The crossing over the creek was unidentifiable. It took him a minute to realize that Parker’s footbridge was gone. He noticed her car and wondered if she was inside the house watching. His two texts to her earlier hadn’t resulted in a reply. He checked his phone again. Still nothing. He’d bet money that she was freaking out.
The rain was slowing down, and according to his app, the heavy bands were behind them. Although clouds often got stuck in mountain ranges, and microbursts brought a gush of crap with them.
He parked his truck and walked the high bank of the wash.
Both structures took on some damage, he could tell by the way the water swirled and moved. Both were completely overwhelmed and spilling over. The amount of water was simply too much for their capacity.
There was nothing anyone could do about that.
Two of his hand crews turned into the drive.
“Pull the chain-link back. Keep this clear.” He pointed at the fence between the properties. The fence they’d replaced already. There was no point in letting the mud pile up behind the fence and block the neighbor’s drive. Mud was going to go where it wanted to and take out whatever was in its path. And since there wasn’t a structure at risk, Colin would just as soon clean it up when it was done.
“You got it, Boss.”
From there, Colin stopped where he found reception on his phone and started calling everyone in.
He tried calling Parker, but she didn’t pick up.
Worry creeped up his spine.
De Luca waved him over.
“How is your place holding up?”
“I have a year’s worth of cleanup, but the house is okay so far.”
“Good. Any chance you’ve seen Parker?”
“I saw her at the Sutters’ about an hour ago.”
Colin felt marginally better knowing she’d been spotted.
Trucks started showing up along with the media. Much as he wanted to keep them away, he really couldn’t.
Colin found Parker halfway up the Sutters’ driveway, shovel in her hand.
The smile on her face surprised him. “Nice of you to show up.” Her voice was teasing.
He laughed. “I had that manicure scheduled for a month.”
She opened her arms and he hugged her hard. “How are you holding up?”
“My bridge is gone.”
“I saw.”
“I’m stuck on this side of the wash.”
“I figured that out.”
“I’m going to get fired.”
He squeezed her harder for that one. “There will be other jobs.”
“No one died.”
Sometimes death was the barometer. “Great attitude, Miss Oakley.”
With a shrug of her shoulders she said, “It is what it is . . . What are you going to do?” Her question was rhetorical.
I love you.
The words sounded inside his head, and it took him a minute to realize he hadn’t said them out loud.
His smile grew.
Yeah . . . he loved this woman.
When had that happened?
The rain had stopped, and behind it the sun started peeking through the clouds. The rainbow arching over the property made Parker smile.
She’d given two interviews for two different stations and then sat back and watched all the activity. Every possible county public works truck had descended on her property. There were three fire engines parked in the yard; one was from Matt’s station, the other two were from the station up the street. Squad cars buzzed in and out.
Erin stood on the other side of the wash, bundled into a fur-lined coat.
“What a mess!”
“It’s crazy everywhere.” Parker shouted across the noise of the water and the trucks buzzing around. “Do we have power?”
“Yeah, but no water.”
“Ah, damn.” Parker spun around. “Don’t go anywhere.”
Matt walked over to her, waved across the creek to Erin.
“What’s wrong?”
“Erin says the water is off. Do you know if it’s a wide problem?”
“I haven’t heard if it is.”
There was only one working valve on that side of the wash, and it had been hit twice with debris down Sutter Canyon. Parker walked over to the PVC pipes sticking out of the ground, fresh with blue glue from the repairs they’d made a couple of weeks before. She opened the valve, and water gushed out.
The good news was, it wasn’t a city problem.
The bad news was, it was hers.
Matt stood beside her. “It’s on here, which means it’s broken somewhere between this point and the house.”
They both looked up at the same time.
“That has to be at least seven hundred feet.”
Parker twisted the valve off.
Back at the bank of the wash, Parker called out to Erin. “Turn on the hose bib under that tree.”
Erin waved and walked over to the hose and turned it on.
Nothing.
“I’m going out on a limb here and suggesting the break is in the wash.”
“Let me guess, you’re the smart one in the family,” Parker teased.
Matt rolled his eyes.
“I have a fork for the main at the street, but it’s inside the garage.” The fork was a special tool needed to shut the water off.
Matt signaled one of the crew over.
Parker showed the man where the main connected, which was outside the gate and down the joint driveway two hundred feet away.
“I need to get on the other side of this,” Parker told Matt.
“Why?”
“To close the valves at the junction box and avoid the house pipes backflowing.”
Matt narrowed his eyes. “What does it matter if they do?”
“The whole house has a fire sprinkler system in the ceilings. When those pipes backflow, the alarm goes off and you guys are called.” She patted his arm. “And since there won’t be a way to fill the pipes back up until I figure out where the break is—”
Matt started to nod, understanding her problem. “Where do the main valves live?”
“They’re inside the water heater room. Right off the sliding glass doors of the den. I’d tell Erin to do it, but if you turn the things the wrong way you empty the system. There are a lot of shutoffs in that room.”
Matt patted her on the back. “Okay, I’ll get over there.”
The water in the creek still raged. “How?”
“Big boys have big toys.” Matt walked away, and the next thing she knew, one of the fire engines pulled alongside the wash. When she saw one of the ladders being extended, she smiled.
“What is he doing?” Erin asked.
“He’s coming over. Show him where the water heater is.”
Matt climbed onto the ladder and crawled on top of it until he was able to jump down on the other side.
A crowd watched, and at least one news crew caught it on film.
“Is my brother showing off?” Colin walked up to her.
She explained the water problem as they watched Erin and Matt walking up the driveway.
Colin twisted around a couple of times, ran a hand through his hair. “That’s a long distance to find a break.”
In this, Parker felt a little more confident. “Sadly, I know way too much about plumbing.”
“Oh?”