Page 7 of Room 1003

Kit was squirming now. “No, Papa! I’m here! Please don’t eat my pancakes.”

“Oh! There he is,” Dad said, heaving him off his shoulder and flopping him down onto the bed. I then tickled him, just enough that he was gasping for breath. I felt bad getting him dressed back in his pajamas, still slightly scented with smoke, after he’d just gotten clean.

“Okay, let’s head downstairs and have a quick breakfast. School starts in just over an hour, and we have to swing by the house for a change of clothes first. Then I need to get back to the house to meet the electrician.”

“Is there going to be another fire?” Kit asked while I helped him with his shoes. “I wanna see the firetrucks! With sirens and lights and ladders and a Dalmatian.”

“No fires today, sorry,” I said, booping his nose. “Maybe next time.”

I crossed my fingers behind my back, hoping there wouldn’t be a next time.

4

Ben

Thehousewasgorgeous.I could tell why Shane had bought it. Its steeply pitched roof rose to a peak at the front, with arched bay windows, a wide porch, and intricate gables, and there was a stained-glass window above the door. This house was an absolute gem. I had to admit, I was halfway in love with the house myself.

But when I placed my foot on the bottom step, the threatening groan that rose from the boards beneath my feet had me wary. Gorgeous, yes. Entirely stable? No.

With caution, I made my way up the remaining stairs to the front door. Shane had literally put out the welcome mat, and I smiled down at it. Balancing my toolbox in one hand and a tray of coffee in the other, I managed to extend one finger to press the doorbell… and nothing happened. I sighed, shaking my head at myself. The power was out, of course.

I dropped my toolbox to the side and knocked. A moment later, I heard footsteps approaching on the other side and saw movement through the textured pane of glass.

The door swung open, and there was Shane, just as adorable as the first time I saw him. “Hey, right on time,” he said with a smile.

“I come bearing gifts,” I said, holding out the tray for him.

“Coffee!” he moaned, pressing his face close and inhaling deeply, eyes drifting closed. I tried not to envision anything erotic about it, but it was hard not to, the way he licked his lips. “You didn’t have to, but I’msoglad you did.”

I laughed and followed him inside as he stepped aside to let me in. “I figured if your power was out that you might not have a coffee maker, and I knew you didn’t get much sleep. I wasn’t sure what you’d like or if anyone else would be here, so I got a few things to choose from.”

“Just me today. My dad had some errands to run, and Kit’s at school.” I noticed he didn’t say anything about his partner, but as he turned toward the kitchen, motioning for me to follow him, I couldn’t help but notice the gold wedding band on his left hand. He was taken, because of course he was.

I went to kick off my shoes, but Shane shook his head. “Don’t bother. The place is a mess, and I have a sneaking suspicion that it’ll get a lot worse before it gets better.”

As we passed through the kitchen, I caught a faint whiff of smoke still lingering, but there was a cool breeze passing through from the open windows. It was a bit dim, with only a small amount of sunlight coming through the narrow window at the back of the house, overshadowed by an overgrown tree, but I could see that the classic architecture continued here too.

“Um, you’ll need a flashlight,” he said, grabbing one off a nearby counter.

“Way ahead of you,” I said with a laugh, pulling one from my toolbelt and clicking it on.

“Yours is bigger than mine,” he huffed, teasing, and we both smirked, an unspoken joke about how size didn’t matter hanging between us.

We squeezed through a narrow door half hidden in the back of the kitchen, then down a steep set of stairs. Most of the newer houses in the area didn’t have basements, but the ones built in this era had low stone-walled cellars. The temperature dipped as we descended into the ground, and there was a faint damp odor. I hoped that didn’t mean there was water seeping in along the foundation.

We passed a boarded-up coal chute at the bottom of the stairs, and I panned my light around the small space. Someone had updated the furnace at least. I was busy checking out the walls, and since I was distracted, I wasn’t watching where I was going. My head connected with a low-hanging beam with a thud.

“Dammit!” I cursed, ducking down too late. I wanted to say a lot worse, but I kept my language clean when I was around clients. It wasn’t good to offend potential paying customers.

“I’m so sorry,” he gasped, even though there was nothing to apologize for. It wasn’t his fault I wasn’t paying attention. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I huffed, rubbing at the sore spot. I was going to have a lump, for sure, but at least there wasn’t any blood. “It comes with the territory when you’re this tall.”

“I wouldn’t know,” he joked, passing a hand over his head with ease. There were several inches of clearance.

We finally made our way to the corner where the fuse box was, tucked in behind the furnace and hot water tank. Putting my toolbox down on the stone floor, I pulled out my head lamp and clicked it on, so I would have light hands-free. I grunted when I opened the panel. “Oof, what a mess.”

“Don’t believe anything those labels tell you. They’re all a bunch of liars,” he said, aiming for levity, but I could sense his underlying stress.

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