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Water waseverywhere.It dripped from my chin. It made my shirt stick to me like a second skin—showcasing every line on my body. And it had created massive puddles on the floor and the wall behind me as well.
“Ooo! Things just got a lot more interesting,” the woman said from the doorway.
Grunting, I ignored her, checked the pipe connection, tightened the ring, and turned the water valve back on once more. Kneeling and soaking my jeans as well as my shirt, I checked the faucet.
Luckily, it no longer sprayed.
Working fast, I grabbed the towels from off of the rack and did what I could to mop up the water.
“You should be good to go,” I told the woman, ignoring the way her eyes wouldn’t leave my chest. “I’ll have Junie send up some more towels.”
“How can I ever thank you?” the woman cooed with a little too much implication.
Any minute now, she’d step in and start walking her fingers up my shoulder.
I wasn’t normally the squirming kind, but this was too much. I tipped my head in her direction—more than relieved to leave her behind—and headed out into the hall, checking my phone as I did so.
“Shoot,” I muttered.
The repair had taken longer than I’d banked on. It was nearing 5:00.
I peered toward the window at the end of the hall, but the curtains had already been drawn. Muttering under my breath, I shuffled back down the hall of the old part of the inn. I tromped to Junie’s office for my coat and to leave the toolbox in its place by the closet.
This time, I tore the curtains back and peered into the darkness. Night had fallen fast, amplifying the gentle snowfall outside.
This wasn’t good. Hazelnut could make her way in the dark, but it really wasn’t safe for either of us to try. With visibility limited for both Hazelnut and me, neither of us would be able to see low-hanging branches or any pitfalls we might encounter. I didn’t have a head lamp with me, so if anything came up to us, Hazelnut might startle and buck me off.
I didn’t like to stay in my old room here, and I avoided it as much as I could, but it did come in handy in a pinch.
Besides, I had some of my old clothes in the dresser. And I really needed to change out of the clothes currently sucking my body like leeches. My jeans were manageable—but the shirt was hopelessly soaked.
I still needed to reach out in search of a replacement sleigh driver, too. Because I meant what I’d told Junie. I would do what I’d done for the past three years. I’d stay as far away from people as I could until Christmas was over.
My shoes squelched uncomfortably with every step. I stepped into the door labeledEmployees Onlyand only when it closed behind me did I breathe easy.
I’d just have to suck it up and stay in my old room. Now that I had some privacy, I peeled my shirt off, ready for a replacement and a shower. My skin instantly breathed the minute the wet fabric was off, and I shook some of the water out of my hair as well.
Gripping my wet shirt, I turned the knob into my room, stepped inside, and tripped on something just beyond the door. At that moment, a woman shrieked loudly enough to wake the dead.
BOONE
For a moment,I had the stupid fear that the woman whose faucet I’d fixed had somehow made her way here and laid some kind of trap to trip me up. She’d hidden herself in my bed with all kinds of ulterior motives.
Staggering, I regained my balance and stared at the dim room.
My eyes readjusted enough to find someone bolting up in the bed.
Mybed.
What the heck? I could see her well enough—she had brown hair and a laptop on her lap, but I needed more light for this. I made for the door, stumbling again over whatever was on the floor, and finally found the light.
It blinded me for only moments before I rounded on the intruder.
“What are you doing here?” I asked before I really saw who it was.
Sure enough, it was a woman, but not the middle-aged cougar from the leaky faucet disaster in room 17.
Although, I wasn’t sure having this woman here was any better.
