She balls the towel in her hands and grins, but it’slacking joy. “It’s Saturday. There’s no way we’ll be able to get a plumber out here until sometime next week.”
“Huh.” My gaze lands on the deck where Roman and I played and ate lunch. It’s only been a few hours, but we’ve already bonded again just from being here. “That’s not good.”
She’s already marching back to the house when she replies, “Not good at all. I’m going to see if I can get Rodgers out here to help since it’s an emergency.”
“Who’s Rodgers?”
“A cousin twice removed.”
Following her, I ask, “Maybe I’m not connecting the dots, but how does your cousin twice removed help the situation?”
She stops and looks back. With a big grin on her face, she laughs. “He’s studying to be a plumber, silly.”
“Silly me.” Studying doesn’t sound good, but I have a feeling we’re taking what we can get.
I stay on the deck, reclining in the Adirondack chair as she takes her phone and starts pacing along the side of the house while making calls. Occasionally, she ventures into my vantage point, giving me time to check her out again. She uses her hands a lot when she talks. Everything from a tornado swirl to rolling out the red carpet makes its way into her conversations. Returning my gaze to the water, I find the calmness of the ocean helps relax my typically tense muscles. It’s an incredible place. I’ll owe Coach Spears’s wife a thank-you for finding it.
Closing my eyes, I dance around the edges of sleep when fast-approaching steps drag me back to reality. When I’m shadowed, I open my eyes to see her standing over me, blocking the sun.
“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?” she asks.
I push to sit upright. “Bad news.”
She plops into the chair next to me like she’s not going anywhere anytime soon. “No plumber can come out until next week, at the earliest.”
“What happened to the second cousin twice removed who’s studying plumbing?”
Leaning the back of her head against the chair, she takes in the beauty of the water, and replies, “Visiting his girlfriend in Gainesville for the week. So he’s a no-go as well.”
“Shit, what happens now?”
She rolls her head to the side to face me. “There’s more bad news.”
“Can’t wait,” I reply, letting sarcasm drip through my tone. “Hit me with it.”
“I called around to all my hospitality contacts in a thirty-mile radius. There’s nothing else available, and Mrs. Dover’s other rental is rented every week this summer.”
“So there are no other places to go while we wait for the cottage to be fixed? Is that what you’re saying?”
Nodding, she doesn’t seem the least bit stressed. “The boiled-down version? Yes.”
“Fuck,” I mutter under my breath, carrying all the stress for both of us. Directing my attention fully on her, I ask, “What’s the good news?”
“Well, the good news is I came up with two options for you.”
Resting my arms forward on my legs, I look over at her. “Two’s good. What are they?”
“One,” she starts with hope resonating in her voice. She taps her finger on her other hand’s palm and grins. “You head back to the city and return once the pipes are fixed.We’d obviously comp the week, and I can talk to Mrs. Dover about?—”
“That’s the last place I want to be right now. Coming here was about getting my son and me out of the city and taking a break from that chaos. So I’m not interested in going back. What’s the second option?”
A gleam of sunshine hits her eyes as she replies, “You stay with me until it’s fixed.”
“So there’s no good news?”
Closing her eyes, she looks ready to take her own nap. After adjusting against the wood seat, she says, “Guess it depends on how you look at it.”
“I’m looking at it like I’m shit out of luck.”
