Turn of the Pipes (A Redpoint One Romance) (13 page)

"Like I said, I know when I get there. Just
like you do with your pipes."

Rachel stared at the spot of the problem, also
sure she wouldn't like what was causing the problem. "Yeah, but why
couldn't my station special gift be with a more glamorous job.
Life-support, the inner ring systems, the transit tubes. Even floor
maintenance."

Tish laughed, squeezing her arm as she passed
by. "You're good at what you do."

Rachel lifted the flat scanner and ran it a
short distance down the pipe and then back to where she started.
She'd found it the first time. Worn joint leading into a three-way
split. "Still would prefer something more glamorous."

"Speaking of glamorous, where did Ignacio take
you again?" Tish asked as her bot gave her a small part with wires
sticking out in all directions.

Which Rachel had never told her. Probably on
purpose. Most people wouldn't think a picnic in a nature reserve
the least bit romantic. Still, Tish hadn't been as bad with the
newt jokes as the others. "It was a nice simple date."

"No way, you aren't getting out of it that
fast. What is this about a 'pookie?'"

"You visited Pookie?" A female voice asked
from down the corridor.

Rachel flinched, afraid to look. No way. They
couldn't have found her clear down here while she was on the job.
It was impossible.

Yet, when she looked up, there they were. All
three of the regulars from the Naughty Knitter's Club, coming down
the maintenance corridor towards her, each of them carrying
something in their arms. Before she knew it, they were right in
front of her, setting up a small round table in the middle of the
corridor. Out of a box came a full tea setting. Out of the other
came a flask of hot water and an assortment of teas.

Tish stopped to stand next to her looking as
dazed as she felt at the appearance. "What is this?"

Velda poured out the tea in perfect form,
complete with little pinky up. "To catch up on local gossip, of
course."

"The job of every knitter's club in
existence," Eddie said.

Daisy handed a cup to first Rachel and then
Tish. "First, how did he like the dress?"

"His eyes glazed over," Rachel said, taking
the small teaspoon on the side of the saucer to poke at the tea bag
floating in the water.

"I knew it," Daisy said with a pleased
smile.

"Yeah, ask her what happened to it later,"
Tish said. "Because I'm still trying to get the details out of
her."

The ladies froze, pinning Rachel down with
their stares. Tish on one side, the three ladies of the Naughty
Knitter's club on the other. Rachel knew she didn't stand a
chance.

She glanced at the pipe before fishing out the
tea bag. "Okay, let's make this quick. We have repairs to
do."

"Of course, dear. That's why we brought the
tea to you in the first place," Velda said with a nod of her cup in
Rachel's direction. "Now, start at the beginning."

She could easily relate the beginning. Even
describing the event of Pookie finding her, setting Tish into
giggles when she learned who and what Pookie was. Explaining what
happened later proved a lot harder.

The ladies did better at that part than she
thought. They listened carefully as she described Ignacio's change
in mood. They nodded in approval when she described how she tried
to get the mood back by going inside to look at the baby
newts.

"Sometime the woman has to take the lead,"
Velda said before letting Rachel continue the story.

Then came the episode with the oil and the
newt. Even Daisy shared in the laughter even while bemoaning the
destruction of such a rare rummage sale find.

"It might not be completely destroyed.
Remember the fabric experiment thing we wanted to try?" Eddie said
with a nod towards Daisy.

Daisy's eyes brightened. "Oh yes. Rachel, give
the dress back. Let us see what we can do."

"The dress is inconsequential to the true
mystery of the night," Velda said, pausing while she took a slow
sip of tea. "Why did he draw back?"

"And will he do it again?" Daisy
asked.

Rachel couldn't answer the question, and
wasn't about to try. It confused her all over again when she
thought about it. All she knew was that it ended well. "The kiss
says something. I left right after, but I left him smiling. A full
smile, all the way to his eyes."

"Very good, dear," Eddie said with a smile of
approval. "Just what you should have done. Left him happy and
confused."

Her ID band chimed. Another message. As the
three ladies who usually left her messages were currently with her,
she decided she better take the time to see who it was. Probably
another emergency someone wanted her to take care of.

"Thank you for the tea, but work calls."
Rachel set the tea cup on the table and lifted her left wrist to
look at the information displaying on the top of the ID
band.

"Oh, from Ignacio." Not who she'd expected at
all.

"He's probably arranging for the next date,"
Velda said.

Daisy poked at Eddie. "Go on, read it out
loud."

"'We should leave last night as our last
farewell. I wish you well on your future.'" Rachel read, her
disbelief building with each word.

What? She stared at the last word, not finding
anything after, and wanting more. It must be a mistake. It just had
to be.

CHAPTER TEN

RACHEL'S ARM WAS nearly twisted off as Velda grabbed it and
pulled it towards her, demanding, "What?"

The other two ladies crowded around to read
the words for themselves.

"See. He's pulling back again," Daisy said,
pointing to the ID bracelet. "Something is going on."

"I don't really care what is going on. No one
hurts our Rachel," Eddie said, putting her hands on her hips and
scowling.

"That's cold. No explanation at all," Tish
said, shaking her head.

"He's not a cold man," Rachel said, taking
back her arm and rubbing it. "There must be a reason."

"Some men simply don't know how to love,"
Eddie said.

"It's sad, really," Daisy said, nodding in
agreement.

"He does know how to love. He was married
before," Rachel said, feeling she needed to do something to protect
his good name since he wasn't there to defend himself. She didn't
know why he suddenly insisted on breaking up with her, but he knew
how to love. He showed it even to his newts and
salamanders.

"Oh, now we're getting somewhere," Velda said,
taking a dramatic sip of her tea. She raised her eyebrows.
"Divorced?"

"No, widowed."

All three women started, sucking in their
breath. They glanced at each other, giving each other all-knowing
nods. None of which made sense to Rachel. She quickly said, "You
don't know him. You can't judge him."

"Wow, am I glad this is you on the hot-seat
and not me," Tish said. She pointed to a cavity in the wall of the
corridor not far away. "I'll just be in there fixing
things."

"Which is what I should be doing." Rachel
deliberately picked up the scanner from the edge of the supply
cart. "I'm sure you ladies understand."

"Of course we do, dear. It's okay. Now we
understand what the problem is," Eddie said, patting her
arm.

Rachel's suspicions rose full force, knowing
for a certainty they were already up to something else. "Understand
what?"

"Why he withdrew, of course," Velda said.
"It's not as over as his words might say."

"Classic response," Daisy said, taking the
cups and starting to put them in the white box.

"We'll take care of it," Eddie
said.

Before she knew it, the women had packed up
the tea party, collapsed the table, and set off again. Rachel
watched them disappear down the corridor, wondering if she should
stop everything and chase them down to demand what they were up to
now.

Or even to make sure they got out of the
maintenance corridors okay. Which brought up another question. How
did they find her in the first place without getting
lost?

"Wow, am I glad this is you and not me," Tish
said from the protection of the cavity she'd pushed herself into.
Small bots moved in and out of the space above her head. "You, my
friend, are in serious trouble."

"I don't need a special connection with the
station to know that," Rachel said.

The Naughty Knitters club were at it again,
and this time she was the focus. No, not just her. Ignacio, too.
This was worse then when the group thought one of the animal rescue
groups needed a good fundraiser. Sure, they'd raised a lot of
money, but the animal-themed parade through the entertainment
district was still the stuff of station legend. All those costumes.
All those miffed bots complaining in all their chirps and whistles
at being drafted…

Poor Ignacio. He had no idea what was coming
at the both of them.

She worried about it all through the repair.
Worried about it when she and Tish split up work on other problems.
Worried enough that she wondered if she should warn
Ignacio.

The one good thing about being at work when it
all happened was the ability to keep her hands busy. It kept her
from going crazy. She whipped through the repairs on the list in
quick succession. Even the smaller repairs and lower priority
service requests could be given attention.

She sighed to herself. Imagine what she could
do with a little help. She could possibly clear the requests by the
end of the day. She loved the thought of being able to do so. No
one yelling at her, informing her other repairs were more important
than others.

Two new pressure sensors servicing several
apartment blocks returned the water pressure to their faucets. A
filtration screen replacement took care of an odor problem. Somehow
she found herself back at the third ring, once again working on
valve problems. A problem that started moving the moment she
started to work on it. Then came the hissing from her
bot.

She groaned out lout, eliciting a chirping
question from her bot.

"It's one of those days, bot," Rachel
said.

She closed the valves on either end of the
problem, disconnecting the pipes, and she soon held a hissing
Mandian Ruffled Newt in her hands.

And everything came rushing back from the
night before. As it did, her ire built.

No, she wasn't going to let him off the hook
quite so fast. Not after the kiss they shared. It might have been
short, but there had been real emotion behind it. Blazing fire,
from her point of view.

With a good grasp on Irvine, she stalked
towards the local industrial block, leaving her bot behind to put
the pipes back together. She wasn't concerned. Her bot had the help
of the larger robots, and it wasn't as if anything needed to be
replaced and repaired. The culprit to the whole trouble she held
squirming and hissing in her hands.

"Go ahead. Keep up the mouth. You aren't
getting away," Rachel told it, only to be answered by another
hiss.

Her bot caught up with the supply cart towed
behind it. Irvine and her bot took turns hissing at each other
while she waited for someone to answer at the front of the
warehouse. When the door opened, it was to find Ignacio in the same
apron as the first time, his hair stuck up in all
directions.

His eyes widened when he saw her. Then he
caught sight of Irvine in her hands, and he groaned. "Not
again."

"Yes, again. Did you happen to find where he
escaped last night?" Rachel demanded.

"No, and yes I have been looking."

"Good. Now that we have that out of the way, I
have something to say to you."

"Go ahead." Ignacio straightened his
shoulders, his jaw tense. Probably waiting for her to attack him
with everything she had. Some small part of her wanted
to.