AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jade’s brows rose. “Well, then. We’ll just count on you to fix lunches and make sure we’re well supplied with drinks.”
With a nod, Melanie reached for a color. “Sounds like a deal. I’ve been looking at this color. I think it would look nice in the living room.”
“I wasn’t going to paint the living room,” Olivia stated.
“Honey, every room needs some love.” Jade took the sample from Melanie. “Olive-ia Newton John. I like it.”
The pale shade of green was beautiful and would look nice in the living room with the wide bay window letting in the morning sunlight. Since Olivia wasn’t changing out the furniture, that color would be perfect with the dark brown leather sofa and dark tables.
“Fine,” she told them. “Now that we have this done, who’s going to Knobs and Knockers to pick all this up?”
Knobs and Knockers was the town hardware store now owned by the third generation. Macy Hayward Monroe had taken over her father’s business, but she was now married to Liam Monroe.
Everything in this town seemed to circle back to the Monroe boys and that resort they opened. Maybe Olivia should go and chat with Macy and see if she could squeeze in some massages at Bella Vous. They’d need their muscles worked out once all the painting was done.
Well, Melanie wouldn’t, but Olivia would make an appointment for her, too. She was part of this painting project by default.
“I don’t mind going,” Melanie volunteered. “What time do they close?”
Olivia glanced to the old clock over the window. “It’s only three. She’ll be open another couple hours.”
They’d gone straight from the airport to Knobs and Knockers to get the samples. Her friends were wise enough not to question her when she came out with tear-stained cheeks after talking with Jax. They knew her well enough to know that if she wanted to talk, she would. Right now, though, she wanted to do something productive to make it seem like she was getting somewhere and not at a total standstill.
“I’ll go get the paint,” Melanie said as she grabbed her purse and the keys off the hook by the back door. “I assume we need drop cloths, brushes, rollers, trays.”
“All of that,” Olivia agreed. “And paint stirrers. We won’t get to all of the rooms today.”
“Want to start in here?” Jade suggested.
Olivia glanced at the walls, the curtains. “Sure. I’ll take this stuff down. Oh, make sure you get some painter’s tape so I can protect the cabinets. Several rolls since we’re doing so much.”
“You might want to text me all the supplies so I don’t forget something.”
Jade came to her feet. “I’ll ride with you. Between the two of us we’ll remember.”
Olivia handed over all the colors they’d agreed upon and waited until they were out the door before she started removing pictures from the walls. She piled everything onto the island, ignoring the faded outline from where things had hung for the past decade.
The ache in her chest couldn’t be described. Knowing her father had been sick when she and her mother left cut so deep through her emotions. He’d spent more time at the airport in those final days before Olivia left in an attempt to hide his illness. What did that say about the marriage? Olivia was starting to see that maybe her father had stepped back when his marriage fell apart and let his daughter make her own decisions.
Part of her feared she’d made the wrong one.
Granted, the cancer hadn’t taken his life and he’d come through, but Olivia wondered who had been there for him. Had he been sick long? Who helped him get to and from appointments on days he felt too bad to drive?
She climbed on the counter and started tugging at the curtain rod. It came loose and she tossed it to the floor. She stared at the brackets and realized she’d have to go to the garage and get a screwdriver. The garage was one place she dreaded tackling. What should she do with all those tools?
She swallowed the lump of guilt and hopped off the counter. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent off a text to Jackson. She didn’t want to see him or talk to him right now, not when he’d slapped her in the face with reality and the truth. She was humiliated and angry at herself for being a selfish teen, not seeing how much her father had needed someone.
Olivia could freely admit, since this new fact had come to surface, she was angry at her mother as well. Had she seen signs her father wasn’t feeling well? He’d obviously had to go through some doctor appointments and testing to get the final diagnosis. How had they not known?
Another part of her was angry at her father and his pride. Damn it. Why hadn’t he reached out? Yes, she understood his concern of them staying out of guilt, but what would have been so wrong with that? At least he wouldn’t have been alone.
Olivia grabbed the handle in the middle of the garage door and gave it a twist. She shoved the door up and headed inside. She didn’t park her car in here because there was no room. She doubted her father ever had his car in there since she left because the one-car garage was overflowing with tools, spare parts for lawn mowers, a couple of old push mowers, and random things she’d have to classify as junk.
She had no clue what his filing system was, or even if he had one here, but she was going to have to find a screwdriver in this mess. With the sunlight pouring in, she glanced around the mayhem. At this rate, she may have been better off texting Melanie and telling her to just buy one. There was no way she’d find anything in here . . . except maybe a critter.
The thought crept into her head and sent shivers racing through her. Olivia didn’t want to stick around to see if something had chosen to take up residence.
Just as she turned, she ran directly into a hard chest.
