Chapter 33
I spent the next two days on pins and needles, waiting for a call that never came. And with every passing hour, the more I kept telling myself that I didn't want to hear from him anyway.
Seriously, who did he think he was?
The only upside was that the brothers were proving to be a good distraction, if only because they were making me crazy. They had serious boundary issues, and although they were staying in the guest house, they were constantly in and out of my kitchen, where they made themselves utterly at home.
Already, they'd gone to the other side of the state to retrieve their backhoe and were now tackling my sewer problem, just like they'd promised.
After watching them work, I had to give them credit. They actually seemed to know what they were doing. They'd found the problem, which, oddly enough, was Derek's fault in a roundabout way, and were now in the process of fixing it.
During the first couple of days after their arrival, I'd made it a point to stay close to the house. But today, I'd had a job interview in a neighboring city and had been tied up for nearly three hours.
Plus, I'd somehow managed to let the brothers talk me into stopping for beer and takeout pizza on the way back. Between that and a few other errands, it was already dark by the time I was finally heading home.
I was just a few miles from my house when my cell phone rang. I reached for it and gave the display a quick glance, only to feel that familiar – and yes, pathetic – disappointment. It wasn't a certain guy who I didn't want to talk to anyway. It was Aunt Vivian, my least-favorite relative.
She almost never called me, and on the rare occasions when she did, it was never for anything good. As it turned out, this time was no exception.
I'd barely said hello when the shrieking started. I couldn’t understand a single word, but it was pretty obvious that something was terribly wrong. Desperate to make out what she was saying, I pulled my car off to the side of the road and cut the engine.
When she paused for air, I said, "Excuse me? What'd you say?"
This time, my aunt's voice came through loud and clear. "Isaid, they turned the hose on me!"
"What?" I gave a confused shake of my head. "Who?"
She sounded nearly unhinged. "Youput them up to it, didn't you?"
My mind was going a million miles a minute.They wouldn’t. Would they?I chewed on my lower lip. "Uh…"
"Aha!" she yelled. "I knew it!"
In the background, my uncle said, "Go on. Tell her about my hair."
My aunt replied, "For the last time, forgetyourhair! What aboutmyhair!"
My uncle muttered, "Well, at leastyoursis still attached."
What on Earth didthatmean? I was still trying to figure it out when my aunt returned to the phone and hollered, "So I hope you're satisfied!"
And with that, she hung up.
I sat there in my quiet car for a long moment, asking myself an odd question.Was I satisfied?
A sudden snicker escaped my lips, and I gave a little gasp.Oh, my God.I was, even if I wasn't quite sure what had happened.
Did that make me a horrible person?
I was still trying to decide when I pulled into my driveway a few minutes later. Outside the house, I saw no sign of the brothers, but Ididsee the garden hose rolled out to its full length. Slowly, I got out of the car and confirmed that yup, sure enough, the porch was dripping wet.
When I walked in through the front door a minute later, Steve and Anthony were waiting in the foyer.
Steve said, "Hey, you just missed your aunt."
Anthony snickered. "Yeah, butwedidn't." He stopped and looked down at my empty hands. "Hey, where's the pizza?" He was frowning now. "You didn't eat it in the car, did you?"
Funny, in all the excitement, I'd neglected to bring it in. "Forget the pizza," I said. "You didn'treallyhose down my aunt and uncle, did you?"
