Page 59 of A Simple Life

“You are so good with her.”

“It’s easy to be good to her. She deserves it.” I cleared my throat. “You both do.”

Bending forward, Quinn pulled my mouth to hers, and I cupped the back of her head, groaning as her tongue stroked along mine. We kissed deeply, getting lost with each other until the splashing made us look up. Abby was observing us, obviously disgusted. Chuckling, I pressed one last kiss to Quinn’s lips. “Eww,” I murmured, using Abby’s words from the other night. “Is that all you want to do to me? Kiss?”

Quinn lifted her eyebrows. “Not all.”

My shorts suddenly felt tight, and I decided I needed to get in the water.

“I feel so used,” I teased.

“Wait until later.”

I was looking forward to that.

15

JOHN

Ted stepped back, wiping the back of his neck with his handkerchief. “Sorry, John. The compressor is toast. It’s running, but nothing’s working. You need a new unit.”

“Can you get me one?” I asked without hesitation. This morning, I had dropped by the Dill to get the keys from Quinn, and she looked exhausted.

“What’s happened?” I asked. “Pumpkin have a bad night?” I knew she was prone to nightmares if upset.

“No. I think the air gave out. It was hot. Too hot to sleep, even with the windows open,” Quinn replied. “We’re both tired today.”

“Why didn’t you call?” I asked.

“No need for three of us to be exhausted. There was nothing you could do at one a.m.”

I crowded her against the counter, my voice low. “I would have come and gotten you. Brought you to the farm where you could sleep comfortably.” I traced the dark circles under her eyes. “I hate the fact that you didn’t call.”

She smiled wanly, and the kitchen door opened. I stepped back, holding out my hand for the keys. “I’ll get it fixed.”

“Thank you.”

Ted shook his head. “Everything is back-ordered, John. I can’t even get you a window unit to cool off a room right now. It’s the same everywhere. This heat is killing everyone.”

He tapped on his phone, flicking at the screen. “Two weeks. Minimum.”

“Order it.”

He nodded. “Will do. It’s supposed to rain by the weekend. Although I’m not sure it will bring us much relief.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Can you check the other units? If they’re going, I want them replaced as well.”

Ted looked pleased. “You take good care of your tenants, John. I know my mom’s is fine. I checked it last week. And we replaced one two years ago, but I’ll make sure it’s operating okay.”

“You didn’t send me a bill for your mom’s place.”

He laughed. “First, it’s my mom. And second, you are always checking on her and doing things for her. The least I can do is check out her air conditioner and furnace. Both are good. But I’ll check the other houses tomorrow. Today is pretty booked.”

I shook his hand, and he left. I went inside, the temperature in the house even worse than outside. I grabbed a glass of water, leaning on the counter and sipping it as I looked around. Quinn had made the place homey. Comfortable. It was obvious she took care of the house well. But I couldn’t let her stay here without air conditioning. The back door opened, and Laura walked in. I frowned. “What are you doing here?”

Laura smiled. “I went to have coffee, and Quinn told me what happened. As manager, I came to see if I could help.”

I huffed out a laugh. “You mean to say you wanted to know what was going on.”