Chapter 10 #2
Chloe went to the door, opened it, and called out to Magnolia as she and Darius finished their conversation. “Hey, you. What’s going on?”
Magnolia came over to the door, her eyes bright. “Hi, girls.”
I smiled and watched as she came inside.
I wasn’t sure what to think about this woman with porcelain skin and gorgeous hair.
The first time I’d met her was a couple of years ago when Chloe had invited me to girls’ night at the Barn Bar.
Magnolia had been rude to Chloe that night and had been mean to her when they were kids, so my natural inclination was to dislike her.
Chloe, however, had forgiven Magnolia for the past. They were friendly now.
Apparently Magnolia’d had some kind of shit life growing up, where her parents had controlled her with money—until her dad had cut her off cold turkey.
I didn’t know the whole story, but manipulation had been my own dad’s game, so I could at least relate.
I just hadn’t decided if that would excuse how she’d acted toward my bestie.
“Am I interrupting?” Magnolia asked as she collapsed her umbrella.
“Not at all,” I said, gesturing to the fourth empty chair.
“Tell us what you’re doing with a real-estate agent,” Rowan said.
“Are you taking the plunge?” Chloe asked.
Magnolia sat on the edge of the patio chair, placed her palms on the table, and inhaled deeply, as if she needed to calm herself. “I think I’m going to do it.”
“Yes!” Rowan said.
“It’s about damn time,” Chloe said, grinning.
“I’m out of the loop,” I said. “Are you leasing one of the spaces in this building?”
“I’m officially starting an event-planning business,” Magnolia said. “I love planning parties and weddings. I’m the planner for Harper and Max’s wedding next weekend.”
“We’ll get to see you in action,” I said. I’d started to get to know Harper and Max before I moved to town. They’d invited me to the wedding, and Chloe had convinced me to go as friends with Kemp Essex, Holden’s business partner, who’d also been planning to go solo.
“You already have,” Chloe said. “She helped with my wedding reception and Rowan and Chance’s gender-reveal party.”
“The pink and blue cocktails were particularly perfect,” I said, having sampled both.
“Thank you,” Magnolia said. “I’m excited. And terrified. I didn’t think it was possible to do this because I don’t have any money to put toward it, but Seth Henry helped me get a small business loan, and then this building opened up, and that space next door is perfect for what I need.”
“It’s a cute space,” I said. “Too small for what I wanted, but you just need an office and a meeting area, really.”
“Exactly,” Magnolia said. Her smile slipped. “I’m not a businessperson. I’m all about colors and decor and party games, so I’m nervous.”
“You’re already doing business stuff when you plan for someone,” Chloe said. “You have to work within their budgets, and you’ve ordered supplies and billed for your services.”
“Harper and Max are my first official paying clients, actually,” Magnolia admitted. “I’ve always done it for fun. I didn’t believe you when you said people would pay me.”
“They should, and they will,” Rowan said. “If you need a testimonial for your website or anything, let me know. I’ll give you one.”
Magnolia smiled in gratitude. “I’d love that. I hadn’t thought about testimonials since my first official event isn’t until next weekend.”
“I’ll give you one for my reception,” Chloe said, “and you’ve helped with Rusty Anchor events. We’ve got photos.”
“We could use those?” Magnolia asked.
“Of course. The photo op setup for my wedding reception was all your idea. So were the progressive tasting stations at the brewery events.” Chloe picked up her phone and searched for relevant photos.
“Did you sign the lease yet?” I asked.
“I told him I want to sleep on it,” Magnolia said. “It’s at the top of my rent budget, but the location is so good you can’t put a price on it.”
“Between summer tourism and weekly farmers markets, you’ll get a ton of walk-by traffic even being one layer off the square,” Chloe said.
“Do you have a business name yet?” I asked her.
She bit her lip as she looked at me.
“You have an idea,” I said.
“Tell us,” Rowan said.
Magnolia sat back in the chair, pushing her hair out of her face.
“I’ve been thinking about it a lot. I’ll do any kind of event.
Weddings, birthday parties, bachelorette parties, graduation parties, celebrations of any kind.
Even business events like we’ve done at the Anchor.
It’s a wide variety of events, but what it comes down to is moments.
The moments that matter to people. So I was thinking… Moments by Magnolia?”
“I like it,” I said.
Chloe tilted her head, overthinking it.
“Love it,” Rowan said.
Chloe nodded thoughtfully. “Yes. I could see Moments in bigger type and by Magnolia in a smaller script beneath it.”
“Yes,” Magnolia said. “I can totally see that.”
“I think it’s a great name,” I said. “Moments says it all. By Magnolia makes it yours.”
Chloe smacked the table. “Boom. One down. What about you, Pres? Did you come up with any ideas?”
I sat forward and leaned my elbows on the table. I’d been brainstorming possibilities since day one and kept coming back to the same idea. “What do you guys think of The Bean Counter?”
“Ha,” Chloe, the queen of puns, said. “Double meaning. You know I love that.”
“What’s the double meaning?” Magnolia asked.
“I used to be in finance. Not an accountant, but close enough. And beans—”
“Coffee beans. I get that part. It’s cute,” Magnolia said.
I raised my brows at Rowan.
“Yes,” she said. “It’s perfect. You both have these wonderful names for your businesses, and Chance and I can’t decide on a name for our baby girl.”
“Ah, low stakes,” I joked, waving it off.
“You’ve got time,” Chloe told her. “Speaking of time, I need to make sure Holden’s picking up Sutton.” She typed in a message on her phone and asked Rowan, “Is Chance home already?”
“He’s staying late to get the fall media budget finished,” Rowan said.
“Do you still like working with your husband?” Magnolia asked.
“Most days,” Rowan said, grinning. “It helps that it’s not forever.”
“You’re going back to teaching next year, right?” I asked, knowing she’d wanted to find a position for this fall until her due date fell in late September.
“I hope to. It depends on whether there’s a position at the high school.” Rowan was one of those odd individuals who liked teenagers.
Chloe read a reply from her husband, then said, “Holden’s got Sutton. Does anyone want to do a spur-of-the-moment celebratory dinner? It’s a big day, with Magnolia leasing a business space and both of you deciding on names.”
“I’d love to,” I said easily, thinking it sounded much better than going home to an oversized, half-empty house. I really needed to look into a dog.
“Sam’s got a babysitting gig this evening. I’m in,” Rowan said.
“You know I’m in,” Magnolia said.
“The Diner? Humble’s? Henry’s? The Cove? What sounds good?” Chloe asked.
“I could use some of Cash’s hummingbird cake,” I said. If we were celebrating, we’d need dessert.
“I’m up for a splurge,” Magnolia said.
“Henry’s is always good,” Rowan agreed.
“I’ll text Seth to get us a table if he’s still there.” Chloe sent another message off as we stood.
I turned off the lights and picked up my keys and cross-body bag.
“Ladies?” Magnolia said as we prepared to leave. “Thank you. This means the world to me. I’m more excited than terrified now.”
We collapsed into a group hug. Once I locked the door, the four of us walked along the wet sidewalks toward Henry’s, laughing and making predictions for our two new businesses, then suggesting girl names for Rowan’s baby.
We started out serious, but then we turned to outrageous suggestions, trying to one-up each other with bad ideas.
As we crossed Honeysuckle Road to Henry’s, I thought about how I hadn’t had a group of girlfriends since high school, had mainly just had Chloe, and then she’d moved here to Dragonfly Lake.
I loved this. It felt good to laugh, to be lighthearted, to think of things besides investments and finance. Things like coffee and startups and friendships that meant everything.
For the first time since I’d moved to Dragonfly Lake, I had the feeling I might be able to belong in this little town.