Comments:
SherriffMike Finch:I’m cutting it up right now. You’re distracting me, woman!
Marjorie Brown:Sorry, everyone, the wife was trying pole dancing again and knocked it over.
Jade Clark:I’m better than this. I won’t laugh, I won’t laugh.
Henrietta Brown:It’s better than when you fell and your ass made the watering hole at Bennie Grove farms.
Jade Clark:oh my god SHE’S FIGHTING BACK.
Mollie Wilson:I’m sat and watching. Anyone want popcorn?
The last thingI needed was something else to go wrong, but life didn’t work that way. It had already been a long day. I’d hadto go to Knoxville to get my glucose test done and came back to a frigid house.
“Dammit,” I said as I held a flashlight. I had no idea how my heating unit worked, just that it was supposed to turn on when I needed it to. It had trucked along all winter, but this February cold snap finally did it in.
Why did Kelsey have to say spring was here? It was never truly here until it was summer.
The unit was a mess of wires, parts, and dust. I didn’t know why I even tried to go down to the basement to look at it. There wasn’t anything I could do.
Theo was the town handyman, but he’d told us all that he was taking a step back from his work to focus on the coffee shop. The town had come to depend on him, so the news was met with a lot of grumbling, but we were happy for him to do what he wanted to.
That just meant I had no idea who to call.
I didn’t have money for this on any day, but Iespeciallydidn’t have money for it now. Going back upstairs, I put a jacket on and got my phone out.
Do we have a new person who can do handyman things?
Jade
Do you mean handywoman things? Wren’s your girl for that.
Do you think she knows HVAC systems?
Only one way to find out. (If you don’t call her, I will.)
Attached was Wren’s number.
The only thing that sounded worse than calling her washaving Jade do it, so I mentally put on my big-girl panties and dialed her.
“This is Wren speaking.”
“Hey,” I said. “Are you busy tonight?”
“Grace? No, I’m not. It’s just a night in with Henry.”
“Oh, if you’re with Henry, I can?—”
“What’s going on?” she asked. “You sound a little stressed.”
Stressed was my middle name at this point. “My heat’s busted.”
“Oh, shit. I can come take a look.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I can’t pay much, but I can try to compensate you for your time.”
“I amnotcharging you,” she said. “This is a friend’s call. What’s your address?”