Chapter 26
Carmello
Now
I’m uncoordinated this morning, checking Teddy’s backpack before I send him into school to make sure I packed his lunch while trying to do mental calculations of all this shit I gotta do today.
Daniela went on her trip, so I have Teddy full-time.
Moments like this remind me to never take her for granted.
She does the majority of school mornings, which are harder than pickups in my opinion, with her own shit to get done. And her own…feelings.
I’m exhausted. Not just from the trial night, but from the no sleep that followed after hugging Olivia.
I opened something between us and now I doubt I can close it.
I can’t stop thinking about her. My heart wants to be near her heart.
And my body…Well, let’s just say coming home to an empty bed after being reminded of the way she fit against me made me throb for her all night.
Why does she have to smell so damn good? Feel like that? Fuck.
Steven calls when I’m tying Teddy’s shoelaces tighter.
“Yo,” he says, and if he’s calling this early, I prepare myself for a problem at Celia’s Place.
Maybe equipment malfunction or that the produce order hasn’t arrived, something stupid that might set us back for the day.
But I’m not prepared enough. “You might want to come quick. There’s a gas leak. ”
He says it so dryly, I think he’s joking. “What? How do you know?”
“Me and Olivia both think it smells pretty damn obvious.”
The moment he says her name I think of her confessing that she still has some fears after the fire.
Then I notice Teddy watching me closely.
I’m about to send him into school and I don’t want my emotions to affect his day, so I try to keep my voice steady when I say, “I want you two out of the building immediately. Call the fire department. I’ll be right there. ”
When I hang up, Teddy’s staring up at me with those curious little eyes. His friends are calling his name at the playground attached to the school, but he’s focused on my face, reading my body language like a pro at only six. Steven might not admit it, but he’d be proud.
“Fire department?” he repeats, a question I have to answer or he’ll wonder. His therapist has taught us tactics like being in control of our emotions but not directly trying to control him with coddling through well-meaning deceit. It’s been a struggle, but I’m working on it.
“There’s no fire,” I tell him, laying a hand on his shoulder. “But there is a problem at the restaurant that needs to be fixed. It’s nothing for you to worry about, okay? I’ll handle it.”
He seems to accept this. “Okay, Daddy,” he says.
I tell him to be safe, kiss the top of his head, and send him off.
But while I watch him walk toward his teacher, who’s waiting by the door, instead of his friends who are taking their last turns down the slide, I pray he doesn’t have a shitty day too.
***
The road near Celia’s Place is blocked off by three fire trucks. More police cars are pulling up. An officer bangs on my glass door and tells me the road is closed.
“I’m the owner of the restaurant,” I say.
He doesn’t respond with words, just waves at where I’m allowed to park.
I expected Olivia to be in Celia’s, asking the fire department questions, but Steven’s the one inside with the firefighters. Olivia is sitting cross-legged against the brick of the building the way we used to when we’d take shift breaks as teenagers.
I know I should go inside first, figure out what the fuck is happening, but I crouch down in front of her instead. “You okay, O?”
Her arms are crossed over her stomach and one side of her mouth tugs into a smile.
“The building for your business has a gas leak and you’re asking me if I’m okay?
” She sighs when she sees the look on my face.
“I just had a headache already this morning, and was a little nauseous, so the gas smell hit me kinda hard. But that’s all it is.
Now hurry up inside and report back. I’m nosy as hell and have no idea what’s going on in there. ”
***
The report I can give her: there are more bodies in the kitchen than we’d ever want at any given time.
Two firefighters are talking to an irritated-looking Steven, while four pull out appliances and test for leaks with their monitors.
Steven sees me first. He snaps his fingers in a way that tells me he’s ready to be done conversing for the entire day.
“There’s the owner.” But before they can turn their questions on me, someone calls out from the basement.
My heart hammers with dread as the smell of gas gets stronger walking down the stairs.
Paula’s not in today, but she usually works forty hours a week in the kitchen down here.
I haven’t gotten a chance to do safety checks on appliances this month.
If this wasn’t her day off and she was down here…
If there was a slow leak and she’d been ingesting gas for…
A firefighter cuts through the graphic thoughts plaguing my mind, and I inhale deeply.
“It’s definitely coming from this room.”
He’s talking about the room with the furnace and the washer and dryer, not the kitchen, but my chest is still tight thinking Paula could’ve been here.
“Furnace and appliances are clear though,” a different firefighter says.
Two more of them are pulling down tiles in the ceiling and pushing their monitors up to check the pipes.
“Okay. Got a little something,” one of them says when the monitor starts beeping.
***
A Rhode Island Energy inspector arrives within twenty minutes to check the pipes himself and turn off access to the gas while I go outside to talk to the staff.
Half of them are here now, gathered around Steven and Olivia.
It’s all a bunch of noise to my ears; my head is pounding.
Everyone’s eyes land on me and then it’s a rush of questions I hardly have answers for.
I wait until they calm down, then I tell them what I know: it’s probably from a slow leak that has been gradually worsening for a while, maybe even an accidental gas line cut from when Celia’s Place went under renovation.
We couldn’t smell it because gas doesn’t usually produce a smell until the buildup gets bad.
The firefighters and the gas company inspector come for safety measures, then they go, but because the building is old and there are so many interconnected pipes down there, they can’t tell exactly where the leak is coming from.
So, the one who has to fix the actual problem is a plumber.
And neither the firefighters nor the gas inspector could give me a number to call for legal reasons.
They did wish me luck finding a “cheap plumber” on Google though.
My temple throbs just thinking of searching through reviews to find one that is both affordable and will make sure it’s safe for Paula to work down there. “We won’t be opening Celia’s today,” I say. “You all can go home. I’ll send an update tonight.”
“This a paid day off?” asks Bobby. “Because a guy still needs a full check.”
“Of course,” I say, and a couple of them try to hide their relief from me before they all walk off together.
While they’re gossiping about it as they walk up the block to their cars, I release a long breath, trying not to run my mind ragged with unknown estimates of what this situation is going to cost me.
The trial event didn’t require me to dip into my mom’s funds for the restaurant too much, but I know this will be different.
I’ll be lucky if there’s still money left over to fix the patio.
I sigh and pull up my phone, leaning against the building to look for plumbers in the area, and hear a small throat clear.
Olivia is here, just a few feet away. She must’ve turned back.
“When I said to go, that included you too,” I say.
“You’re not my boss,” she says.
“I’m not letting you back in the building, O.”
She lifts her brow, and I think she knows I like when she does that. “Why is that? Didn’t they say it was safe while the gas was off?”
“They also said the plumber might have to do things that can make it a liability for me.”
“Hm. I think it’s because you’re starting to care about me,” she says with a playful smile, and I narrow my eyes.
“Fine. I won’t go inside, but I learned a lot about gas leaks working with my parents over the years doing restorations at old facilities, and I already found a plumber for you.
They said they can be here in two hours.
” I open my mouth, but she shakes her head.
“And yes, the reviews claim they’re not too pricey and they follow all the safety protocols.
I know you, Carmello. Now all you gotta do is have patience while we wait. ”
We’ve always worked so well together, able to make up for the other’s weaknesses, but I don’t know how to tell her it’s a relief to have her here to take something like this off my shoulders. I smile and tilt my head, remembering her holding her stomach earlier.
“Are you hungry, O?”