Pieces Of Us (Angel Sands 6)

“No idea.” Lorne shrugged. “But I’m thinking maybe it’s that guy who bought London Bridge and moved it brick by brick to Lake Havasu. If not him, somebody just as crazy.”

Griff’s lips twitched as he grabbed his board.

As the two of them walked up the sand toward Lorne’s surf shop, the older man asked, “How are your folks?” Lorne was in the process of opening up, the canopy that covered the surfboards and racks of clothes already extended. Next door was Déjà Brew, the coffee shop owned by Griff’s friends, Ally and Nate. They were outside unstacking chairs. When they saw him and Lorne, they lifted their hands in a wave.

“Good, I think.” Griff shrugged. Since his mom and dad retired and moved to a community in Florida, he only heard from them occasionally. That was the way he liked it. He’d suffered too many years of their on-again off-again relationship to want any more communication than that.

“Tell them I say hi when you speak to them next.”

“I will.” Griff nodded, and headed along the golden sand toward the pier.

After washing himself off in the showers by the boardwalk, and storing his board and suit in the lock up shed that came with his boat mooring, Griff ambled up the wooden pier, the smile slipping from his face when he saw a woman outside of Delmonico’s.

Not any woman. Carla. The daughter of the owner, and the woman he’d made the mistake of having a fling with a while ago.

Except she’d thought it was more than a fling. He felt the skin at the back of his neck prickle.

“Hey.” Griff forced his face into a smile. “I didn’t know you were back in town.”

“I got back last week.” Carla had left Angel Sands suddenly last year, a few weeks after Griff had told her he didn’t want to be anything more than friends. According to local gossip, she’d spent some time with family in Sicily, then stayed with her brother a few towns over, in White City, for a while.

It had been a welcome relief not to see her accusing eyes wherever he went in town. Now it looked as though they were back.

Never mix business and pleasure. He’d learned that lesson well.

“Yeah, I’m back.” She didn’t return his smile. “Dad asked me to open up for him. He’s upset about the pier. Do you know anything about it?”

“Just what you do. I saw the sign.” He shrugged. “I guess we’ll find out more in due time.”

“That’s so typical of you.” She shook her head. “Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky. Maybe you should be more like Dad and be calling around, trying to find out who bought the place.”

“It’ll be some investment firm.” Griff tried to ignore the dirty look she was sending him. He knew it had nothing to do with the pier or her dad and everything to do with the fact he’d tried to let her down gently when she asked to be his girlfriend. Yeah, he’d hurt her, but he hadn’t meant to. He’d believed her when she agreed that they weren’t going to be anything more than casual.

Relationships were complicated and he was an easy-going man.

“I’ll call your dad later,” he told Carla, backing up toward his boat. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“Whatever,” she snapped, and turned on her high heels. “Go play with the fish like you always do.”

Griff bit down a grin at her description of his job. The fish he chased weighed about ten thousand pounds and could kill a human with ease. But if it made her feel better to have the last word, he was good with that.

Life was too short to worry about things. Or to spend time with people you didn’t want to.

He just wished everybody else felt the same way.

* * *

“So you’re really going through with it?” Lydia asked Autumn as they waited for their father to join them for lunch a week later. The restaurant his assistant, Annabelle, had booked was crammed full of office workers, situated in the heart of the financial district of New York.

“I really am.” Autumn nodded. “Do you think I’m crazy?”

“Hell yes. But in the best kind of way.” Lydia grinned. “It’s meant to be, right? You get rid of a business with your ex’s name on it, then buy one with your own name. Paxton’s Pier. It’s perfect. And completely unlike you.” Her eyes sparkled. “Dad’s gonna have a fit.”

“That’s why you’re here, for protection,” Autumn said dryly.

“Nope. I’m here to see his face.” Lydia took a sip of her sparkling water. “I should take a photo for posterity.”

Lydia was right. Making an investment like this without thinking through all the consequences was completely the opposite to something Autumn would usually do. She was the sensible older sister. A businesswoman. Not somebody who’d buy a pier on the other side of the country without even seeing it.