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A laugh came through the speaker. “I’m guessing you don’t like the cold.”
“N-n-o-o-t-t a-a-t-t a-a-l-l-l-l.” By the time I finished speaking, I was surprised I’d escaped unscathed. With the way my teeth were chattering, I was positive that I’d bite my tongue.
“I’m guessing you’re with the plumbing company from the sign on your jeep.” My gaze roamed around the area until I spotted a couple of cameras pointed towards the road. I waved and nodded, not wanting to risk speaking again. The person on the other end chuckled again, correctly interpreting why I wasn’t speaking. “Just nod or shake your head to my questions. Do you know where you’re going?” I nodded. “Good. They’ll meet you there. And thank you for coming so quick. I really want to move back into my cabin.”
I smiled and waved again as the massive gate swung open silently, allowing me to continue driving down the road. At the Y, I took the left branch, following the specific directions I’d memorized since this community wasn’t mapped on my GPS. The person who’d called told me that the right one took people to their main house and centre of the community surrounding a lake. The left one led to various cabin groupings for those who didn’t want to live quite in the centre of it all. But all of them would still be close enough that they could quickly run or take transportation—snowmobiles in the winter or ATVS/UTVS in the summer—to be in the thick of things.
It took another ten minutes of driving and a couple of turns before I pulled up in front of a small grouping of cabins set in a giant circle with what looked like a small playground and community area in the centre. With the car parked, I climbed out after pulling down my toque securely over my head and wrapped the giant wool scarf around my lower face, leaving only my eyes visible.
The snow was deep on my small frame as I trudged my way over to the first cabin. The man had told me that they’d be unlocked and to just go on in. I’d balked initially, but with this cold, even an unheated house would be better than waiting out in the wind. Besides, the faster I started examining the issues and the damage, the faster I could get home to my bed, praying that I’d wake up feeing better tomorrow.
I pushed open the door and smiled under the scarf. Whoever designed these cabins knew exactly what they were doing. The front part of the cabin contained a soaring, vaulted ceiling, dominated by a massive stone fireplace. A loft area—although I could see walls up there so there were probably a couple of rooms on that second floor—opened to it. Underneath the loft were a kitchen and dining room along with a hallway leading deeper into the cabin. The dimensions were small when I thought of some of the human houses I’d seen, but with the high ceilings and the lighter colours, the space looked and felt larger.
To my surprise, for a house that no one currently lived in, it was warmer than I expected. I unwrapped the scarf and loosened my coat, but I kept my toque on. Even my gloves stayed on which was fine since these were ones that I often used for work.
I wandered through the rooms, looking at the plumbing hook-ups and assessing the damage. From where the waterlines connected with sinks, baths, showers, and even the washer, it didn’t look too bad. The lines weren’t neat and tidy like I preferred, and they came out of walls at weird angles, but they worked. I could see hints of damage to the wet walls that would have to be repaired which would mean opening them up. Chances are, I’d fine more damage at that point which was a shame because the house was beautiful. The last thing I wanted to do was to tear it apart, but I guess it was better to do it now, fix the damage, and make it right then having to do it all down the line later. And possibly after mold and other problems presented themselves.
Finished with the first house, I moved on to the second and the third. The mystery deepened as to why the houses experienced this problem in the first place. The pipes looked fine, the joints, at first glance, were well soldered and glued, the houses were well heated, in short, pipes shouldn’t have frozen and burst with the first freeze. Something didn’t seem right which meant I’d have to do more digging.
Not having met up with whomever it was that was supposed to be meeting me, I grabbed some gear from my jeep and went back to the first house. By now, with all my movement, the bending, the crouching, the trying to see into tight spaces, I’d worked up a sweat. I pulled off my jacket and scarf, leaving them on the back of a chair as I made my way into the basement. Whatever had happened, to have affected all eight houses, it had to be with where the water came in and possibly how the water was transported to this area. I needed to double check their plans to see if they were on a well or used water from one of the lakes or streams on their property. Maybe that was the issue. Did they have their own water system for quality and pulling our decontaminants like a city? If not, with a property this size and a growing community, putting in a proper system to handle both water and waste might be a better solution for them in the long run. I’d have to talk with them to see what their plans were.
The watermain was hidden in the back of a cabinet in the basement. Not only did this area contain the main, but also a sump pump, and the sewage outflow. To get an unobstructed view, I crawled on hands and knees into the cabinet with my ass up in the air. My head and shoulders were wedged under a pipe as I tried to angle my flashlight to see if I’d spotted one of the problems. I was so focused on what I was doing that I never heard anyone enter or come down the steps. Or maybe they were just able to prowl silently. But either way, the first inkling I had that I was no longer alone came from the burning heat of someone watching me. And before I could say anything, a deep rumbling voice that contained a purr-like sound one cat breed used to recognize another filled my ears.
“This isn’t some 60-year-old plumber’s ass crack.”
“No, it’s not. Now only if it had a little pussy with it, it would almost make up for missing the club tonight.”
The words were spoken softly, in a volume I wasn’t supposed to hear, hearing was a special gift of mine. I’d honed it over the years to keep me from getting into situations I didn’t want to be in. And even though the honeyed voices sent shivers down my spine like the ones I got when I basked in the warm sunlight, I wasn’t about to let these guys harass me like that. As a female plumber I was already up against a wall, trying to get people to trust me, but sexual harassment, that wasn’t going to fly.
Chapter Three
Teddy
I smacked Freddy for his comment even if I agreed. The ass, waving in the air in front of us was divine, feminine in appearance despite the loose, boxy jeans that the plumber wore. Too bad the plumber wasn’t female, or I gay, otherwise this would have made up for the cancellation of our plans. Not that it really mattered since we’d somehow been led astray about the plumber since this wasn’t an old man. Thank goodness. Now we just had to hope that their attitude was better than the last.
The plumber backed out from under the sink. The potent scent of sage and sunshine that created a wall we’d run into outside, stirred up, becoming stronger until it was all I could smell. The plumber stood and turned…
“Holy shit. You’re a woman.” I couldn’t believe those words came from my mouth. Of course, she was a woman. There was no mistaking it when she turned around. The delicate, feminine features of her face revealed that fact. From the large blue-green eyes that made me think of pools of tropical waters, to the deep cupid’s bow in her plump, kissable lips, there was no mistaking her for a man. You didn’t even need to see the sweet curves of her breasts or the narrow waist to know for sure.
She rolled her eyes at my inane comment before looking me up and down. “And you’re a man, well…”
Freddy doubled over laughing as I glared at him. “And you’re supposed to be the smart one between us.”
But if Freddy thought he was spared from her ire, he thought wrong. The plumber, the very young, sexy, female plumber turned her look of disdain on him. “Don’t think I didn’t hear your little comment about my ass and pussy and what you were missing at the club.”
Not that her censure stopped him. He looked her up and down, licking his lips. “Baby, I misspoke. You are far more than what someone could find at the club. You’re an angel from heaven come to keep me on the good and narrow.”
With each word that he spoke, her mouth dropped open and her eyes wideneded. “Holy shit. People actually say that in real life. I thought it was all made up for the movies.” She batted her eyes at him in the same move Amber had done, but it didn’t look as ridiculous when she did it. Instead, I had this almost irresistible urge to drop to my knees in front of her and pledge my undying worship. Now who’s spouting lines from fiction? “Tell me, does that actually work on women?”
My brother clutched his chest as if she’d shot him in the heart. The theatrics brought a smile to her face. A smile that revealed two dimples that I wanted to lick. And the twinkles in her eyes made my dick twitch. “You slay me.”
She started to laugh, but it quickly turned in a serious coughing fit that had her turning white and red as she struggled to breathe.
“Are you okay?” I rushed to her side, grabbing onto her when her knees buckled. With ease, I swung her up into my arms. “Shit. I am stupid. Of course, you’re not okay.” I raced up the stairs, wanting to get her out of the basement and into fresh air.
She patted my chest in what I hoped was reassurance, but then again it could have been her way of telling me off or maybe even that my speed was making her sicker.
“What’s going on here?” Noel stood in the open front door, looking at me and the still coughing woman in my arms with a puzzled look on his face. “And who is she?”
