Autumn Feast - Charlie Richards Page 0,16

a problem and that you couldn’t use the space anymore.”

“A problem? What kind of problem?” Armand could probably face small things, but from the look on the man’s face, it wasn’t a little thing they were talking about.

“Flooding. A pipe broke during the night, and we found out this morning when we came in. The entire space you rented is flooded, and the others are already booked. I’m sorry, but there’s no way you can organize your party here.”

“Are you sure? I can call someone to help with the pipes, and we can clean up.” They needed this space. It was the only one they’d managed to find since they decided so late to do this party. Not having it might mean having to cancel the party, and Armand wasn’t going to allow that to happen.

“I’m sorry,” the man repeated. He grimaced. “We already have a plumber working on it, but it’s going to take at least a few days to pump the water out and dry the space entirely. I’m sorry about this, and I wish I could do more. I’ll give you your deposit back, of course.”

Armand shook his head. “It’s fine. Keep the deposit.” He’d probably need it to pay the plumber because those things could get expensive. It wasn’t like Armand couldn’t afford it anyway. “I’m sorry that happened, and I hope you won’t lose too much money or business. Thank you.”

Armand was not bouncing anymore when he left the office. What was he supposed to do now? What were they supposed to do? They’d already told the kids about the party, and that meant it had to happen. No one wanted to disappoint the kids. They’d already gone through enough of that in their short lives.

Armand took his phone out and dialed Griffith’s number. He should call Roark, but the man was with his mate, and Armand wasn’t going to interrupt that.

“Armand?”

Armand sighed in relief. At least Griffith had answered. “We can’t use the banquet space we rented.”

“What? Why not?”

“It flooded. The owner was talking about cleaning up, but it’s going to take a few days, and Halloween is today.”

“You don’t have to remind me of that. I know Halloween is today. Dammit. The kids were so excited. They haven’t been able to talk about anything else in the past few days.”

“What do we do now?”

“We’ll have to use the shelter. The living room is tiny compared to the banquet room, of course, but it will have to make do. It’s not like they’re not used to fitting in there altogether, and as long as we keep an eye on them, everything should be fine.”

“All right. I’ll go there right away. I have the decorations and everything else in my car.”

Griffith sighed. “I’ll let everyone involved know about this. We’ll meet you there. Hopefully, the space is big enough that Beck can decorate it. It’s going to be hard to keep the kids away from the living room while he does it, though.”

Armand grinned. “Leave that to me.”

Griffith chuckled. “I should have known you’d volunteer for this. You’re just as much a kid as they are.”

“Hell, yes, I am.”

“Be careful with them, though, Armand. I know you’re excited about this, and that you mean well, but some of these kids have been through hell and back, and they’re going to be wary of you.”

“I know, and I’ll be careful.” Armand might be playful, but he’d been through his own hell. He wasn’t going to push anyone, and he certainly wasn’t going to scare the kids. He would make sure they had fun, though, every single one of them.

* * * *

“This isn’t going to work,” Beck said, his hands on his hips as he perused the room in front of him.

Griffith bumped into him as he passed by him, his arms full of bags. “You’re going to have to make it work because we don’t have an alternative.”

“What about that banquet space you rented?” They’d sent him pictures, and Beck had told them it would be okay to set up everything. If they wanted him to organize visual effects and whatnot, he needed enough space to do it, and the living room in front of him didn’t have that space.

Griffith sighed and put down the bags. “Flooded, and there’s no way we can find anything else even remotely similar over the next few hours. Graham is working in the kitchen and doing what he can with the stuff that’s there. You’re going to have to