Pieces of Us - Carrie Elks Page 0,86

Lucas’s voice was thick with incredulity. “Autumn loves you. You only have to see the way she looks at you to know that. Like you’re some kind of giant knight riding on a dragon to save her.”

“A dragon?”

Lucas shrugged. “I figure you’d squash a normal size horse.”

Griff would have laughed if he was capable, but the sound was trapped in his throat. “Did you see her ex? And her dad? They’re both here to help her sell the pier so she can go back to New York.”

“And does she want that?”

Griff blinked. “Why wouldn’t she have told me about it if she didn’t?”

“I don’t know. This is all stuff you need to ask her, not me. But none of it makes any sense.”

Griff dropped his head into his hands, his hair falling over his fingers. “She won’t talk to me. Not after the things I said.”

“What did you say?” Lucas asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“I told her to go back to New York and forget me.”

“You really are an idiot, you know that?”

“Thanks for reminding me.” Griff gave him a humorless smile. “And even if she wasn’t going back before, she will now after I’ve been such a douche.”

“The world doesn’t revolve around you, you know? And for the record, her dad and her ex are flying back to New York tomorrow. Without her.”

Griff lifted his head. “She’s staying?”

“That’s what I said, numbnuts.” Lucas pressed his lips together in a firm line. “I suggest you crawl over to her place first thing tomorrow and start begging for her forgiveness. Because I’ve never seen you as happy as you’ve been in the past few weeks. Or so at ease with yourself. The two of you work.” He cleared his throat. “Or you did, until you went and fucked it up.”

“She’ll never forgive me.”

“She won’t if you don’t ask.”

He slumped against the wall. “Yeah, well maybe she shouldn’t. She deserves somebody better than me.”

“Who the hell is better than you? Jackson?” Lucas laughed. “Or the asshole she divorced before she came out here? You want to see her with one of them?”

“No!” The thought of it made Griff want to hit something. Or someone. Preferably the smug asshole who broke Autumn’s heart.

“Then go and talk to her. Tell her why you pushed her away. Apologize for it, make some damn amends. And if she still wants nothing to do with you?” Lucas shrugged. “At least you tried.”

Griff exhaled. “Yeah. You’re right.” There was one thing he was sure of, he couldn’t let her go. It hurt too damn much. He needed her like he needed air.

Lucas looked like he was going to say something more, but then his cell rang. Griff recognized the tone – the same one Lucas got whenever the station put out an emergency call to all of its firefighters.

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Lucas glanced at the screen, frowning as his eyes scanned the message. Lucas slowly brought his gaze back to Griff, the expression making the pit of Griff’s stomach churn.

“There’s a fire,” Lucas said, his voice strained. “At the pier.”

And just like that, the bottom fell out of Griff’s world.

28

Autumn was sleeping next to a starfished Lydia when a loud shriek pierced her dream. An overwhelming volume of sirens cut through the silence of the night, making her heart hammer against her ribcage. She sat up and looked around, suppressing a chuckle when she saw her sister’s undisturbed slumber. Blue lights were flashing through the window behind her like a frenzied disco.

Curious, she climbed out of bed and looked through the thick glass at the back of the house, blinking as the fire engines whizzed past. They continued north along the road until they were out of her sight, the high pitched alarms fading into the night.

In her bare feet, she padded out of the bedroom and into the living room, perplexed when she could see an orange glow flickering through the window facing the beach. She licked her dry lips and pulled at the curtain, her feet frozen to the spot as she saw where the color was coming from.

The pier was on fire.

Large flames were licking up against the darkness of the sky, the grey smoke curling and dancing in the night time breeze. She wrenched open the door, and the sound of the blaze hit her. Little pieces of ash were drifting past the cottage.

Without thinking, she began to run, her bare feet pounding against the cool sand. Her breath