Pieces Of Us (Angel Sands 6)

“You shocked me.” She put her hand to her chest.

“Sorry.” He grinned sheepishly. “You want to grab some ice cream before I take you home? I’ll need the sugar to get through the night without you.”

“Ice cream sounds great.” She slid her arm through his. “And I’m pretty sure you’ll be fine tonight.”

18

“These are amazing,” Autumn looked up at Frank Megassey from the black and white photographs spread out on her desk. He’d brought a whole album of them over for their meeting. They showed the history of the pier in photographic detail, stretching from the day it opened in 1899, all the way to present day.

She was fascinated by the sepia images of women wearing long dresses, holding classy umbrellas over their heads as they strolled on the wooden structure. Men wearing bow ties and straw boaters played at stands to try to win prizes for their sweethearts. And at the end there was a fleet of fishing boats, their daily catch captured on shiny paper, buckets filled with fish for the local community to eat.

There was no Delmonico’s in the first photographs. No whale-watching boat, either. But the pier was full of life, nevertheless. A central part of the Angel Sands’ society.

“I have a lot of old photographs of the town,” Frank told her. “My wife tells me I should build a museum to show them all off.”

“You should.” She smiled at him. “People are fascinated by things like this.” She ran the pad of her thumb along her bottom lip. “Do you think I could borrow some for the charity day?”

Frank blinked. “Sure. What will you use them for?”

“I don’t know yet. Maybe I’ll blow them up and frame them. Or have some actors in clothes like these,” she said, pointing to the Victorian ladies smiling into the camera. “I just like them.”

“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?”