His Test Cost Him a Wife, Not a Negotiation novel · Chapter 14 of 24

Chapter 14: The Plumber

The kitchen pipe at my father's house burst while we were still on the road.

Pearl got the call at a gas station outside Charleston, and she ran back to the rental with her face white.

"Dad's fine," she said. "The water isn't."

It was the old copper line under the sink.

By the time Soren pulled up on Cutler Street, it was eight at night, there was an inch of water on the linoleum, and my father was kneeling in it with a wrench.

The plumber arrived at nine and looked at the wall for a long time.

"Whole run's gone," he said. "Eleven hundred, cash, tonight. Parts are on my truck."

My father's mouth went thin.

He had that money, and it was for the electric bill, and we all knew it.

Soren took out his wallet before I could speak.

He counted twelve bills into the plumber's hand and said, "Keep the change for the mess."

I said nothing until the truck was gone.

Then I said, "No."

"It's done."

"You don't get to do that."

"I paid a plumber, Dorinda."

"You paid for my father's kitchen." I could hear my own voice climbing. "I told you in the snow. I pay my own way. I pay it to the cent."

"It's a pipe."

"It's eleven hundred dollars, and now the Whitstables get to say I'm living off a man again."

"They're not in this kitchen."

"They're in every kitchen!"

My father looked at the floor and went quietly out the back door with the wrench.

Pearl grabbed her keys. "I'm taking Dad to the garage to find him something dry. You two have ten minutes."

"It's going to be longer than ten," I said.

"Then I'll be slow."

The door shut behind her.

Soren stood in the wet kitchen with his big hands at his sides.

"You can't afford me, Halvorsen," I said. It came out cold and exact. "Put it on the tab."

"There's no tab. I'm not a bank."

"Everyone's a bank. That's what I learned in Boston."

"I'm not them."

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