“Please hurry,” she begs, sparing me a glance. “I don’t know where the main shut off is, and it’s getting worse by the second.My carpets are ruined. My walls are ruined. Mylifeis ruined. All my stuff…” she trails off, finishing her thought with a distressed groan. “Just.Hurry.”
I twist and nearly mow Wolfe down in my haste to get outside. I find the water shut-off valve on the side of the house and turn, stopping the problem from getting worse, at least.
When I return to the house, Poem’s off the phone and explaining the situation to Wolfe. I listen as I look around, assessing the damage for myself.
“I don’t know,” she says. “I just came home, and everything was wet.” She kicks the water at her feet. “The entire downstairs is like this. My living room. My kitchen. My bathroom. My office. Everything, soaked.” Forlorn, she hangs her head. “I haven’t even paid off the loan from the renovations I got when I moved in. I can’t afford this on top of that.” She sniffs, shoving her palms into her eyes and rubbing. “What am I going to do?” Her hands drop, and her gaze locks on Wolfe, who looks about as helpless as I’ve ever seen him. “What am I going todo?” she repeats.
Wolfe, the useless louse, shrugs.Shrugs.
I roll my eyes, shoving the bulk of my body between them. My hands land on Poem’s shoulders. “You’re going to pull yourself together,” I demand, staring intently into her pale, angry gray eyes. “And you’re going to figure it out. I’ve turned off the water, so the situation isn’t going to get worse.” I tip my chin toward the floor. “Your flooring is going to need work, and probably your walls, as well. Ceiling. I don’t know, but there are amazing contractors in this town who will be more than willing to have a look and figure it out for you. Emerson and Warren aren’t going to let you suffer. Some of your furniture won’t make it, but some—like your couch and your table—will only need new legs. That’s not so bad. And the stuff up off the floor is perfectly fine. Your clothes, your toiletries, your books. All of it is fine. It’snot good, but it’s not as catastrophic as it feels right now.” My fingers dig into her shoulders, and I welcome the glare it earns me. “I know you like to be a drama queen, but now is not the time. Right now, we deal with the problem. Later, we can cry about it.”
Her hands fist as her breaths drag heavy and uneven through her lungs. “I’m not a drama queen for being upset that my house is flooded,” she seethes.
“You’re a drama queen for standing around helpless as if you aren’t the same woman who was trying to purposefully flood the bar just yesterday,” I retort. “You’d never try to create a problem you couldn’t fix. Which means you know exactly what needs to be done here, you just don’t want to face the bigness of it or what it means for your wallet or the next few weeks of your life, being uprooted from your home as extensive repairs need to be made. Refusing to face reality is a fool’s behavior, and you’re no fool, kit, so don’t act like one.”
“I’m notrefusing to face reality,” she hisses. Her hands land on my waist, fisting in my shirt. “I’mdistressedin adistressingsituation. A situation, mind you, that Idid not invite you to witness. What are you even doing here, anyway?”
I sniff. “Wolfe was worried about you.”
Wolfe chokes. “Me?”
Poem’s eyes shoot over my shoulder, widening in hurt that she quickly covers with snark. “You weren’t worried about me, Wolfy? I’m wounded!”
He winces. “That’s not what I meant.”
She drops her hands and takes a step back, water swishing as she pulls away from me. “You Blackwood boys sure do have a way with sticking your feet in your mouths.”
Wolfe apologizes. Immediately.
“I’d say sorry, too, but you’ve made it pretty clear you don’t want my remorse today, so I won’t waste my breath.”
She nods, cute little dimple popping out for just long enough to torment me before she hides it away. “Very good. Since you’re in such a mood to please, you want to go away? I’d rather deal with this mess without your whole…thingmaking it worse.”
My thoughts catch on the idea of mepleasingher, then stumble face-first into the insulting latter half of her request.
“Mything?”
She nods, and my traitor brother does, too.
“You’ve totally got athing,” he agrees.
“I don’t actuallyneeda brother,” I declare. “Mine could mysteriously disappear, and I think I’d be alright.”
They exchange a look, amusement sneaking past the seriousness of the predicament around us. “Yeah,” she says. “Like that. Perfect example.”
“I can turn your water back on,” I offer, baring my teeth. I take a step toward the door, boot squelching on the carpet. “It’ll only take a second.”
She lunges for me, and I’m forced to catch her when she slips, arms wheeling cartoonishly in her attempts to stay upright.
I grunt when she lands against me and nearly takes me down with her.
“What was that about me having athing?” I ask, pulling her to her feet.
She sniffs, eyes averted while I steady her. “Anyway,” she says. “Emerson and Warren are on their way to check everything out. You guys don’t need to stay.”
Wolfe frowns. “Why am I being kicked out? I’m not the one with athingabout me.”
She levels narrowed eyes on him. “Because. Don’t you have a child to raise?”
