AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘Yes. Yes, I have.’ He ran his fingers through his hair and grimaced. ‘Although I wasn’t quite planning on bringing this much stuff with me.’
‘Haha, it always surprises me the amount of stuff we collect through the years.’ She glanced down. When she’d moved out of the home she’d shared with Andrew, she’d been shocked by just how many things she owned. Of course, most of it she’d packed away in her parents’ garage, keeping only her clothes and a few trinkets when she moved back into her childhood bedroom.
He nodded before holding out his hand. ‘I’m sorry, nice to meet you again.’
‘And you, Josh. I’m Tammy. I think I ran off before introducing myself. Sorry.’ Taking his hand, she let hers be enveloped in his confident grasp and looked into his eyes.
‘Don’t worry. I think if I remember correctly, I was just wandering around like a lost lamb.’ He shrugged.
‘I take it you found the pub? Elsie said she and Ian had dinner with the new lighthouse keeper.’
‘Ah, yes. You caught me out.’ He grinned, his eyes sparkling. ‘I ended up having pie and mash for my lunch as I mentioned to you and then had second helpings for dinner.’
‘That good then?’
‘Oh yes. It didn’t disappoint.’ He glanced down at the boxes they’d placed on the coffee table. ‘All decorations, you say?’
‘Yep. I believe so. Just be extra careful with this one on top. Carrie, who lives in the bay and I believe used to volunteer at the bakery, has made a gorgeous ornament of Ian and his lighthouse.’ She shook her head. ‘Sorry, I should have saidthelighthouse, nothis.’
Josh half-smiled and nodded. ‘No need to apologise. I get the feeling Ian has been working here a long time.’
‘Yes, I think so.’
Nodding, Josh looked at his feet. ‘I have big boots to fill.’
She frowned. He didn’t look the confident person he had two minutes ago. Did it bother him that Ian had worked here so long? ‘I’m sure you’ll do just fine. Everyone seems absolutely lovely around here. I bet it won’t take long for you to settle in.’
‘Maybe.’ Looking back up, he rubbed his stubble. ‘Sorry, ignore me. I’m just being daft. The last job I went to I was taking over from someone who had lived and worked in the lighthouse coming up for twenty years, and to say the local community didn’t take too kindly to me for coming in and taking over his job is an understatement.’
‘Oh, really?’
‘Yes.’ Josh leaned against a tower of moving boxes, straightening himself again as the boxes shifted beneath his weight.
Trying not to smile as he shifted his feet to make it look as though he’d chosen to move, Tammy looked at him. He seemed nice, kind and definitely not the sort of person not to be welcomed into the local community - wherever the community. ‘How come? I mean, did you drive across their much-treasured and award-winning flowerbeds on your way into the town or something?’
‘Haha, no. I wish I had, though.’ He shook his head. ‘The keeper I was taking over had been fired. Of course, as I learned a few months after, he hadn’t been forthright with that knowledge and had been spreading rumours that I had been given the job due to favourability and he’d been booted out without any notice.’
‘Ah.’ That made sense. She couldn’t imagine anyone not instantly warming to Josh.
He shrugged. ‘After a few months of trying to fit in, I decided enough was enough and put in for a transfer and here I am.’
‘Here you are.’ She nodded. His eyes were dark brown, deep brown - true windows to the soul. She hadn’t noticed them yesterday; she’d been too wrapped up in Andrew’s wedding and the group chat messages which had been pinging through at a rate of a million per minute ever since.
‘How about you? You said you’re volunteering at a shop?’
‘At the bakery, yes. Elsie’s bakery actually. Ian’s wife.’
‘Oh yes. I remember Elsie telling me she owned a bakery. And you’re volunteering? Not being paid?’
‘That’s right. She lets people come and volunteer at the bakery for free bed and board.’
‘Right.’ Nodding, he shifted along and rested against another pile of boxes. This one a little sturdier than the last. ‘So, you’re working for free during your holiday from work?’ He shook his head. ‘Did that sentence even make sense?’
‘Haha, yes it did. But no, I was made redundant a few weeks ago. The garden centre I worked at is closing down and I happened to be in the first wave of redundancies.’
‘Ouch!’
She nodded slowly. Why was he so easy to talk to? She’d only just met him and yet she was happily telling him her life story. ‘Exactly. Of course, it didn’t help that my ex is the boss.’
