Free Charmed Life by Jacqueline Druga Page B

in her mind.
    Stephen King may not be impressed. But Grace was.
    It was time for a break, coffee, and thinking.
    She took her empty mug to the kitchen, and noticed the pot was not only empty, but the power was off. Thinking not a problem she’d make another pot, she turned on the faucet. Reaching for the coffee filters, she felt the coldness on her feet. Looking down she saw water pouring out from under the sink.
    “Shit.” Shutting off the faucet, Grace braved mechanics and took a look. She couched down and opened the cupboard under the sink.
    The entire area was wet and she saw the culprit for it.
    A piece of pipe, plastic, curved, and small lay on the floor. She didn’t need to be a plumbing Einstein to figure out that the reason the water was everywhere was because that piece of pipe was no longer a part of the whole pipeline system. The water flowed from the sink, down the drain, but if it didn’t have that bent portion, it went no further.
    Holding the part in her hand, Grace knew if she wanted coffee, she needed water and wanted to get water without getting it all over the floor.
    After wiping up the mess, she stared at the pipe for the longest time. What to do? She felt somewhat depressed. She literally clenched a virtual plumbing disaster in her hand and she didn’t have a clue on how to fix it. Fortunately, she lived a small walk from the hardware store and the coffee café.
    With the plastic piece of pipe in hand, she left her home to take a double dilemma solving trip. She could get a latte and a way to get her faucet fixed all in the same block.
    How convenient.

    +++

    Town square, or village square as the residents of Lodi liked to call it, was charming and old fashioned. A little park set in the middle, and it seemed as if the shops were built around it.
    The hardware store was on the corner and was a chain store, but it still had that mom and pop appeal.
    It was a three block walk, but considering her leg hurt, Grace took the car. She parked directly across from the police station, crossed through the park and to the hardware store.
    It must have been the hardware rush time of day, because three or four people were going in all at the same time. Seeing that they all may get ahead of her and lengthen the time needed to get her plumbing problem fixed, Grace sprinted to the door to beat the next patron in.
    He laughed when she tried to squeeze to the door under his arm. “How about this?” he asked, flashing a brilliant smile. “After you,” he opened the door for her.
    It wasn’t a power struggle after all, she said, ‘thank you’ and slipped inside.
    He looked at her again and Grace didn’t mind. He was probably the best looking guy she had seen in Lodi, and right then and there figured he wasn’t from Lodi.
    At the front counter, the clerk read a magazine. A tabloid actually. Grace approached the counter and rang the bell.
    The woman, who probably was in her fifties, lowered the magazine exposing first her reddish hair, then her eyes. “Can I   ... help you?”
    “Oh, yes, thank you, do you have a slip of paper?”
    She slid a tablet and pen Grace’s way.
    After jotting down, she handed the paper to the woman. “This is my address, can you send your hardware repair guy to my house please. I need to have him fix something.”
    “Our hardware repairman?”
    Grace nodded. “Yes. Or whatever you call him. The guy that goes to people’s places to fix things.”
    “Honey, we don’t have a store repairman.”
    “Well, how do people fix things?” Grace asked. “I mean your store is here, right. I would think they come here so they can fix things.”
    “They do, but they usually come here because they can fix it themselves. What’s your problem?”
    “Excuse me? I didn’t think I was presenting attitude.”
    “No.” She closed her eyes. “What problem do you have that needs fixed.”
    “Oh, sorry.” Grace giggled. “I thought you were implying I was starting