Love At Last (Lily's Story, Book 3) (39 page)

“Uh oh,” she murmured, before climbing the stairs to where the men were working. “How’s it going, guys?”

“Hi there, Jessica. How did the surgery go?”

“It went really well. Ellen is resting. How are things going here? I noticed the hall light-switch isn’t working.”

Ben glanced at his assistant before looking at Jessica. “We ran into a small problem.”

Jessica’s eyebrows went up. “Oh?”

“There seems to be a bit of a problem with your electrical wiring.”

“What do you mean? What happened?”

“Well, Matt and I were going great guns here, running the wire for the new lights Ellen wanted, when we discovered that some of the wiring had been chewed on by mice or some other small critter. As we were repairing that, we quickly realized that the wiring in this old place is in bad shape and needs to be replaced.”

“Oh, no.” Jessica sighed. “So is the power just off in the hallway?”

“I’m afraid not. We had to turn off the main breaker while we worked, and it’s going to have to stay off until we’re done.”

“Isn’t there some way we can have some of the electricity on?”

“Unfortunately, right now it’s an all or nothing proposition. Not only that, but this old wiring is a fire hazard and it would be irresponsible for me to turn it back on in its current condition. I’m really sorry, Jessica.”

“How long will it take you to fix it?”

“Truth to tell, I don’t think I’m the best person for this particular job. Doing work like this on a house as old as this is somewhat of a specialty.”

“What do you mean? I don’t understand why you can’t do it.” Jessica felt panic fluttering in her stomach at the thought of her aunt having to come home to a house without electricity.

“Don’t worry. I know someone who can get the job done right. I’ll have him start first thing in the morning. He’s done this kind of thing before, so I know he’ll do a great job.”

Relieved, Jessica gave him a tentative smile. “Okay. Good.”

That night Jessica went to bed early and tried to ignore the creaks and groans of the old house. Somehow the sounds seemed creepier with the power out, and she was glad to have Hudson snuggled against her as she slept.

~*~*~

“Are you sure you want to go to the house and not a hotel?” Jessica asked Ellen the next morning as they packed her few items and waited for the doctor to give her the final okay to come home.

“Yes, I’m sure. We can get by without electricity for a few days, don’t you think? It will be like an adventure.”

“I guess so. And I suppose I could use a few days away from the computer.”

“Oh, Jessica. I forgot about your job.”

Jessica smiled. “That’s okay. I can go to the library and use their Wi-Fi if the electrician is taking too long.”

A short time later they pulled onto the gravel road and headed toward the house. As they got closer, Jessica saw a familiar truck parked in front and felt her heart sink. Hoping she was wrong, she didn’t say anything until they were close enough that she knew there was no mistake.

The truck parked out front had
Judd Construction
stenciled on the door. And Ben’s truck was absent.

# # #

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