Erin wasn’t a plumber by any stretch of the imagination, but she knew enough to turn off the water at the wall. Once the water stopped, she grabbed a bunch of towels to dry the floors. She hoped that the water might return to normal levels while she threw the towels into the wash, but when she returned to the bathroom, the bowl was still filled to the rim.
What am I supposed to do?
Erin pulled up some videos online, and tried using the plunger on the toilet, but it was no use. There was something else wrong with the toilet, and she wasn’t able to fix this alone. She could hire a plumber, but the guy in town charged a fortune. That would mean saying goodbye to a good chunk of her savings—something she wasn’t willing to do. It wasn’t much, but she’d earned every penny, and it was her ticket to eventually getting a place she and the kids could call their own.
She leaned up against the wall of the bathroom, taking in the mess in front of her. There was another option, though Erin didn’t want to admit it. Logan.
There were plenty of reasons not to ask for his help. She didn’t want to talk to him, didn’t want to be in his debt. Of course, there were just as many reasons for her to ask for his help.
Dreading having to talk to him, she walked out to the guesthouse and knocked on Logan’s door—simultaneously hoping he was there and hoping he wasn’t.She held her breath as she waited to see if he would answer. Footsteps came from the other side of the door, and soon Logan appeared.
He looked down at her through lowered brows. “Is everything okay?”
No, everything was not okay. She’d planned for a day of self-care and was now left asking the one person she didn’t want to ask for help. Tears started to fill her eyes and she shook her head.
“Erin.” Logan’s voice came out alarmed. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders. He leaned down so that their faces were level. “Is it Samantha or Parker? Aunt Betty?”
Erin took a step back, releasing from his grip. She felt a single tear fall. “It’s the toilet.”
Logan straightened to his full height. “The toilet?”
Her voice was shaky as she spoke. “It’s overflowing. I’ve tried turning the water off and using the plunger, but I can’t get it to drain or flush properly.”
Logan ran a hand through his hair. “You scared me. I thought something was wrong.”
“Somethingiswrong,” she said. “I can’t fix it and I can’t hire a plumber.” She closed her eyes and forced the words out. “I was hoping you might be able to help me.”
He opened his mouth and closed it.
“Please.” She hated asking, hated begging, but she needed help. If this could get fixed before Aunt Bettyreturned, or she had to get the kids, maybe she could relax.
“Sure,” Logan said. “I’ll come look at it.”
Logan spent time looking at the toilet and trying different things. When he was done, he turned to Erin and dropped his hands at his sides. “I think we’re going to need a snake.”
“A snake?”
Like the animal? Erin couldn’t imagine how that would help with their current problem. The confusion must have been clear on her face.
“It’s a tool that you can buy at the hardware store,” Logan said. “If they’re open today.”
Well, that made a lot more sense. She nodded, remembering that the local shop closed early on Sundays. “Okay, but you’ll need to leave now.”
Logan hesitated. “I don’t have a car here. You’d have to give me a ride.”
Oh.
After trying to avoid one another, they’d have to be inside the car, just the two of them, for the fifteen-minute drive there and back. It wasn’t impossible, but Erin’s heart sank at the idea. What would they even talk about? Or would they sit in tense silence?
A few minutes later, as they drove down Main, she found out that the silence was harder than she thought. It was driving her crazy. “What do you think it is?” she asked, when she couldn’t take it anymore.
“My guess is somebody flushed something thatwasn’t meant to be flushed.” He paused as she turned onto Oak. “I’m guessing Samantha is too old to flush anything down the toilet, but has Parker ever done something like this before?”
Erin tapped her finger against the steering wheel. “Not that I can think of, though I guess it’s possible that he’s done it with smaller items.”
“Well, whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
We’ll figure it out.
