The scene in Millie’s kitchen is much how I left it. Plus saturated towels and a teary-eyed Emmett.
And the air in the room isn’t just damp. It’s heavy with tension. I set the shop vac down and push it ahead of me, the noise of it announcing my presence and making all the Delacroixes look up from their individual clean-up stations. Millie and Emmett are on their knees with towels, and the twins each have a mop and bucket.
“I brought an industrial fan too,” I say, hoping a little good news will lift the mood. But Emmett just sniffles from his corner of the kitchen.
“Thank you,” Millie says stiffly.
I don’t know what I missed, but judging from the way Mattie and Harry keep their gazes to the floor, it couldn’t have been a lot of fun. No surprise. There’s standing water in here. Some of it ran past the threshold into the living room, and it looks like most of that has been sopped up, but the mess is going to take a while to set right.
Still, it’s like I’ve won the World Cup.
When I got Millie’s call an hour ago, my heart thumped so hard I thought she could hear it. It felt like I’d been caught. As though she were calling to give me hell for waking up this morning sweat-soaked and moaning her name. As though she’d seen a live feed of my dreams.
It didn’t matter that I was ashamed. It still made my day to see her name on my phone.
Yeah, I’m in trouble. I have to stop thinking about her—stopdreamingabout her—but right now, she needs my help, so for today, that’s what matters. The fact that I’d rather be here than anywhere else is beside the point.
I plug in the shop vac. “You guys can stop with all that,” I say and point to the wet-dry vacuum. “This is going to take care of almost all the water.”
Millie stands, the set of her jaw tight. “We’re all responsible for this mess, so we all need to help clean up.”
My brows draw together. How issheresponsible for this? But she’s not looking at me. She’s glaring at her little brother.
“Emmett, is there something you want to say to Luc?”
The eight-year-old hesitates, ducking his head but then he looks up. He can only hold my gaze for a moment before he glances away. “I’m sorry I played with the pipe plug.” His eyes meet mine again for just an instant. “I didn’t know this would happen.”
“How could younotknow?” Harry snaps beside his mop bucket. “It’s a plug and a pipe. Duh.”
“Harry—” Mattie starts.
“And where were you?” Millie asks, turning her tight expression to the older Delacroix brother. “You were supposed to be watching him.”
“Not just me,” he fires back, scowling.
“No, not just you. Both of you were in charge, so both of you bear some responsibility.”
“What do you expect?” Mattie asks, closing ranks. “We can’t literally stare at him for five hours while you’re at work.Youdon’t stare at him the whole time you’re home. This could have just as easily have happened on your watch.”
On your watch.It sounds like they’re at war.
But by the look on Millie’s face, I can tell she feels like it did happen on her watch. And Emmett’s head hangs so low, his chin is practically on his chest. I shouldn’t be witnessing this, but I can’t keep quiet.
“Let’s all remember this was an accident,” I say, and the way each Delacroix head whips toward me, I think they all forgot I was here. “This was an accident, and we’ll fix it. No harm done.”
Millie blinks and her face softens, some of the tension and guilt leaching out of it. Her chest rises and falls with a swell of breath. “Tell us what to do.”
That I can handle.
“You can pick up the towels and put them in the wash,” I say to Millie and then turn to the twins. “You guys can dump the buckets outside and wring out the mops while I show Emmett how to use the shop vac.”
The twins look relieved, and Emmett’s eyes bug with the excitement that only a child could have for operating a shop vac. But it’s Millie’s expression that turns my blood to liquid fire.
She looks at me like I’m the best thing that’s ever walked on two legs.Dios mío,I could get used to a look like that.
It’s hard, really hard, to turn away, but I do, motioning to Emmett. He hurries over. “This is a special vacuum for water. You know you can’t use a regular vacuum on water, right?” He nods, still wide-eyed. “Good. You want to hold the nozzle while I steer? You can slurp up all this water.”
“Yeah. Cool,” he says. I’ve kept my eyes on him, aware that the twins have gone outside. Yet Millie is still watching us.
