Chapter 9 #2
Winnie cast one last longing glance at the Key lime pie as she hurried out of the diner. She headed back to her office feeling, on the whole, much, much worse than she had when she’d started her little “pick me up” lunch.
But there wasn’t much to do about that now. All she could do was keep her head down and hope that those two awful creatures left Magnolia Shore soon.
And then Winnie’s life could go back to normal.
She refused to think about how her normal wasn’t all she hoped it would be.
Diana had admitted defeat. In the great battle of Madsen v. The Books, her complicated accounting system had won out.
She needed help.
Which meant she needed to talk to Anthony, the handsome accountant from Anchor Bistro.
Not that it matters that he’s handsome, Diana told herself as she closed up her shop a few minutes early, pinned an apology note to the door for any last-minute shoppers, and headed down the sidewalk toward Anthony’s office.
That’s just a natural observation to have.
Our relationship is going to be purely professional.
She wasn’t certain why she was so determined to make herself believe this.
She headed down to the office location she’d looked up earlier in the day, not that she’d really needed it.
Retail space didn’t turn over very quickly in Magnolia Shore, and she knew where there had been a recent opening.
She was impressed, however, to see a small sign was already posted outside the door. Anthony Whitaker, CPA.
She entered to find a small, but neat office space, with a tiny waiting area outside an open door. Through the door, she could see Anthony, sitting at his desk and typing, a couple of filing cabinets behind him.
He looked up as soon as she entered and smiled when he recognized her.
Drat, Diana thought. He was even more handsome than she’d remembered. She had hoped that had been her memory playing tricks on her, or a feature of the dim lighting at Anchor Bistro.
“Diana, hi!” he said, standing and coming around the desk. “What a nice surprise!”
“I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time,” she said.
He shook his head. A lock of dark brown hair with a few errant strands of gray flopped into his face, but he tucked it back neatly with an absentminded gesture.
“Not at all,” he assured her. “I was working on some paperwork, but, well, I’m an accountant. I’m always working on paperwork… and always happy for someone to give me an excuse to take a break.”
Diana smiled, already slipping easily back into the rapport that they had shared that night at Anchor Bistro. He was so easy to talk to. Some of her dates, from the dating apps or otherwise, ought to take notes.
“I wouldn’t let that little tidbit get around in Magnolia Shore,” she joked. “Or you’ll never know a moment’s peace. There are quite a few retirees in town who would stop by to shoot the breeze and then basically never leave.”
“Ooh, good intel,” he said. “I do need to get work done some of the time, sadly, because shooting the breeze with retirees is actually my calling.”
“Wow!” she said brightly, matching his playful tone. “How do you get into that line of work?”
“That’s the great tragedy, Diana,” he said, shaking his head sadly. “There’s no pay in it. Thus, I am here to pay the bills.”
He swept an arm grandly around his office, and she laughed.
“Aside from being pulled from your true calling of hanging out with old timers, how are you enjoying Magnolia Shore?” she asked. “You arrived in the summer, which is kind of a crazy time, what with all the tourists.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Oh, this is your crazy season?” Then he coughed. “Oh, sorry, I mean, uh… this is a lively and vibrant town!”
She laughed at his clumsy cover-up.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not the most exciting place, it’s true.”
He winced. “Yeah, sorry. I came here from Cleveland, which isn’t New York or anything, but there’s always something happening. Here, it seems like maybe Anchor Bistro and the open mic night is about all there is.”
She wobbled her hand in a so-so gesture.
“You’re definitely going to see less going on than you did in the city, but it’s not a total snooze, I promise.
There’s a bookstore opening soon. My friend Eleanor owns it.
The grand opening is going to be amazing!
” She paused, considering. “Okay, yeah, I hear it. Getting this hyped about a bookstore opening doesn’t exactly sell you on my ‘lots of things happen around here’ argument. ”
He smiled. It really lit up his face when he smiled.
“You know, my daughter and I moved here looking for a quieter life in a place where the people were friendly and knew one another. Like the stereotype of being able to go next door and ask your neighbors for a cup of sugar kind of place.”
“Oh, you’ll definitely find that here,” she assured him. “Honestly, you have a good chance of getting that sugar, and then, some eggs, and oh, what are you baking? Muffins? Well, I have some fresh baked muffins right here! Would you like some?”
She performed this little impromptu skit in a grandmotherly tone. It was silly, and very unlike her, and for a split second she almost felt embarrassed, but then Anthony laughed in a warm, kind way.
“Perfect,” he said, pretending to take her invisible tray of muffins. “I’m not much of a baker, anyway. My daughter will definitely like these better than anything I could whip up.”
“Yeah, you mentioned your daughter,” Diana said. “How old is she?”
As if on cue, a girl who appeared to be about ten came skipping through the door, a pile of books in her arms. She paused when she saw Diana, which caused her pile to wobble and then drop everywhere. The girl scrambled to catch them, which made her drop even more books.
“Hi, El,” Anthony said as he and Diana bent to help pick up the books. “Diana, this is my daughter, Eloise.”
“Hi, Ms. Diana,” Eloise said politely.
“Nice to meet you, Eloise,” Diana said. She made to hand over the books she’d recovered from the floor, then paused. “Hey wait,” she said. “I know these books.”
The covers that looked up at her were familiar, the bright colored backgrounds tickling her memory. This was a series about kids who fought to protect the environment, she recalled. Diana had loved them when she was young.
“You do?” Eloise’s eyes were bright. She looked a lot like her father, with dark hair and a wild, expressive grin. “My teacher gave these to me.”
“I’m guessing your teacher grew up around the same time I did,” Diana said.
“Yeah, these books are awesome. Each kid takes on a different way of protecting the environment. So you learn about ecosystems and different species, and a bunch of stuff I’m probably forgetting, because my favorite parts were the adventures. ”
“I like adventures and science,” Eloise told her.
“El is a bit of a bookworm,” Anthony said, voice unmistakably fond. “So, this ‘new bookstore in town’ news actually does make Magnolia Shore the best place in the world, as far as she’s concerned.”
Eloise nodded. “I’m saving up all my allowance. Then I’m going to get so many books!”
She did a little dance to punctuate her excitement, which led her to nearly drop all her books again. Diana smiled, charmed by this irrepressible girl.
“El, can you go read for a bit? I actually never got around to asking Diana what she needed.” His grin was sheepish.
“Sure, Daddy!”
With a skip in her step that said this was no hardship at all, Eloise headed back out to the waiting area and curled up in a chair, already turning to the first page of the first installment in the series.
“I’m still figuring out a long-term after-school situation for her here,” Anthony admitted, watching his daughter with a small smile on his face. “But for now, I’m just so lucky that she’s happy to curl up and read while I wrap up for the day.”
“Well, don’t let me keep you late,” Diana said. “I really just came in to ask if you’re already all full up with clients. My books have, uh, kind of gotten away from me.”
“Not at all,” he said, and relief coursed through her. Professional relief. Not because she liked talking to him and wanted more reason to do so. “I can fit you in next week, if that works for your schedule.”
“The sooner the better,” she told him. “And seriously, prepare yourself for some mess.”
“I will get it all squared away,” he promised.
“How about I come over to your shop on Monday and you run me through everything? Then, I’ll take the info that I need, work through things, and get back to you on what I need from you.
Sometimes that’s nothing, to be honest. Sometimes it’s more information.
Then, we can talk about what you want to do going forward.
For example, are you hoping to hire me, or an accountant in general, for the long term?
Or just someone to sort out the mess and then you’ll take it over? ”
“Long term, I think,” she said. “I can’t add it to my plate without just turning it all into a mess again.”
“Perfect,” he said. “I’ll come by around eleven-ish?”
“Perfect,” she echoed. There was a beat in which they were just smiling at one another, not saying anything, before Diana grew suddenly bashful and ducked her head.
An idea suddenly occurred to her.
“You know,” she said. “I think I have a box of my old books kicking around in my attic somewhere. If Eloise wanted, and if you were okay with it, I could lend some to her. You know, just to carry her over until Eleanor’s bookstore is officially open.
” She shrugged. “I know there’s always the library, but sometimes it’s nice just to have extras around. ”
“Are you kidding?” Anthony beamed. “Yeah, she’d love that!
Thank you so much! Hey, El?” His daughter looked up from her book, although her finger hovered over her spot on the page, as if she wanted to be certain not to lose her place.
“Diana said she has some books from when she was around your age. Do you want to borrow some?”
This was enough to make Eloise toss aside her book, leap to her feet, and throw her arms around Diana. Startled, Diana stood stock-still for a moment before returning the gesture.
“Sorry,” Anthony said with a chuckle. “Sometimes when we get excited, we forget to ask people before hugging them.” He tapped Eloise’s shoe with his own for emphasis.
Immediately the girl released Diana. “Right. Sorry. Ms. Diana, can I hug you?”
“You definitely can,” Diana said before accepting another squeeze.
“Oh,” Eloise added. “And thank you one million, because that’s the coolest thing ever. If I read the books, can we talk about them after? Daddy’s the slowest reader in the world, so he never can read enough books to talk about them.”
“Hey!” Anthony protested. “I’m not the slowest in the world.”
In the world, Eloise mouthed at Diana, nodding as if this was the most serious affliction a man could face.
Anthony reached out and ruffled her hair, which made Eloise duck away with a laugh.
“I would love to talk about them with you,” Diana said. “You might have to refresh my memory in some places, but we can definitely chat, as long as it’s okay with your dad.”
Anthony gave Diana a soft look that made her stomach flutter a little.
“Yeah, that sounds great,” he said.
Diana suddenly felt bashful, nervous.
“Okay, great,” she said. “I’ll have those books when you come to the store, then. Eloise, it was great meeting you. Anthony, I’ll see you next week. Bye!”
Father and daughter called goodbye after her as she left the office. Diana hurried away. She’d liked Eloise a lot. She liked Anthony a lot. Enough that it left a little knot of nerves in her chest.
She wasn’t sure, but she thought that little knot might actually be better called hope.