Page 5 of Sass

“On it.”

Rhys watched him go, shaking his head. “That kid’s going to be prime minister one day.”

CHAPTERTWO

Leon

“No, no, no!”I swept Susie into my arms seconds before she planted her cute little tush in the lake of water otherwise known as my current bathroom floor. I’d paddled through it in the middle of the night, and that had been the end of my sleep. “Very yuck,” I explained to the three-year-old and quickly handed her and her bouncing mop of blond curls and killer grey eyes off to her mother.

Jenn popped Susie onto her hip, groaned at the weight, and then regarded me with a wry smile. “Very yuck?”

I shrugged. “It was a pressure moment.”

Susie frowned at me. “Mummy says yuck is a silly word.”

I shot Jenn a look and she shrugged. “Well, it is.”

I turned to the wiry forty-something plumber who was elbow deep in my cistern. “How’s it looking?”

He shot me a look that was at best cautionary. “Let’s just say it’s not a simple fix.”

My heart sank.

“This plumbing is ancient,” he explained with a shake of his head. “And shoddily done to start with. I’m gonna have to get behind this wall for a better look before I can give you a clear idea of what needs to be done, and that won’t be today. I can, however, jerry-rig a workaround so that you can run your business and the ground floor, but you can bank on being without water for the morning, at least. I’ll call your landlord and let him know.”

Shit. “The owner of Flare is supposed to be moving his studio up here in a couple of weeks,” I pointed out.

The plumber ran his palms down the front of his coveralls. “If I have to rework the pipes, half of this wall and parts of the floor are going to have to come up, and the connections outside might need digging up as well. You’re talking a few days at the minimum. Up to a week if the repairs extend to reworking any of the downstairs, in which case you’ll have to shut up shop until I’m done.”

My eyes bugged. “Close? For a week?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. It all depends on what I find. If the problem is confined to upstairs, you’re golden. If not, then just be prepared.” He must’ve seen the horrified look on my face because he added, “What can I say? I’m a plumber. There are pipes involved. The water has to be turned off.”

Everyone’s a comedian.

I sighed. “I guess if it can’t be avoided, I’ll just have to deal. When can you start?”

He grimaced and my heart sank. “I’ve got work backed up for the next ten days at least, but I’ll try and get to you as soon as I can after that. You’ll be fine with the workaround until then. You just won’t have any water upstairs.”

Ten days!Just what I didn’t need. “Is there anyone else...” I trailed off when he looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“You are aware there’s a tradesman shortage, right?” he said patiently. “The only reason I’m even here today is because your landlord is an old client. This is a favour.” He huffed and searched in his toolbox, pulling out a wrench. At least I thought it was a wrench. Then he turned his back and started banging on a pipe under the vanity.

“Down, Mummy, Susie wants to play.” Susie lunged forward, almost toppling out of Jenn’s arms, but my sister-in-law hauled her back just in time.

“No, munchkin.” Jenn glanced at me and smiled. “It’s veryyuck.”

I smirked.

“It’s not yuck!” Susie shot me a winsome smile that usually got her exactly what she wanted. “It’s a swimming pool. Just like Gramma’s.”

I bit back a smile and shook my head. “Not this time, sugar.”

“Why?” She glared.

Jen sighed. “Because, I said no.”

Susie thought about that, then took a breath and turned up the volume. “Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Yuck! Yu—”

---