Chapter 20 #2
He frowned, tucking his hands into his pockets. "You couldn't know that a pipe would leak in one of the buildings."
I waved a hand in the air. "I'd just started setting up inspections for electrical. I hadn't even gotten to plumbing."
"It's a huge project. Give yourself a break." He reached for me, and it felt good to rest my forehead on his chest.
I let out a breath. "It'll be okay."
"Of course it will," he murmured against my temple.
"At least it's not the inn, and the guests won't be affected."
"Which shop is it?" Maddox asked as I turned to get into my seat.
"The lingerie store."
"Ah."
"Yeah, I'm sure Bill will be pleased that it has to shut down for repairs." I sighed, already thinking about the smug expression on his face when he found out. "Thanks again for breakfast. It was really nice."
He leaned on the roof of the car. "I like having you here more often."
I softened. "I like it too."
He tapped the roof and stepped back. "Go be a bad-ass boss owner."
"I'm not feeling particularly bad ass now that a plumbing issue has come up. I should have known this would happen."
"You can't know every possible thing."
I sighed. "I suppose you're right."
"See you tonight, Eve." He closed the door and moved away.
I backed my SUV out of the driveway. The idea that I'd see both of them later lifted my spirits. I just had to deal with this first.
On the way, I called Natasha.
"Hello," Natasha said, sounding sleepy as if she'd just woken up.
Were they still in bed? I was slightly jealous about that. "We have a situation."
"What is it?" she asked, sounding more awake.
"There's a leak at the lingerie shop. I'm heading there now."
"You need me to come too?" Natasha asked, and I heard her explaining what was going on to someone, probably Ford.
I couldn't ruin her Saturday morning. She deserved that time with Ford. "I can handle it."
"If you need me there, just let me know."
I parked in the lot behind the inn, my mind already on what I'd find in Angela's shop. "I will."
I clicked off the call and walked the short distance to Tempting Dreams Shop. The doors were propped open, which wasn't a good sign given the temperature, and I heard the sound of industrial fans running inside.
Angela was folding silky negligees and placing them in boxes on the counter. "Oh, good, you're here."
The floor was damp.
"Hudson's in the back."
"I'll talk to him first." I walked past the dressing rooms. One of the doors was ajar, and there were items hanging on a hook, and others strewn on the white upholstered ottoman. I wondered if this was where Angela was when she discovered the water.
I found Hudson using a brush broom to push standing water into the drain in the employee's bathroom.
I sighed, noticing that the place already smelled musty and waterlogged. "What happened?"
Hudson sighed. "One of the pipes burst, and it flooded. Angela was in one of the dressing rooms and didn't see it right away. When she finally noticed the water, she called me. When I arrived, she was"—he hesitated, his gaze flitting to the front of the store—"trying to remove some of the water."
If she was trying on product when it happened, I wondered if she was still dressed in lingerie when Hudson arrived. That would be a possible explanation for his hesitation to share. "Thanks for coming so quickly."
He nodded. "I'm removing as much water as I can. Then we'll need to air everything out. After it's dry, we can decide if the floor is salvageable."
I leaned against the wall, my head starting to ache. "We should have inspected the shops sooner."
"It can happen at any time. How could you have known?" He continued pushing the water into the drain. "Angela said she didn't see any water intrusion that would have tipped her off. But at the same time, I'm not sure she knew what to look for."
"Well, I appreciate you being here on a Saturday." I didn't even want to know what the bill would be.
"We're always happy to help," Hudson said, referring to the Sterling Brothers contracting business.
We'd hired them because they were local, and they covered almost all our needs: construction, plumbing, electrical, and landscaping.
I grimaced. "How long will Angela's shop be closed?"
He paused, holding the handle in his hand. "That I don't know. She's moving her stock now so that it doesn't smell."
I held up my phone. "I should help her, but first, I need to tell Natasha what's going on."
"I'll have an estimate for you just as soon as I see the extent of the damage. It would be a good idea to do a thorough inspection of this building to ensure there aren't any other issues."
"Of course," I agreed even as my stomach sunk. This was going to be expensive, and it meant having to make an insurance claim.
I moved away from the bathroom and down the hallway, calling Natasha on speakerphone.
"How bad is it?" Her voice was stronger this time, as if she'd had a chance to drink coffee.
"The floor was flooded, so there's probably damage to the wood floor. Hudson's clearing out the rest of it now, and there are fans set up to dry everything out. But it will take a while before we know the full extent of the damage."
"Ugh. Not the news we wanted to hear."
"No. It's not." I sighed. "Angela is moving her product out of the shop so that it doesn't stink."
"The last thing we need is for her to lose her stock."
"Exactly. I'm going to help her put everything away and get it moved to her apartment upstairs."
"Are you sure you don't need me to come by? I don't mind."
"I think we've got it covered. I'll let you know if we need anything."
"If you're sure—"
"Of course. Enjoy your morning with your guy." Natasha deserved to be happy. As the single sister, I was okay with carrying the weight. "Don't forget; the town is my domain. The inn is yours."
Natasha sighed. "Yeah, but you'd be there for me if something happened at the inn."
"I promise I have everything under control." I watched Angela carefully fold the silky items and place them into a box. For the first time, I noticed that she wore a sweatshirt over silky shorts with a lace edge, probably the product she was trying on at the time she discovered the problem.
I clicked off the call with Natasha and tucked the phone into my pocket. "Can I help you put things away?"
Angela shot me a grateful look. "That would be great. We need to move fast though. It's already starting to stink in here."
"I think it's the carpet in the break room. It should have been ripped out long before now."
"Who puts shag carpet in a kitchen?" Angela agreed as she continued to fold one item after the other.
"Where do you want me to start?"
She grabbed another box. "You get this rack. Be careful not to snag the material on anything."
I grabbed the first item, a silky tank with lace edges. Then I added the matching pale blue shorts. "I'll be careful."
Hudson approached us, his gaze fixated on Angela who was folding lacy thongs in a rainbow of colors. "I removed all the standing water. We'll need to dry things out for a few days."
Angela paused, a pale yellow thong dangling from her fingers. "How long until I'm up and running again?"
His jaw was tight. "That I can't tell you."
Angela looked over at me. "I'll have to go back to pop-ups to keep sales going. I thought that part of my life was over."
Hudson's brows furrowed. "What's a pop-up?"
Angela resumed folding the thongs. "I show up at mall kiosks or go to women's houses with samples and try to sell them on the spot."
"Is that successful?"
Angela nodded. "It is, but I get a lot of comments about it. Men yelling out crude things. It kind of sucks, and I thought when I opened this store, that I'd never have to go back to that."
"I'm sorry," I said.
Angela's face screwed up. "Bill's going to be so happy that the shop is closed." Then her gaze swung to Hudson. "There's no way to tamper with a pipe, is there?"
Hudson frowned. "This looks like a burst pipe."
She lowered her hands to the display table, her shoulders drooping. "He's going to be positively gleeful. I can't deal with him right now."
"I'll handle Bill and keep him away from you."
She shot me a grateful look. "I don't think I can deal with him right now. Or anyone else for that matter."
"Which one is Bill?" Hudson asked.
"The one that owns the puzzle shop," I said.
Eve grimaced. "And he thinks that a lingerie shop isn't family appropriate. He's going to take this opportunity to say that I should close permanently.
Hudson looked around the room. "I mean—"
Angela glared at him. "We don't just serve families. There's plenty of couples here on vacation or women shopping for themselves."
Hudson cleared his throat, clearly done talking about lingerie. "I'm going to take another look at the pipe."
When he disappeared down the hallway, I said, "Seriously, don't worry about Bill. You're not going to be closed permanently. I'll make sure you're up and running again as quickly as possible."
Angela hugged me. "Thank you," and I remembered why I took this job. I wanted to make a difference in people's lives. If that meant spending a Saturday clearing stock, then that's what I needed to do.