“I get it now. You are looking for the real thing, just afraid you won’t find it. So you shut it down before you can be disappointed.”
Brooke sat back and thought about that statement. It wasn’t really hard to see how Janet was able to deduce that from this conversation. She had dressed up last night for Gareth, wanting his attention. It wasn’t like she’d thrown herself at him, but it was clear she was interested. That didn’t fit with what Janet said. Not really. Doing all this for a man she knew was going to be leaving didn’t mean anything. It just meant there were no expectations for anything afterward, that’s all.
Damn it. That’s exactly why I’m doing this. Because I know it can’t go anywhere.But she did like him more than she wanted to admit. If he didn’t leave soon, that feeling might develop into something she didn’t want. The last thing she wanted was to find the real thing with someone who didn’t feel the same way.
“I guess it’s a good thing there’s a policy about dating the guests then. I don’t have to worry about falling in love.” And getting my heart broken.
“That’s a good defense. Doesn’t change anything. You still like him. And this is going to make it harder for you: Alex said he had no issue with you dating him. So there you go. No excuses. What are you going to do now?” Janet asked, looking quite pleased with herself.
Brooke didn’t understand why Alex would change the policy based on one guest. She had to be missing something. She thought they had just met and were business associates. Yet last night she picked up on something more. Janet’s comment only confirmed it. Was it worth looking into? Yes, since it seems to now include me.
She asked, “Janet, you don’t find that odd?”
Janet shrugged. “Nothing in Tabiq surprises me anymore.”
Brooke wasn’t concerned about Tabiq. Gareth had her puzzled. Why exactly was he here? Granted, he was full of mystery, and she was slowly getting to know him. After last night’s after-dinner conversation, Brooke understood why the Hendersons were so protective of Tabiq. Was Gareth here to help rebuild the country? God knows the Lawson family has the assets and money to do it. Maybe he wasn’t leaving Tabiq for long. That would explain the extended job offer from Ziva too.
She had to agree with Janet. Tabiq was full of surprises. But she had one for all of them. She wasn’t extending her contract. She might like it here, but she was leaving in two months, and it was going to be a one-way ticket.
There was a knock on the door and Brooke was thrilled for the interruption. Janet called out for them to enter.
“Excuse me, but there is a problem in the kitchen. One of the pipes has broken and water is spraying everywhere.”
“Oh no. Did you shut off the water to the kitchen?”
“We don’t know how,” the man exclaimed.
Janet got up from behind the desk, and they all dashed to the dining room. Water was shooting out of the sprinkler pipe on the ceiling. She turned to Brooke and asked, “Do you know what to do?”
Brooke knew nothing about construction. So she pulled out her cell and rang Gareth’s number. She blurted out what was happening and he said he’d be right there.
“Who did you call?” Janet asked as she watched the water.
“Gareth.”
Janet turned to her and said, “A guest?”
When she had dialed the number Brooke wasn’t thinking of him as a guest, but instead of someone who’d come to her aid. And really the one person she knew she could turn to. “Do you want me to call him back?”
It was too late. Gareth was already in the kitchen rushing over to her. He obviously hadn’t been up and ready yet as he was only wearing a pair of shorts, no shirt or shoes.
“Where is your maintenance room?” he asked.
Janet pointed. “It’s the door across the room. I’m not sure what good that will do. We don’t know what to do.”
“Let me worry about that,” Gareth replied.
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking when I called him,” Brooke said to Janet as she watched him walk beneath the spraying pipes and disappear into the maintenance room.
“Like I said, Tabiq is full of surprises.”
Yes it is.A few seconds later, the water began to ease up and finally slow to drips. Gareth came out and instead of walking back over to them, he climbed up on a counter and tapped one of the pipes. He shook his head and jumped down.
“Not good,” he said.
“What’s the matter?” Brooke asked.
“An issue I’ll have to speak to Alex about. But the kitchen is not going to be functional for a while.”