What Might Have Been: Daniels Brother #4 (Daniels Brothers) by Sherri Hayes Read Free Book Online

she’d find once she got there. When she’d been introduced to the manager a little over a week ago, she hadn’t been impressed. Max hadn’t been either, but he was trying to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, no matter how incompetent they seemed. The last thing he wanted to do was fire everyone and start from scratch.
    When Abby pulled up to the front of the office building, she couldn’t miss the fountains of water spraying in all different directions. She had no idea what was going on.
    Stepping out of her car, she spotted the manager. “Marty, what’s going on?”
    “I don’t know. The sprinklers turned on this morning and they just started going everywhere.”
    She willed herself not to roll her eyes. The man’s clothes weren’t even wet. Had he even attempted to shut off the water? “Did you try turning them off?”
    “The only water shutoff I can find is the main one. There are at least a hundred people in this building. I can’t just turn off all the water.” He looked at her as if she’d lost every brain cell in her head.
    “There isn’t a separate shutoff for the outside sprinklers?” Trent’s comment about things being worse than he’d thought ran through her head. Was this another thing the previous landscapers hadn’t done correctly?
    “If there is, then I haven’t found it.” He acted irritated that he’d had to repeat himself.
    “Show me.”
    “Show you what?” he asked.
    She gritted her teeth and plastered a smile on her face. “I’d like to see the controls for the sprinkler system. I need to know what we’re dealing with.”
    He huffed. “Fine. But it ain’t gonna do no good.”
    Somehow, Abby managed to follow him through the maze of sprinklers without getting soaked. She thought they’d be going to the basement, but Marty led her to the side of the building. There was a control panel hidden behind a row of bushes. She could see it, but they weren’t able to get close without getting caught by the spray.
    “See. I told you,” he said with pride. “No shutoff.”
    “And you’re sure there’s nothing inside?”
    “Do I look like this is my first day on the job?”
    Abby wanted to give this man an earful, but she bit her tongue. Yelling at him wouldn’t solve the problem and for now she needed him. Marty knew the building better than she did.
    She took in the situation around her and knew what she had to do.
    She dug out her cell and scrolled until she found Trent’s number. Abby hesitated for a moment before dialing. He’d crossed her mind more than once over the weekend, for reasons that were completely unrelated to work.
    “Daniels Landscape Design.”
    “Hi, Trent. It’s Abby.”
    His tone changed to one of familiarity. “Abby. What can I do for you on this lovely morning?”
    She tried not to think about her body’s reaction to the change in his voice. “I’m having a bit of a crisis over at Wedgewood that I’m hoping you can help me out with.” Marty lingered close by, but she ignored him. “There’s something wrong with the sprinkler system and we can’t seem to shut it off without interrupting the water to the building.”
    There was the sound of a door opening and then closing. “Are you there now?”
    “Yes.”
    “I’m not far away. I’ll be there in five.” The phone went silent.
    Abby closed her eyes and gripped her phone a little tighter as her heart rate picked up. Five minutes.
    Taking a steadying breath, she tucked her phone back into her pocket and turned to face Marty. “Someone from the new landscaping company will be here in a few minutes. Hopefully he’ll be able to come up with a solution.”
    Marty shrugged, but otherwise didn’t comment.
    Abby decided to try a different tactic. “Do you happen to have some coffee around here? I ran out of the office before I was able to get my morning fix.”
    “Sure. Follow me.”
    They retraced their steps through the maze of water to the front of the building. Instead of