Page 59 of Tactical Revival

But this is as good as it’s going to get tonight. So, with that in mind, I slip out of my cooking shoes and into a pair of brown flats that match the centers of the sunflowers on my dress.

I shut the door to my bedroom. “Matty, your uncle will be here any minu?—”

“Already here,” Michael announces as he and Reyna breeze into my apartment. She has a bruise on the side of her head, but otherwise looks in good spirits. It puts my mind at ease, because every time I close my eyes, I see her upside down in that car.

My brother takes one look at me, then at the food on the counter and the pristinely set table, and narrows his gaze. “What is happening here?”

“I—nothing. I’m eating.”

“With who?” He arches a brow.

“It’s none of your business,” Reyna insists.

Matty comes down the hall with his backpack. “Man, this smells delicious. Jaxson is one lucky dude, Mom. You outdid yourself.”

My cheeks heat, making my face feel like it’s fifty degrees hotter than the rest of my face.

“Jaxson? You did all of this for Jaxson?” Michael gapes at me, feigned betrayal in his dark gaze. “How long has this been going on?”

“It’s not going on,” I insist. “This is the first time—well, not the first time I’ve cooked for him—but the first time like this.” I’m rambling. Mortified. Unsure. My stomach churns, so I press a hand to it.

“Michael, stop acting like this,” Reyna says, lightly smacking him on the arm.

“Like what?”

“You’re teasing her and it’s not fair,” she replies.

“But—”

“He stood up for me, so as far as I’m concerned, he’s good enough to date Mom.”

“That’s all it takes, huh?” Michael musses his hair, and Matty leans into him. The camaraderie between them warms my heart. “Look, I want you happy, Margot. I’m just messing with you. I just wish you would have told me you were interested in him like this.”

“I don’t know that I am—or I didn’t know that I was—” I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “Listen, I invited him over for dinner since Matty was going to be with you, so I could thank him for everything he’s done for us. That’s all.”

“Uh-huh.” Michael grins, and the amusement on his face tells me we’re far from finished discussing this.

“Look, can you go, please? He’ll be here soon, and I need to finish a few things.” I start ushering them toward the door.

“You look beautiful,” Reyna tells me. “Call if you need anything?”

“I will. Thanks.” I smile at my brother’s wife, then guide them out of the B&B and shut the door quickly. I have no idea if Jaxson is still upstairs or not, and the last thing I want to do is bring him down sooner than I need to.

I want everything to be perfect.

I need everything to be perfect.

I’ve just shut the door to my private apartment when I hear a slight whistling sound. Strange. Thinking Matty might have left something playing on his computer, I head down the hall toward his room. But as I get closer to the bathroom at the end of the hall, the noise gets louder and stops sounding like whistling and more like— “Oh no!” Water spews out from beneath the sink, pouring onto the ground.

I drop to my knees and rip open the cabinet, only to get sprayed with a face full of water. “No, not today! Ugh! Why?” I cover the pipe with my hand, and water spews through my fingertips. Frantically, I scan the immediate area for anything that I can use to temporarily hold off the water until I can get a wrench from the garage.

My gaze lands on an olive-green towel on the ground. Yes! Thank you, Matty, and your terrible cleaning skills. With one hand on the pipe, I kick out of my shoes and stretch out my leg, gripping the towel with my toes.

As soon as I have it in reach, I release the pipe just long enough to wrap it with the towel. Breathing heavily, I sit for just a moment, but right as I’m starting to get up, water begins pouring through the towel.

“No, no, no!”

“What’s happening here?”

---