Page 139 of From Rivals to I Do

The doorbell rings again, and this time, I’m almost positive it’s the pizza.

“The food is here, Charlee. Why don’t you go wash your hands and come right back, okay?” she nods her head and runs off.

I answer the door and pay for the pizza. When I return to the kitchen, Charlee sits at the table across from Leonard, showing him a drawing of a shark she made.

“Did you know that sharks can’t see colors?” Charlee asks him, standing in her chair to lean across the table.

“Charlee, sit down,” I demand, and she quickly sits with a giggle.

“Well, I just wanted to drop this off. I don’t want to interrupt your dinner,” Leonard says, standing from his chair.

“You’re not interrupting,” I respond, laying three plates out on the table. “And you didn’t have to bring anything over. You’ve already done more than enough giving me such a good rate for this place.”

“It’s really nothing, just a little housewarming present for you,” he says, sitting down again.

I grab a slice of pizza and put it in the freezer for a minute for Charlee just to make sure it is cool so she won’t burn her mouth.

“Did you come all the way out here for that?” I ask, smiling at Leonard from the fridge.

“I did, actually,” he laughs. “It isn’t that far away for me, though.”

I walk back over to the table and give Charlee her pizza. She happily bites into it and smiles at me, shaking her head back and forth to let me know that she

likes it. I grab a slice for myself and push the box to Leonard for him to get one too.

“The walls look great,” he says after he finishes his slice. “I’m surprised you’ve gotten so much done in one day.”

“The sooner I finish painting, the sooner I can put everything else together,” I reply, gesturing to the unfinished parts of the house.

We finish eating, and I tell Leonard to wait in the kitchen while I put Charlee to bed. I bring her upstairs, change her into her pajamas, and tuck her in before

running back down to see Leonard.

I stop myself in the middle of the stairs, suddenly very aware of how excited I am to get back down there to him. I wasn’t thinking about him before he came

here, but after seeing him at my doorstep, I just wanted to talk to him. A smile grows on my face knowing he came all the way here to see me. Even though we

are not that far from Manhattan, traveling here on a Saturday night during peak travel times isn’t something you do for just anyone.

When I get back downstairs, I see Leonard in the hallway, his jacket off and sleeves rolled up, painting my wall.

“You don’t have to do that,” I say as I approach him. “Besides, painting the walls is pretty much the only reason I got such a good deal on this place.”

“I know. I just like painting,” he shrugs and continues working.

“That’s right,” I say, remembering what he told me about his hobby on my first day of work. “Have you been working on anything lately?”

“You know what, I have been actually. Since we spoke about it the night I drove you home, it inspired me to pick up a brush again,” he replies softly.

“You’ll have to show me sometime.”

“I can show you now,” he smiles and puts the paintbrush down.

He walks back to the kitchen and grabs the housewarming gift he brought, handing it to me. It isn’t wrapped very well, but I decide against teasing him about it.

I opened it to see a framed painting of Central Park at sunset. The details in the picture are astounding. He had made it seem like he was not particularly good

at painting, but this looks like something a professional would have done. The trees are painted with a soft orange glow, and people rush past in a blur, jogging,

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