Talk about humiliating.
I pulled my hand from his. "Forget it." I took a deep breath and said, "We can pretend it never happened." I forced a stiff smile. "See? All better."
It was a lie, and he'd be a fool to believe it. But now, all I wanted was to slink away and forget the last two days had ever happened. So I didn't wait for his reaction. Instead, summoning up whatever dignity I could muster, I lifted my chin and calmly walked past him.
This time, he let me go. Unsure what else to do, I walked through the kitchen and made a beeline for the main stairway. I had to give myself credit. I didn't start crying until I reached my bedroom. And then, I did it quietly, with the music on, behind my locked bedroom door.
Whether he heard me or not, I had no idea.
When I woke, he was gone.
Chapter 27
Surprised that I'd slept at all, I stood on the front porch, staring out over my long, mostly empty driveway. It was just past sunrise, and the only car in sight was my own.
There was no sign of Joel or his vehicle. This was the second time I'd checked. The first time had been around three in the morning. He'd been gone then, too.
I wasn't sure when he left or if he planned on returning. But I did know that I was done chasing after him. I was done pretending that he wanted me as much as I wanted him. I was just done, period.
When it came to Joel, I'd been a slow learner, but everyone wised up eventually, right?
Regardless, there was something that I wasn't going to let go. I pulled out my cell phone, turned away, and marched back into the house, slamming the door behind me.
As I walked toward the kitchen, I pulled up Luna's number and hit the call button. It went straight to voicemail – no surprise there. It was, after all, ungodly early.
That was fine by me. I wasn't looking for a conversation. I was looking to send a message.
At the sound of the beep, I took a deep breath and said, "Hey, remember me? The girl who almost barfed in your bathroom? Well, just so you know, it was just a stomach thing…" My tone grew sarcastic. "…and not a bouncing, bundle of joy. I did tell you that, didn't I? Wait, don’t bother answering. I did. I know I did. And just so you know, I wasn't lying."
Feeling nearly unhinged, I forced a laugh. "So, anyway, if Joel shows up there – Hey, crazier things have happened, right? – you can all have a good, long laugh about it."
On some level, I seriously doubted that anyone would be laughing, especially Luna, who'd been surprisingly nice. But I was too far gone to care. I wanted to finish with a bang, but I had no idea what to say. In a fit of desperation, I blurted out, "So thanks a lot!"
I froze. Thanks a lot. God, I totally sucked at this. But so what? I'd made my point. With a sigh, I disconnected the call and tossed my phone onto the kitchen counter.
In the back of my mind, I realized that Luna probably meant well. But the emotional roller coaster ride had taken its toll. After too many ups and downs, I'd reached the point where all I wanted now was to get off this crazy ride and forget every single one of them – Luna, Jake, and especially Joel.
When the phone rang an hour later, I picked it up and studied the display, only to feel myself frown.
It was Jake.
Just great. I could only imagine why he was calling. I felt my jaw clench. Fine. If he wanted to chew me out, he could do it in a voicemail, just like I had.
I shoved a nervous hand through my hair. Who knows? Maybe when I cooled down, I'd be apologizing to Luna for leaving such a rude message. But for now, I was too angry, too tired, and too sick of all of them. When a beep announced a new voicemail, I eyed my phone with renewed dread.
If his message was anything like mine, I didn't want to hear it – not now, anyway. So instead, I marched upstairs to freshen up, only to pause when I caught sight of my shower drain.
There it was again – standing water, probably from my ill-advised 3 a.m. shower. I gave a long, weary sigh. In all the drama, I'd completely forgotten about my sewer problems.
Here, I had a whole bunch of bathrooms, and now, none of them were draining – or at least, not fast enough to matter.
I was still looking at the drain when the doorbell rang.
I froze.
Joel?
Doubtful.
And besides, what did it matter? I didn't want to see him, anyway.
Really, I didn't.
Probably, this was a good thing, because it wasn't Joel at the door. Instead, it was two strangers, a couple of guys in their early twenties, who looked vaguely familiar.
I was almost certain that I'd seen them somewhere before.
But where?
Chapter 28
From the open doorway, I looked from one guy to the other. They were both tall and lean, and wore grubby jeans and long-sleeved shirts. One was blond, and the other had hair so dark, it might as well have been black.
I gave them a perplexed look. I'd already said hello, which was their cue to tell me what they were doing on my doorstep at nine in the morning. When they didn't, I said, "Can I help you?"
"Sure," the blond said, "You got any beer?"
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Beer," he repeated. "You got any?"
"Uh, no."
"Shit." He looked to the dark-haired guy and said, "Told ya we should've stopped."
Again, I looked from one guy to the other. "And you are…?"
"Thirsty," the blond said, shouldering his way past me, into the house.
Startled, I whirled around to call after him. "Wait! You can't just barge in here."
He stopped and turned back to face me. "Why not?"
Did I really need to explain? "Because I don't even know who you are."
"Sure you do. You got the message, right?"
"What message?" I said. "From who?"
"From Luna. Maybe an hour ago?"
My phone was tucked into the pocket of my jeans. So far today, I'd received exactly one message – the one from Jake. I still hadn't listened. More confused than ever, I pulled out my phone and took a look.
I saw no call from Luna, which was probably a good thing. I could only imagine what kind of message she'd be leaving for me now.
I told the guy, "Sorry, but you're wrong." I held up my phone, screen out. "See? No message from Luna here."
Thank God.
Behind me, the other guy laughed.
I whirled to face him. "What's so funny?"
He was still laughing. "Not from her phone."
I didn't get it. "What do you mean?"
Now, the blond – who was still inside the house – was laughing, too. Feeling like a spectator at a cartoon tennis match, I kept looking from one guy to the other. Whatever the joke was, I sure as heck didn't get it.
On a more positive note, I finally realized where I'd seen these two guys before. They'd been with Luna, coming out of that elevator in Detroit. I vaguely recalled her threatening to turn the hose on them.
I bit my lip. I had a hose somewhere. Was it time to pull it out?
From inside the house, the blond said, "So, you got a bathroom in this place?"
From the porch, the dark-haired guy said, "Dude, she's probably got twenty. Pick one, and get it over with."
When I turned to look, the dark-haired guy explained, "We've been on the road since five." In a louder voice, obviously intended for the blond, he added, "And he's been griping since Kalamazoo."
Kalamazoo was an hour away, but that didn't mean I was any less clueless. I gave the dark-haired guy a perplexed look. "This message from Luna, what did it say?"
He held out his hand. "Here, lemme see your phone."
Instinctively, I drew back. "No."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't know you."
He gave me a look. "Well, you would if you listened to the message."
But there was no message. I hesitated. Unless, he meant the one from Jake?
From somewhere deeper within the house, the blond called
out, "Found one!"
I didn't even turn to look. I was still clutching my phone. I looked down and eyed it with renewed dread. "You don't think she would've called me from Jake's phone, do you?"
The guy chuckled. "Well, she sure as hell wouldn't have called from hers."
I looked up. "Why not?"
He shrugged. "Eh, there was an incident."
My gaze narrowed. "What kind of incident?"
"Well, she's got that balcony, right?"
I recalled the balcony in Jake's penthouse. It was at least twenty floors up. "Uh, yeah?"
"So last night, me and Steve are out there, having some fun, you know?"
"Steve? Is that the guy in the bathroom?"
"Yeah. My brother." The guy went on to tell me that his own name was Anthony, and that Luna was their sister.
Feeling more awkward than ever, I now felt obligated to invite him inside. After all, his brother was already in there. What was one more invader in the big scheme of things?
After I shut the door behind us, I briefly introduced myself and once again, asked why they were here.
He held out his hand, palm-up. "Gimme your phone."
It was the second time he'd asked, and I wasn't any more eager than I'd been the last time. "Why?"
"Because I wanna hear the message, see what she told you."
I bit my lip. He might want to hear. But I sure didn't, especially in front of an audience.
I glanced down at his empty palm. "My phone?" I tried to make a joke of it. "I'm not sure I should. I mean, you still haven't told me what happened to Luna's."
To my surprise, the guy nodded like this actually made sense. He pulled back his hand and shoved it into the front pocket of his jeans. "Good thinking." He gave my phone a quick glance. "But if there's a message from Jake's phone, you should pull it up. I'm guessing it was from Luna."
Slowly, something was dawning on me. "Wait a minute. So Luna's phone isn't working at all?"
"Lemme put it this way," Anthony said. "Twenty floors, a bucket of water, and one pissed off sister. What do you think?"
I wasn't sure what the water had to do with it. But I did think I should hang onto my phone. I asked, "And when did this happen?"
Anthony gave it some thought. "I dunno…a couple hours past midnight?"
I considered the timetable. I'd left that enraged message shortly after sunrise. Based on what I'd just learned, odds were pretty good that Luna hadn't even heard it.
I wasn't sure how that made me feel. Relieved? Or frustrated?
I looked down at my phone. Either way, it meant that whatever message she'd left for me was probably ten times nicer than the one I'd left for her. Feeling a different kind of dread, I pulled up the voicemail.
I hit the play button and lifted the phone to my ear. Luna's voice, sounding remarkably friendly, informed me that she was sending over a terrific sewer contractor, just like I'd asked.
I felt my eyebrows furrow. I hadn't asked. Had I? Oh wait. I'd made some throwaway comment in the elevator, but I hadn't thought she'd take me seriously.
She went on to say, "Oh, and by the way, they're my brothers, so you can totally trust them." She paused. "Except with your phone. Oh, and your beer. And, um, come to think of it, you'll probably want to hide your good towels – don't ask."
Her voice picked up steam. "Anyway, they might not look it, but they're super good at what they do. They're licensed and everything, so whatever the problem is, I'm sure they can fix it."
She ended the call with a cheery suggestion that we all get together soon.
Well, that answered one question. She definitely hadn't gotten my voicemail.
I gave Anthony a worried look. Whether he and his brother were legit or not, it didn't matter. I couldn’t afford to pay them.
Talk about awkward.
Before I could even think of how to explain, I heard movement behind me and turned to look. It was the blond, Steve, who said, "You're out of toilet paper."
"What?"
"Yeah," he said, moving to stand beside his brother in the entryway. "I had to wipe with the towel."
I stared at him. "You're kidding, right?"
He burst out laughing. "Of course I'm kidding. Shit, what kind of animals do you think we are?"
"Uh…"
"Eh, forget I asked." He shrugged. "Wasn't kidding about the toilet paper though. I did use the last of it." He looked to Anthony. "And we know how pissed-off girls get when you use it all."
I felt my gaze narrow. "Of course we get 'pissed off'. We need to use it every time."
Steve rolled his eyes. "So we hear." He looked to his brother and said, "So, did you plug it in?"
"Not yet," Anthony said.
Steve frowned. "Why not?"
Anthony glanced in my direction. "Because we were talking."
I spoke up. "Wait. Plug what in?"
Anthony glanced in the general direction of the driveway. "The job trailer."
I didn't know what a job trailer was, but I did know that I couldn’t afford any of this. "Actually, that won't be necessary."
"Why not?" Anthony asked.
I didn't want to hurt their feelings – or confess how broke I was. I tried to smile. "Because my sewer's fine."
"The hell it is," Steve said. He looked to Anthony and added, "I had to flush like five times."
He had to be exaggerating. For one thing, he wasn't gone long enough for five flushes. Three maybe, but five was a bit much. Still, that was hardly the point. I tried again. "Yeah, well, I'm still getting estimates. And I think I'm gonna have to wait 'til spring." I gave them an apologetic smile. "So I'm really sorry you made a special trip."
Steve was frowning again. "Forget the estimates. You got us."
Already, my face was in flames. Reluctantly, I said, "So do you want to give me an estimate?"
He looked at me like I'd just said something incredibly stupid. "You don't need an estimate."
"Why not?"
"Because we were already paid."
I did a double-take. "What? By who?"
Steve grinned. "Jake."
Chapter 29
I looked from brother to brother. This wasn't making any sense. "Why would Jake pay you?"
Steve made a scoffing sound. "Because we don't do nothin' for free."
"Yeah," I said. "But, I mean—"
Anthony spoke up. "I got a theory."
"What?" I asked.
"It was the beer thing."
I gave a confused shake of my head. "What beer thing?"
Anthony grinned. "Me and Steve had this bet."
"What kind of bet?" I asked.
Anthony snickered. "How long before he'd pop."
"Who?" I said. "Jake?"
"Yeah," Anthony said. "We've been staying with them, you know?"
When I'd seen Luna, she'd complained of messy house guests who drank all the beer and tossed water balloons off the balcony. Apparently, I was looking at those guests now. I nodded. "And?"
"And," Anthony continued, "we kept hiding the beer." He shrugged. "Well, the stuff we didn't drink, anyway."
I felt my brow wrinkle. "Why would you hide it?"
"Because of the bet," Anthony said. "Steve said he'd pop in three weeks. Me? I gave it two."
I stared at them. I wasn't sure what to say. Finally, I had to ask, "So did he? Pop, I mean?"
Steve lifted his hand and made a waffling gesture.
I looked to Anthony who said, "Eh, I wouldn’t say he popped. But he did give us a big-ass bonus to leave in a hurry." He looked to Steve and said, "So, you owe me."
Steve snorted. "Your ass. He didn't pop. He hired us for a job. That don't count."
Anthony gave it some thought. "I dunno. He looked like he was gonna pop."
"Sorry," Steve told him. "'Gonna' don't count."
I broke in, "That job? You mean here?"
Steve said. "Yeah. That's where we are, right?"
And here we were, back to square one. I had to
be honest. "I can't accept this."
"Why not?" Steve asked.
I bit my lip. "Because it sounds expensive."
Steve nodded. "Got that right."
"And," I continued, "I don't even know Jake, not really. I can't let him pay for my sewer work."
"Too late for that," Steve said.
"What do you mean?"
"He already paid us." Steve frowned. "And there's no way we're giving the money back."
I looked to Anthony, who gave a solemn nod. "We've got a strict no-refund policy."
I asked, "Not even for family?"
Steve gave me a perplexed look. "You mean you? We're not related."
"I wasn't talking about me," I said. "I was talking about Jake."
Steve shrugged. "Sorry. Not related to him either."
I made a sound of frustration. "But you're related to Luna."
"Trust me," Steve said. "She was all for this."
Next to him, Anthony added, "Especially after the phone thing."
Listening to this, I had to wonder if Jake's real motivation for paying them was to get them out of his hair – and his penthouse. But that still didn't mean I could take his money. Plus, what kind of contractors were these guys, anyway?
Going for a change in tactics, I said, "Well, I hate to tell you something, but the plumber told me the job would need a backhoe."
Both guys burst out laughing.
I asked, "What's so funny?"
"You," Steve said. "What? You think we're gonna dig by hand?"
"So you do have a backhoe?" I glanced in the general direction of the driveway. By now, I was dying to see one. "Is it here now?"
"Hell no," Anthony said. "We don't bring it 'til we need it."
"Yeah," Steve added. "That thing's a bitch to haul."
Anthony nodded in agreement. "Right now, we're in the assessment stage."
Inside my pocket, my cell phone rang. I pulled it out and looked at the display. My breath caught.
It was Joel.
Indecision made me pause. On one hand, I was desperate to talk to him. On the other hand, hadn't I just vowed not to jump every time he called?
My fingers itched to answer. My heart begged to know what he wanted. My head reminded me that it was exactly this sort of eagerness that had caused me so much heartbreak in the first place.
Something True (Joel Bishop Book 2) Page 11