Pieces of Us - Carrie Elks Page 0,30
over to where they were standing. His face was bright red, the way it always was when he drank more than one beer. “I was hoping to have a word with Autumn.”
Autumn blinked. “With me?”
“Yes. I’m Frank Megassey,” he said, reaching his hand out to her. She shook it, her expression still confused. “I run the Angel Sands Chamber of Commerce. I wanted to introduce myself because we’ll probably be seeing a lot of each other.”
Autumn’s gaze caught Griff’s. He was biting down a grin. “We will?” she asked politely.
“Yes. You’ll want to come to our meetings as the new pier owner, of course.” Frank beamed. “And I also have a little favor to ask you.”
She swallowed. “Of course.”
“Each year we raise money for a different charity. This year we’ve chosen the Angel Sands Animal Shelter. And I was wondering if you’d like to hold an event to help us reach our target.”
“What kind of event?” Autumn asked him.
“I don’t know. Maybe a fun day or a party on the pier. Something that gets the community together. It would be a good chance for you to introduce yourself to the local community and raise money for a good cause at the same time.”
Griff coughed, though it sounded suspiciously like a laugh. When she turned to look at him he was staring over at the house, as though he was avoiding her gaze.
“Of course. I’d be happy to help.”
“That’s great.” Frank patted her shoulder. “Do you think you could come up with a plan by next week? We’re hoping to have the event next month, so it doesn’t clash with our town celebrations in June.”
“By next week?” Autumn repeated. “I’m not sure if I can do something that fast. I don’t know anybody here, and it’ll take me a while to figure everything out.”
“That’s where we come in,” Frank told her. “You come up with a plan and the chamber will help you with the rest.” He nodded, as though it was a done deal. “Thank you for being so supportive, Ms. Paxton. And welcome to the town. We’re very happy to have you here.”
“I’m happy to be here too,” she murmured, feeling bulldozed. Had she really just agreed to plan for a charity event in a few weeks?
From the beaming smile on Frank’s face – and the amused crinkles at the corners of Griff’s eyes – it looked like she’d done exactly that.
The ocean was quiet, waves gently lapping at the shore in a soft rhythm, as Griff walked her to the door of her beach bungalow. “I had a great time,” she told him as she slid the key into the lock and pushed the door open.
“I’m glad.” The corners of his eyes crinkled as he leaned on the doorjamb, his hands pushed into his jean pockets. “Everybody loved you.”
She flicked the light switch. The sunken spotlights flickered for a moment, then plunged into darkness with a loud bang. Frowning, she flicked again, but nothing. “I think I just blew a fuse,” she told him. “You go on home, I’ll find a spare bulb and the electrical box.”
“The electrical box is at the back of the laundry room,” he told her. “And there should be spare bulbs in the kitchen. I can change it for you if you’d like?”
“It’s okay. I can do it.”
“I know you can,” he said gently. “But it’ll be easier if there’s two of us. It’s dark in there, and you’ll need to stand on a chair to change the bulb. I just want to help.”
She caught his eye. “Your help would be much appreciated.” She smiled at him. “Here, I’ll turn on the flashlight on my phone. That should help us a bit.”
Just as he promised, the fuse box was in the laundry room, the main switch pointing down. Unlike Autumn, he didn’t need to pull a chair over to reach it. He flicked it up, and a moment later they were plunged into light.
Then it clicked and everything went dark again.
“Do me a favor,” he asked her. “Go into the living room and see which light doesn’t come on when I hit the switch again.”
She walked into the living room and called out for him to try again. This time, when the lights flickered on she could see the bulb by the front door was dead. Griff used his own phone light to rummage around her kitchen to locate the bulb, then quickly changed it and reset the circuit breaker.
“There.” He smiled at