Page 32 of Saving Sandcastles
Claire ran to the kitchen and grabbed some towels. “Definitely the same place. How do I turn this thing off?”
“Turn the valve.”
Claire dropped the towels on the floor. They became soaked immediately. “Valve?”
“It’s easy. Look under the sink. There’s a knob on the side of the pipe that leads from the sink to the floor. Find it and turn it.”
Afraid of her phone getting wet, Claire thumbed the button to turn the call onto speaker and put it on the vanity counter. Taking a deep breath, she stuck her head inside the cabinet. Cold water splashed over her arm and down her front as she groped for the knob.
She found it. Turned. The knob stopped with a creak. “It’s not working. I think it’s getting worse!”
“It can’t get worse. The water is either on or it’s off. Turn it the other way.”
Claire did so, her hand slipping over the cold metal before she got a firm grip. As she turned it as far as possible in the other direction, the fountain of water slowed and then stopped. Claire sat back on her heels. She was soaked, but she’d stopped the water.
Except now there was no water to the sink. And no water meant no bathroom for the customers. She needed Sally to get there to fix it.
“I did it. The water stopped. How soon can you get here to fix the leak?”
The pause on the other end of the line made Claire’s stomach roil. She took the call off speaker, held the phone to her ear, and swished the towel around with her foot to sop up some of the water.
“Sally?”
“Well, I can’t make it there tonight.”
“What?”
“I’m in Portland babysitting my grandson. I won’t return to Lobster Bay until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Afternoon?” Claire had held out a faint hope of Sally sneaking in early in the morning to fix the problem before the shop opened. But without the bathroom fixed, Claire might not be able to open her shop tomorrow at all.
“You could call Ralph.”
Claire pushed out a breath. Ralph’s hourly rate spiked to unaffordable after five p.m., but what choice did she have? “I will. Thanks.”
Claire hung up and glared at the faulty pipes. “Why couldn’t you have stayed fixed for just a few more days?”
“Who are you talking to?”
The voice made her jump. Heart pounding, she turned to see Rob Bradford standing in the doorway. She bristled. “You almost gave me a heart attack! What are you doing here?”
Whatwashe doing there sneaking around at night when all the stores were closed? More corporate espionage?
“I saw your helpers leave but not you, then I noticed the light was still on and the door was cracked open. I came to check that everything was all right.”
A likely story. She crossed her arms. “Why were you at your shop so late? You aren’t even open for business yet.”
“I’m not,” he admitted, a dimple winking into existence in his cheek. “But you aren’t the only person who is preparing for a big event on Saturday. I was baking.”
“Oh, right.” Claire stood in the doorway, determined not to let him see the mess inside. The last thing she wanted was for her competitor to see that she had a plumbing problem.
“So, what’s going on?”
Claire forced a smile. “Nothing. Just doing some baking, just like you.”
Rob frowned, his eyes drifting down to her chest, where her soaking-wet shirt clung. His left brow quirked up. “You sure?”
Obviously Claire’s claim of nothing being wrong while she was soaked wasn’t going to pass muster with Mr. Prying Eyes. “Just a little problem with the bathroom sink.”
