A Tail for Two by Mara Wells

Author:Mara Wells
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2020-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

“Idiota!” Mendo smacked Lance on the back of his head, mumbling more unflattering things under his breath. They stood outside the Dorothy, shoes sinking into the mud created when they’d dug up the main drainage line. Lance was reattaching the sections, restoring water to the building.

“Hey, I found the clog. Nothing idiotic about that.” Lance rubbed his hair and winced for dramatic effect. Mendo’s slaps were more attention-getting than painful. They’d spent the past two hours snaking the main drain out to the street line, trying to solve the mystery of why all the first-floor bathtubs had a couple of inches of brown backflow in them. It finally paid off when they fished out a mop head with hundreds of used condoms stuck to it.

The discovery left Lance with many questions. Who flushed a mop head down the toilet? Like, how did that even work? Secondly, wasn’t this a fifty-five-plus building? Because that was a lot of condoms for a building full of people who couldn’t get pregnant anymore. It must’ve taken years for the mop to capture so many condoms, enough to block all drainage to the city sewer line.

“I’m talking about you getting a lawyer.” Mendo shook his head, winding the drain snake back onto its coil. “Nothing good will come from that. You need to apologize to Carrie. Work it out between the two of you.”

Lance cleaned his hands on his jeans, leaving long streaks of mud down his thighs. “Not gonna happen. I don’t think she’ll ever talk to me again.”

Mendo placed a fatherly hand on Lance’s shoulder. How Lance wished Mendo really were his father, instead of the crappy one the genetics lottery had landed him. Whatever Mendo was about to say, he would listen. He would do it, no matter how crazy the advice, because Mendo was a good man, and if Mendo had raised him, maybe Lance would be a good man, too. He’d start right now, this minute. Whatever he said.

“What should I do?” Lance knocked one work boot against the other, shaking dirt loose, afraid to look at Mendo and see disappointment in his eyes.

“Grovel.” Mendo shook Lance’s shoulder, emphasizing his point. “I’m talking on your knees, flowers and candy, hire a skywriter, organize a flash mob kind of groveling. It’s your best shot.”

Lance stiffened. “She said awful things, too. Why do I have to be the one to grovel?”

Mendo clapped him on the back. “Because you have the most to lose.”

Dammit. “Couldn’t I start with something easier? Like a text?”

“Don’t be such an idiota. Go now.” Mendo gave him a shove in the direction of his truck.

Right now. Whatever Mendo said, Lance had to do it because he was trying to be a better man than he was raised to be. He got out his keys and checked the balance on his bank app. He had a feeling groveling wouldn’t be cheap.

* * *

Carrie took one last swipe at her smeared mascara before putting on a big smile. “I’m home!” she called, dropping her bag onto the couch and slipping out of her heels.

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