Page 10 of The Summer Dare
Lanie glances at the clock on the stove and groans as she gathers the towels from the sink. “Shoot. I’ve gotta get ready for work. Do you think it will be okay to take a shower and wash this load of towels or is the water gonna be turned off?”
Chuckling at the disgruntled expression on her face, I assure her. “You’ll be fine. The water is only turned off at the sink. If I need to shut off the main, I’ll do it when you’re done.”
Shaking her head, she grumbles, “I may as well wash what I can of these, so I can shower and get to work on time. I hope to God there are towels upstairs, or I’m screwed.” Loading her arms with wet towels, she awkwardly carries them so they’re a safe distance from her body.
Yeah, it’s best I don’t respond to that comment. There’s no way I want her day to be worse than it’s started. Seeing shecan’t take all the towels in one trip, I load up my own arms with the rest and follow her to the laundry room.
She quickly shoves her load in the wash and turns to mine. “I’d better wash more than one load. Just throw those in the utility sink and I’ll do it later.”
Slipping past her, I do as she says.
As I turn to exit the laundry room, she turns at the same time in my direction. She startles at our closeness but then freezes and her eyes remain pinned to the center of my soaked chest. When she doesn’t move or say anything I break the now uncomfortable silence with, “Lanie? You okay?”
Shaking her head, she quickly inhales. “Yeah. Just… lost for a moment.”
“Okay…” I draw out, wondering what’s going on in that head of hers.
When her eyes slowly rise to meet mine she says, “Thanks again…” Her voice is raspy so she clears it. “For your help, that is. Are you sure you have time to fix that sink today? I really can call someone else.”
“There’s no need to hire anyone when I can easily do the repair job.”
Rolling her lip between her teeth she looks to our feet before returning to meet my gaze. “But I’m not sure what Nana’s prepaid you. Will you let me know the cost so I can figure out a way to pay you?”
Christ, is that what she’s worried about?
“Look. I’ll add it to the bill and if it puts us over our budget, I’ll let you know as we finish the projectand we can work things out then. It won’t be too much to add a faucet to the project we’re already involved with.”
“Okay. But you’ll tell mebeforeyou come even close to going over budget, right?”
“Of course.” Though it won’t be a problem.
Maybe my immediate agreement to her demand throws her off because she suddenly clamps her mouth into a straight line and nods once.
When she still doesn’t move, I ask, “Are we good then?”
Crossing her arms over her chest she nods once and turns on a dime and returns to the kitchen only to look at the clock and groan. “Shit. I can’t be late today.”
Apologetically, she somehow smiles. “I really gotta run. Text me if you need anything, okay?”
“Same with you,” I pointedly remind her. “I’m just glad I got here when I did, or there’d be even more damage.”
“Ugg… don’t remind me.”
“I’ll head out now and see what we can get in terms of faucets. I might need to run into Warden or Astoria to get something similar. Will you be here when I return?”
Shaking her head, she shrugs. “Nah. I’ll be working until way after you get off.”
Nodding once in agreement, I walk toward the door. Pulling it open, I pause and holler to get her attention, “Hey, Lanie?”
“Yeah?” She pauses with one foot on the staircase.
“Good luck with your first day of work. I’m sure all the crazy shit is behind you.”
Without waiting for a response, I turn and walk out the door.
It’s beena shit day and I need a good meal and a drink. I had to go to three different stores before I could find a faucet similar to the one in the kitchen. And of course—nothing at the coast is close and everyone and their grandpa has to chat my ear off and check in to see how my dad’s doing.
It’s times like this I wish my internship in Boston had worked out this summer. There was something to be said about being unknown. Though I found out there’s a flip-side to that coin as well. Being unknown also meant everyone questioned my authority, especially the owner’s son who was constantly inserting himself where it didn’t belong. He had shit for brains and impeded the project with his unsafe practices. When I brought this up with the boss, I quickly realized I wasn’t able to do the job I was hired for. There was no way I’d be learning anything in that environment, so I quit and cameback home for the summer to take more responsibility with my dad’s company.
