1. Maeve #2
He nodded, then took a drink. “That happened to my brother and me once when we were just out of high school. Parents had some financial trouble, so they needed all the money they’d saved for our college tuition.
Of course, this happened right after we got accepted into our universities,” he said.
“Neither of us wanted loans either. Not after seeing all the debt our uncle had.”
“What happened?”
“We started working. And we were successful. Successful enough to pay our loans, plus more.”
“Now here you are, traveling the world,” I said. “If I even had half that much success, then I’d probably be okay.”
“I’m sure you will be,” he said, then he held out his hand for me to take. It was warm and soft, and I had the strangest desire to pull him toward me and might have if his words hadn’t brought me back to normalcy. “My name’s Rory.”
“Maeve. Pleasure.”
His hand was like a fire, igniting my very core. I held onto him just a little too long, only realizing what I was doing when Eliza spoke up.
“So, you gonna share your wisdom or are you just gonna sit there and make us guess?”
He tapped his fingers on the bar, thoughtful.
“Well, I was a plumber back in school. That’s how I paid my tuition, but I don’t think that’ll really work for you.
” He cocked his head to the side, studying me like he was actually considering the possibility.
“No, I like your idea for the fundraiser. You’ve got a solid crowd, and if people knew this place might close, they’d give.
You could push it to the papers, maybe get a radio host to record the open mic night. ”
“That’s an idea,” Eliza said.
I frowned. “We tried that last time. Didn’t work.”
He shrugged. “I might know a few people.”
I arched a brow. “You can get the word out? You have some big Irish connections?” I leaned in, my elbow grazing his arm. He was warm, solid.
“Well, I don’t know. I might know a person or two.”
I doubted that, but I liked that he wanted to help. I straightened and took a sip of my drink. The alcohol hadn’t hit me yet, but sitting next to him, my head spun a little anyway.
A loud groan echoed through the ceiling.
Rory’s head snapped up. “That’s your pipes?”
I barely even registered the sound anymore. “Oh. Yeah. They do that.”
“That’s not good,” he muttered. His gaze flicked toward the hallway. “What’s the plumbing situation here?”
I waved him off. “It’s fine. I mean, nothing’s actively flooding.”
He let out a low chuckle. “That’s a pretty low bar.”
Then, with a smirk, “Oh, you think I’m helpful now? Wait ‘til I get a load of your pipes.”
I choked on my drink. Eliza outright cackled.
Rory froze, his face turning a shade of pink I rarely saw on a man so composed. “I mean, the building’s pipes.” He cleared his throat, pointing to the ceiling. “That sound? Could be a pressure issue. I can take a look if you want.”
I hesitated. Being a woman, who often worked alone, and often was the building’s fixer (though I wasn’t particularly good at it), people, especially men, loved to offer their services.
For that reason, I almost said no, but I’d also been worried about those pipes, and I didn’t know anything about plumbing.
“You’re really a plumber?” I asked.
“I did it full time, but now not so much. I usually do it when the occasion calls for it.”
“Like now?”
He shrugged. “Guess so. I’ve worked that long enough to know that if there’s screeching or vibrating happening up in your pipes, especially sounds that have happened for extended periods of time, could mean serious issues for your plumbing and the longer you put off getting it fixed, the more expensive it will be. Let me just look at it.”
“I don’t have any money to pay you…”
“Maeve!” Eliza shot at me, but I ignored her.
Rory glanced her way, then said, “I figured you didn’t have anything, since you’re doing a fundraiser.
Just give me a beer on the house. No harm just checking.
” There was another rattle from the pipes.
This one high pitched. “You know what happens to pipes when they’re left to their own devices?
Especially when they’re backed up, which sounds like they are?
” He waited a beat, then said, “They can explode. I’ve seen one pipe blow right through a wall, and it sounds like your pipes aren’t too far away from that. ”
“Fine.”
“Maeve—!” Eliza said.
“What?” I snapped, then said to Rory, “You can look at it, but only if I’m standing there with you and only if you don’t touch anything unless I say it’s okay.”
“Great.” He stood up from his barstool. “I say we start where the noise is coming from. See if something’s going on there. It’s around the corner, right?”
I nodded and walked away from the counter, him following close behind.
Eliza grabbed my arm, yanking me toward her. “You got to be kidding me.”
“What?” I pulled away from her. “Look, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not fine. You’re about to go into some dark corner of this place where no one will see you with some stranger! You seriously are just going to believe him at his word that he was a plumber?”
“The pipes are just on the other side of the bar. Look, we really need someone to look at them. Aren’t you even a little worried?”
“Yeah, of course, but—” she looked at a waiting Rory, then shrugged. “But I guess nothing. Good luck.”
I gave a single nod, then turned the corner with Rory. We stood in an enclave in the hall connecting the bathrooms, bar, and the stairs leading up to my apartment.
“Is it here?” Rory asked, tapping at the wall. As he did so, there came that high-pitched vibration. “Ah, yeah, makes sense. I’ll need to get through your wall, check what’s going on.”
“What happened to you not touching anything?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t have to touch the pipes themselves, but I can’t exactly see them unless I cut through. I know how to patch things up.”
I sighed. “I’ll get the tools.”
Toolbox in hand, I found Rory with his ear pressed hard against the wall, brow furrowed.
He looked up when I approached and went immediately to the cutting.
It was faster than I expected. With a sharp knife, he was able to slide the blade right through the plaster like butter.
He worked his way in a steady square, then pulled off the outer layer.
Inside were copper pipes, like yellowed bones in a body, pumping and vibrating.
“Ah, that’s not good,” he murmured.
“What?”
“Pipes can shake, but this? It looks like it’s on steroids. It means the pipes are loose but also backed up. Where do these pipes lead?”
“I’m… I’m not sure.”
“Scratch that. I know exactly where they’re going.” he glanced at his watch. “What time does your place close tonight?”
A knot formed in my belly. Then in a tight voice, I said, “In about an hour.”
He stared at me a long moment, and I didn’t know whether I wanted to edge closer to him or run away. Had Eliza been right with her worries? Was I an idiot for finally letting my guard down?
But then he nodded and turned back to the pipes, and suddenly, I wished he was staring at me again, prying me apart with his eyes.
“We need to shut off the water— plumbing specifically. Do you think your customers would be terribly bothered if we closed the bathrooms? I’m honestly surprised these pipes don’t have any worse damage.”
“Oh, sure, I suppose we can.”
“Great.”
I waited for him to do something, suggest something else, but he had this intense look on his face, so I slipped into the bathrooms, ensured no one was inside, closed them, then switched off the water.
When I returned to Rory, he had gotten comfortable.
His shirt was off and his hands were elbow-deep in the toolbox.
His skin was a reddish white, like he’d spent just a little too long in the sun, but the burn highlighted his biceps and his chiseled abs. Somehow without his shirt, he looked even bigger, like he might crush me if we embraced.
“You… you need anything?” I asked, keeping my voice leveled.
He looked up and smiled. “Just for you to be patient, and stay away. This might get a little messy. Do you have masks or anything I could use?”
“Yeah, sure,” I said and quickly retrieved those, plus some gloves.
He took the items, and our fingers touched for just a moment, sending a thrill through my chest. I slipped back up with Eliza.
The bar had died down in the last half hour since the open mic had ended.
A few patrons still hung out, drinking the last of the beers slowly.
Eliza was punching in a drink order when I approached.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
There was a low vibration from the back. It echoed through the walls, like song birds finishing the other’s sentence. And then there was silence.
“Give us another beer, love,” came a swaying regular from the end of the bar.
Eliza turned just as there came an explosion, followed by Rory yelling out a string of curses.
The whole bar had quieted down, and everyone was looking at me, like I had something to do with it.
Eliza and I locked gazes, but I was running to Rory before I said another word.
I found him on the ground, unmoving, and covered in a foul-smelling liquid.
“Rory?” I said, taking a hesitant half step forward.
He groaned, then said, “Do you have a shower?”