Page 26 of Easton Island: A Wedding to Remember
Elizabeth chuckled. “Chester to be the ring bearer. He’s smart as a whip. I’m sure he’s up to the challenge.”
“As long as we keep him focused.” Morgan patted his head. “What do you think about being in charge of the rings?”
The pup flopped down and rolled around in the grass.
“It’s official. Chester will be our ring bearer.”
The wedding planner appeared, asking for Elizabeth’s input.
“I need to get going.” Morgan and Chester took off, making the drive to Locke Village for a brief meeting with her tenant, Joyce, the owner of Locke and Key.
After finishing, she drove back through town, to a sprawling brick building she’d passed many times, thinking one day she would pop in and check it out. Today was the day.
As soon as she parked, Chester made a move toward the door. Morgan gently but firmly nudged him back. “Sorry, buddy. I need to run this errand without you.”
Her pup’s ears twitched, his standard look of annoyance at being left behind. He lowered onto the seat, tucking his paw under his chin and giving her the side eye.
“I’ll be back in two shakes.” Morgan sprang from the vehicle and hurried inside. She explained to the woman at the desk the reason for her visit. “How late are you open? I’m hoping to come back after my friend gets out of work.”
The woman rattled off their hours and handed her a card.
“Awesome. We’ll have plenty of time to get here before you close for the day.” She thanked the woman and returned to her SUV.
Chester, having already forgiven Morgan for leaving him behind, crawled across the center console and licked her hand.
“See? I was only gone for a minute.” She backed out of the parking lot, congratulating herself on coming up with a brilliant housewarming gift…a gift that would keep on giving for years to come.
Their next stop was Locke Pointe. Morgan tracked down Greg and found him over by the new vinyl fence, filling holes. “Good morning.”
“Hey, Morgan.”
“Thank you for filling in the holes.” Morgan tapped the top of the loose dirt with the tip of her shoe. “Chester’s gonna have to work a whole lot harder at digging holes.”
“He likes to tunnel his way over to Naomi’s property,” Greg said. “Before I forget, it was a great party the other night.”
“It was. Thank you for helping.” She shifted her feet. “As I mentioned the other day, it’s time for your six-month review. When you’re done, please stop by the office.”
“Give me about ten minutes.”
“Sounds good.” Morgan called her pup, who was sniffing around the piles of dirt, and they went inside. She swung by the kitchen to let Tina know she was there before trekking across the hall to the office.
After a quick check of the scheduling calendar, Morgan tracked down Greg’s personnel file and flipped through the notes. It was hard to believe six months had already passed since she’d hired her handyman.
Morgan had gone out on a limb, offering him the position, fully aware he’d had difficulty holding down a job. Even Captain Davey had tried, hiring him to work for his ferryboat company. Unfortunately, it hadn’t panned out, mainly because Greg struggled to keep up with the fast pace.
Despite knowing about his previous work history, Morgan had gone ahead and offered him the handyman job at Locke Pointe. The risky move had paid off in spades.
Greg flourished in his new position. He did whatever was asked of him cheerfully and with a smile on his face. The bottom line was he’d found his calling and she couldn’t be more thrilled.
Renovating the carriage house and adding a small apartment had dipped into her savings, but been well worth the expense. On more than one occasion, he’d helped guests after hours, most of whom had inadvertently locked themselves out and he’d been on hand to let them in.
Ronni appeared in the doorway. “Hey, Morgan.”
“Morning Ronni.” She shifted back, giving her B&B manager her full attention. “We confirmed a few more bookings since yesterday, thanks to your brilliant idea to host an open house.”
“I have to admit, it worked out better than I thought.” Ronni folded her arms. “I stopped by Easton Estate to return some dishes from the party this morning.”
“Did you run into Jax?” Morgan teased.
