Page 184 of Finding Olivia (Trace + Olivia 1)

“Suit yourself,” he crooned as he made his way to the bedroom, the scent of his woodsy soap lingering behind him.

I crushed the empty boxes and leaned them against the wall, beside the door, so that I could drop them in the dumpster later.

I turned around, and Trace was coming out of the bedroom, shrugging into one of his trusty plaid shirts.

“Ready?” He asked, flattening the collar.

“Yeah,” I picked up the crushed boxes.

We walked down the steps, to his car, and I dropped the boxes into the large blue dumpster.

“Hey there little lady,” a raspy voice said from behind the dumpster.

I squealed, jumping back, and fell over a small rock. My butt hit the ground and the air whizzed out of my throat.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare ya,” a person appeared, accompanying the voice. He was a small man, about my height, with a hooked back that made him appear even shorter. His white hair was wispy and a white goatee adorned his chin. The blue jumper he wore hung loose on his small frame. When I met his eyes, I found that they were a unique shade of gray. He smiled, showing off yellowed crooked teeth. He dropped the cigarette he was smoking to the ground and stomped it out with the toe of his boot. Wiping a greasy hand on his jumper, he held it out to me, to help me up. “I’m Pete.”

So this was Pete. I had never seen him around here. In fact, I hadn’t met most of the employees. They had usually left by the time I met Trace at the garage.

“Olivia,” I took his dirty hand to be polite, hoping I hid my cringe.

Despite his age and obvious frailty, he lifted me easily from the ground with little help on my part.

“You’re Trace’s girl,” he stated.

I nodded, wiping the back of my jeans free of dirt and gravel.

“He talks about you all the time,” Pete tapped out another cigarette. “Nice to finally meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” I replied, smiling at the older man. I waved goodbye as I backed away and headed towards the car.

Trace was adjusting the volume on the stereo when I slid inside the Charger.

“What took you so long? I thought you were throwing away boxes?” He questioned, pulling onto the road.

“I ran into Pete,” I shrugged.

“Ah, I see,” Trace chuckled, changing gears in the car, “and what did you think of good ole’ Pete?”

“He’s nice,” I shrugged. “I’m surprised I haven’t seen him before now, though.?

?

“Pete doesn’t get around as well as he used to,” Trace explained, navigating through traffic. “He usually only comes in to make sure we’re getting our work done. He misses working on cars, it’s been hard on him, but his arthritis really affects his mobility.”

“Aww,” I frowned. “Poor Pete.”

“He’s a great guy,” Trace added. “I’ll always be indebted to him, for giving me a chance. My—uh—last name, made people reluctant to hire me,” he scratched the back of his head nervously. “They all thought I was some hotshot playboy who wasn’t serious about a job, but Pete didn’t look at me that way,” he smiled wistfully. “He took a chance on me when no one else would and even let me rent the apartment above the garage.” I saw in the fierceness of his words, how much Trace cared for Pete, and I found it endearing.

Most people looked at Trace and thought, ‘Cocky bad boy,’ at first glance. But there were so many other layers to Trace underneath his smug exterior. He cared so deeply for the ones he loved and I admired that about him. I knew Trace would go to the ends of the Earth and back to help someone he loved. I realized that I knew the real Trace. He could be cocky and arrogant, but at the end of the day, he was always sweet and attentive.

He turned onto a narrow road that led back to a brick building. Unfortunately, I had missed the sign.

“We have to hurry, they’ll be closing for the evening soon,” Trace explained, hurrying out of the car.

I followed after him and up to the blue door. When we stepped inside, we were greeted to the musty smell of the old building, mixed with the sounds of cats meowing and dogs barking.

“Since,” Trace grinned, “you agreed to live with me, I thought now would be the perfect time for us to add to our little family.”

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