Page 34 of Unexpected Entanglement

“Does she need stitches?” Oliver looked closer.

“No, I don’t!” Rowan yelled over them.

Chris was inclined to agree with her, but he was no doctor.

Alex peeked around his other side and looked at Rowan’s cut. “That looks nasty, but a few butterfly band-aids should do it. I’ve gotten worse cuts than that.”

“Add this skin glue to seal it.” Oliver handed over the medical materials when Chris finished drying Rowan’s hand.

The woman finally let the three of them treat her cut; soon enough, they stopped the bleeding and dressed it.

“Are you guys done?” Rowan asked in an even voice. When they nodded, she said, “Thank you. I’m going to dress and call Greg.”

“Who’s Greg?” Chris asked.

“The plumber. We still have a broken pipe to deal with.” Rowan turned and walked away from them only in a beach towel.

The rest of them dropped into chairs at the dining table.

“Boy, we’ve only been here for a day, and we already have a burst pipe and an injury.” Alex laughed. “I hope that’s the most exciting thing we need to deal with this week.”

“Yeah. We still have a lot to cover,” Oliver agreed. “We don’t need another pipe bursting.”

“Aren’t you glad you came?” Alex grinned at her friend.

Oliver just smiled good-naturedly. “Nothing I haven’t had to deal with in a kitchen.”

“Rowan said this is the third pipe,” Chris cut in. “What were the other two?”

“In the bathroom and kitchen in the cottages. She told us yesterday,” Alex said. “It’s weird since they were all brand new.”

Chris frowned as he mulled over the info.

Yeah, weird.

twelve

Rowan quickly changed into dry pants and a T-shirt after calling Greg. Luckily, the plumber wasn’t far and had an opening. Even if she had to wait until tomorrow, it wouldn’t be a big deal. She didn’t need the water running until the wedding weekend, anyway. Unless there was an event, the water…

Wait. The barn’s water main valve shouldn’t even be on.

She tried to recall when they had run the water test after finishing the bathroom and service kitchen in the barn. She was pretty sure it was mid-May, and all had gone well. Then they had shut it off again because the barn was usually locked.

After popping a couple of ibuprofen to ease the stinging in her palm and her growing headache, Rowan headed back to the kitchen. Still preoccupied with the water and pipe, she almost bumped into Oliver. “Sorry,” she blurted and spotted the bag of rice in his arm. “What are you gonna do with that?”

“We got all these beautiful veggies. I thought I’d make some bibimbap for dinner later.”

“What’s that?” Rowan asked.

“It’s a simple Korean dish. A bowl of steamed rice, topped with sauteed vegetables and a fried egg. We can make it vegetarian, or if you’d like, I can add a meat element to it.”

“Do we have Korean seasoning or sauces you’ll need for that?” Rowan frowned as she followed him.

“I don’t travel without gochujang, gochugaru, and sesame oil.” Oliver tapped a couple of containers sitting on the island. “I didn’t cook Korean food at my last restaurant, but I like home comfort, you know what I mean?”

“Sure.” Rowan nodded. “I’m not very familiar with Korean food.”

“You will be.” Alex grinned. “I bet O will have a batch of kimchi made as soon as he gets his hands on some Napa cabbages.”

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