Joker in the Pack (Romantic Suspense, Completed, Watty Winner)

Chapter 5

A month later, I stood in the kitchen, surveying the horrific mess that only a burst pipe could cause. My tears had only added to the puddles shimmering under the single light bulb, now bare because I'd sold the shade.

I'd been out job-hunting when it happened. A day of futile sales pitches to small businesses in the local area had turned into a nightmare when I'd walked in to find Niagara Falls coming through a gaping hole in the ceiling and a furious downstairs neighbour hammering on my door.

How the heck did I turn off the water? Shouldn't there be a master tap somewhere? I panicked and called Maddie, who put me on to Dave, who told me about the stopcock in my airing cupboard. The neighbour was still yelling as I paddled through and finally stopped the torrent.

Then the neighbour called the landlord, and he came around and shouted at me too.

"Look what you've done."

I squelched across the carpet behind him as he examined the damage, cringing when I realised I'd left my underwear out on the bedroom windowsill to dry.

"But how did it happen?" I asked. "How can a pipe just burst like that?"

The plumber he'd brought with him tutted. "It probably froze overnight. It's like the bloody Arctic in here. Is the heating broken?"

The landlord obviously knew I hadn't reported any faulty radiators, and he turned to glare at me.

"I, uh, turned it off. I can't afford the utility bills right now."

"So you decided to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to my property instead?"

"It was barely freezing."

"One degree below would have been enough. Bloody women!"

Thousands of pounds? His words echoed in my head, and I felt physically sick as I sagged against the counter.

"I can't afford to pay for all the repairs at the moment. Maybe I could pay a bit back each month? As long as I get some more work, that is."

"I've got insurance to cover the building damage. Some of us aren't entirely stupid. Your security deposit will pay the excess, but I'm not taking any chances on something like this happening again. I want you out by the end of the month."

"But it's almost Christmas. How am I supposed to find a new place over the holidays? Nobody'll want to move then."

"Not my problem," the landlord said over his shoulder as he stomped out.

My heart hammered as I stared after him. Obviously, the place was a mess, but surely he had to understand it was an accident? In the three years I'd lived in the flat, I'd always paid the rent on time and never asked him to fix anything, not even when a pigeon flew into the lounge window and broke it.

Worry settled in my stomach like one of the bad Chinese takeaways I used to eat with Maddie before I met Edward. Homeless as well as penniless? Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, fate drop-kicked me into a lower level of hell. Now I needed to add finding a new place to live to my list of seemingly impossible tasks.

I looked around the little flat I'd loved so much. From agonising over the colour schemes to selecting just the right vase for the sideboard, I'd put my heart and soul into it. Mother always said a tidy home meant a tidy mind, and mine both lay in tatters. Every time someone bid for one of my items on eBay, it felt as if my soul were under the hammer as well.

"But I still don't understand why you turned the heating off," Maddie said as she helped me to sponge the living room carpet dry.

Murky splodges covered every inch of the once-pristine cream pile.