Chasing The Sun (Angel Sands #7) - Carrie Elks Page 0,1

out of their lives whenever she was bored. Or whenever her bank balance dipped perilously low. It used to be his father that she’d targeted, but thankfully now it was Jackson. He could deal with her, he wasn’t sure his dad could.

“I’ll call her back some time.” Probably not before she called him again. “Anything else I should know about?”

“Your friend Griff called. He sounded stressed, which is strange for him.” She smiled dreamily. “He’s always so laid back. And handsome.”

Jackson swallowed a laugh. He’d been best friends with Griff since they’d started kindergarten. Along with their friends, Lucas and Breck, they’d formed a tight gang of four, spending their summers on the surf in Angel Sands, and their winters plotting how to get out of school and spend even more time on the waves.

Nowadays, Griff ran a whale watching company in Angel Sands and had recently become a father. Like Breck and Lucas, he was happily coupled-up, leaving Jackson the only one who was single.

And happy that way, he might add.

“Maybe the baby’s keeping him awake,” Jackson said, making a face at Lisa, who laughed. Griff and Autumn’s baby, Skyler, was almost four months old now, but according to Griff she slept like a newborn. Jackson took his word for it. He had no idea about babies at all. Wasn’t planning on learning any time soon, either. He lost enough sleep working, as it was.

Nope, being an almost-uncle to his friends’ kids was enough for him. And now he was going to be a godfather, thanks to Griff and Autumn’s request. He was still trying to work out why they’d chosen him.

Maybe some puzzles were better left unsolved.

“Thanks,” he said, swallowing a mouthful of coffee. “I’ll call him back now.”

Placing his cup on his desk – and narrowly avoiding the dark liquid sloshing over onto some accounts he was supposed to approve last week – Jackson picked up his phone and clicked on Griff’s contact.

“Hey,” Griff’s voice was larger than life, like the rest of him. “Thanks for calling back.”

“You okay?” Jackson asked him. “Lisa said you sounded stressed.”

Griff laughed. “I’m not stressed. I just have a favor to ask.”

“Is it your laptop again? I keep telling you that thing belongs in a museum. I can get you a new one at a discount any time.”

“Nah, the laptop’s fine. I only use it for email anyway. Autumn does everything else on her computer.” While Griff ran a whale watching company, Autumn owned the pier where it was based. She’d bought it sight unseen, and moved to Angel Sands from New York, surprising everybody, but most of all herself. And now she was part of the gang, and Jackson was delighted his friend had found someone so perfect to spend the rest of his life with.

“So it’s not the laptop.” Jackson grinned. “Please don’t ask me to babysit. You know I’ll end up hurting somebody.”

Griff laughed. “Nope. You need to go through godfather boot camp before I let you loose with my kid. I was just wondering if you’re free on Saturday. Autumn’s sister’s flying in from New York, but I’ve got a charter and Autumn’s supposed to be meeting with the caterers for Skyler’s naming day. I was hoping you could head over to the airport to pick Lydia up.”

Griff and Autumn had decided on a naming celebration for their daughter, instead of a traditional christening. The ceremony on the pier would be a chance for all their friends and family to officially welcome Skyler into their fold. And of course, it was a great excuse for a party. Not that they usually needed an excuse.

“Lydia’s coming early?” Jackson had only met Autumn’s sister twice, but she’d made a big impression. She was like a whirlwind, kicking up the dust of Angel Sands.

“She wants to spend time with Autumn and the baby. Says she’s staying for just under two weeks. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Another thing that fascinated him about Lydia. She never stayed anywhere for long. Blink and you’d miss her. She had a good excuse, being a travel consultant, but it didn’t stop him from being intrigued.

“Well, I’m happy to pick her up.” Jackson tried to push down all the thoughts of the programming he had to do this weekend. He’d just have to miss a night’s sleep or something. “Message me the flight details and I’ll be there.”

“That’s great.” Griff exhaled loudly. “Autumn was panicking. She needs to be at the pier for this