Page 19 of These Rough Waters

“Harper!” I yell again and that’s when I see the door open slightly.

Forgetting everything, I dart for the door, throwing it open further, my bare feet landing in muddy sludge left from the rain the night before. It was brisk outside, despite the sun and my daughter was right there, sitting on top of what looks like a toolbox, her legs crossed while she watches something on the roof of the house.

“Harper! What are you doing?”

“Oh, hi momma,” She smiles at me with rosy cheeks, “I told him not to go up there. It’s not safe.”

“Who!?”

“The boat man.”

“Torin!?”

Ignoring the sludge that squelches between my toes, I cross the space between us and snap my head up.

And sure enough, Torin was on the roof, dressed in a tight pair of black jeans and white t-shirt, a ball cap shading his face while he hammers down onto the roof.

My mouth drops open.

“You told me I’d catch flies if I kept my mouth open like that.” Harper helpfully points out.

My teeth snap together, and I look between my daughter and the man on the roof who didn’t appear to have noticed me here.

“How long has he been up there?”

Harper shrugs, “He was up there when I woke up. Didn’t come down even when I called him and told him it was dangerous.”

There was a ladder resting against the eaves of the house and his back was to me. Despite the cold, the tee was dampened by sweat.

“Torin?” I finally call up to him.

Pausing, he looks over his shoulder down at me, grey eyes shielded by the bill of his cap, but I feel them on me nonetheless.

“What are you doing?” I ask.

“There was a leak.”

“Okay but that doesn’t explain what you’re doing.”

“I’m fixing the damn leak.”

“Oh.”

I swear I hear him sigh in annoyance before he gets back to the work he was doing.

I continue standing there, Harper next to me as we gawk at him.

“You’ll get sick standing in the wet with no shoes in this cold. Go get dressed, Maya.” Torin orders without even looking at me.

“Momma!” Harper gasps, “Your feet are so red!”

Shit.

“Either come inside or stay right there, Harper. I’ll be back in a minute.”

“I’m keeping my new friend company,” She proudly declares.

“I’m sure you are, sweetheart,” I smile down at her before trudging back through the mud, cringing at the feel of the grit and earth moving against my feet and try to wipe them down the best I can before entering the house.

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