Page 14 of Sweet Dreams
“You hired a stranger before family? Have I taught you nothing? What if this rando stole from you, then what?”
“He wouldn’t do that.”
“A he. You hired a male.” His eyes widen larger than dinner plates.
I can’t help but laugh. “Yes, Dad. A male, as in a boy. What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing, I suppose. Just shocked, that’s all. Did you tell your mother? She’ll be excited to stop by the shop now. Take in the new eye candy, if you know what I mean.” He nudges me.
I roll my eyes. “Yes, I got it. You two are so weird. Oh, Nancy stopped by and did a surprise inspection of the shop.”
“Oh, fuck her. She is such a nuisance. What did dear old Nancy find?”
“She almost found out that I’ve been bootlegging my room to rent out. It was a close call, but Silas put her in her place for me. But I’m afraid of what might happen now because of it.”
“Mmm, Silas is your new employee, I take it. It’s good that he was there, but sometimes, sticking your nose in other people's business does have repercussions. Nancy isn’t one to mess with. I wouldn’t worry too much, Small fry. If she hasn’t done anything yet, shewon’t.”
“I’m not sure, Dad. Her son made a big stink about Jace being chief so he declined it. And we all know how much Jace wanted that.”
Dad wraps me in a hug, placing a kiss on the top of my head. “We’ll cross that bridge when we need to. Now, let's see if Mom has lunch ready. My stomach is about to rumble, and you know what that means.”
We need to eat before he turns hangry, is what it means.
Nancy is coming for me. I can feel it; it’s only a matter of when. I’m unsure if I’ll be ready for that fight, even if Dad says otherwise.
I’m standing in a puddle of water, watching all my dreams drown. Maybe I’m in denial, and it’s not that bad. If I ignore all the firefighters storming in and out the front door, splashing water all over the children’s books as they try to control the leak.
“Teagan?”
I turn to Jace, forever grateful that he’s the one talking to me first. I’m not sure what I would do otherwise.
“Yeah.”
“Sugar-coat it or not?”
“Better not. I already have a feeling it’s not good, bud.” I glance back at the fire hydrant that became my worst enemy.
Jace clears his throat, glancing at the chief before breaking my heart. “It’s terrible, Tee. The water damage alone will break the bank, and I can’t imagine what it’ll cost to replace all the books. The boutique suffered water damage, but nothing like this. First thing tomorrow, call your insurance company, but I’m afraid you are closed for a while.”
I don’t like hearing those words—damage. From the looks of things, there is a lot of damage. I should’ve stayed in bed. I’m glad Silas isn’t here to see all this, but now that I think about it, I realize he was supposed to show up for work today.
“How did the hydrant blow its load?”
He shrugs. “That I don’t know. That’s a question for the chief.”
From the looks of it, the chief is not up to a chat from a bookshop owner. With the way his arms are flying around, he’s pissed. I’m going to assume whatever happened with the hydrant wasn’t on purpose; this is going to have Elma’s head spinning.
“Thanks, Jace. I guess it’s out of my hands now.”
He gives me a small smile. “Sorry about all this. If you need a hand cleaning, let me know. I’ll get some of the guys to help.”
If I don’t think about the damage, it’s not so bad. It’s funny how things turn out, one second, the day was going as planned, and then some asshole named Murphy comes in and says, nope,let’s turn your day upside down.What a douche. Shove your law up your asshole.
“I’ll let you know, but I’ll probably take you up on that offer. What a shitty day.”
Jace pulls me in for a hug, and when he’s in his gear, it’s like hugging a bear. My arms barely reach the middle of his back. “Take care, Tee. If this is the worst, it’s not that bad.”
“I suppose so,” I mumble into his chest. I push back and get out of his way.