Page 32 of Pinch of Love
“And I didn’t lie.” Millie grinned as I made my way past her to see the rear end of Maya sticking out of the dumbwaiter opening.
“Oh, no.”
“Call the fire department,” Maya shrieked.
Did this woman not believe in pants?
Her bright yellow dress had flipped over her rear, exposing a lacy white thong barely visible to the human eye as her legs flailed in all directions.
“I’m better than the fire department,” I assured her, walking over to her wiggling bum while the other half of her was stuck in the wall. “This secret will be safe with me. The fire department, however, would not be able to keep this rescue to themselves.”
Millie chuckled. “He has a point, Maya. By Monday’s breakfast at the diner, it would be everywhere.”
I handed Chewie to Millie and took a deep breath as Maya groaned.
Maya’s grandma waggled her brows at me. “She has a nice rump, doesn’t she, Cash? She gets it from me.”
My blood went cold, but I pushed the images away.
The questions I had rolling through my mind wouldn’t stop coming, but I kept them inside and tried not to laugh as Maya’s legs weakened with defeat.
“Fine. Just get me out of this contraption and help me save the chipmunk.”
I glanced at Millie, who seemed completely unworried while getting a kick out of things.
“The chipmunk?” I asked, coming alongside Maya’s bottom half.
“Yes. He looked injured, so I caught him and thought I could let him rest in the dumbwaiter while I called the rescue service.”
The overall urge to smack her bum was crushing, so I stared at her swollen big toe to keep myself distracted. “You tried to store a chipmunk in the dumbwaiter?”
“Yeah.” Her body started to relax, and her voice muffled into calculated mortification. “But I didn’t know he could fit through the tiny crack between the shelf and the pully system.”
I scratched my chin.
Millie laughed. “Such an interesting predicament.”
I drew a breath and pulled down the fabric of Maya’s dress and glanced at her grandmother, wondering why she hadn’t done that before I arrived. Millie averted her gaze, and I shook my head.
“Are you hurt?” I asked, ducking closer to the opening she filled.
“Apart from my pride?” She let out a deep sigh. “No, but I can see you did a great job refurbishing the dumbwaiter to its original condition.”
“Can you see the chipmunk?” I asked.
“I raised the dumbwaiter up so I could try to fish her out, so she’s completely in my view.”
I glanced at Millie. “Would you mind going downstairs and making sure the little rodent can’t push her way out the bottom door?”
Millie’s gaze lit up as she squeezed Chewie. “My pleasure.”
I held in a chuckle and shook my head. I couldn’t even imagine what Millie thought would happen to her granddaughter when she left us alone. But I couldn’t blame this on the club. This was purely Maya.
“Okay, so I want you to forget about the Chipmunk,” I told her in a soothing voice.
“I can’t forget about Chippy. She’s my spirit animal.”
I held in a chuckle. “Now, that I believe.”