“Oh.” I turn to face the counter. “Yes. Right. That really important appointment we have today.”
Jacob nods emphatically. “Yes. An appointment.” He grabs the word like a lifeline.
A thought strikes me. A little friendly payback. “It’s a doctor’s appointment,” I explain to her, handing over my credit card. “Itching for a long time down there isn’t normal. We need to get this guy checked out right away.” I clap him on the back, harder than he hit me.
He stumbles against the counter. Instead of getting offended or giving me a dark glare, once he gets his footing, Jacob plays right along. “Right.” He nods solemnly. “I have GOPPAR.”
Surprised laughter bursts out of me, and I turn it into a cough.
“What is that?” A crease between her brows, concern making her lips tip down.
“That’s what we hope to find out,” Jacob says, his voice grave.
“I hope it isn’t serious.” She hands me back my card and the receipt, and I grab the bag with the desk set while Jacob picks up the wood.
“It’s fine. Thanks, see you around.”
He hustles me out the door, and when we’re in the car, I turn to him with a questioning glance. “What was that all about?”
Jacob shakes his head. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Thanks for your help back there, man.” He chuckles. “Itching. That was pretty good.”
“Hey. I need help with cabin five.” The screen door slams behind Finley as she exits the front office the next morning.
I stand up from where I’ve been waiting for her on the front steps of the main house.
“We have a family of four coming in a couple of hours, and that’s the only decent cabin left with two beds. I cleaned it a few weeks ago, and no one’s been in there since, so we just need to make sure everything works and dust things off. The last guests mentioned the heater was acting up, but I haven’t had time to check it out, so I might need help with it.”
“Okay.” I follow her down the gravel road to the cabin in silence.
Once we reach it, Finley unlocks the door, and we tread inside.
“Do you smell that?” She wrinkles her nose at me.
“Maybe someone left some garbage behind that you missed before?”
“I guess.” She leaves the door open to air it out and moves further into the room, rubbing her arms. “It’s freezing in here.”
She keeps the radiators set low in all the vacant cabins—high enough to keep the pipes from freezing but low enough to save on energy costs.
She walks over to the radiator and turns the knob, fiddling with it for a minute. “This doesn’t seem to be working.” A line forms between her brows, the corner of her lips tugging downward.
“I’ll check the breaker.” I jog outside to make sure a circuit hasn’t blown. Then I head back in to find her already taking it apart to reach the diverter valve and flicking it on and off.
“Nope. This isn’t working.” She blows out an exasperated exhale.
“I can try cleaning the pump.”
Our gazes lock. She presses her lips together and then nods.
“That would be great. I’ll work on prepping the rest of the place and trying to figure out where the stench is coming from.” She winces. “If this doesn’t work, though, I have nowhere else to place them—nowhere with enough beds.”
I crouch down to check out the radiator more closely. “We’ll figure it out.”
She doesn’t move right away, and after a few seconds I look up.
She’s staring down at me, her expression inscrutable. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”