He just smiled and led her out of the kitchen with the lightest touch on her back. “Bring the wrench. I guarantee we’ll need it. And do you want to grab towels for the floor?”
A…plumber. Aplumber? She processed that news as she reached up to the rag bin, grabbing a handful of cleaning towels. Then she walked him through the dining area, past the living room, and up the wide staircase to the second floor.
The whole time, she only had one thought: Matt Walker was a plumber. A charming, tanned, well-dressed, generous plumber.
Did that make her trust him more…or less? She’d heard they did well, but enough to afford an expensive cabin for weeks on end? Enough to gift near-strangers a costly snowmobile?
She wasn’t sure if she believed him or not. Well, if he could fix a toilet, then maybe.
“I haven’t been up to this part of the lodge,” he said as they reached the top of the stairs. “It’s spacious.”
“This floor has five rooms, and there are three more downstairs,” she told him. “One huge space in the attic, but westopped using it a long time ago. And it’s like any other older woman—don’t look too close, you’ll see the cracks and flaws.”
“I remember you said this was originally your grandfather’s house,” he said, looking at the moldings and framed art as they walked down a wide hall, their feet soft on the Oriental runner that covered the plank floors.
“My grandparents, Owen and Irene Starling, ran this place as a horse farm and this was their original home. When Park City started shifting away from mining and the skiers discovered our amazing mountains, they turned this into an inn and built another smaller house on the property, where Cindy and I grew up.”
“The history is beautiful,” he mused.
“Snowberry Lodge is part of our family DNA,” she said, tapping on the door at the end of the hall before bringing out the master key. “They’ve left to go into town, but warned me the kids are a bit messy.”
She stepped in first, with Matt right behind her.
“Messy is an understatement,” Matt joked as they walked into a room that looked like the kids had a war with their clothes. The king bed was made, and the parents had obviously made use of the dresser and closets.
But the young ones, who were using the bunks at the far end of the room, hadn’t bothered putting their clothes away.
Still, the mess didn’t detract from what was one of MJ’s favorite suites in the lodge.
A corner room with a big bay window overlooking the tops of snow-draped pines, it offered a mountain view almost as breathtaking as the one Matt had in Cabin Five. This suite had a fireplace, too, and an en suite that featured a massive Jacuzzi-style tub. And a leaking toilet, it seemed.
“Nice,” Matt said as they entered the bathroom.
“It is, but so outdated. And the floor is wet.” She started laying the old towels she’d brought, gauging the damage, which wasn’t much yet.
“I think we’re nice and early,” Matt said as he set down the toolbox and knelt on one of the towels in front of the toilet like he’d done it a hundred times. Which, apparently, he had.
“Running nonstop?” he asked.
She nodded, hovering near the vanity. “That’s what the guest said.”
He lifted the tank lid and peered inside. “Float valve’s not sealing. Common problem.” Without hesitation, he rolled up his sleeves.
“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked again, feeling awkward.
“MJ, if you knew how many of these I’ve fixed in my life…” He started to plunge his hand into the cold water. “Whoops. Better take this off first.”
He tugged at his wrist and snapped free a watch, reaching toward the sink, but the counter around it was wet and covered with their guests’ belongings.
“Can you?—”
“Of course.” She took the watch from him, and the weight surprised her.
She glanced down and saw the word Rolex on the face, somehow just knowing this wasn’t a knock-off or even like the ones George used to eye in the airport duty-free cases. He’d always joked about owning a Rolex, his sign for having “made it” in the world.
She’d looked into how much a Rolex cost, longing to buy him one for his fiftieth birthday. But she gave up that idea when she saw the price tags, which were astronomical.
But this plumber owned one, the kind with the blue face and tiny diamonds, too.
