The hands up by her head, then down again. “Right. You’re right. Of course you’re right.” Voice not quite steady. “I’m not going to be embarrassed. I amnot.”
“Well, good,” he said. “Go do it, then.” She had paper towels, at least. He wouldn’t tell Scarlett about her eco-terrorism. He mopped up the water on the floor, using about half the roll, then opened the cabinet doors, pulled everything out of there, and used the other half mopping up the water inside.
It was easy to tell what was leaking, as water was still dripping down around a worn spot in the pipe. It was rusty, and there was quite a puddle back there. Leaking for a good while, he was guessing. He found the lever to turn off the water to sink and dishwasher and was examining the problem when Skylar came back in wearing house shoes.
“Oh, no,” she said, looking at the collection of rubbish bags and cleaning products littering the floor. “Is it bad?”
“No,” he said. “Cut out this bad bit of pipe, put in a new piece, add your couplers, and you’re golden. Old galvanized piping, that’s all, and this house wasn’t built yesterday. Probably best to replace all of it with PVC.”
“Yes,” she said, her tone dry. “I’ll get right on that. But how I am I going to cook dinner with no water? I could—I have some frozen pizza, but probably not enough. It’ll have to be takeaway. But this fish …” She opened the fridge and showed him the fillets stacked on a plate. Hoki, it looked like, and kilos of it. Well, nothing wrong with hoki. “It won’t keep past tomorrow,” she said, “but I can freeze it. I should’ve bought the frozen ones in the first place. They would’ve been—” She broke off.Cheaper,he thought. She’d bought this fresh, because she’d wanted to make something nice. “Well,” she went on more briskly, “Granddad can get a plumber in tomorrow, and we’ll—stack the dirty dishes in the dishwasher until this is fixed, I reckon. And wash the dishes we need in the bath. An adventure.” She bit her lip, and he thought,A plumber isn’t in the budget. And takeaway isn’t either.
“I have an idea,” he said.
She laughed a little, even if it was forced, and shoved her hair back again with one arm. He did like that hair. “I imagine you do. Well done last night, by the way. I should’ve said that first.”
“What, while you were burning yourself? Nah. Here’s my idea. We pack up whatever you’ve got here for tea and take itto my house. I have most things, so no need to worry about olive oil and so forth. Get to work over there, and I’ll grab a few tools, come back here, and fix this pipe well enough to hold you until the plumber comes.”
“How?” she asked. “I’m not much chop at DIY. Granddad knows more, but?—”
“But you don’t want him on his back under the sink,” Zane said. “Whereas it’ll be the most comfortable thing I’ve done in days. And, yeh, I know how to do it. A headlamp, a bit of epoxy putty, and some pipe repair tape, and it’ll hold even if the plumber can’t get here for another day or two.” She still looked too rattled, so he put a hand on her face, on that soft skin, and felt the equally soft curls. She looked up at him and tried to smile, chin wobbling despite her best efforts, and he asked, “Hard day?”
She blinked, and then she blinked again, eyes bright with sudden tears. “You could say so. The extra table and chairs I needed didn’t arrive from my neighbors. I tried to bring in the big table from the outside, but it was heavy, and it’s wet, and—” She shrugged and tried hard to smile, but the tears were still there. “I wanted to be … not impressive, maybe, but I wanted to at least be competent! Iamcompetent. It may not look like it right now, but?—"
His heart contracted. That didn’t happen, except with his kids, but it was happening anyway. “I know you’re competent,” he said. “I’ve seen it. Two kids in your class, remember? You’re keeping all these balls in the air. Not hard to see that.” He wasn’t going to tell her about the cat. Not now.
She bit a trembling lip. He hadn’t moved his hand, and she hadn’t moved away. “I have Granddad,” she said. “I’m not alone.”
“I think,” he said, “that you’re alone too much. And somehow, kids don’t count. I know, because I sometimes feel that way too.”
Her eyes flew to his. “How can that be? You’re dating. Whatever your sister said in that column, we all knew it was rubbish. You’re the last thing from alone.”
“I wouldn’t have said so, no. But it could be true all the same.” He smiled at her ruefully, and then—well, yes, he brushed his lips over hers. She was right there, mouth still trembling a little, eyes bright, skin soft, all of her uncertain and a little sad, and he couldn’t help it.
When his lips touched hers, he felt the shock of the contact straight down his body.Not possible,he thought in confusion. And then he didn’t, because her hand came up to grip his shoulder, and he was kissing her again. Still softly, but his other hand was on her low back, and?—
“Mum.” A pause, and then,“Mum.”Shock in the voice.
He stepped back, and Skylar turned, a smile instantly on her face. “Finlay,” she said. “Are you hosting our guests? Getting out the games?”
“You’re not cooking,” Finlay pointed out, his eyes going between the two of them. He was holding the cat, at least. Good. The cat was also gazing balefully at Zane, he’d swear. He was not popular in this house.
“No,” Skylar said. “I’m not, because we’ve had a wee kitchen disaster in here. The pipe’s burst under the sink, so we’re—Mr. Mahuta and I are working on a new plan. We’re going to his house with all my lovely food, and I’ll cook it there. They used to call this a ‘progressive dinner,’ where you had part of the meal at one house and then moved on to another house for the next course. Like bring a plate, but bring a house instead.”
Finlay ignored that as the diversion it was. “So that’s what you call it,” he said. “Working on a new plan.”
“Yes,” she said ignoring both the tone and the accusing eyes. “And it’s time to get cracking. Go find a washing basket and a clean sheet, and you can help me pack this up. And Ihope,” she told Zane, “that you’ve got two bottles of wine in there. I need some for what I’m cooking, and I could also use a glass myself. For courage, you know.” She said it lightly, a smile on her soft mouth. Back under control.
“I do,” he said, “and you can have it. I’ve got all the courage you want. No worries.”
14
COMPETENCE PORN
By the time Skylar pulled her car into the driveway behind Zane’s, she’d already discovered that his house was, no surprise, in the very best location. Near the golf club, and a couple of streets from the village, which would be convenient. Or lovely.
“Nice, eh,” Granddad said. “The only problem is that it’s what Maureen is used to now. But we’ve come up with a few ideas around that.”
A fewideas?What kind of ideas? He and Maureen were getting a new place together? Starting a new life together, the two of them?
