Page 65 of Dreamscape Therapies

Vincent

My phone screams me awake at an ungodly hour, vibrating across my nightstand like it's personally offended by my existence. I slap at it blindly until my hand finally connects.

"What."

"Boss, there's a problem."

Mia's voice is way too careful for this early in the morning, which means I'm about to hate my life. I'm already up, my brain cycling through every possible disaster. Fire. Health inspector. Someone died in the bathroom.

"Define problem."

"It's raining."

I blink, still trying to wake up. "Okay."

"Inside the bar."

I pause halfway through shoving my legs into my jeans. "I'm sorry, what?"

"It's raining in the bar. Like, from the ceiling. I think a pipe burst or something."

"Fuck." I scrub a hand over my face and stare at the ceiling of my bedroom. Of course. Of course this is happening. "I'll be there in twenty."

By nine o'clock, three work trucks are parked out front, making Whistler's look like it's hosting some kind of contractor convention. There's a plumber, an electrician, and a guy who keeps saying the words "structural integrity" like the rest of us are supposed to know what that means. We've managed to stop the waterfall coming through the ceiling, at least, but there are still buckets scattered across the floor catching the sad little drips that haven't gotten the message yet.

This is going to cost me an arm. Maybe a leg. Possibly both.

I'm nodding along to the plumber's explanation about frozen pipes when my phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and glance at the screen.

Appointment with Jay - 11:00 a.m.

"Shit."

"What's up?"

Mia appears beside me, because apparently she has some kind of supernatural ability to sense when I'm having a problem and insert herself into it.

"Nothing. Go inventory something."

"Ohhh, is it your boyfriend?"

She grins like she's just won the lottery, and I give her my flattest stare.

"Weren't you scared of me at some point?"

"Nope." Her grin only gets wider. "Tell him I said hi."

"I'm going to fire you."

"No, you're not."

She's right, but I'm not admitting it. Instead, I walk outside, pull up Jay's contact, and hit call before I can overthink it.

He answers on the second ring. "Good morning!"

Just hearing his voice does something to my chest. It loosens something that's been wound tight since Mia woke me up with her disaster call, and suddenly the whole morning doesn't feel quite as overwhelming.

"Morning," I sigh.