Tanner had.
***
Tanner dipped a paper towel underneath the running water in his sink and tried to rub the purple paint stain off the hem of his blue shirt. Part of today’s Noah’s ark lesson had involved finger-paint handprints, and somehow his blue-and-red-striped polo shirt had ended up with paint on it. He hadn’t noticed it until he arrived home. Fortunately, the spot was small, which could be the reason no one had pointed it out.
He turned off the water and started to go upstairs to change clothes when he heard a dripping sound. He looked at the faucet, hoping that was the problem. Nothing there. He opened the cabinet and groaned. The drain trap was leaking through the patch he’d put on earlier in the week. He’d hoped it would hold out longer.
Figuring he had to fix it now, he walked out to the garage and looked for his toolbox. But his mind wasn’t on plumbing. It was on Anita. Teaching the kids this morning had helped distract him from thinking about what had happened last night—not just at Harper’s party but when he’d brought her home.
She’d slept all the way from Harper’s. Although he could have woken her up, he didn’t. Instead he found her key in her purse and carried her inside to her bedroom, telling himself the entire time he was being noble when deep down he simply wanted to hold her again.
He had set her on top of her pale-pink comforter, then noticed a book on her nightstand,Beginner Business.Huh. He had no idea she was interested in business. Excellent, though. Forget about asking her to help with scheduling once he owned the diner. She was going to be his assistant manager.
“Tanner?”
“Hey,” he’d said, sitting down next to her, all thoughts of business flying out of his head. “How do you feel?”
She had laid her head back on the pillow, her heavy-lidded eyes holding his. “Why are you here?”
That was an easy question. “I’m taking care of you.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
He stood and helped her move under the covers. When he thought she was settled in, he said, “Good night, Anita.”
She grabbed his hand. “Don’t go.”
“I’m not leaving yet. I’ll be in the living room.” But when he tried to move away, she held on tight.
“Stay.” She pulled back the comforter. “Stay with me.”
At that point he had frozen. Logically he knew she was still too out of it to know what she was asking him to do. Butheknew, and for a minute he was tempted. Alongminute. He was a man, not a saint.
“Go back to sleep.” He’d pulled his hand from hers, turned off the light, and shut the door, keeping it cracked open. He stayed at her place for the next hour, pacing back and forth, trying to burn off energy. When he was sure she was okay, he had gone to the diner and unloaded the leftover food, then dragged himself home, exhausted and still frustrated but knowing he’d done the right thing.
He pressed the heel of his hand against his forehead. He had to get his feelings for her under control, especially if he was going to promote her to assistant manager. If she accepted, they would be working closely together, and he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted.
But even now he was hoping her hangover wasn’t too badand wondering if he should stop by her house and check on her. No, he needed to stay put. Kingston had already gone over there this morning, and Tanner had seen him come back before the service was over. If something were wrong with Anita, he would have taken care of it.
He grabbed his toolbox, along with a new pipe connector he’d picked up from Price Hardware before his shift on Thursday, and went back inside. He took a wrench from the toolbox, slid underneath the cabinet, and removed the patch, then gave the washer a quick turn.
Water spewed everywhere.
He shouted a curse and turned the shutoff valves, something he should have done in the first place. Soaked, he crawled out from underneath the sink. This was what he got for not paying attention to the task.
“Tanner, what is going on in here?” His mother hurried into the kitchen, still wearing the pink-and-purple-flowered dress she’d worn to church. She looked at him and gasped, her hand covering her cheek. “Oh my word,” she said, starting to laugh.
“I’m glad you think this is funny.” He stripped off his shirt and tossed it onto the counter.
Her laughter disappeared. “You’re right. That’s not funny. I’ll call the plumber.”
“I can fix it,” he said, catching himself almost snapping at her. They didn’t need a plumber, especially on Sunday when rates doubled. What he needed was to stop thinking about Anita.
Fat chance of that happening.He crawled back under the sink and examined the pipe.
The doorbell rang. “I’ll see who that is,” his mother said.
Tanner picked up the wrench and set to work. After replacing the connector, which took all of two minutes, he tightened everything up. He held his breath and turned on the cold-water valve. Good, no leaks. Then he turned on the hot water and backed out of the cabinet. When he turned on the faucet, he looked at the pipe again, then grinned. Fixed.
