Total pages in book: 198
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 186242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 931(@200wpm)___ 745(@250wpm)___ 621(@300wpm)
The overhead light started flickering suddenly, a flash-flash-flash of light before it went off completely.
“The breaker box!” I yelled at him before sprinting for the gray frame on the wall. That I knew exactly where it was. I flipped it open and literally flipped every switch.
“Did that mess up the electricity?”
“I don’t know.” I turned to him with a wince. A wince for him. For the amount of money it would cost to get this fixed. Because even I knew that electricity and plumbing issues were going to be a nightmare. “All right. Okay. Let’s go call your dad and tell him.”
Amos nodded and led the way out through the main garage door, heading to his house. I patted him on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We moved all of your things in time, and nothing was plugged in. Don’t worry.”
The teenager let out a deep, deep sigh, like he’d been holding it in for hours. “Dad’s gonna be so pissed.”
“Yeah, but not at you,” I reassured him.
The look he sent me was one that told me he wasn’t totally convinced that was going to be the case, but I knew it would.
And I’d be nosey and eavesdrop.
We headed into the house. I went to the table in the kitchen, picking up a hunting and fishing magazine stacked neatly in the middle as Amos went for the house phone and punched in some numbers. His face was gloomy as hell. I pretended not to look at him as he held the receiver and let out a deep breath.
He winced right before saying, “Hey, Dad . . . uh, Ora and I think there’s a leak in the garage apartment . . . The ceiling has, like, pockets of water, and there’s drops—what? I don’t know how . . . I just went in there and saw it . . . Ora turned off the water. Then she turned off the power when the lights started flickering . . . Hold on.” The boy held the phone out. “He wants to talk to you.”
I took it. “Hi, Rhodes, how’s your day going? How many people have you busted for not having a permit?” I flashed a grimace-like smile at Amos, who suddenly didn’t look so sick.
Rhodes didn’t say anything for a heartbeat before coming on the line with “It’s going good now.” Excuse me? Was that flirting? “And only two hunters. How’s yours?”
He was really asking me about my day. Who was this man and how could I buy him? “Pretty good. A customer brought me a Bundt cake. I gave Clara half when she gave me the stink eye. I’ll give Am half of my half so you can try it. It’s good.”
Amos was giving me the funniest look, and I winked at him. We were in this together.
“Thanks, Buddy,” he said almost softly. “You mind telling me what happened over there?”
I leaned my hip against the counter and watched as Am slowly moved toward the fridge, still giving me that funny-ass look before ducking in there to root around. He pulled out a can of strawberry soda before pulling out another one and turning to hold it up for me.
I nodded, processing the drink for a second before answering. “What Am said. There’s a huge stain on the ceiling of the garage. There’s water dripping. We moved everything we could out and into the studio upstairs. We turned off the water and the electricity off at the breaker box.”
His exhale was deep, but it didn’t shake.
“I’m sorry, Rhodes. Want me to call a plumber?”
“No, I know one. I’ll give him a call. Sounds like it might be a burst pipe. I was just in the garage this morning and didn’t notice anything, so I don’t think it’s a leak.”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. I promise I didn’t flood it or do anything weird.” I paused. “I’ll leave everything off for now.”
“Put your groceries in our fridge. I’ll tell Am to sleep on the sofa and you can take his room. It shouldn’t get below freezing tonight, so the pipes should be fine today, but it’ll be too cold for you to stay over there.”
I blinked. Stay in Amos’s room? In their house?
Did I want to go stay in a hotel? I could, of course, I could.
But stay in the same house as Rhodes? Mr. Flirty McFlirterson now?
Some part of my body perked up, and I wasn’t going to think twice about which part it was.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “About me staying with you two?”
His voice suddenly went low. “You think I’d invite you to stay if I didn’t want you to?”
Yeah, my body parts were awake. And out of control. “No.”
“Okay.”
“But I can sleep on the couch. Or, seriously, I can stay at a hotel or ask Clara—”
“You don’t need to go stay at a hotel, and they don’t have much room at their house.”