Page 27 of Hold

“The state of that boiler,” Liam covered.

“That’s right,” Pat agreed. He talked to Thea, marking off the problems on his fingers. “You need the whole thing drained and cleaned. It’s probably so furred up by now that won’t even help, but you should do it anyway. Then we’re going to look at your radiators because they’re probably not shimmed properly.” He looked pointedly at the table she was working on, behind which the radiator was hidden. “How often do you refill the boiler?”

“When it needs it,” she said, trying not to sound defensive.

Pat sighed. He wasn’t improving her impression of contractors. Especially the older guys who considered it a waste of time to explain anything mechanical to a woman.

“An empty tank can be dangerous,” Liam broke in. Was it her imagination, or did he sound more diffident, more patient than she’d ever heard him? “You should check it every week in the winter, especially since you don’t have an automatic feed.”

Thea waited a beat, then said, “Okay.” She’d have to ask him later what an automatic feed was. She imagined the furnace inHome Alone, chomping on Macaulay Culkin’s cherubic little fingers.

“Is that for tonight?” Liam was looking into the mixing bowl.

“Mm-hmm.”

“Looks good.”

Okay, now he was just trying too hard.

“Yeah, well,” Pat said. “Let’s look at these rads. I gotta get back.”

Thea picked up the bowl and Liam pulled out the table. “Knew it,” Pat said at once. “It’s level.”

“Isn’t it supposed to be?” Thea said.

“No. It has to drain. Can’t drain if it’s level. Liam, go get the shims.”

Liam went to the front of the house. Without him, the silence quickly got awkward. Thea’s brain couldn’t think of a single thing to say that wouldn’t reveal that she’d heard their conversation. So they just stood there, until Pat crouched down by the radiator again and started spinning the valve.

“This valve should be all the way on or all the way off,” he said in that low growl that so resembled Liam’s. “Halfway like this and the condensate can’t drain.”

“Oh.” Thea flushed. “But it’s the kitchen. It gets hot in the winter. And the living room is too cold.”

“Lots of windows in the living room. Plus”—he looked into the offending room at the radiator, which was behind the couch—“no circulation.”

Well, where the hell did he expect her to put the couch? That was the only long wall she had.

Thankfully, she was saved from answering by Liam coming back through the front door. Thea was so glad to see him, she almost forgot she was pissed at him. Funny how a person could be your biggest pain in the ass, until you met a bigger one.

Now she remembered that Pat had made Liam promise five years of his life to him, back when Liam had had no choice in the matter. So Liam’s restraint today was admirable. Then again, Pat was also his boss. Had to be difficult.

The two men moved the couch, and Liam put a level on the radiator. Thea went back into the kitchen and stabbed at her dough some more. Their quiet voices came to her, but finally, thank God, she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

By the time she’d got the cookies into the oven, cut up onions and mushrooms, and rolled out some filo dough, they were back. The smell of sautéing onions and mushrooms filled the room, and her stomach growled.

“That’s all we can do for now,” Pat said. “You should have the system drained and cleaned before winter.”

He still sounded so damn pissed off. Like her entire existence was a burden to him. Well, screw that. “Thanks again for coming out. What do I owe you?”

Pat’s eyes slid to Liam’s.

“That’s all right,” Liam began. “It was just a—”

“You were here for about an hour, wouldn’t you say?” Thea said to Pat, not looking at Liam. “That’s, what, one-fifty? For two of you, three hundred?”

Pat looked slightly nonplussed. Thea reached behind her for the checkbook she’d gotten out on purpose.

“Thea,” Liam began, but there was nothing he could say about it. She was going to have to transfer some money into her account pronto after they’d gone, but it was satisfying to hand the check over to Pat.

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