Summer Rain

34: Awkward Meeting.

A knock came to the front door. I was up and going to the door with Blake right behind me. I opened the door seeing Rome. "Hey! How's everything?" I asked. "Great so far. Came into town for the rodeo. Were wondering if you were needing any help beforehand." He said. "How are you Blake?"

"I'm good Rome. Glad you came when you did. We were going to start vacations tomorrow. I was going to go into town early tomorrow to the diner to see if there were any guys needing a little extra cash." Blake told him. "Would you like to come in?" I asked. "Um. I did bring my wife and her other husband too. They were wanting to come and see if they could help out too." Rome said.

"That's fine. We were going to give you the ensuite upstairs." Blake said. "Thanks. I'll go let them know it's alright to come in." Rome said. "I've got to get supper finished." I told Blake. "Go on baby." He said. I went back to the kitchen finishing up the meal. Blake came in going to set the table. We tag teamed the job one of us usually did.

He helped move the food to the table. "You going to work the chute baby?" Blake asked me. "Yup. You helping load the chute?" I asked him. "Not letting you out of my sight." He said. I smiled. "I doubt Axel will either." I said. "If you remember, he's in charge of the vaccinations." He said. I smiled at him. We finished in no time flat. Rome, another man, and a woman between them were in the doorway.

I stood by Blake. "I hope everything is to your liking." Blake said. I could already tell he was tensed up. The unnamed man was about to speak when Rome shot him a look. The woman looked up at them both. Supper was super quiet. When we were done, I started on the dishes. Blake helped me. The man disappeared up to the bedroom with the woman.

"Don't worry bout him. He doesn't exactly like to get out of that little town and out into here. The large world." Rome said. "Whatever happens on this ranch will stay on this ranch. The hands will only see you working and won't say anything about the relationship between you and your other two partners." Blake said. "I appreciate the encouragement. Night." Rome  said. "Don't stay up too late." He yelled.

Blake snickered. We both finished the dishes and went to our bedroom. We both went to the bathroom to brush our teeth. A knock came to the bedroom door. Then a bang occurred overhead. The ceiling in our bedroom caved in. Blake was standing in the doorway blocking me from the exit. "When was that replaced?" He asked. "What?" I asked. "The water heater upstairs." He said.

The smoke detectors went off. We both got out of the house. Rome was at the bottom of the staircase. The two upstairs came down, following us outside. We stood a good enough distance away from the house. The water to the house was turned off. The water heater sitting on the ground next to the house in the drive.

"Anyone hurt?" Axel yelled. "No don't think so." Blake said. "It was making a popping noise that just got faster until that happened." The guy said. I sighed. "Think the plumber could make an emergency call?" Blake asked. "He has before. It's still early enough. He may do it." Axel said. The fire department was just pulling in as Axel was making the call. "Hotlined to the fire department. We usually have to call to say it's not an emergency or cook with the windows open just in case." I said.

They parked the truck near the house. "What happened the fire chief asked. "Water heater explosion." I answered. "Electric?" He asked. "Yes sir." Blake said. The plumber showed up right after that. "We'll make sure it's safe for him to work. Where did it go off?" The chief asked. "Upstairs last door on the right." I said. "In that bathroom."

"Anywhere else?" He asked. "Master bedroom." Blake said.