Free Cooking Up Trouble by Judi Lynn Page B

room and smacked into him when he came to an abrupt halt. She peeked around him and gasped.
    One of the two, huge, crystal chandeliers had smashed to the floor. Glass shards had sprayed everywhere.
    Ian looked up and motioned to where it was mounted to the ceiling. It had obviously pulled away. “The same crew that installed my shower doors put up the chandeliers.”
    Enough said. Tessa took in the volume of the mess. “This is going to take hours to clean.”
    Ian’s muscles bunched and his fingers curled into fists. “They’re going to pay for the chandelier. I’ll make sure of that, but Lily found these online. There were only two of them.” He ran a hand through his dark hair. “I’m going to have to replace them both. One chandelier isn’t going to work.”
    â€œWhere did you find the workers you hired?” This crew must have put in as little effort as possible. Both projects they did were failures. “Ask around before you hire someone for your next job. People here will give you the names of people we trust.” She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and called Grams. “Ian’s chandelier fell. He has a king-sized mess. We could use some help cleaning it up.”
    â€œI’ll be there.”
    Ian shook his head. “You’ve already spent all day shopping with me. I can’t ask you to help with this.”
    â€œYou didn’t, so quit wasting time. Find us some brooms.”
    He opened his mouth to argue, saw her expression, and headed to do as told.
    A half hour later, Tessa stopped sweeping glass as cars started pulling into the drive. Ian dumped the pile they’d collected into a large trash can and looked up as David and Darinda hurried inside and stopped to stare.
    â€œIf I knew who screwed up both of your jobs, I’d kick their friggin’ asses!” Darinda fumed.
    David put a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head. “Nope, what’s done is done, but it won’t happen again. We’ll recommend the right people for Ian.”
    Luther and Kayla knocked and stepped inside next. Luther stared. “Holy shit! What happened?”
    Tessa pointed to the bare wires on the ceiling where the weight of the chandelier had broken away. “Shoddy workmanship. They didn’t attach it right.”
    Kayla squared her shoulders. “Where are more brooms? Your cleaning supplies?”
    Garth stepped through the doors next. “Lord almighty! I’ve never seen a mess like this.”
    Leona followed him into the room. Poured into a skintight dress and wearing high heels, she didn’t look the part of clean-up help. Her streaked-blonde hair was pulled up in a sexy, mussy, Gibson-girl look. She went straight to Ian and pressed herself against his side. “Oh, darling, I bet you’re upset. I’d do anything I can to help you.”
    Garth sniggered. “In that dress and shoes? You’ll be lucky if you can keep your balance in here. Glass is everywhere. I want to see you bend over to sweep it up.”
    Leona glared at him. “What do you know? You play in grease all day.”
    â€œI sure as hell do. I can make your engine purr any time.”
    Her full, red lips opened in surprise. She pointed a finger at him. “Watch your mouth, Garth Roarke, or I’ll walk a picket line at your garage.”
    He grinned. “If you wear that dress, I’ll bring you out bon-bons to keep your energy up.”
    Leona’s comment was cut off when Grams strode into the room. She let out a long sigh. “This isn’t right. No one’s this lazy or stupid in Mill Pond. I’d demand my money back.”
    Ian shrugged. He’d gotten over his first burst of anger and looked around in awe. “I can’t believe all of you came to help me.”
    Grams shook her head. “We couldn’t leave you to clean up this mess alone. You don’t deserve it.”
    While they