Chapter 4
Chapter Four
For the next four days, things were fairly normal.
He’d gone looking at a few potential restaurant locations with Harlow, but none of them felt right.
He’d hired half of the kitchen staff for the resort including a manager, so things were going great there.
He saw Lexi daily, and while she wasn’t going out of her way to talk to him, she definitely seemed to relax more around him.
Right now, he was waiting for Annabeth to finish getting ready for school so he could drop her off and get to the resort to meet with several more applicants for various positions. He had a busy day ahead of him and needed his daughter to stay on task.
He was about to call her name when he heard her scream.
“Annabeth?” he shouted as he ran up the stairs to see what was wrong.
Fear had him by the throat as his heart hammered in his chest. She came running out of her bathroom, soaking wet.
Connor dropped to his knees and grasped her shoulders.
“What happened? Are you okay?” He frantically scanned her for any visible injuries.
She was trembling and crying as she wrapped her tiny arms around him.
“The ceiling came down, and there’s water everywhere!” she sobbed.
Unfortunately, he could hear it now. Scooping her up into his arms, he took a quick look into the bathroom before carrying her to her room and placing her on her feet. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Water was gushing in from the hole in the ceiling, and the room was already flooding. Pulling his phone from his pocket, he quickly pulled up the property manager’s number and called.
“Hello?”
“Steve? It’s Connor Winslowe,” he said tersely. “We’ve got a major leak in the upstairs bathroom. The ceiling’s coming down and water is pouring through. Where is the main shut-off switch?”
“Outside by the water meter. Get the water shut off, and I’ll call a plumber and get over there ASAP.”
Hanging up, Connor dashed down the stairs and out the front door in search of the water meter. It took a little longer than he thought, but once he found it, he quickly turned the knob before running back into the house and to Annabeth. He found her exactly where he left her, shivering.
He stepped out of her room and grabbed several towels from the linen closet and wrapped them around her, holding her tight. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
She shook her head. “J-j-just sc-sc-ared…”
“I know, baby, and I’m so sorry.” He pulled back and studied her face. “I want you to get changed and pack up a suitcase, okay? We’ll stay at the cabin for a few days until the pipes and ceiling get fixed.”
“Okay.”
Kissing the top of her head as he stood, he said, “Good girl. I’m going to pack too. I’ll be right back.”
But when he stepped out into the hallway, he had to find more towels to throw down to dry and absorb all the water that was spilling out into the hallway. Muttering a curse, he stepped through the mess and went to his bedroom and began tossing stuff into a suitcase.
“This is what I get for moving into a temporary place and settling for something I didn’t really want.” Part of his anger was directed at Harlow, but he knew he was being unreasonable. This whole thing was just an unfortunate accident.
And just when they were finally settling into a routine and living like a normal little family.
Five minutes later, there was a banging on the front door, and Connor went down to answer it. “Wow, that was fast,” he said to Steve. “Come on in.”
“How bad is it?” the manager asked as he went directly to the stairs.
“It’s a lot of water and the ceiling collapsed, so…”
“Daddy! I’m all packed! Can we leave now?”
“Give me a few minutes, okay?” he assured her. “I need to make sure everything’s secure here.”
“Oh. Okay. But we’re gonna be late for school.”
Crap. And that meant he was going to be late for his interviews. Pulling his phone out, he quickly tapped out an SOS to the guys.
Connor: Hey! I’ve got a bit of a situation here at the house.
Walker: What’s going on?
Connor: I think a pipe burst. The upstairs bathroom ceiling collapsed while Annabeth was in there, and the place flooded.
Walker: Holy crap! Is she okay? Is she hurt?
Connor: She’s fine. Just scared.
Connor: The property manager’s here and we’re waiting on a plumber, but we can’t stay here.
Walker: No kidding. Well, Lexi and Jonah moved into Jayce and Kelsey’s place last night, so your place is open. We’ll have the cleaning crew go in and get everything ready.
Connor: Okay. Great. Thanks. I didn’t want to ask them to move if they weren’t ready.
Axel: Do you need help moving stuff back here? I can be at your place in no time, and we can load up the truck.
Connor: Thanks, but I think we’ll be fine with a couple of suitcases for now. But if the repairs are going to take longer than a day or two, I might take you up on it.
Harlow: OMG, Connor! What in the world? I’m so sorry! The house was inspected and in good condition! I’m furious!
Harlow: I’m going to call Steve and give him a piece of my mind!
Just picturing that made him smile.
Connor: He’s here now and maybe make that call after we hear what caused the problem and if it was neglect.
Harlow: Ugh. Fine. Be logical. Whatever.
Walker: That’s my girl
Connor: I have interviews lined up this morning starting at 9:30, and I might be a little late. And I’m keeping Annabeth with me today. She was scared and crying, and I just don’t think she needs to be in school today.
Harlow: Okay, do you want to call your nanny and see if she can come to the resort and hang out until your interviews are done?
Slater: Hey! Glad no one got hurt! I’m up in the kitchen now with Lexi and Jonah. We can hang out and wait for your applicants for you. Is there any paperwork or anything you need them to fill out while they wait?
Raking a hand through his hair, he let out a weary sigh. Steve was muttering some pretty colorful curses, and he wanted to see what was going on for himself.
Connor: No, but if you want to give them a basic tour and explain to them that I’ll be there as soon as I can, that would be great.
Connor: Harlow, I hate to ask, but if I send you the phone number, can you call the nanny for me? I can hear Steve freaking out, and I need to figure out what’s going on.
Harlow: No problem. Send me her name and number, and I’ll call. Go and talk to Steve, and we’ll see you and Annabeth when you get here.
Connor: Thanks, everyone. I appreciate it.
He quickly sent Harlow the information before joining Steve in the soggy bathroom. “Well? What do you think?”
“I’m no plumber, but besides the damage to the ceiling, it’s also the walls, the floor, and the rooms below this,” he stated. “And who knows if there are other leaks.”
Crap.
“Okay, so…what does that mean?”
“It means that until the plumber gets here and inspects everything, we don’t have any answers.
If the leak is just contained to right here, then we’ll still have to replace the drywall and make sure there’s no mold, and make sure the floor and ceiling below are fine.
If the leak is more extensive, well…” He shrugged.
“You might be living in a construction zone for a while.”
“Or not at all,” he corrected. “I’m not paying to live in a house with faulty plumbing. And if the pipes need to be fixed, we’ll be restricted in what we can and can’t do here in the house. I have a child, Steve. It needs to be a safe place for her to live.”
“I know. I know. Let’s not jump to conclusions, okay? If you need to go to work, you don’t have to worry. I’m going to stay here and wait on the plumber, and I’m calling the owner as well and making sure everyone’s on the same page. I promise to call you as soon as I know something.”
As much as he hated to leave before the plumber, he had to get going.
“Alright. You have my number, and I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that this is an easy fix.” Although he seriously doubted it from the looks of things. Shaking hands with Steve, he said goodbye and then went to Annabeth’s room. “Hey, sweetheart. How about coming to the resort with me today?”
He expected her to argue because she truly liked school, but she nodded and looked ready to cry again.
Crouching down in front of her, he started to worry. “What’s going on? Are you sure nothing hit you when the ceiling fell?”
“It was scary, and…and…” Her eyes welled with tears again. “And I wish we could just go to the cabin and curl up on the couch and eat cookies and watch TV.”
Gently, he pulled her into his arms. “That does sound like a lot more fun than what I have planned for myself today. But I asked Harlow to call Ruth to see if she can come and hang out with you today.”
“Oh.” She sighed. “Will Jonah be there? Can he come and play too?”
“Uh…I’m not sure, but we can ask Lexi when we get there. How does that sound?”
“Okay.”
“Come on, kiddo.” He grabbed her suitcase and then walked across the hall to get his. “Be careful walking over all the towels.” They made their way down the stairs, and he found Steve inspecting the downstairs bathroom. “Well?”
“I can see water stains,” he replied miserably. “The plumber will be here in fifteen minutes, so…give me around an hour and I should know something.”
“Thanks.”
Ushering Annabeth out to his car, he loaded their luggage in the trunk while she climbed into the back seat.
They drove in silence, choosing to listen to the radio instead of talking.
At the resort, he parked close to the path to their cabin but decided to deal with the luggage later.
He needed to find Harlow and see if she got in touch with Ruth, and then he needed to find Lexi and see where Jonah was.
And then deal with his interviews.
Hopefully, the crappy start wasn’t a sign of how the rest of the day was going to go.