Faith and Lies (Vera Reid, Reid Family Book #2)

Part 40

Note: At this point, I've been writing this book/series for so long that there is bound to be plot holes, inconsistencies, and/or continuity errors. I'm trying but i also know it will be hard to avoid. If you catch anything, please message me about it. If you write it in the comments, it will probably get lost and I won't see it. I do plan to correct as much as possible as we go along. Hope you guys don't mind being my support as I try to get back into the swing of things.

"What in the world..."

Tom felt the heat the moment he walked into the building. It was intense, it was overwhelming... it was unexpected. Sure, it was nearly 100 degrees outside and yes, it was early May but inside the house, it had never felt this hot.

"I know, I know." Vera replied, wiping sweat off her brow with a tissue and leaning back in her seat. "it's disgusting."

"Is that why the lights are off?" Tom said, walking over to the wall and flipping the switch.

"Electric is on their way." She replied. "I don't know what happened. Edwin and I spent the last hour trying to figure it out but nothing."

"Shit. Well, I can take a look." Tom said, setting his things down. "There's no way we're going to get anything done like this."

"I know. I sent everyone home for the day." Vera said, "Without electricity, nothing's getting done."

"So why don't you go home? You can work from there, right?" He asked, removing his blazer and beginning to roll up his sleeves.

"Someone has to wait for the electrician." Vera said.

"What about Edwin?" Tom asked, wondering why Edwin would have left Vera here to suffer. That was certainly not gentlemanly of him.

"He had to go meet with a client. Trust me, I didn't volunteer out of the kindness of my heart." She said.

"Well let me go have a look." Tom said, heading towards the kitchen.

"I told you, we already investigated and couldn't figure it out." She said, frowning as he walked away.

"It doesn't hurt to let me look." He called back. Vera shook her head, and still somehow, ended up walking in the same direction.

"It might. I don't know much about electricity and all that, but aren't you afraid to get shocked or something?" She asked, making him chuckle.

"It'll be fine. I'm not going to mess around with anything. I'll just look." He replied.

"You're stubborn." She said, reaching for the refrigerator door and pulling out two water bottles. She was glad there was no food in there to go to waste. At least the water was still cold.

"I'm stubborn?" He asked with a shake of the head, turning to grab a bottle from her. "What harm can it do for me to look?"

"Fine." She said, "have a look."

"You know; you should go home. You'll have a heatstroke in here. I can wait for the electrician." Tom said, poking around the fuse box.

"I'm not going to faint. Why don't you go home? You have a lot of work to do." She said, watching him curiously.

"I'm sure you do too." Tom replied. "Besides, I couldn't let you stay and go home."

"Why?" She asked.

"What do you mean, why? It wouldn't be right." He said.

"Because I'm a woman." She replied.

"Well, sure. But also because you've been here longer and could probably use a little respite from this heat." He said, turning to look at her. "No idea what's going on."