“Sure,” Mason replied. “Come ’ere, princess.”
Duchess jumped to her feet and pushed past everyone to get to Mason, her tail smacking everyone’s legs as she went.
“Let’s go, Jack.”
“But…cookies,” Jack said, pouting as people started flocking to the tables to congratulate all the contestants and eat the free cookies. “Don’t you want Red’s raspberry, thumb-whatever yummy things?”
“I want to make sure no one ends up in the hospital.”
Jack waved a hand in dismissal. “It’ll be fine. Ace will be the one turning on the faucet once he’s finished.”
Fitz groaned.Finewas not a word he would use to describe a man incapable of fixing anything connected to water without something shooting out of the wall. “Did you tell Colton?” Judging by Jack’s blank stare, Fitz would say he had not. “Jack! You didn’t think Colton would want to know that his husband might be about to knock himself out with a kitchen faucet?”
Jack seemed to think about it and shrugged. “He’ll be fine.”
“Ugh!” Fitz pulled Jack out of the aisle with him. They had to help before someone got attacked by a kitchen sink or the café ended up underwater. Thankfully, the walls and floors of the kitchen in the café consisted of tile designed for spillage. Fitz was sure he’d seen a small round drain in the floor.
“How about a cookie for the road?” Jack asked, his smile wide.
Fitz was not impressed and was certain his facial expression said so.
“Fine,” Jack huffed. “Let’s go.”
As they headed toward the side of the tent, Fitz texted Colton, who immediately checked his phone. His eyes went huge, and his head shot up. He sprinted after them as they discreetly walked away. Fitz would apologize to Red later, but Red would understand. He was well aware of what kind of mischief his brothers could get into and the type of injuries that could ensue, which explained why he always had a medical bag ready.
“Really, Jack?” Fitz said, shaking his head. “That’s the best solution you could come up with?”
“What’s the big deal? He ducked last time. He’ll be ready for it.”
Colton sighed. “Not when he’s convinced he fixed the damn water pressure and the shower head flying off was a fluke. This is Ace we’re talking about. He has no concept of what he can’t do. I’ve told him several times that it’s okay. He doesn’thaveto know how to fix everything. Of course, it’s Ace, so instead of conceding, he takes it as a challenge.”
Jack snorted. “Of course he does.”
They went from walking briskly to awkwardly jogging. At least the shop owners had shoveled and salted the sidewalks. Thankfully, Mugs and Kisses wasn’t very far. With the majority of the townspeople attending the festivities, the café was empty, which was probably why Jack had picked now to carry out his evil plan.
The moment they stepped inside the café, they were met with shouting and rushing water.
“How do we make it stop?” Merry yelled from somewhere inside the kitchen.
The bell above the door jingled, and Noel came rushing in. “What’s going on? Merry texted me in a panic, saying he needed my help.”
“I barely touched it! Why is there so much water?”
And that was Ace. At least he was conscious and hadn’t knocked himself out.
They ran into the kitchen, and Fitz jumped to the side with a squeal before he was drenched by the shower of water spewing from the sink. Ace had somehow shoved himself inside the cabinet under the sink, or at least half his body.
Poor Merry was drenched, and at least half an inch of water was on the floor. It looked like the drain appeared to be clogged. Although Fitz knew it wasn’t Ace’s fault that the drain was clogged, Fitz still blamed Ace.
Noel rushed over to Merry, took hold of his arms, and checked him over. He ran a hand over Merry’s soaking head, moving his hair away from his face. “Are you okay?”
Merry nodded. “I don’t know how to turn the water off. The valve under the sink is stuck.”
If Fitz wasn’t so busy grabbing towels to hand out, he would have been jumping for joy. The plan worked! Fitz could have used a little less water and a little more romance, but he’d take it. Merry had talked to Noel without running away! Colton hurried over to Ace, who was still wedged under the sink.
“Love? Are you okay? Can I help?”
“Hey, baby. Can you find me a wrench? This stupid valve is stuck.”
