“Never left. What’s the problem?”
Kat rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. “My cleaner is sick and I need to tidy up Brooke’s room but there’s no hot water.”
“Kat!” a voice hollered from down the corridor. Tione. Maybe he’d found Trevor. She could hope.
“Yeah?” She hurried down the hall toward him.
He was in the foyer, tattooed arms crossed over his chest, his mouth curled in a dark scowl. “There’s more people for dinner than I expected. I’m short six portions of everything.”
Ugh! Could this afternoon get any worse?
She sucked a breath through her teeth and tried to cool her temper. A throbbing had started behind her right temple and she knew that if she got any more frustrated, it would explode into a full-blown mind-fogging headache and she’d have no choice but to retreat to her bedroom and sleep through it. Then who would clean, and fix the water, and buy groceries?
She addressed Tione. “Make a list of everything you need, and I’ll bike down to the shop and pick it up.”
“Give me two minutes and I’ll get you a list. The sooner you can head to the shop, the better. I’m making slow-cooked pork tonight and it needs as much cooking time as I can get.”
No pressure then. “I’ll do what I can.”
“You’re the best.” Tione strode back to the kitchen.
The best. Yeah, that’s what she’d be if there were another two of her so she could somehow do everything that needed to be done.
“I can see you’re busy,” Sterling said. “If there’s anything I can do…”
Kat flinched. She’d forgotten about him. “Yes, I am. I doubt I’ll have time to sit down with you until after dinner. As you can see, it’s a little crazy.”
Turning away, effectively dismissing him, she dialed the plumber’s number on her cell phone. “Hi, Phil,” she said. “The hot water is on the fritz. Any chance you could spare an hour to come and fix it?”
“I’ll be there in twenty,” Phil replied in his booming voice. “I’m unblocking the pipes at The Den. Again. Should be done soon.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “You’re a lifesaver. I hope Logan’s paying you extra for doing his dirty work.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, right. He’s the biggest tight-ass I ever met. For a laid-back guy, he sure pinches his pennies.”
“That’s how he runs two businesses.”
“Too right. See you soon, Kat.”
Hanging up, she took two steps forward and nearly collided with Sterling. Was he still there? Could the man not take a hint? She couldn’t deal with him right now. She opened her mouth to ask him more firmly to leave, but he cut her off.
“How can I help?”
Her mouth dropped open, his offer completely unexpected. “Um…”
He shifted his feet impatiently. “The sooner everything is sorted out, the sooner we can talk, yes?”
“Yes.”
“So tell me what you need me to do.”
“You’re serious?” He nodded, and she wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she said, “If you could pick up the groceries, that would be amazing.”
“Consider it done.”
“Fantastic.” She beamed, and he took a step backward. She cringed. She hadn’t thought her smile was that awful, but sometimes she forgot her scar could take a while to get used to. “Wait here and take the list from Tione when he comes back. Tell him you’re running an errand for me.”
“Tione is the cook?”
“Yeah.” Acting on impulse, she reached out and squeezed his hand. “Thanks. You’re doing me a massive favor.”