“She read a lot when I was in the hospital,” Theo said. “But I don’t remember the books she read just for her. What did she like?”
Ollie thought back. “Oh, almost everything—thrillers, mysteries, science fiction. But her favorite was fantasy.” His eyes were naturally drawn to the book on the table. He picked it up and considered the author’s name and the cover. “Actually, I think we might’ve read a book from this series together. I probably still have the notes she sent me.”
Theo sat forward, eyes wide as saucers. “Do you still have the books?”
He shook his head. “I had the e-book versions—much easier to get when you’re deployed—and I think I lost my e-reader in the middle of my second tour. But I have the titles somewhere. We can look them up at the library. Not all of them are good for kids,” he warned, “but some of them are. We’ll read those ones first, and we can do the others when you get older.”
“And we can read Mom’s notes?” Theo asked hopefully.
As if Ollie could deny him anything. “We can absolutely read Mom’s notes,” he agreed. “As long as you promise to try not to repeat any of the bad words at school or baseball camp.” Allison had elevated profanity to an art form.
“Can we start right now?”
Nice try. Ollie was 100 percent sure Theo had not finished his math homework. “We can start soon. After school’s out, okay? I need to read the books again to make sure they’re okay first.”
Theo heaved out a huge sigh. “Fiiiine.” But he grinned, so Ollie knew he was being dramatic for effect.
Ollie ruffled his hair. “I love you, kid.”
Theo batted his hand away but then did a faceplant in his chest and wrapped his arms around him. “I love you too, Dad.”
Some days Ollie really felt like he had a handle on this whole parenting gig. But for the most part, he was pretty sure his success could be attributed to all the groundwork Allison had laid.
“I’m gonna finish my homework,” Theo when they released each other. “Is Ty gonna make dinner tonight?”
Was that a jab at Ollie’s perfect grilled cheese, or did he just want to know when Ty would be home? Ollie picked up his phone and sent a quick text.You home for dinner?
ETA 40 min, I’m bringing bbq. Make a salad?
That somewhat answered Ollie’s unwritten question about how things had gone with Eliza. He sent back a thumbs-up emoji and set a timer so that he didn’t get too sucked into his book.
He’d washed all the veg and was in the process of shredding carrots because Ty thought slices were too crunchy when Theo shuffled in.
“All done with your homework?”
“Yeah. It was easy.” He pulled a chair up to the counter.
“Easy? Weren’t you doing your math?”
“Yeah, but I’m good at word problems.” He climbed up so he could stand at Ollie’s elbow.
Ollie handed him a carrot to peel. “Careful to moveawayfrom your fingers, all right? No bleeding all over the place before Ty gets home.”
Giggling, Theo took the peeler. “But I can bleed all over the placeafterTy gets home?”
“I’d prefer if you didn’t.” Ollie made a face to make him laugh harder. “But if you’re going to do it, do it when Ty’s around to patch you up.”
“Ohhh-kayyyyy,” Theo sighed and then ruined it with another giggle.
Ollie reached for the cucumber, grinning.
“Dad? Do you know why Ty’s in trouble for trying to help the lady at the grocery store?”
The grin crumbled into ash. Ollie dismembered the cucumber. He did, in fact, know why. What he didn’t know was how to explain it to his son without destroying his faith in humanity. “Kind of,” he hedged.
Ollie steadied the chair while Theo reached over to wash his hands. “Did he do something wrong?”
“No, buddy. But you know how Twyla wasn’t invited to Mel’s birthday party because sometimes she’s not very nice?” A year ago, news of Mel being excluded from Twyla’s birthday party, to which every other classmate had been invited, had reached Ollie across thousands of miles of scandalized, outraged mother.
