“Seriously?” I chuckled. “Your code is 6969? How old are you?”
“What’s yours? Uptight spelled out in numbers?”
I smacked him in the face with my pillow as he hit Call Back. But this was what I loved about us. Last night, he’d been sweet and caring. He’d made love to me in a way that made my eyes prickle with tears, and now this morning he was back to his normal, grumpy self. Weston Lockwood was a walking dichotomy, and I enjoyed the friction just as much as I enjoyed the smooth.
“This better be important,” he barked into the phone.
He listened for a moment and then sat up in bed. “Fuck. I’m on my way.”
The phone was barely swiped off, and he was climbing out of bed.
“What happened?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
“There’s a flood.” He grabbed his pants from the floor and yanked them on. “In the damn construction area—on the one night we didn’t have a crew working around the clock because the wood floors were being finished.”
“Oh, shit.” I climbed out of bed and scrambled for my clothes. Weston was already tugging on his shirt by the time I located anything of mine.
He walked over and kissed the top of my head. “Take your time. I’ll run up and start damage control.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Fifteen minutes later, I joined Weston in the ballroom. Sam Bolton was already there, and it looked like he’d come straight from bed, too. All of the overhead lights were off, and both men were using their phone flashlights. I could see their faces but not really the extent of the damage—though the sloshing sound the water made as I walked gave me a hint that things weren’t good.
“Hey,” I said. “What happened?”
Sam shook his head and pointed to the ceiling. “Water main busted. It must’ve happened right after we left based on the amount of water all over the place. Floor refinishers put the topcoat of sealant on last night, which needed to dry for at least twelve hours, so the place had been empty since five o’clock. Can’t step on the floors while they’re wet. So we locked the door and told security to skip checking in on their normal rounds.”
“I thought we replaced the rusty pipes.”
“We did. Not sure what happened, but you can be damn sure I’ll be getting to the bottom of it. Had to be a poorly done soldering job or something. Bob Maxwell, the owner of the plumbing company, is already on his way over.”
“How bad is it?” I asked.
“Besides the plumbing work, a lot of the electric got wet, so that’s going to need to be changed out. The floors hadn’t been sealed yet, so most likely all that wood is going to warp and will need to come up. Not to mention, new sheetrock and insulation.”
I blew out a loud breath. “Damn… We were barely going to make it for the first event scheduled as it was. And the mayor and his niece are coming to see her venue next Monday. ”
Sam Bolton rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m so sorry. I’ve worked with this plumbing contractor for more than twenty years and never had a problem. Obviously I have insurance to cover everything, and we’ll do our best to get things back on track. But I’m afraid Sophia’s right. This is going to throw us off our completion date. I don’t know by how much yet, but we’ll do our very best.”
Weston had been pretty quiet until now. He put his hands on his hips and spoke to Sam. “I’m going to call Ken Sullivan and ask him to come over and take a look at things.”
Sam opened his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “Ken Sullivan from Tri-State Contracting? Why?”
“Because I want to know what happened here, and I need some assurance that someone around here knows what they’re doing.”
“Weston…” Sam said. “I realize you’re upset, but I can assure you I know what I’m doing. I’ve been at this for forty years, and I’ve worked with the Sterling family for almost as long.”
“Exactly my point. You haven’t worked with the Lockwood family. I don’t know how things usually run for you firsthand, so I’m going to bring in my own team to make sure whatever is going on here won’t happen again.”
Sam puffed his cheeks and blew out an audible breath. “Fine.”
Rather than argue with Weston in front of Sam, I waited until we were out in the hall alone.
“I think you’re overreacting,” I said as the door closed behind us.
“A pipe should not burst like that unless it freezes. If it was my contractor who caused this mess, you’d be the first one questioning whether he was incompetent.”
I put my hands on my hips. “By questioning my contractor’s competency, you’re also questioning my competency in hiring people.”