All About You (All Series Book 6) (14 page)

“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 she’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.”

“You did.”

Finn picked him up and tossed him high in the air, then caught him as he hit the water with a big splash, sending water raining down on Olivia, who’d been standing close by watching.

“If I put my floaties on, will you toss me and not catch me?”

“Sure. Go get them.”

Finn watched Trey make his way to the stairs and run up them to get his arm floats sitting on the patio. Dusk had fallen and they’d been swimming for over an hour now.

When Olivia walked out in her swimsuit, he had all he could do to roll his tongue back in his mouth.

The funny part was, it wasn’t a sexy swimsuit at all. It was a two-piece athletic one. More like a sports bra on top and boy shorts on the bottom.

Though he’d seen her naked twice, everything had been hurried with little to no time to appreciate her body.

But seeing her in that swimsuit, getting a good look at how sculpted her muscles were, made him realize she must work out. By the looks of the bathing suit, he had an idea now of what form of exercise that was.

“You like to swim, I see.”

“What gave it away? My sexy suit.” She started to pose for him, turning front and back with a hand on her hip. She was something else.

“That, with the muscles all over you.”

“Muscles,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “I prefer to say I’m toned.”

“Say what you want, but it looks good on you.”

She leaned closer and quietly told him, “I’m saving my sexy suit for when we’re alone.”

His eyes lit up. “I appreciate that and can’t wait to see it.”

They’d had no more time to talk about it though, not with Trey running around the pool and finally stopping in front of them asking to get in.

So for another hour they swam around, splashing each other and playing. Olivia hadn’t been one bit concerned over the water in her face. Nope, she walked to the deep end, climbed on the diving board, and dove right in.

“Where did you swim before you bought the house?”

“When the weather warmed up enough, I began swimming each day at the lake, if not here. Before that, I’ve always belonged to a gym with a pool. I find swimming is the only exercise I don’t mind doing. Nothing else has ever really stuck with me for some reason.”

“So then I bet you were thrilled this house came with a pool?”

“I was, even though it’s a lot of work. Then again, I found myself a pretty awesome pool boy. It would have been nicer if it had an indoor pool though so I could use it all year round.”

He decided to bypass the pool boy comment. “You’ve got enough land to put one in on the other side of the house. Though that would defeat the purpose of having an outdoor pool.”

“True. I don’t mind going to a gym though. This works just fine and its heated, which means I can open it up earlier and close it later in the fall, too.”

For the last hour they’d chatted about nothing in general, played with Trey by throwing balls around, laughing and splashing. It did his heart good to see Trey so open and free around Olivia.

And to see Olivia accept Trey, too. To see her horsing around with him, tickling him, and not being afraid to say what she wanted.

Everything she did around Trey was honest. He could see that. No hidden agendas, no mixed signals, nothing. Just three people having fun.

“It’s getting dark, Trey. Already past your bedtime.”

“I don’t want to leave, though,” Trey said.

Finn looked over and saw Trey floating around in the shallow end, picking up the foam basketball and tossing it near the hoop that Olivia had pulled out of the pool house as a surprise for Trey.

“Trey,” Finn warned. “You know the rules.”

“I want to stay.”

Finn sighed. Trey didn’t often disobey him, but he could see the signs. Excitement mixed in with tiredness was a recipe for disaster.

“If you don’t do what you’re told then Olivia might not invite you back again.”

He looked over to see her reaction to what was unfolding, but her expression hadn’t changed. She was still relaxing in the floating lounge chair.

“Can I stay longer, Olivia?” Trey asked.

“Trey. You know better.”

Olivia looked over at Trey, then at him, caught his expression and said, “I’m sorry, buddy. It’s not up to me. You should listen to your father.”

“But if it was up to you?” Trey asked, trying again.

That was the final straw for Finn. Trey tried this once before with his grandmother and she’d also known enough to stay out of the middle.

“It’s not up to Olivia. You heard her. I’m your father. It’s time to go now,” he said more firmly.

“No!” Trey shouted. “I want to stay.”

“Trey, out of the water now,” Finn said.

He wasn’t shouting. He tried to never do that. It never worked anyway, but Trey knew enough when Finn was angry, like he was now.

It only took the one look that Finn didn’t use often and Trey burst into tears.

“You never let me do what I want. You always have to work and we never have fun. I want to stay and have fun.”

Trey was sobbing hard now and ended up gulping water in, causing him to panic and flay about, then cry even harder. Both he and Olivia rushed over to him, not that Trey was in any danger, but Finn grabbed him and set him on the side of the pool as Trey had a coughing fit.

The coughing and crying were both breaking Finn’s heart and aggravating him at the same time. He had to stay firm though; he’d learned that lesson. If he gave in once during a temper tantrum, then Trey thought he’d get his way every time he acted up.

“Go sit in the chair by the house until you can stop crying. When you’re done crying you know what you need to do. Olivia was nice enough to invite you over today. If you want to be invited again, then you have to learn your manners.”

“You’re mean! You won’t even take me to Michael’s party next week.”

Finn watched as Trey stood up and stomped toward the house, crying the entire way. Once Trey was seated and bawling in his hands, Finn looked over to Olivia, who was standing next to him in the shallow end.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” she said quietly, running her hand on his arm. “He’s feeling his way. I’m sure he’s tired, too. A lot of excitement and new territory for him tonight.”

“Yeah. I know. But I think this really has more to do with me not being able to bring him to the Mathews’s Fourth of July party. I’ve got to work at the firehouse. I can’t get it off—holidays aren’t that easy to switch shifts with people.”

“Well, I can bring him.”

“After his behavior today? No way.”

“Finn. He’s four. My mother reminded me this morning that I was a complete brat when I first met Anthony. She introduced me to him as my stepfather. I hadn’t even known she’d gotten married. It’s natural.”

“You’re not my wife.” He regretted saying those words the minute they were out of his mouth. He couldn’t tell if she was hurt over his tone, or surprised, but he was guessing hurt and he felt like even more of a heel. This day was going into the shitter fast. “I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

“Don’t apologize. I understand.” She looked over at Trey still crying. “How long will you make him sit there?” He could see her eyes had cooled a bit, but she was trying to hide it.

“Once he stops crying he can come back over. He knows the rules.”

“So he’s being punished until he stops crying?”

“I’m not really punishing him now. I allow him to cry. I don’t have a problem with that. But he has to do it in a space that gives him freedom, or time to get control of himself.”

“That doesn’t make any sense to me.”

He didn’t expect her to understand. “Listen, Olivia. What happens when you’re upset with someone? You can’t get over that feeling if they’re standing there next to you, right? Don’t you need some space to let your frustrations out first, then compose yourself before you talk to that person again?”

He knew he did. There were plenty of times Becca pushed every one of his buttons too far and too fast, getting right in his face yelling and even shoving him. He walked away more times than he could count trying to compose himself.

“I guess. So that’s what you’re doing?”

“That’s what I’m teaching him to do. It’s okay to get mad, it’s okay to cry, and it’s okay to need space to get control. He knows that. I’m trying to let him have some freedom over his emotions. I don’t want him to think he can’t express himself, but he always knows that there are rules to be followed. Once he comes to terms with what he did, and his emotions, he’ll come back to me. He knows I’ll be waiting for him.”

He watched as her eyes filled. Now what did he do wrong? Was she judging him on his parenting? What else could go wrong today?

“Finn, that is the nicest thing. I wish my mother had done that when I was a kid. When I acted up, I got sent to my room as a punishment. It didn’t stop me from acting up; it just made me do it more and more until she paid attention to me. Then she learned to ignore me, which just ticked me off more. I never felt I could just go and talk to her. Ever. Not as a child. But you’re teaching him that now.”

“Someone has to teach him. I’m all he has.”

She opened her mouth to say something, but then closed it. He wasn’t going to push her; if she wanted to say it she would.

He walked up the steps out of the water and knew she was following him. They grabbed their towels and started to dry off.

He looked over at Trey and saw that his crying was lessening, until he looked up and made eye contact with Finn and started to bawl all over again. Finn sighed. “We might be sitting here for a bit.”

“He really will come over and talk to you?”

“He will. Did you see him start to cry when I looked at him just now?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“If I went over to talk to him when he wasn’t ready, we’d get nothing but more crying and more temper tantrums. Trust me on this. I know my kid.” Better than he ever thought he would.

“I believe you. You’re doing a great job on your own. I’m not sure if anyone has ever told you that before. Even if they have, I wanted you to know that I think you’re a terrific father.”

“Thanks. It’s nice to hear it from someone other than family.” He stopped and looked around at Olivia’s yard, wanting to change the subject. It was a hard one for him to talk about, especially with his son sitting there crying his eyes out because Finn couldn’t get a day off of work and bring him to a party to be with his friends. “Your mom called you this morning?” he asked, forcing the conversation another way.

“No, she’s here visiting.”

Finn turned his head sharply. “You didn’t say she was coming.”

“I didn’t know until she knocked on the door to my store this morning. She and Anthony decided to surprise me for the grand opening. We spent some time arranging jewelry and talking about you and Trey.”

“Really? Do I want to know?”

“It’s not bad. She wanted me to have dinner with them tonight, but I said I had plans. She figured out it was with a man and one thing led to another.”

“We could have changed nights.”

“No. I keep my word. I’ve been a nervous wreck over this night with Trey and I wasn’t going to put it off. I can have dinner with my mother tomorrow night. Trust me, she completely understood.”

Finn remembered the conversations they’d had about Victoria and having a lot of men in her life, often putting those men before her daughters.

“So you’ll be busy the next few days with the store and your mother.”

“I will.” She paused and looked over at Trey quickly, who was now just sniffling in the chair. “She asked to meet you, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

He wasn’t sure why and didn’t want to guess, but had a feeling he knew the answer. “I’m not up to her standards, right?”

“Not up to
her
standards, no. Not like you might think, though. It’s a good thing.”

How him not measuring up for Olivia was a good thing was beyond him, but it was just a reminder that she was way out of his league. He didn’t need his son to throw a temper tantrum to remind him they were at different places in their lives.

“How’s that?”

“Well, you aren’t the type of guy
she’d
want…for herself. You wouldn’t coddle her, give her everything she wanted, do everything for her, and put her up on a pedestal.”

He didn’t want to be insulted over that description, even if it was true. “Probably not.”

She smiled at him, her eyes softening. “No probably about it. It’s not who you are. That’s the good part. You see, you’re nothing like a man she’d want for herself, and everything I do. Not so long ago I thought I wanted all the things you aren’t. Then one day I grew up and realized I didn’t need those things. I just need you.”