Page 24 of All Inn Thyme
“What happened?” Beth pauses and stares at him.
Mellie looks worried as she holds her son’s hand and stands still, a look of terror frozen on her face. My first instinct is to go to her and protect her. I don’t like seeing her like that—or anyone, for that matter. Evan says something quietly to her then speaks louder for the rest of us. “It’s the garden shed. A leak from the loft to the bottom floor. A pipe must have broken, and water was running for a while out there before anyone noticed.”
She looks visibly upset. “Oh, no. Was it the sink? We’ve tightened it so many times. It must have—”
“It’s okay, we’ll fix it,” Evan says calmly. “It’s not your fault.”
My heart feels like it’s being squeezed in a vice seeing her this vulnerable. Without even thinking, I jump in and say, “I can help.”
Evan regards me for a minute then nods. “Thanks.”
We all head out. Mellie walks over to her ATV and straps Kase in behind her. She starts it up and takes off, not looking back. Yep, a metaphor.
I get in my truck and follow them the short distance before I park and walk over to the garden shed. From the outside, it looks like a metal outbuilding, but inside is where the inn has their washer and dryers, linen carts, and supplies. And it’s a wreck. Everything is drenched, and it’s going to probably need to be completely gutted.
Evan looks stressed and runs a hand through his hair. Beth puts her arm around him and asks, “What the heck happened?”
“A pipe burst, and part of the flooring collapsed,” he tells her. “They’re going to need somewhere to stay until we can get it repaired. And it’s going to be a while from the looks of it.”
“Okay, I’m going to go check our bookings and see where we can put them,” Beth says, heading to the main building.
Sasha stops her. “Pete already looked. We’re booked out for a few weeks now. Solid.”
Allie sighs. “Our back rooms are still gutted at the farmhouse, and we hadn’t planned on touching them until after the bakery renovations.”
Margie says, “I have friends staying in my spare rooms. It’s going to be at least a week before I can take Mellie and Kase in.”
“Preston’s been squatting in our guest room,” Evan says. “We’re full. Shit.” He paces and runs his hand through his hair.
Mellie pulls up in the ATV and parks, then gets Kase unbuckled. She looks worried as she walks up and surveys the damage.
Seeing her this way, especially with her son, guts me, and I have no idea where this primal urge to protect her is coming from, but it’s there. I want them to be safe. Somehow, she’s become important to me and before I even give a second thought to it, I turn to Evan and say quietly, “What if they stay at the bunkhouse with me? There are two other rooms on the other side I’m not even using. I work nights and she works days, so I doubt our paths would even cross too often.”
Logan shakes his head. “We couldn’t ask you to do that.”
“You didn’t. I offered, and I don’t mind. It’s a big place for just me and Nova. I’m gone a lot between the factory and Sam’s.”
Evan looks at me skeptically and then his eyes narrow. “Why would you offer this?”
Logan nudges him. “What Evan means to say is, thank you for offering, and let’s see what Mellie says.” He shoots Evan a look and Evan shrugs his shoulders.
Mellie has tears in her eyes. Beth puts her arm around her and steers her off to the side to talk to her with Evan. I see her watch his face, listening to him talk, and then shake her head slightly. She then listens again and nods in defeat. He looks at me and his expression pretty much tells me that if I so much as even think about messing with her, I’m a dead man.
Beth takes Kase’s hand to bring him over to the inn. He looks back at his mom, worried, then runs back to her to give her a hug. She hugs him back and kisses his head, her hand rubbing his back. He turns to go with Beth, but it doesn’t look like he wants to leave his mom’s side. He’s so little and worried about his mom, but who worries about them? Where’s his dad?
There’s been no mention of him, and I’m thinking that there must be more of a story here. I’m not liking the read I’m getting from this, like he’s not safe. I hope that’s not the case, but it’s just a feeling I have. Why else would she be so hesitant to start something with me? Who would leave these two? There’s more that I am missing, I’m sure, but I still have no regrets about offering up the bunkhouse. They are good people, and I want to help them. That’s it, right?Shit. No, that’s not it.
I like her. And that’s the damn truth.
When Kase and Beth leave, Evan walks back over to me. “They’re going to stay with you, and we appreciate you offering.” He stands there for a minute with his hands on his hips, not saying anything, and I know what he’s thinking and probably trying very hard not to say. I already understand that Mellie is like a sister to Evan, and I’d probably react exactly the same way if I were in his shoes.
Not to mention there’s a kid to think about, too. And judging from the concerns that seem to surround Mellie’s past, they probably have reasons for being hesitant around a stranger.
“They’ll be okay with me, I promise. I keep to myself, and I’ll stay out of their way.”
Evan looks like he’s still trying to analyze me.Okay, I get it, man.I just look at him, nod, and head over to Logan who is motioning for me. If Evan really knew me and knew who I was, he wouldn’t worry about me at all.
“Hey, can you back your truck in and we’ll get as many of the plants out as we can? She’s really upset about them. They lost pretty much everything they own tonight, which wasn’t much to start with. I’m not even sure what is salvageable. This sucks, man.”
