Hammer & Nails by Andria Large Read Free Book Online Page A

meet him,” my dad muses, rubbing his chin.
    I give him a dry look. “You just want to try and get him to give you tickets to the season opener.”
    My dad bursts out laughing. “Yeah, so?”
    “What makes you think he can even get tickets?”
    “He’s the owner’s son; of course he can get tickets!”
    “True.” I grunt.
    My cell phone rings, interrupting us. I pull it out of my back pocket and check the screen. Nolan. Wonder what he wants. I swipe my finger across the screen then put it to my ear.
    “Hello?”
    “Harley, I just stopped by the house and when I walked into the living room I found a large puddle of water on the floor and the ceiling actively leaking,” Nolan says.
    “Shiiiit.” I sigh. “I’ll be right there.”
    “Okay, see you soon,” he replies.
    I hang up and look at my dad. “I gotta go, there’s a problem at the house. A pipe is leaking.”
    He nods. “Okay, do what you gotta do.”
    “Thanks. If I get done quickly, I’ll come back.”
    He smiles. “Okay, sweetheart.”
    I give him a kiss on the cheek and leave. I get to the house as quickly as I can. I pull into the driveway and hop out of my truck. I climb into the bed where my tools are in a large metal toolbox attached to the truck bed, just under the back window. I get out my tool belt and put it on. I grab a few extra things I think I’ll need then make my way into the house. The lights in the living room are on. I can see the water dripping from the ceiling like Nolan said. Luckily, we haven’t put the sheetrock up yet. That would have pissed me off if we had put it up only to have had to tear it down because it had water damage.
    “Nolan?” I call.
    “Upstairs,” he answers.
    When I get upstairs, I can see that the bathroom light is on. I stop in the doorway to see Nolan standing in the center of the bare bones room, his hands on his hips. He looks sexy as hell in his dark gray slacks and purple shirt. He has his sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top button of his shirt undone.
    “Hey,” I say.
    He looks up at me. “Hey. I have no idea where it’s coming from.”
    I smirk. “I didn’t think you would.” I step into the room and pull my hammer from my belt. “I think it’s coming from one of the pipes in the floor.”
    I go over to where the old sink used to be and start prying up the plywood subfloor. It only takes me a minute to locate the leak.
    “Nolan, do me a favor? Go down to the cellar and shut the water off. I really can’t do anything until tomorrow when I can get a plumber in here,” I tell him.
    “Great,” he mutters and leaves to go turn the water off.
    A few minutes later, the leak slows and eventually stops. Nolan returns and leans a shoulder against the doorframe, folding his arms over his chest. I pull a rag and black marker out of one of the pockets on my belt. I dry the pipe as best as I can and then mark it where the leak is so the plumber can easily find it tomorrow.
    “Alright, I got some towels in my truck that we can use to dry the floor downstairs,” I say.
    Nolan nods. “Okay. Want me to take that wood down?”
    “Yeah, just toss it in the dumpster.”
    “Okay.”
    Nolan grabs the large piece of plywood that I tore up only to yelp and immediately drop it. He clutches his left hand with his right and starts cursing up a storm. It’s the most I’ve ever heard him curse before. He bends over and rests his elbows on his knees.
    “…Goddamn motherfucking sonofabitch!” he grits out.
    “What the hell happened?” I ask, bewildered.
    He straightens up, his face red and straining. He holds out his hand toward me. I step closer and see a large sliver of wood shoved deep under the skin in the palm of his hand. I wince.
    “Ouch.” I grimace. “I have a first aid kit in my truck, too. Pretty sure there are tweezers in it. Let me go get it.”
    Nolan hisses in pain and nods. He follows me downstairs and sits on the bottom step while I go out to my truck. When I get back