Page 40 of Up All Night

“I’m sorry, Halle,” he said, genuinely sounding sorry for me. “Hopefully I can do it faster than that, but we’ll have to wait and see.”

I didn’t want Ron to think I was upset with him or that I didn’t understand, so I placed my hand on his arm and said, “It’s not your fault. Whenever you can get it fixed will be great.”

Once Ron left I flopped down on the couch. “What are we going to do? We can’t godayswithout showering.”

Kate had gone back to painting her toenails but paused to look up at me. “Sponge baths in the kitchen sink?”

I grimaced at her suggestion.

“I don’t know about you girls,” my mom’s voice floated down the hallway as she walked out of my room with her suitcases. “But I have a few men I can call. All of which have hot water and a bed to share.” She waggled her eyebrows at us, which had me grimacing again.

Yuck. I did not need to be thinking about my mom sharing a bed with some random guy.

“Now give your mother a hug.” She held out her arms.

We said our goodbyes, and she told me she’d call soon, but soon could be anywhere from a week to four months at a time. Then as quickly as she had sprung herself into my life, she was gone. I couldn’t say I was particularly sad about it, but I definitely saw the relief on Kate’s face. A week with my mother was a lot to endure.

I grabbed my phone, a notebook, and a pen and sat down at our kitchen table.

“What are you working on?” Kate asked.

“I’m going to start figuring out how to make a business plan.”

Today would be one of the only days I’d be able to work on it since this coming week had another jam-packed schedule. It was my last week covering for Ben, and then hopefully things would slow down enough that I could focus more on planning how I was going to make my dream a reality.

Ten minutes into researching, a text came through on my phone.

Unknown Number:Rumor has it you don’t have any hot water.

I hadn’t saved West’s phone number from last night, but seeing his text from the night before in the thread confirmed it was him.

Me:How did you know that?

Had West been one of the tenants Ron had asked around to see if they also didn’t have any hot water?

West:I had a visitor.

Me:Ron?

West:Definitely not Ron.

West:This visitor actually likes me. They thought it would be a great idea for you and Kate to shower here until your hot water gets fixed.

Shower in West’s apartment? There was only onevisitorwho would show up on West’s doorstep suggesting I shower there. This had my mom’s signature written all over it.

Me:My mom really knocked on your door and asked if I could shower at your place? I’m so embarrassed.

I couldn’t believe she’d knocked on his door. Although come to think of it, it wasn’t that surprising.

West:*smile emoji

West:Don’t be embarrassed. After meeting your mom a few times now, I know that’s just how she is.

I reread his text. It was a simple thing to say, but it meant a lot to me. My mom wasn’t your typical mom, and sometimes that could be hard for people to understand. The fact that West was so understanding had me melting a little. Like afriendlymelting, of course.

Me:Still, I’m so sorry.

West:Don’t worry about it. And if you and Kate want to shower at our place, you can. Cannon and I are gone a lot, but we could give you the lock code.

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