Page 66 of The Refiner

We were simple people.

At least we were back then. Piper jumped on the complication train with Astor and whatever that drama is. Astor tried telling me one night after we had sex, but it just never feels like the right time to discuss whatever he and my sister had going on. I think I’d rather just not know. It’s safer for my heart that way.

I stare at one of the sloppy hearts I drew on a card and smile—I remember drawing it while I pressed down on Kenny’s back like a make-shift table. Piper was leaving for the Grace of Mercy, and I had forgotten she wouldn’t receive it if I didn’t send it early. Kenny and I were at a weekend concert, sharing a tent, when I rummaged through our bags, found our packing list, and wrote:

If you weren’t so old, you would be here, puking in the bushes.

We miss you!

Happy birthday, Granny.

Love you lots!

Ps: You’ll be on a ship with no exits… I’ll be upset if you don’t come back with at least one pregnancy scare. Live like you’re twenty.

Keys

Who knew just a few years later, my sister would do just that, but instead of a scare, she went all the way and had a baby. Told you, she was always the overachiever.

I’m sliding the card back into the folder when I hear a strange noise coming from the hallway. It’s either a snake or my imagination. Either way, I’m not all that happy to drag myself off the floor and walk down to the end of the hall to the closet where the hissing noise is coming from.

I swear if it’s a snake, I’m just gonna burn the place down. Piper would understand. I can handle a lot of things, but animals that slither are not one of them.

Grabbing an umbrella from the hallway, I ready my swing as I push the closet door open and find water on the floor. It’s like a roaring waterfall coming out of a pipe.

“And this is why I’m not a homeowner,” I mutter, assessing the damage, then realizing the water is seeping out into the hall.

Oh, no. The water will ruin Piper’s hardwood floors.

I don’t remember grabbing my phone. I don’t even realize I’ve called Astor until he answers, his voice reaching through the phone and finding that hallow part in my chest, filling it with something I don’t want to acknowledge.

“Keys? You all right?”

I blink back tears. Why am I tearing up? Surely, it’s not because I missed the sound of his voice?

“I need a life jacket,” I stumble out. At least I didn’t admit that I missed him. This conversation could have started off a lot worse.

“What do you mean, you need a life jacket? Are you swimming?” It’s cute that he thinks I would actually be doing something productive like exercising.

“Where would I be swimming?” I can’t keep the exasperation out of my voice. “Do I strike you as someone who takes joy in drinking other people’s urine?”

That sexy little chuckle he releases does not make me smile. Fine, it does. I hope he’s happy that he’s broken my hate of men and dongs.

“You’ve gotta help me out here, sweetheart. I can’t bring you a life jacket if I don’t know where you are.”

Oh hell. He called me sweetheart. Worse yet, my heart did a little fluttering thing in response. No. No way. I’m just overly tense with the possibility of ruining Piper’s floors and not being able to sell her house. Not that Tatum needs the extra money when both of her parents are (or were in Piper’s case) doctors. The kid’s kids are probably set for life.

But still.

I shake off the tingling in my stomach and suck in a breath. Astor can help or he can at least call a local plumber. “I’m at Piper’s and there is water shooting out of this round thing that won’t stop and…” my voice wavers and the tears threaten to fall again, “…and the water is going to ruin Piper’s floors.”

The line goes silent for a moment and then Astor clears his throat. “I’m on the way. Can you look around the ‘round thing,’ which I suspect is the hot water heater, and see if you can find a shut-off valve?”

The relief that shoots through me is masked by the overwhelming shock that Astor knew what the round thing is called. “How do you know it’s the hot water heater? You’re a doctor, not a plumber.”

I hear his SUV rumble to life. “Believe it or not, before I was a doctor, I was just a man. And sometimes, men know things. Not a lot of things, as you well know, but some.”

I pause my search of the mysterious valve and narrow my eyes. “Now is not the time to be sarcastic.”

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