The Pool Guy Came Tuesdays, and by July It Wasn't the Pool novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: Heat Advisory

The power went out at four o'clock on Monday, the twenty-fourth, in the worst heat of the year.

It was 115 degrees on the patio thermometer.

The weather service had a name for the day, and it was Extreme Heat Warning, and everyone in the valley had been told to stay inside and drink water.

I was inside with a glass of water and a man.

Nico had come straight from his route in his sweat-stiff polo.

He had not answered the text from his owner in six days, and he kept his phone face down in his pocket so he wouldn't see it light up.

I knew, because he'd told me, standing in my kitchen with his hand over his eyes.

I had said, "Don't answer it today," and he'd said, "It's Monday," and I had said, "That's what I said."

Then the refrigerator shuddered and every light in the house went out.

The air conditioner wound down into a long, sad groan and stopped.

For a moment we stood in the dark kitchen, listening to the silence.

"That's the whole street," Nico said. He went to the window. "The streetlights too. The transformer, maybe."

"How long?"

"An hour. Four. I don't know," he said.

"Does the house hold the cool?"

"No, ma'am," he said. "It's going to be ninety in here by five."

I thought about it.

I thought about the one room in my house with no outside wall, and then I took his hand.

"Come with me."

The walk-in closet was in the middle of the master suite, a windowless room of tile and cedar with a shoe bench along one wall.

Craig's half had been empty since last year.

I had hung nothing on it, so it was a row of bare rods and white shelves, which smelled faintly of cedar and nothing else.

← Chapter 18 · All chapters · Chapter 20 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend