The House on Mulberry Street by Jeannie Chin

Author:Jeannie Chin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2023-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

Naturally, about ten times more Gotham residents ended up needing him than he’d been expecting, and those precious ten minutes of time to work on his passion project never materialized. As he signed out of his computer at the end of the day, regretfully waving the minimized research windows he’d never gotten a chance to pull back up goodbye, he shook his head. He really did like his job managing the front office here at town hall. But the day-to-day grind of it could get to be a little much sometimes.

He wasn’t quite Elizabeth, yearning to just stay at the beach forever—as tempting as that might have been. But would a longer-term vacation from people needing pet licenses and park pavilion reservations or help mediating squabbles with their neighbors really be so much to ask? One he could focus on serving the town in a different way?

Apparently yes, considering he ended up having to put out two more small fires on his way out the door. At least they were metaphorical, so that was something.

By the time he made it outside, he was wound up and more than ready to head home. Elizabeth had given him a ride that morning since she was working at the inn most of the day. Her shift would be ending soon, so he walked on over to meet her there.

The autumn air on Main Street was cool and crisp. He exchanged hellos with a half dozen people bustling out and about. He gave a bit of side-eye to the outrageous, forty-nine-inch sign standing outside Patty Boyd’s gallery to advertise her upcoming artist’s reception.

“Hey there, Graham,” a voice called as he crossed the street toward the inn.

He spotted Bobbi Moore waving to him from in front of her bakery. She, her wife, Caitlin, and her dad, Duke, were loading what was probably a mouthwatering pile of pastry boxes into the back of Duke’s truck.

“Hey, there.” He slowed.

A broad smile spread under Duke’s big, bushy mustache. “How’s it going?”

“Great. Making some good progress on that bell tower project.” Sort of.

“Glad to hear it.” Duke raised a brow. “How about on getting ready for next Tuesday? Dottie Gallagher swung by this afternoon and told me it’s going to be a full house for the town council meeting.”

Graham’s stomach did a little dip. “Did she now?”

“Sure did.”

Well, that didn’t add any pressure to the situation. He projected as much confidence as he could as he assured Duke, “It’s coming along great.”

“Maybe think about sliding that PowerPoint into my DMs.”

“That is not what that means, Dad,” Bobbi told him, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Duke ignored her. “I’d be happy to take a look, is all I’m saying.”

The handful of times Graham had met with Duke about historical society business, he’d tried to talk up the festival idea. Duke had seemed politely interested, but this was a more generous offer. “That’d be great, sir.”

He stayed to chat for another couple of minutes while Bobbi and Caitlin grabbed the last few boxes from inside.

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