Page 77 of Changing Tides

She smiles at the way I worded the question.

“Yes, Avie’s place. There has been water on the kitchen floor the last two mornings. She’s not sure if it’s coming from the refrigerator, sink, or dishwasher. I told her we’d have it looked at.”

“Sounds like it might be a bigger job than me and my toolbox can handle,” I say.

“Oh, fiddle, you’ve re-plumbed your entire house,” she points out.

“I have, but the appliances were removed first, and I could reach the pipes easily. I also stayed on the boat. Removing her appliances one by one will take days, and I doubt she and a four-year-old can live that long with the water cut off.”

“I’m sure you can figure it out quickly,” she says as if nothing I said registered.

I shake my head.

“I’ll go have a look. Do you have a spare key?” I ask.

She wipes her hands dry on the apron tied around her waist and walks over to the drawer of her china cabinet. She places the key she finds there in my hand.

“Thank you for taking a look. I’ll have a hot blackberry cobbler ready when you’re done.”

I’m elbow deep in replacing a pipe behind the refrigerator when I hear the front door open and close.

I was able to trace the water on the floor to a flooded pan under the fridge. After pulling it out, I could see that the pipe that leads to the automatic ice maker on the door had sprung a leak.

When I look up, a confused Avie is staring at me.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“Fixing your water problem,” I say.

“How did you know about that?”

“Nana sent me,” I reply.

“So, you’re a handyman too.”

“For my grandmother, yes, ma’am.”

“Well, I’ll get out of your way,” she says before turning on her heel.

“Avie, wait,” I call.

She hesitates for a moment and then returns. “Yes?”

“How’s the job going?” I ask.

“Wonderful.”

One-worded answers. Interesting.

“Is that all?” she asks.

I set the wrench in my hand aside and look at her. “Is something wrong?”

Her arms cross over her chest, and she lets out a sigh. “Why would anything be wrong?”

And now, we’re answering questions with questions.

I step toward her, and she moves back.

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