Chapter 5
As it turns out, Eleanor is fully capable of warming to small-town life when Dani Cooper is involved.
Over the next, week Eleanor’s willing socialization continues. Dani invites her to another night at the bar with Ryan and Owen after they run into each other at the coffee shop again, and later in the week Eleanor is officially reintroduced to Dani’s cousin Sarah when she finds them together at the hardware store.
Sarah is friendly and seems genuinely curious about Dani’s new acquaintance this time, but she definitely gives Eleanor’s expensive outfit a pointed once-over. It’s a good reminder of Dani’s suggestion.
Eleanor has always dressed the way she was expected to. Personal style doesn’t really factor into her life. Her school years were marked by uniforms, and her current clothes help her blend in at work. Here they just make her feel ostentatious.
Everyone in town seems to get their clothes from one shop, so after several weeks in Riverwalk, Eleanor finally takes a look.
A tiny bell chimes as Eleanor pushes the door handle. It stops dead before it can open fully, colliding with something—a rack of sweaters seems to be the culprit. As she slips inside and the door swings shut behind her, Eleanor can see why.
It’s the single most crowded shop Eleanor has ever seen. She’s driven past the storefront with its slightly crooked sign several times, and, judging by the amount of denim and flannel she sees worn on a regular basis, Eleanor expected the selection to be sparse.
What she finds instead is a riot of colour. It more resembles an overfilled vintage store than anything else, with only half the space set aside for practical work clothes of the type she usually sees Dani wearing.
While Eleanor is still processing the surprising interior, a light voice chimes out through the quiet.
“Hiya! Can I help you with anything?”
The young woman that ducks out from behind a rack of jeans can’t be much past her late twenties, tall and slender with bright eyes and a sweet smile. Her chestnut hair is tied back in an elegant twist.
“No, I’m just looking, thank you,” Eleanor says.
The girl nods, taking a large bite of a blueberry muffin and setting it next to the cash register. “Let me know!”
Eleanor smiles to herself as the enthusiastic woman disappears again.
Thumbing through the cramped rows of clothes, she’s surprised at the quality of the things on display. Some brands she recognizes, others she doesn’t, and some things have no brand label at all—when Eleanor pulls out an appealing jacket and scarf combination, she can’t find a proper tag anywhere.
“The prices are attached to the sleeves,” the girl says helpfully from somewhere behind Eleanor. She’s folding shirts, her hands now clean of muffin crumbs. She offers a friendly smile when Eleanor holds the jacket up.
“I was actually looking for the label.”
“That one’s mine,” the girl says. She points upward, where Eleanor can see stairs leading to an open loft. “I have a little workshop upstairs.”
Eleanor takes a closer look at the jacket. It’s a light-brown suede, well-tailored, and fitted with a soft teal scarf included on the hanger.
“You made this?” Eleanor asks.
The girl nods a little bashfully. “Yep! I alter most of the stuff I sell. People donate, or I get things from eBay, and I fix it all up. Some pieces I make myself. Like that one.” She says it with the air of someone who is proud of their work but wants to keep shy of bragging. “I usually have to alter my own clothes, so I figured why not do it for other people?”
“It’s beautiful. You have a real talent.”
A light blush dusts the girl’s cheeks. “Thank you! I’m Mila, by the way.” Mila holds out a hand to shake, and Eleanor takes it gladly.
“El—uh. Nora,” Eleanor says, only just managing to correct herself to the nickname she’s been going by since she introduced herself to Dani. She’s still not totally used to it, but it’s getting more familiar the more time she spends here.
“I know!” Mila chirps, before wincing. “I mean, I was told about you.”
Eleanor’s hand clenches a little around Mila’s. “You were?”
Perhaps Dani hasn’t figured out who Eleanor is, but that doesn’t mean everyone else in town is in the same boat. Roots seem to go back far here. The more Eleanor involves herself, the more likely it is that she’s going to meet someone who will hate her on sight.
At first, Eleanor had been primarily worried about it affecting the objectivity of her project, but lately her concern is more personal.
“Word gets around. Especially when the Coopers are involved,” Mila says. “Dani told me about your car breaking down.”
Eleanor takes a deep, relieved breath. “Right. That makes sense.” It seems she’s destined to be known by everyone in town before she’s even met them, and not for the reason she’s so worried about.
“Pardon me for saying so, but you don’t look like the kind of woman who needs new clothes,” Mila says. “Your outfit is probably worth half the stock of my shop.”
“I’m finding that nothing I own is really appropriate. What I wear isn’t conducive to relaxation,” Eleanor says. She plucks at her blazer. “According to Dani.”
Mila chuckles. “Sounds like her. So you’re looking for something more casual?”
“More comfortable, really. I can’t keep walking down my gravel driveway in stilettos.”
Mila laughs again. The ease of their conversation is surprising, and Mila leads her to another crowded corner of the shop. “This is where I keep most of my original pieces.”
The clothes on display are exactly what Eleanor is looking for. They’re understated but tasteful, simple cuts and colours in soft fabrics with nice accent pieces. Each of them looks good enough to be in a higher-end store, but as Eleanor sorts through, she sees that most of them have bargain-sale prices.
Examining the immaculate stitching on a blouse, Eleanor speaks up before Mila can disappear into the racks again. “These are incredibly low prices, Mila. You could make real money selling this stuff online, making a brand.”
Mila lets out a nervous guffaw. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” Eleanor insists, holding up a jacket she fully intends on buying. “I know high-quality work when I see it.”
Mila turns fuchsia. “That’s—that’s super flattering, really, but I’m not sure it’s worth all that. And I don’t think people could afford it if I raised the prices. I do okay enough to keep the store.”
Eleanor frowns. Mila is criminally underselling her own talent. She isn’t going to push, but she can at the very least pay the girl what her work deserves.
“I’ll pay double for all of this,” Eleanor says decisively, grabbing a few items and starting to piece together her new wardrobe. “Do you have a fitting room?”
“What?” Mila says. She looks shell-shocked as Eleanor slings a few sundresses over her arm. “Oh, gosh, no. I can’t let you do that.”
“I insist. I’m still paying you less than what it’s worth.”
It takes some persuasion, but Eleanor finally manages to pay and leave the store with a new collection of jeans, flat-soled leather boots and sandals, and all of the original items she can find in her size, along with a few sundresses and plain cotton shirts. Eleanor practically has to run the transaction through herself, but in the end she leaves with several shopping bags and a very grateful Mila waving her out.
* * *
Eleanor gets the chance to take her new clothes for a test run two nights later when she sees Dani’s distinctive truck parked outside the River Run again.
If it weren’t for the fact that hanging out at the bar seems to be one of the only social activities in this town, Eleanor might think Dani has some kind of drinking problem. But it’s Friday night, and every other car in town is either in the parking lot or out on the streets surrounding the building. Eleanor finds a spot across the road to leave her Porsche. Two men taking a smoke break outside the bar’s door touch the brims of their trucker caps as she passes, and Eleanor hurries inside.
Eleanor’s growing familiarity and comfort with the bar’s pizza-smoke-beer smell is strange but not unwelcome. It’s rowdier than usual inside, and it takes Eleanor a moment to locate Dani, but soon enough she spots that blue hat and blonde ponytail at the loudest table in the place. She can see Ryan, Owen, and Dani’s cousin Sarah gathered around two seated figures—one is Dani, and the other a man that Eleanor doesn’t recognize. They’re locked in an intense arm wrestling match. Both of their biceps shake as they strain against each other’s grip, and the group around them is shouting so loudly that it might as well be a championship hockey game.
“Give’r, Dani!” Sarah is yelling, taking a long pull from her beer bottle.
“She’s not gonna beat Matthew. It’s a matter of muscle mass,” Ryan says to Owen, a point which Eleanor must admit is fair—the man Dani is competing with is bigger than she is, even with her sturdy frame. He’s closer to Owen’s size.
Owen slings an arm around Ryan’s shoulders. “You’re underestimating our girl!”
Dani, for her part, seems to be completely ignoring the conversation. Her face is set in grim determination, every vein in her neck popping as she fights to keep her arm off the table. She exudes quiet confidence. She seems to be relying on stamina rather than brute strength—while Matthew’s arm is vibrating with the force of his effort, Dani’s is rooted to the wood. Unmoving.
Eleanor wouldn’t believe it was possible for Dani to win against the man across from her, but Dani certainly seems to be gaining the upper hand. Matthew’s arm is shaking heavily now, bending further back by the second. His face is red and sweaty, and a few seconds later his arm slams onto the table so hard that Eleanor is afraid the beers scattered across it are going to end up on the carpet.
Matthew smacks the table with an open palm. The drinks rattle dangerously yet again, and a worried-looking Sarah grabs at the bottles to move them out of the way.
“Woah, pump the brakes. We’re all friends here,” Dani says, holding her hands up in a peaceful gesture.
Matthew doesn’t respond well. He stands up, towering over the table and elbowing Ryan out of the way.
“I want a rematch, Cooper. You had your arm set wrong, you fuckin’ cheater.” Matthew’s voice is gravelly in a way that seems put-on, like he’s lowering it to come off as more intimidating. But Dani keeps her composure. She stands slowly, crossing her arms, and even though he’s a few inches taller, Eleanor can see him visibly resist taking a step back.
“Admit that you lost, bud. Don’t make this a thing,” Dani says. There’s a warning in her tone. A protectiveness.
Matthew’s outburst is descending quickly into a grown man throwing a tantrum. “Lost, my ass! You’re a goddamn cheat!”
“Lost your ass? I’m sure you can find it if you take a lap,” Ryan pipes up. When Matthew turns on him, he shrinks back and behind Owen.
Matthew takes a step in their direction, but Owen puts a stop to it with a hand in the centre of Matthew’s chest. He doesn’t need to speak. Owen’s calm presence—and the fact that he’s taller than Matthew by at least three inches—seems to bring Matthew to his senses, but he still points aggressively at Dani.
“I want a rematch,” he says, at a normal volume this time but still visibly angry. Dani waves him off, looking less protective now and more amused at his antics.
“Kick rocks, Matty. Come back when you’re ready to talk out your mouth instead of your ass.”
Matthew’s response is as mature as the rest of him—he knocks the bowl of pretzels off the table, sending them scattering across the floor, and storms away while Dani’s friends yell obscenities at his back.
Eleanor has known that Dani is strong since they met, but watching Dani win against someone twice her size? Watching her barely break a sweat doing so? Eleanor’s body makes its opinion known with a low, deep throb below the waist of her new jeans. She’s genuinely contemplating going home to address the situation with a cold shower when Dani spots her, and much like she did on Eleanor’s first visit here, Dani brightens.
“Nora!”
With a shaky exhale, Eleanor makes her way over to the table. Everyone at it gives a friendly cheer when she pulls up a chair to Dani’s left, which makes her feel warm in a different way. For whatever reason, she’s being accepted.
“Here again, I see,” Eleanor says as she settles into a wooden chair with uneven legs. It tips a little every time she shifts. Wordlessly Dani sets her arm over the back of it, holding it steady.
“Likewise! What brings you here?”
“I saw your truck in the parking lot. I didn’t realize I’d be interrupting a drunken bar fight.”
Dani shrugs. “Matty’s just chirping. He’ll cool off. And I’m not drinking tonight, it’s my turn to DD!”
The table gives a genial yell at that, raising their drinks, and Eleanor is more intrigued than ever. Apparently Dani is attractive, kind, funny, and also responsible. A lethal combination.
While Sarah and Owen set up a game of pool, which they immediately ban Dani from participating in, Eleanor tries to tune into the conversations going around the table. Dani seems delighted that Eleanor has now met and been outfitted by her friend Mila, and when the topic of Eleanor’s new wardrobe comes up Dani’s review is enthusiastic.
“You look great. Really great. Mila knows what she’s doing,” Dani says. She gives Eleanor an appraising once-over that’s even more distracting.
“Did I look so terrible before?” Eleanor teases, trying to deflect the praise. Dani’s answer leaves her reeling.
“Nah, don’t worry. You’re gorgeous.”
Eleanor, her heart fluttering like a swooning schoolgirl, is saved from having to reply by a cheer from the pool table. Someone else is joining the party—a tall woman with smooth, dark skin has just walked through the front doors, and she picks her way across the bar to take a seat on Dani’s other side.
“Naomi! Long time no see!” Dani says brightly, giving Naomi a quick side hug.
“I know, I know. With the evening clinics we’ve been doing, I haven’t had much time.” Naomi turns to Eleanor with a smile. “I see we have a new addition?”
“Oh! Nora, this is Naomi Bates. Owen’s sister, remember?” Dani says, and Eleanor shakes Naomi’s outstretched hand. “Naomi, Nora. She’s here for the summer.”
Even if Eleanor didn’t already know, it’s clear that this is the infamous doctor that Sarah is so smitten with. Dani’s cousin misses her next shot the moment she sees Naomi sit down, and Eleanor can’t blame her. Naomi is quite beautiful. She has warm brown eyes and striking natural curls, and her smile puts Eleanor at ease.
“Owen texted to tell me there was a fight brewing,” Naomi says, a sculpted eyebrow raised. “I see it’s all calmed down?”
“Matty was being a knucklehead. Nothing new there.” Dani says, still unconcerned.
“Do you usually get called to intervene?” Eleanor asks.
Naomi laughs, accepting the beer that Dani pours her from the pitcher on the table. “More to treat the injuries afterwards. But it’s always nice when my services aren’t needed.”
Another ruckus erupts from the pool table. It looks like Sarah has won the game after all, and Owen seems to be taking his loss with grace. He shakes Sarah’s hand, clinking his beer bottle with hers.
Eleanor is then shocked to see the moment punctuated by Ryan planting a big, definitely-not-platonic kiss on Owen’s mouth as consolation.
It must show on her face; while Naomi goes over to congratulate Sarah on the victory, Dani nudges Eleanor with an elbow. “Never seen a couple before?”
Owen and Ryan are now wrapped in an intimate hug. How on earth Eleanor didn’t notice the fact that they’re clearly together is beyond her, but now it seems ridiculously obvious.
“I won’t lie. I’m a bit surprised,” Eleanor admits.
“Are you?”
Eleanor lowers her voice. “They’re an interracial gay couple in a small town. Don’t they get harassed?”
“Nah. Not with us around,” Dani says with an easy wave. She leans back in her chair until the front legs leave the ground but maintains her balance. “They got a bit of shit for it when they first got together, but we all made sure that wouldn’t be a problem again. There’s been no issues since.”
The idea of a town this size being so accepting of difference seems impossible, but here Eleanor is, sitting in a rural bar with a group that’s more racially and sexually diverse than her boardroom at CromTech.
“I guess I shouldn’t have assumed,” Eleanor says, casting her eyes around the bar as Owen puts a hand on Ryan’s lower back. Nobody gives them a second glance.
“There are some idiots, just like anywhere. But not everyone here has a backwards mentality. We’ve all worked hard to make this place different. I wouldn’t live here otherwise. Besides, it’s not just Ryan and Owen.”
“Your cousin, right?” Eleanor says, nodding in Sarah’s direction. Sarah is currently sitting on the edge of the pool table, celebrating her victory with two shots of tequila while Naomi chats with her brother. “I suppose I didn’t think there could be more than that in a town like this.”
“You could say it runs in the family,” Dani says.
That single sentence derails any other thoughts Eleanor might have had. Dani is casual about it, still leaned back and balancing her chair on two of its legs, but the fact that Eleanor now knows without a doubt that Dani is both painfully attractive and definitely gay is doing things to her psyche.
“…you?” Eleanor asks. There’s a definite croak in her voice—she clears her throat, and Dani flashes a knee-weakening grin.
“You didn’t guess?”
“I suspected. I didn’t want to assume. Not everyone is so open about it,” Eleanor says. The table is shaking a little, and Eleanor realizes belatedly that it’s because she’s been jiggling her legs so aggressively that she’s making the beer bottles rattle. She crosses them tightly instead.
Eleanor isn’t usually one to shout her preferences to the rooftops, but that instinct is being challenged by the much more powerful need to have Dani know . She’s just not sure how to drop it into conversation naturally.
“Yeah, I came out in high school and never really looked back,” Dani says, shrugging. “I’ve never been good at hiding it.”
Eleanor nods. She swallows past the lump in her throat, and she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. “It took me a lot longer. To…do that.”
Dani doesn’t seem surprised by Eleanor’s disclosure, but her reply is gentle. “Not so open about it, huh?”
“I’m not closed about it,” Eleanor says. The conversation feels easier now with Dani smiling at her so softly like that—Eleanor relaxes a bit, leaning back in her chair until she can feel the warmth of Dani’s arm against her shoulders. “It just isn’t anyone’s business.”
Eleanor doesn’t mention any of the other reasons she’s tended to keep her sexuality to herself: the fear of ending up in the public eye hanging over her head; her father’s quiet disapproval, gone now but still lingering in the corners of her mind.
“Makes sense. Nobody is entitled to know anything about you,” Dani says.
That gives Eleanor pause.
It has continued to be genuinely surprising to Eleanor that, after almost a month in this town, nobody seems to have gone out of their way to look her up. She’s not difficult to find. Her online presence was practically nonexistent before she took over as CEO, but her ascension had been documented in the media. A simple search of her first and last name would reveal that Eleanor heads CromTech, and yet Dani has never treated her any differently than she did when they met.
Maybe Eleanor really can have a summer of anonymity.
“I wasn’t open about it for a long time,” Eleanor admits. She stares down at the table, picking out each individual piece of graffiti scratched into the bumpy surface. “A few years ago, I thought that maybe it was about time I did one thing for myself.”
“Do you not usually do things for yourself?”
Eleanor snorts. “I was raised to believe that an hour not spent doing something productive was an hour wasted. It’s not in my nature.”
There’s something appraising in Dani’s eyes when Eleanor raises her own to meet them. This close, even in the hazy light of the bar, the air between them seems to crackle. “Is this summer something you’re doing for yourself?”
It’s a loaded question, even if Dani doesn’t realize it. When Eleanor had first arrived, she’d been certain of what was bringing her here. She’s here to complete a project, with a side objective of getting Kayla and Ash off her back. To expand CromTech in the direction she wants it to go. She’s here to prove Renée wrong. None of those things are really for herself . They’re things she needs to do.
“My friends tell me I need to learn to relax,” Eleanor says, tapping the table with her fingernails. “Self-care and all that garbage.”
Dani nods. She’s thoughtful, chewing on her lower lip in a way that’s unnecessarily distracting. “Maybe I can help you with that.”
“How, exactly?” Eleanor asks, determinedly wrestling her mind out of the hot and sweaty place it defaults to.
Dani just smiles. “Are you free tomorrow night?”