Evan continued to talk to Daniel, but Kenzie couldn’t make out more than his deep, sexy voice.
The man gave her the shivers, and she was all too aware of Lila following, watching her.
“Yes?”
“Okay, so I think I see your problem.” Evan pointed to some open square on the heater. “You have no hot water, which was what happened to my mom’s tank a few months ago. In her case, the heating element failed. We checked it over, and it ended up needing to be replaced, so we called a plumber. If you need them, McSons Plumbing is great. I’d highly recommend them. But here, see this?”
She leaned closer, Lila’s head right next to hers.
“Oh, he smells good,” Lila whispered way too loudly.
“Lila, not now,” Daniel complained. “I’m learning manly stuff.”
Evan chuckled. “Every time I’m here it’s like I’m living in a sitcom.”
“Try living next to it,” Lila said. “It’s real. But honey, I’m not lying. You smell amazing.”
“Thanks. Lucky for you, Monday is shower day.”
Kenzie grinned, and even Daniel laughed.
“Anyway, what I’m trying to tell you is that sometimes it’s not the heating element. First you’d check the breaker to make sure that’s not the problem, which it isn’t, because Daniel checked.”
“Yeah, that happened before.”
“So look here. The limit switch might need to be reset. Sometimes it can trip if the water is too hot. Or the switch can fail and need to be replaced. We’ll reset it and see what happens.” He had Daniel cut the power and Kenzie hold the flashlight for him. Then he removed some insulation from inside the heater and pressed a button. “Daniel, put the power back on.”
“On it.” Daniel raced away, and the light in the closet came back on.
“It’ll take about twenty to thirty minutes before you’ll know if it worked,” Evan said, stopping her in her tracks before she could go to check the water.
“Oh, okay.”
They stared at each other before Lila cleared her throat. “So, we getting back to work or what?” she asked, a wide smile on her face as she stared from Evan to Kenzie.
Daniel returned and watched as Evan put the insulation and switch plate back, screwing the plate back in, and showed the boy what to do, again instructing him about cutting the power first. Daniel nodded then left when the house phone rang, yelling, “Sorry, that might be Rafi.”
“Teenagers.” Kenzie sighed.
Evan smiled, his gaze warming the cool gray of his eyes. “How about I text you that number for the plumber? That way if it doesn’t heat up, you’ll have someone reputable to call. And they’re reasonably priced.”
“That’s a great idea.” Kenzie tried not to look at his eyes, afraid he might see how much she liked him right now. And not just because of the heater, but because having him in her house, helping her out of a jam, felt so darn good.
She was tired of always having to be everything for everyone. Lila and Rachel’s friend, boss, confidant. Daniel’s mom, sister, caregiver. The one who paid for everything and fretted when checks just barely covered their debts.
“Don’t you need her number first?” Lila asked oh so innocently.
“Rachel gave it to me,” he admitted.
Lila stared at him. “Well, isn’t she free with our personal information.”
Kenzie didn’t comment, not sure if she should scold or thank her friend.
A contact pinged through a text, and Kenzie read the number. “Thanks.”
“You ever need them, tell them Vanessa sent you and ask for the family discount.”
Kenzie immediately wondered who Vanessa might be.
