Hazel was about to tell Dean that he was the last thing she needed right now, but that wouldn’t be true. One look at his muscular, capable body and her irritation at his sudden appearance faded into relief. She’d been standing under this geyser for a full five minutes with these two crazy people running around her, trying to think what to do. The only thing that seemed important was to stop the water. It was ruining the ceiling, the furniture and the beautiful hardwood floors, all of which would now need to be replaced. Her arms were killing her, the stress was overtaking her, and she was fresh out of ideas.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean that,” she said. “Can you please help? Stefano tried to take a bath in the upstairs bathroom. I hadn’t even looked at it yet. Obviously, we have a leak problem.”

Dean gave her a sideways grin, and she was suddenly incredibly embarrassed by her current appearance. What must she look like? And her bra was showing! She even tried to shift her elbows into her chest to cover herself but noticed Dean grinning at her again and stopped. He chuckled under his breath and turned to Stefano to ask the one question that she hadn’t even thought to ask.

“Did you turn the faucet off?”

The sudden horror visible in Stefano’s face might have been funny if her arms weren’t about to fall off. He dropped his mop and took off running, his towel flapping around his ankles. Dean barked a laugh and ran off after him.

“Why didn’t you ask him if he’d turned the water off?” Indigo yelled. “He should have turned the water off.”

“Weren’t you standing right here as well, Mother? Or did I imagine you?”

“Well, I’m not in charge, am I? You wouldn’t even let me film it!  I was going to start a blog!”

She was saved from getting drawn into a twilight zone conversation with Indigo about blogging when she felt the weight of the water, pushing against her upraised arms, lessen. She breathed a sigh of relief. Thank God for Dean. This soaked blanket had been getting unbearably heavy, and she was going to have a crick in her neck for the next few days.

Dean was back in seconds. “It’s eased, but the pipe behind the tub has burst. Not surprising given all that rust. Where’re your mains?”

“Everything is in the cantina, the cellar, out the back door and to the right. It’s the door under the fig tree.”

Dean gave her long, slow smile. “You don’t have to stand there any more, you know. It’s not helping. It’s only a drip now, and I'll help you clean it all up afterward.”

She lowered her arms gratefully and smiled back. He was a good guy, that was clear enough. Maybe she should cut him some slack. Surely she was capable of having him around without falling all over him like a groupie. Water dripped onto her head, and she realized how terrible she must look. She checked to see if he was laughing at her. No, he was just smiling.

“Ummm…,” Indigo said. She was staring at them with an amused smile of her own that brought Hazel back to reality. What was she doing standing practically naked in the middle of a puddle, sharing a moment with a guy she was supposed to be avoiding. “The water, you two? You need to turn off the water!”

“Yeah, sorry!” Dean said. He shot her one last grin and ran from the room.

Stefano appeared again in his towel, a face full of chagrin. He looked pretty pitiful. “I’m very sorry. Very, very. I will pay for fixing, and I will fix it myself.”

Hazel felt a surge of hope. “You know how to fix things, Stefano? Have you studied plumbing?”

He wiped one hand across his wet face and reached down with the other to grab his slipping towel. He looked like a chastened little boy. “No plumbing. Computers.”

Indigo looked at him and tutted in disappointment, as though she wasn’t responsible for bringing this stranger into the house in the first place.

“Helpful,” said Hazel. “Why don’t you go and get some clothes on? You can help us mop up.”

Dean appeared again, and she realized that the dripping above her head had finally stopped. She didn’t like the idea of feeling beholden to someone, but at this point, she needed the help. She wasn’t going to accomplish much with a teenager and a crazy mother. She realized that the overwhelming anxiety and panic had eased now that Dean was here smiling at her. Maybe, just maybe, she didn’t need to do this alone. And it wouldn’t be a punishment doing it with Dean. He was clearly capable and was a much prettier picture than Indigo or skinny little Stefano in his towel.

He broke into her train of thought, “Mops? Buckets? Old Towels?”

Hazel shook her head. “We could only find this one mop.” She waved at the abandoned mop Stefano had been ineffectively using. “No buckets. But there might be some old towels.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Dean said, “I need to take some stuff back to the townhouse. I’ll drop it all off, borrow mops and buckets and come right back. We’ll take care of this mess in no time.”

She glanced over at Indigo, who was silently clapping her hands in relief, and turned back to the smiling Dean. “Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”

They heard the back door slam. Indigo crossed the floor and punched Hazel lightly in the arm. She was grinning like a madwoman. “I told you so!”