he made a list of the top possibilities. None, however, knew any of his team members’ real names. Which meant either there was a leak or their covers had been blown during the mission. In his memory, he couldn’t think of any mission that had gone sideways so badly. Except one.
Kimber. Shortly after he’d been exposed, another team had gone in and taken out her father, leaving no one to come after him or his team. Not even Kimber had known his real name.
There were other missions that had come close to going sideways but none where they had been as exposed.