“The water heater’s leaking and the laundry room flooded.”
Even through the door she sounded like she was about to cry. Not only had she had a load in the wash that was half finished, but we were supposed to leave for Virginia in less than an hour and it was the weekend, so getting a plumber to come all the way out here would be a nightmare.
“Hold on,” I told her. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
I dried off quickly and threw my clothes on. I’d gotten most of the shampoo out of my hair, toweled off the rest, then twisted it up into a bun and stuck a pencil in it because I was pretty sure Norah had stolen all my hair bands. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Rachel was gone, but I could hear someone in my aunt and uncle’s bedroom, so I peeked inside. Rachel was on her laptop searching for plumbers. Norah sat beside her looking dazed. Joe came up the stairs without any shoes on, but his socks and the bottom of his jeans were soaked. Rachel looked up as he came in, but he just shook his head.
“Hello?” she said into the phone. “Yes, um, our hot water heater is leaking.” She listened for a few moments. “The laundry room flooded and it’s spreading into the hall.” She listened again, eyes glistening. “I don’t know. Joe?” she asked, looking up at her husband. “Is there corrosion?” He nodded. She repeated the information into the phone and listened again and then choked when she said, “Not until five?”
Norah looked like she was going to burst into tears and Joe sat beside her on the bed. “Are you sure there’s nothing before then?” Norah looked hopeful for a moment, but I knew in that Murphy’s Law sort of way that there wouldn’t be anyone here to take care of this before we had to leave.
“Rachel,” I said, trying to get her attention. She looked up at me distractedly.
“Just a minute, Caitlin.”
“No, Rachel,” I said again insistently.
She looked at me again and said, “Hold on, please,” into the phone.
“I can stay,” I told her. I knew she was going to protest, so I bowled over and kept talking. “Look, I really want to go see Norah, but if we have to wait for someone to show up, then we’re not going to make it in time anyway, so either way I wouldn’t see her compete. If I stay, I can let them in, clean up enough of the mess so that the floor doesn’t get completely ruined, and then spend the weekend at Trish’s. She won’t mind. And that means you guys can leave on time.”
“Caitlin,” Joe began, “it’s a very nice offer, but—”
“It’s really not that big of a deal,” I broke in. “And aren’t they going to be broadcasting the events, anyway? I can still watch her on cable.”
This was all half true—but mostly I just wanted some time alone to decompress from everything that had happened with Adrian, and to be out from under the suffocating watch of Joe and Rachel. And honestly, I really, really didn’t want to spend ten hours in the backseat of the truck.
Rachel was stuck with the phone against her ear and her eyes on Joe.
“I’ve seen Norah ride,” I continued. “And it’s amazing. She should go.”
And I left it at that.
Joe and Rachel looked at each other, and then Rachel’s eyes flicked to her daughter.
“Okay,” Joe said. Rachel looked at him a moment longer, then at me.
“Send someone over at five,” she said into the phone. They talked a moment longer, and then hung up. Norah hugged me as soon as her mom set the phone down, actually knocking me back against the bed.
“Thank you, Caitlin!” she exclaimed. “You’re the best cousin ever!”
“It’s no big deal, really,” I replied as she grabbed my face and placed a loud kiss on my forehead. “Don’t you need to finish packing?”
She let me go and dashed out of the room. I could hear drawers being opened and closed recklessly.
“Okay,” Rachel said. “The plumber should be here around five. Only the water to the heater is turned off, so you can still use the bathroom.” I nodded. “There’s food in the fridge and the Stevensons are coming over in the morning to take care of the animals, so don’t worry about that.” She bit her lip in worry.
“I’ll be fine,” I told her. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”
Rachel nodded, smiled, and wrapped me in a hug and then Joe stood up and wrapped the both of us in a hug—I resisted the urge to wriggle away. Finally he set us down and Rachel went back to packing. Joe and I went downstairs and laid towels over the portions of the floor that had gotten wet and then set up a few rotating fans to blow in an arc and opened the front door and the downstairs windows. It was still snowy outside but there wasn’t much of a choice—I’d just bundle up in every coat I owned and then close everything up once the sun set or the plumber showed up; whichever came first.