“Then they’re yours. They belong with the pier, anyway. And I could talk to the Angel Sands Amateur Dramatic Society about volunteering their time.” He gave her a big smile. “I’m the president. I’m sure they’ll help us out.”
She had a feeling he had a finger in a whole lot of pies.
“I’ll give them back afterward,” Autumn told him. “It’s a loan, not a gift.”
He shook his head. “Not at all. I want you to have them. It’s nice to see how much you appreciate them.”
“I’ve always been fascinated by old photographs,” she admitted. “They tell such amazing stories. I like to imagine what the people in them were thinking, what they were planning to do after the photograph was taken.” She laughed and shook her head. “You probably think I’m crazy.”
“No. I know exactly what you mean. That’s why I like them, too.” He smiled at her as he stood from the rickety guest chair in her office. “Well, I shall leave you to it. No doubt you have a lot of work to do.”
“Thank you for stopping by.” She walked him to the door.
“It was good to talk through the plans for the day. Let me know if you need anything else.” He lifted a hand to say goodbye, then walked out of the door and down the pier. Autumn closed the door behind him and walked back to her desk, looking at the photographs once more.
The door behind her clicked, and she looked up to see Carla walk into the office, her long, dark hair swept up into a bun, her pretty face enhanced with a sweep of blush and a slick of red lipstick.
“I thought you were Frank for a minute,” Autumn said, trying to ignore the tugging at her gut.
“I knocked, but you didn’t answer.”
Autumn turned and leaned her back against the desk. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes.” She nodded, crossing her arms over her chest. “I just wanted to tell you that my dad will be donating a percentage of earning to the animal shelter on the charity day. He wants to do his part.”
“That’s very kind of him.” Her chest loosened. “I really appreciate that.”
“He loves animals.” Carla shrugged. “And the restaurant is completely booked up for the day. We should make a good profit.”
“I’m glad to hear that.” Autumn gave her a genuine smile. “I hoped it would. I think together we can make this place work well.”
“Okay. Well I should get back to the restaurant.” Carla pressed her lips together, lingering at the door.
“Sure, thanks for coming over. I really appreciate it.”
Carla tapped her fingers on the door handle, then turned back to Autumn. “Is it true what I hear about you and Griff?”
Autumn’s stomach dropped. “It depends on what you’ve been hearing.”
“Are you dating?” Carla’s brow furrowed as she asked. For a moment, Autumn felt bad for her.
“We are,” she said softly. “But it’s a fairly new thing.”
“You remember what I said about him, right?”
“I do.” Autumn nodded. “But you don’t have to worry about me. I’m a big girl.”
“That’s what I thought.” Carla smiled sadly. “But I still ended up with a broken heart.”
God, this was awkward. And a good reminder of why it was so stupid to date where you worked, even if it was way too late for her and Griff. He pulled her in every time she looked at him. Made her heart skip like a kid whenever he was close.
No wonder Carla was upset. If Autumn were in her position, she would be, too.
“I’m sorry,” Autumn said softly.
“It’s okay. And I should go. Dad will be wondering where I am.” Carla’s smile was tight. “I guess I’ll see you around.”
“Sure.”
Autumn watched as Carla walked out of her office, then stared at the closed wooden door, her eyes tracing the knots and lines in the grain.
Her relationship – or whatever it was – with Griff was starting to feel like a bubble. One she had to carefully guard from the people wanting to burst it.
Her father. Carla. Maybe even Josh. Everyone seemed to want to break her fragile happiness.
She was determined not to let them.
Mike was finishing sweeping the deck when Griff’s phone rang. He pulled his cell from his jeans pocket and blinked when he saw the caller.
“Dad?” he said, lifting the phone to his ear. “Is everything okay?”
For a minute, just one small minute, he thought his dad might be calling to wish him a belated happy birthday.
“Yeah, I’m good,” his dad said gruffly. “We’re having some work done on the bathroom, and your mom’s sent me to the hardware store. Just trying to work out what kind of damn cabinet she won’t hate.”
Griff swallowed down a laugh. He could only imagine her response if his dad got the wrong one.
“Anyway,” his dad continued. “I only have a couple of minutes, but I wanted to ask a favor.”
“What kind of favor?”
“It’s Sam. His boat’s a mess and he needs to take it over to the marina. I’m hoping you can help him.”
Sam was one of his dad’s old friends. The same one they visited in Silver Sands not long ago.
“Ah, yeah, sure. When does he want to go?”
“Tonight. It’ll only take a couple of hours. You can do it, can’t you?”
Griff glanced at his watch. The marina was about three hours up the coast, add into that the time it’ll take them to drive back again and that was his evening gone.
“Yeah, sure, I can help. I’ll give him a call.”
“That’s great. I gotta go. Your mom sends her love.”
Griff opened his mouth to say goodbye, but his dad had already hung up. It was the first time they’d spoken in months and he hadn’t even bothered to say it.
After all this time, Griff was used to that.
“What’s with the long face?” Ally asked as Autumn leaned on the Déjà Brew counter and watched her expertly work the coffee machine.
“Ah nothing. Just feeling overworked.”
Ally passed her the steaming mug, and Autumn took it gratefully.
“I know how that feels. I’ve been working since five. Two of our staff are off with that bug going around. And Nate’s in Seattle for some meetings, which means I’m pretty much working for four.” She tipped her head to the side. “I know! We should have a girl’s night to decompress. Maybe we can head to the mall first for a little bit of retail therapy, then go to the Mexican restaurant nearby.” She grinned. “I’ll call Ember and the girls. What do you say?”
Autumn grinned. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been on a girls’ night out. “That sounds good. I need some new shoes.”
“I heard you had a shoe thing.” Ally leaned on the counter. “How many do you have?”
“Here or in New York?”
Ally’s smile widened. “I need a total.”
Autumn took a sip of coffee as she made the mental calculation. “Um, maybe a hundred?”