Read Online Cattail Ridge by T.L. Haddix - Free Book Online Page A

calls you a hellion.”
    Everyone laughed, and Emma pulled Sydney in for a tight hug. “That’s one reason, yes.”
    “What are the others?”
    “You are too young to know the other reasons. I’ll tell you when you’re a little older,” Emma promised, tweaking her daughter’s nose.
    After they finished eating and had cleared away the meal’s remnants, Archer settled in under the sink. “Let’s see what we have.”
    “I’m going to take Little Miss for a walk and get out of your hair while you work,” Amelia told them. She winked at Emma, as Archer’s view of her was blocked by the cabinet. Emma made a face at her but she just grinned. “Come on, Syd.”
    “Okay,” came the disappointed response from under the sink, where the little girl had perched to watch him work. “Archer, will you be here when we get back?”
    “I should be.”
    “Maybe you can read me a story?”
    “Sydney!” Emma scolded. “We’re already imposing on him to fix the sink.”
    A put-upon sigh sounded as she backed out of the cabinet and went to Amelia. “Or maybe not.”
    The front door closed and Archer slid out from under the sink, smiling. “You know I’ll stay and read to her. I love doing that.”
    Emma crossed her arms over her chest. “I know. But you don’t have to.”
    “Yeah, but I like reading to her. She’s a fun kid. Let’s see if we can get this changed out before it causes a bigger problem.” He ducked back under the sink and Emma took the chance to study what she could see of him. Archer was tall, almost too tall to stretch out across her kitchen floor. The jeans he wore were old and worn and molded to his thighs in ways that did disturbing things to her insides. As he stretched to work on the fixture his shirt rode up, revealing a patch of skin covered with a light dusting of golden hair that thickened as it neared the waist of his jeans.
    “Is the water turned off?”
    The question snapped her attention back to the task at hand. Cheeks flushing, she confirmed that it was. “That was one thing I was able to do.”
    “Then we’re ready to disconnect the old lines. I’ll have to take them off where they connect here at the bottom. Whoever installed this hosed it up at the top.” He moved out of the cabinet a little bit, then turned to gain access to the pipes. A few seconds later a string of curses sounded and before Emma could move, a stream of hot water hit her squarely across the thighs. She shrieked with surprise.
    “Damn it. The shut-off valve doesn’t work.” His words were muffled by the sound of gushing water and some thuds. “Go shut the main off!”
    For a few seconds Emma was torn as she tried to remember where the main shutoff was. “It’s in the garage. Shit, I’m sorry. I’ll be back.” She ran into the garage. Cursing under her breath, she moved the boxes out from in front of the panel where the main was housed. As soon as she had the water turned off, she dashed back inside.
    Water was puddled in several spots across the kitchen floor. The cabinets on the far wall were dripping wet and the paper towels had taken a direct hit. But by far the worst of it was Archer. He had eased out of the cabinet to sit on the floor in front of the open door, soaked to the skin from the top of his head well past his waist. Horrified and terribly amused at the same time, all Emma could do was stare and struggle to not laugh, her eyes wide, as he used a hand to push his dripping hair off his face.
    “Could I have a towel?”
    “Mm-hmmm,” she managed, biting her lip as she turned and hurried from the kitchen to the utility room and the clean towels in the dryer. As soon as she cleared the door she burst out laughing.
    “I heard that,” he called.
    “I’m sorry,” she hollered back as she got the towels out in between snorting bouts of laughter. “I’m so sorry.”
    The laughter died when she went back in the kitchen to find him standing and in the process of pulling his shirt over his