by Natalie Ann
“Oh goodie. I can help you do that.” Victoria started to rub her hands together in glee.
Olivia wanted to protest, but realized her mother had great taste and design style, and maybe another opinion would help. It’d give them something to talk about at the very least.
“I’d love that. Where’s Anthony?”
“He’s checking into our hotel right now. We’d like to take you all out to dinner tonight. I’ll run over and surprise Sophia in a few, too.”
“I have plans tonight, Mom.” Plans she didn’t want to break.
“You can’t reschedule for a family dinner?” her mother asked, smiling that charming smile of hers, the one that had most men eating out of her hands.
“I’m afraid I’d rather not.”
“It’s a man, isn’t it?”
“Did Sophia tell you?”
Victoria laughed, low and deep, then picked up a sapphire ring and bracelet and started to arrange them in the cabinet.
“No, she didn’t. I’m glad to know you aren’t just working yourself to death and are going out and having some fun. But surely you can reschedule for another night.”
“There is nothing wrong with working, Mom.” Not that her mother ever did, and probably wouldn’t understand. Olivia took a deep breath and figured there was no use hiding her plans tonight. Her mother would find out anyway; she always did. It was best to just say it now. “I’m going to dinner with Finn and his son tonight for the first time. I’d rather not bail.”
Victoria turned sharply. “Son? How old is this man?”
“Finn is thirty-six and his son is four. He’s a single father. I’ve met Trey before, but not in this capacity. There were always other people around and he only knows me as a friend. So this is a special night.”
Finn had told Trey that Olivia and he were more than friends, and Olivia was terrified of tonight but knew she needed to do it. They were even going swimming at Olivia’s after dinner, sort of a bribe on Olivia’s part, knowing how much Trey liked the water.
“So what does Finn do?”
“Mom, there is no need for you to judge.” This is exactly why she didn’t want to tell her mother.
“Who said I was judging? I’m just curious. You’re my baby and you’re meeting his child. That’s big.”
Maybe her mother did understand. “He’s a fireman, a captain. And he works for Harper’s, too. He made all these display cases”
Her mother nodded. “He knows your tastes and style then, doesn’t he?”
Olivia wasn’t sure where her mother was going with this. “I’d like to think so.”
“How long have you been seeing each other?”
“I’m not sure there is an official date, but there’s been a connection, you could say, for almost two months. At least we started to have lunch together almost two months ago.”
“And you’re just meeting his son now? In an official capacity?”
“Yes.”
“Taking it slow. That’s good.”
“You’ve never taken it slow.”
It was hard for Olivia to say that to her mother, but it was the truth. How could she forget her mother just showing up one day with Anthony and saying she was married? Olivia didn’t even know her mother had been dating someone, let alone getting married.
Her mother didn’t take offense to it though. “No, I wasn’t one for taking things slow. And it backfired more often than not. But the third time was the charm for me. I’d hoped you would have learned from my mistakes.”
“I hope so, too.”
“You know, Anthony was terrified of meeting you.” Victoria laid one elegant hand on the display case next to Olivia’s, then reached over and squeezed it. “I knew you were going to be a little brat and you were. I’d warned him.”
Olivia tried not to sputter, but she couldn’t help it. “A brat? I was a teenager and you showed up with a new husband that I didn’t even know about.”
“I didn’t say it wasn’t justified. I didn’t always do right by you, and I’m sorry for that. But in all honesty, you weren’t nearly as bad as I expected you to be the time you met Anthony. Of course, he’d never had any children, as you know, and didn’t know what to expect.”
“I remember that day.”
Olivia had been bratty. Of course, it wasn’t anything new. She’d moved away so she didn’t have to deal with her mother and the new men she had all the time, and she was resentful that her mother brought one with her to visit. Learning it was her new stepfather only made things worse.
“I’m sure you do. But Anthony forgave you.”
“You never even blinked an eye over my behavior that day.”
“Really, Olivia. I’m smarter than you think. You were doing it for attention. If I acknowledged it, I would have given you what you wanted.”
“Pretending to ignore it only ticked me off more.”
“Exactly. And then you stopped.”
“I just figured, why bother. You didn’t care anyway.”
“That’s not true. It never was.” Her mother wasn’t looking so composed at the moment; she was actually looking more remorseful. “I admit I never put you first, Olivia. It was wrong of me. I was selfish and focused on myself. I never even realized it until Anthony pointed it out after that trip.”
“He did? I didn’t think he even cared for me.”
“He didn’t have a lot of experience with children, especially bratty teenagers, but he blistered my ears after that visit. Told me to grow up and pay attention to you. I swear to you, Olivia, that night, I regretted marrying him. I figured, who was he to judge me?”
“And yet here you are still married longer than anyone expected.”
“It’s true. I stopped and looked back at what he’d said, then looked back at how I was around you and Sophia. He was right, but I didn’t want to admit it. I asked him what he thought I should do. At that point, you had less than two years left at your boarding school and seemed so happy, so I let it go.”
Olivia did think back and realized that shortly after that visit her mother started to call more, visited more, and talked to her more. Not about frivolous things, but about life. Real life, and looking ahead to the future. It was her mother who really encouraged her to study gemology.
“I would have come home if you’d asked.”
“I believe that now. I wish I did back then, but I didn’t. I regret that. I regret a lot of things. And not to make this about me, but you turned out just fine, Olivia. I worried for a while, I really did, but you seemed to have found your way.”
This was all news to her. “What were you worried about?”
“That you were going to be just like me. That you would need a man to fulfill you, to make you who you are, to rely on. But you don’t, do you? Neither you nor Sophia. I’d like to think I did such a horrible job mothering you that maybe you turned out so well just to prove me wrong.”
Olivia wiped at the tears in her eyes. “I think there was a little part of that there. So tell me, what should I do about Trey?”
“You’re asking me? Please, I’m the last person you should ask. Talk to Sophia. Or better yet, go with your gut. It seems to have done you well lately.”
“Yeah, it has, hasn’t it?”
More Important
Later that night, Olivia started to sweat. She’d never been this nervous before for a date, but she was pacing around the kitchen of Sophia’s house.
“Will you stop? You’re making me dizzy.”
“Sorry,” Olivia said, looking over at Sophia as she was preparing dinner. “I wish I could stay and help you tonight with dinner.”
Sophia waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to Mom just showing up like this. It’s only two more people for dinner. You’ve got more important things to worry about tonight.”
“What should I say to him?”
“Who, Trey?”
“Yeah. What do I talk to him about?”
“What did you talk
to him about at the picnic?”
“My house, really. But that is only because Finn told him about my house and he had questions about the land.”
“Then go with that. Finn will lead the way. Don’t worry about it. Just relax. Kids are like dogs: they smell fear.”
“What?” Olivia shrieked. “Why would you say that to me?”
“I’m joking. Boy, you should see your face right now. Relax, Olivia. It’s time for you to go anyway. I’ll see you later tonight. Have fun swimming.”
Twenty minutes later, Olivia pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and saw Finn and Trey getting out of the truck and walking over to her.
“Hi,” she said, looking at Finn and trying to decide what to do. Normally she’d lean in and give him a kiss, but she didn’t dare with Trey watching her, his big hazel eyes looking at her too close for comfort.
Damn Sophia for saying kids smelled fear.
Finn looked at her, smiled and reached his hand forward, clasping hers lightly. “Hi, yourself. You remember Trey.”
Olivia liked how warm Finn’s hand felt holding hers, and she liked the comfort he was giving her. “Hi, Trey.”
Trey dipped his head down and didn’t say anything, causing Olivia to look up into Finn’s face, distressed. He mouthed to her, “Patience.”
They made their way into the restaurant and were seated—the silence grating on Olivia’s nerves. “What do you like to eat, Trey?”
He looked up from his menu, looked at Finn first, then back to her and said quietly, “I like burgers and pasta with no sauce.”
“A burger sounds good. Maybe I’ll get one.”
“Do you like a soft bun, too?”
“Trey doesn’t like his buns toasted like most restaurants do,” Finn explained.
“Oh. You know what, I don’t like that either. I’ve never thought to ask them not to do it, though.”
“You can. Daddy does it for me.”
“Then maybe I’ll do that today, too.”
Trey smiled at her, shyly, but it was still a smile. The waitress came over and took their orders right then, and Olivia did exactly what she said, ordered a burger with a soft bun and had Trey giggling. “Oh, I’m sorry, please don’t toast my bun,” Olivia clarified when the waitress looked confused, and then she winked at Trey.
“Your father tells me you’re in preschool. Do you enjoy it?”
Trey looked at Finn again, caught his father’s nod and then turned back to Olivia to answer. “It’s fun.”
“What things do you do?”
“We made Father’s Day gifts. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I knew what we were doing before anyone else did,” he said proudly.
“You did? How did you get so lucky to find out?”
“Daddy gave them the wood.”
“I had spare wood left over in my shop and decided to give it to the school,” Finn said.
“That’s because not everyone has a daddy and this way they could paint what they wanted.”
Olivia was trying not to show her confusion, but she caught on the part about how not everyone had two parents and wondered if that was an issue with Trey.
“What did you make with the wood?”
“Coasters. I painted mine orange and put a blue New York Mets logo on it. I painted a baseball on it too. Daddy likes baseball.”
“That sounds like a great gift.”
“Better than the flower pot we did last month. But I put a fireman’s helmet on it for Daddy.”
Oh wow, how sweet is that. She pieced together that last month was Mother’s Day, and was catching on. He gave his Mother’s Day gift to his father.
“That’s really nice, Trey. I bet your daddy liked that a lot.”
“It was his idea. I mean the fireman’s helmet was and everyone thought it looked really cool.”
“I bet they did.”
This wasn’t so bad. She was doing well. Sophia was right—let Finn take the lead. But she was finding it wasn’t as hard to talk to a child as she thought.
Who was she kidding? Talking wasn’t the hard part. It was hoping that Trey liked her.
***
Finn followed Olivia to her house. Dinner had gone as well as could have been expected. Trey had started out shy, but then opened right up. He wasn’t sure who was more nervous about dinner tonight: himself, Trey, or Olivia.
He’d never seen Olivia uncertain before. She always had it all together, always seemed so confident, but tonight she was on edge. Then again, so was he.
Trey and he had talked about his relationship with Olivia over the last few days. He’d gotten Trey to understand that Olivia was more than just a friend to him now, and Trey seemed to accept that. He never asked the dreaded question of if Olivia was going to be his new mom or not. Finn really hoped that wouldn’t come up, and it didn’t.
Children seemed to be more accepting than he ever realized, and he was thankful for that. Or maybe Trey was just excited to go out to eat and then swimming at Olivia’s.
“Olivia’s house is big,” Trey said from the backseat of Finn’s truck. “Look at her yard,” he shouted before Finn could respond to the house comment.
“Yes, it is. Come on, she’s waiting for us.”
They parked behind Olivia’s car where she was waiting for them and climbed out. “I haven’t been inside in weeks. I can’t wait to see what you’ve done.”
“Don’t get your hopes up yet. Nothing is completed.”
“I don’t care. I just want to see what’s been done so far.”
She rushed ahead, almost like a child herself, so Finn grabbed the bag with his and Trey’s swimsuits and followed her around to the back of the house.
“My floors look great. Did you do them?”
He looked down at the finished floors, all shiny and gleaming in the sunlight. “No, the crew did them. I’ve been installing your cabinets in the kitchen. No, I didn’t make them, but I’m still installing them.”
She rushed forward into the half-finished kitchen. The floors were done, the cabinets were mostly installed, the sheetrock all up and sanded smooth. “It’s coming together so fast.”
“It is. They’ve got a large crew here for this part so you can move in.”
“I need to see my room. Come on, Trey, I’ll race you.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him along, and the sound of Trey’s laughter was music to his ears.
He caught up with them at the doorway to her room to see her standing there with shock on her face. “You didn’t tell me you finished my bed.”
“It was a surprise. I set it up today.”
He wouldn’t tell her that he’d been putting in hours after Trey went to bed in order to get it done. Hours he could have spent doing chores around the house or talking to her.
“I helped Daddy.”
She turned and looked at Trey standing so proudly next to her. “You did? Show me what you did on it.” She followed him into the room and watched as he pointed out areas.
“I sanded this part and I helped paint this part.”
“Stain. We stain wood, not paint it, Trey.”
Finn couldn’t get over how happy his son looked explaining to Olivia the part he played in making the bed. He had hoped getting Trey to help him would ease the explanation that Olivia was more than a friend to him. In the end, it worked and was a great bonding experience with Trey.
“Stained it,” Trey corrected. “What do you think? Do you like it?” Trey asked, his big eyes searching Olivia’s and looking for acceptance.
“I love it! It’s exactly what I would pick out if I went to a store.”
He’d hoped so. He’d stressed over the design.
At first he was thinking fancy and elegant, and then he realized that though she gave off that perception, deep down she wasn’t really that. She was the woman who secretly watched chick flicks and read romantic books. She was strong and independent, but yearned for “happily ever after” even though she’d never said it out loud, yet s
he’d showed signs of it all along.
The first time he realized that she was a romantic at heart he panicked, but then pushed it aside. She may have had those secret wishes, even though she denied it when he pointed them out, but she never pushed him on anything.
She’d let him control the pace of their relationship, and he was grateful.
All those little things and fears he’d been looking for never seemed to rear their ugly heads. Everything he was looking for in advance—the warning signs he’d seen with Becca and chose to ignore. Nothing was there but what was in his imagination.
So when it came time to design her bed frame, he kept it simple and solid. Something that would last for generations. Something she could hand down to children if she wanted. Something with meaning and memories that could be built.
“This is one of those beds you could lie in all day long with a fire burning across the room and get cozy. It’s like a dream. I can see a big white fluffy comforter and lots and lots of pillows. Like lying in clouds,” she told him, running her hand along the side of the headboard. She turned and gave Trey a big hug. “I really love it! Thank you for helping your daddy make it.”
Trey started to wiggle to get out of her arms, but he was giggling, so Finn wasn’t worried. “Daddy doesn’t like pillows. He only has one on his bed.”
“Oh really? He might have to change that opinion,” she said, smirking at him.
He reached over and grabbed her and pulled her in for a quick hug.
“Yeah, I think that’s something I can adapt to,” he whispered quietly for her ears only.
Trey seemed to ignore the embrace he was sharing with Olivia. “Can we go swimming now? I waited to ask until she saw the bed, Daddy.”
“Sure, scout. Let’s get you changed and we’ll meet Olivia out back by the pool.”
Need You
“That’s it, Trey. Keep swimming to me. Keep paddling.” Finn looked on proudly as Trey half doggie paddled, half breaststroked toward him in the shallow end.
“I did it!” Trey shouted. “I swam across.”
