Sebastian moves to the door, and when it’s open, he looks over his shoulder at me. “Are we good, Brooke?”
“We’re good,” I tell him earnestly. “Fresh start.”
“Fresh start,” he agrees, and then he’s gone.
Turning my attention back to my phone, I pull up Bishop’s number to call him.
He answers on the first ring. “Hey, babe, you get my message?” he asks.
“Um…no,” I say in confusion.
“I just texted you a few minutes ago,” he says, and I can tell he’s on speakerphone while he’s driving. “Nanette called me. Your hot water faucet handle in the guest bathroom finally fell off, and of course the water’s running full tilt. I’m on my way over there to fix it right now.”
Nanette had told me about the loose handle on the very first day she used the bathroom and I’d been meaning to get it fixed. But it just sort of held on so it wasn’t a priority.
Am I surprised she called Bishop? Maybe a little. I mean, why not call me first?
I tap the speakerphone button on my phone and flip to my phone log. “Hold on a minute.”
Well look at that…she did try to call me while I was meeting with Sebastian, but I always keep my ringer off when I’m in the office. I flip to my texts, and she also shot me a text that it was broken and she was going to try Bishop first and then a plumber if she couldn’t reach him.
It may be that Nanette truly is turning into a very good roommate, and I’m wondering if I should offer to rent her a room if she decides to stay here. I mean, she’s definitely not getting the job, and I wonder when Sebastian will let her know.
Or even if he will?
I should have asked him about it, but I feel weird doing so. There’s still a part of me that doesn’t even want to believe what happened between him and her.
“Babe,” Bishop calls into the phone, and it startles me.
“Oh gosh…sorry. Daydreaming.”
“If you didn’t get my message, what did you call for?” he asks.
“I got the job in merchandising,” I tell him, not able to contain the excitement in my voice, but I do try to mute it a tad because I really don’t know how he’ll feel about it.
“That’s awesome,” he shouts, and I imagine him giving a fist pump in his car. “Did you have a talk with Sebastian?”
“I did,” I say. “And it’s good. I really think it’s good, and besides that, I’m working under Charity Priest on the manufacturing side. More money, more ability to get promoted.”
“It’s a no-brainer then,” he tells me. “When do you start?”
“I already have,” I tell him almost apologetically.
He gives a sigh that sounds as if he’s dying. “So you’re not coming east with us?”
“Sorry,” I say even more apologetically.
“Fuck,” he says, as if he just realized something.
“What?”
“I’m going to have to figure out how to have an actual conversation with Tacker,” he grumbles.
Laughing, I commiserate. “Poor baby. But I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
“Can we do lunch today then?” he asks. “I’d like to see you before we leave.”
“I thought you were helping Dax look for a new car today.”
“Yeah…spend time with Dax or you,” he says, weighing the words with his tone of voice. “I think I’ll choose you.”
“You got me then,” I reply softly.
Man, does he have me.Chapter 28BishopThe house is quiet when I walk in. Brooke had given me a key last week. Actually on the day she and I agreed to extend our charade. She was tentative when she did it, I think fearful that I would take that as being too much, too fast.
I didn’t, though, and gladly gave her one of my keys, although we rarely hang out at my place.
The kitchen and living room lights are off, the only light coming from the open windows, which is substantial in itself, as Brooke has a lot of great natural light due to the open layout of this house.
“Nanette?” I call out as I shut the door behind me.
“In the guest bathroom,” she calls back.
I don’t respond but head into Brooke’s kitchen, where she keeps a basic tool set in the pantry. I asked her once why she didn’t put it in her garage and she said she had nothing to fix in the garage.
It was a fair point.
After snagging the tool bag, I head through the living room and down the hallway to the guest bathroom. I can hear the water running as I get closer.
When I turn the corner to enter the bathroom, my eyes go to the tub first. Sure enough, water is running out of the faucet and the hot water handle is gone.
Then I see Nanette, who is holding the handle out to me with one hand while clutching a towel that’s wrapped around her with the other.