Abby was draped over a gurgling commode, mumbling at a pipe wrench that kept slipping off a valve cap. Rolling up his shirtsleeves, Ben relieved Abby of the wrench. He threw his considerable muscle into budging the solidly stuck shut-off cap.
I think it gave a little, Abby said. Ben, Im sorry you walked into this mess. Oh, thereyou got it. Oh, no! The valve twisted off. A gusher shot everywhere. Ben, make it stop!
Leaping aside, he swore roundly.
Shh. Abby clapped a hand over his mouth. We dont use language like that in this house.
Apparently you dont ask for help in this house, either. Why are you just standing there watching Old Faithful? Get me a damn phone book.
What for?
Something you shouldve done at first splat. To call a plumber. So saying, Ben whipped out the phone Sam thought he could use to call heaven. Directory assistance was close enough to heavens hotline to suit Ben. As he was connected to a local plumber and gave the man terse directions to the house, Ben wrapped a white towel around the broken pipe to stem the geyser.
My best Egyptian cotton towel. Ben, what are you thinking?
Something else I shouldve done when I first walked in, he growled, closing off her sputtering tirade with a kiss that drove the air from her lungs.
CHAPTER FIVE
BEN SET ABBY DOWN, then had to grab her arms to hold her upright.
A bit stunned, she did rally. Here I thought my day had tanked. If thats your standard method of dealing with hysterical women, Dr. Galloway, I can see why your practice grows by leaps and bounds.
Laughing, Ben leaned in for another, slower, more sizzling and satisfying kiss. This brand of superb bedside manner is reserved for an elite few, Ms. Drummond.
Youre full of it, Ben, you know that? Casting a furtive glance over her shoulder and down the hall, Abby segued to a new subject. How are the girls? I thought Erin lookeddifferent. But I guess thats understandable, since everythings changed because of the quake. She shrugged. Which may be all it is with Erin. I shouldnt forget shes by nature a serious child.
True. But youre dead on, Abby. Ben bent again to twist the soaking white towel tighter. Erins not bouncing back. Not like Mollie, anyway. Erins whole personality has nose-dived.
With time and hugs, maybe shell be her old self again. Its been almost two months. But it feels like forever. I still step into a room and expect to see Elliot and Blair. Her eyes were glossy, and she turned aside. Nighttime is the hardest on the boys.
For the girls, too. Bens back tensed. He should be the man with answers.
Abby stroked a hand up his side. She thought how good the hard outline of his ribs felt, and wondered if men didnt need the hugs shed spoken of.
She missed Bens touch. Even if theyd had a casual dating style, theyd been demonstrative with each other. Whenever they saw each other, Ben had doled out a squeeze or two. Vastly different from the brief impersonal brush of their cheeks at their respective family funerals. Different, too, from the almost desperate kiss Ben had just delivered.
Would their lives ever get back to normal? The first few weeks after the quake, Abby thought Ben had disappeared from her life. On those occasions, an ache settled in her chest. And yet shed accepted that was the way things might have to be.
Abby understood that she and Ben had obligations and responsibilities that came before any personal wants or needs. For perhaps the first time, she realized what it felt like to walk in her brothers shoes. Elliot, whod selflessly put his life on hold until she was grown and off to college. Did she owe his children any less?
Straightening away from the valve again, Ben started to take Abby in his arms. A commotion downstairs split them apart. Although Abby had wrenched loose from his touch and taken a step back before the disturbance began. Sorry, Ben. Im afraid the timing here is off. Besides which, Ruffians going crazy in the laundry room. I think the plumbers arrived.
Ben tried to reconnect with Abbys eyes, to no avail. Giving up, he said magnanimously, Ill stay right here, if youd care to rescue the poor man. Send him on up. Since I made this major mess, Ill do the explaining. Maybe you could spend a few minutes reassuring Sam. Hes down there coloring an ark like mad. Im afraid hes worried his homes in danger of floating away.
Poor Sam. I only just brought him home from the hospital today when all heck broke loose. Id checked the twins out of school early so they could ride along. Wed barely gotten home when Brad reported that Mike had scooped a dead fish out of one of the tanks. The minute he flushed it, he dropped the strainer. She rolled her eyes. I tried the plunger. That did nothing, except maybe compound the problem. You showed up as I decided Id better shut off the water to the toilet tank.
They heard one of the boys bellowing for Abby. Go, Ben urged. By the way, you maybe should also check on the status of a gerbil. The older twins had him in a remote-controlled truck. They sent him down from the second landing.
Noah and Mike, she exclaimed, throwing up her hands. Harrys their gerbil. Brad and Reed have hamsters. Yesterday I caught them harnessing their pets to G.I. Joes parachutes. Luckily I caught them before they dropped them over the bannister. I dont know why Blair didnt go completely gray.
Hmm. I wonder if thats what my nurse Anita meant when she said I should jump for joy that I have girls to raise instead of boys. You ought to meet her, Abby. She raised six boys on her own.
And shes still sane? Shaking her head, Abby turned and walked out. Ben heard her tripping lightly down the stairs.
It was twilight by the time the plumber finished, took the check Ben wrote out, packed up his tools and left.
Ben, you shouldnt have paid the bill. Its my house. Well, not mine, actually, she amended when the twins declared the house belonged to them.
I broke the shut-off valve, Ben said by way of explanation.
Yes, but the problem occurred before you set foot in the house. Andspeaking of feet Your Italian leather loafers are history, pal.
Ben surveyed his soaking shoes as well as the lower edges of his slacks. Abby, youve got no idea what gets dripped on the shoes of a pediatrician throughout a normal workday.
I think I have a fair idea. You still shouldnt have to pay, she murmured.
I paid the plumber because you said youd feed this hungry mob. His sudden boyish grin creased his cheeks, which had begun to sport a five-oclock shadow. My stomach is growling.
My guys missed lunch as well as dinner. Hey guysand Im including girlshow about I order in pizza tonight?
Erin Drummond, who hadnt budged from one small corner of the couch since theyd first arrived, was the lone dissenter. I want to go home, Uncle Ben.
Kicking off his shoes and peeling off wet socks, he walked barefoot to the couch and sat beside her. Hey, mouse, what gives? I know you like pizza.
She held herself stiffly aloof. I dont like it here. Its noisy, and boys are dorky. Noah keeps saying hes going to turn that awful dog loose.
Abby gasped. Noah David Drummond. Im ashamed of you. What do you have to say for yourself, mister?