Once Upon a Friendship

Her entire body flooded with sensation. Warmth. Pride. Something that made her want to smile inside. And dread, too.

Before she could come up with any kind of response, Liam continued. “You remember when I told you that even when I’m in a committed relationship, and completely into it, I’m still sometimes attracted to other women?”

Of course she remembered.

“Well, just so you know, when I’m with you, that hasn’t happened. On the plane. That flight attendant. She was a looker. I tried to feel something. And I couldn’t.”

Blood pumped through her veins with such force she heard wind in her ears.

“Don’t worry, it’s only happened a time or two, that I don’t feel things for other women, but it’s not like I’ve been around many since we’ve been spending so much time together. I’m sure it’ll pass, and I’ll be back to my old self, finding everyone hot, but... I had to be honest with you, just in case...”

“In...case?” The words stuck in her throat. She wanted to run.

“In case... You just have to understand. What you mean to me...it’s far more than any romantic relationship in the world would ever be worth. I can’t afford to lose that.”

A butterfly spread its wings inside of her.

“So...we’re good?” he asked, frowning.

Gabi nodded. “We’re good,” she said. And hoped to goodness that when she had some time to sit down and process what had just happened she’d still feel that way.

* * *

AFTER SPEAKING WITH June Fryburg first thing the next morning and then heading downstairs for a cup of coffee—mostly to make sure that Marie treated him exactly as she always had, which she did—Liam was heading upstairs to start on his article when Grace called out to him.

She had a toilet that wouldn’t stop running. She’d picked up the part she needed, she just couldn’t get the bolt undone to replace it.

Because their current budget only allowed for them to call a handyman when things went really wrong, rather than keep someone on staff full-time, he ran upstairs to take a look. They stood there together, staring at her john. He’d pulled off the lid, could see little bubbles in the bottom of the water-filled tank, could pretty much ascertain that they had to do with the running water sound, but he had no idea what was causing them.

The water was clean. So was the inside of the tank.

“You’ve never fixed a toilet before, have you?” Grace asked him.

>

He thought about prevaricating. But looked at her and shook his head. “Nope. Truth be told, this is the first time I’ve ever looked inside one.”

Just hadn’t been on his to-do list.

“See this long screw thing here? That controls this float that controls the water level. This whole thing is called a fill valve. It opens this rubber thing to let new water in when you flush. This is what needs to be replaced. You have to unscrew this from under the tank and I just can’t get enough strength out of these hands to get it done.”

There was a wrench on the floor. A pipe wrench he remembered from his shop class in high school.

“You’ve changed one of these before?”

“Yep. Used to be I’d just watch, but since my Bernie died so young...” She shrugged. “Anyway, we have to turn off the water.” She started to reach under the toilet, and Liam reached in front of her.

“Let me get that.”

“I can do that part,” she said as he turned the water valve. “I did it last night.”

She stood back as he straightened up.

“You flush the toilet to empty the tank. I did that, too, but when I couldn’t get the bolt undone, I had to refill it so I could use it in the night.”

He flushed. The tank didn’t empty completely. But almost.

“Here.” Grace handed him a towel. “You’ll need this under the tank. The rest of that will empty through the hole when you remove the bolt.”