Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
Anthony straightened his tie as he approached Magnolia Boutique.
He’d taken a little more care than usual with his appearance that morning, something he reasoned was fitting for an appointment at a clothing store.
He didn’t want Diana to think he was too much of a dork, after all.
He might be an accountant and a single dad, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a little bit of a sense of style.
When he walked through the door to Magnolia Boutique, he was glad that he had put in the effort.
The shop was cheerful and organized well.
The room was full without feeling crowded, and Anthony could easily identify the little area for kids and men, although most of the space was dedicated to women’s fashion.
He should bring Eloise here sometime soon, he thought.
She’d go nuts for all the little hair doodads, all the different kinds that he could never keep straight.
“Hi!” Diana said from behind the cash desk, smiling brightly.
Another woman who looked to be about Anthony’s age stood with her.
“Anthony, this is Eleanor, who everyone has been telling you about. She’s the one opening the bookstore.
El, this is Anthony. He’s an accountant and his daughter, Eloise, is very excited to have a bookstore in town. ”
“Oh my goodness,” Anthony said, sticking out a hand to shake Eleanor’s. “Your legend precedes you. Half the town is taking about the bookstore, and that’s not even counting the three hundred times my daughter has mentioned it.”
The redheaded woman beamed as she shook his hand. She had a friendly look about her, and Anthony could just picture her setting kids at ease as they chose books.
“I’m so glad you’re excited,” she said. “I’m half looking forward to the grand opening, half feeling bonkers because it seems like there isn’t enough time to finish things! But I’m feeling really lucky to have the support of the community.”
“You’ll certainly have Eloise and me, come the grand opening,” he promised.
“I look forward to it,” Eleanor replied. “Anyway, I know that the two of you have work to do, and goodness knows I have work to do, so I’ll head out.” She blew Diana an affectionate kiss. “I’ll talk to you later. Anthony, it was so nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” he said.
Eleanor headed out the door, leaving Anthony and Diana alone.
“This is still a good time, right?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah!” she said, smiling encouragingly. “I actually have everything all put together… though I want to remind you that I did say it was all sort of a mess.”
“I once had a client who gave me a stack of boxes that had twenty-five years’ worth of receipts,” he reassured her.
“They weren’t even organized by time. He just thew the papers into whatever box happened to be closest at the moment.
Since I’m guessing you haven’t been in business quite that long, I remain confident that there’s not much you can do that will shock me. ”
“Okay, fair enough,” she said with a laugh. “Come on around the desk, then. It’s mostly on the computer, but I do have a small stack of paper documents for you, as well.”
Anthony wasn’t prying, he truly wasn’t. But when Diana urged him to her side of the counter, he instinctively looked down, seeking the paperwork she’d mentioned. And he just saw her phone, sitting there, open to a dating app.
He recognized the app because his friends back in Cleveland had showed him their experiences on the app during a discussion about Anthony potentially getting back out there following his wife’s death.
He hadn’t been ready to actually try dating then, but he had felt ready enough to think about how he would try one day in the future, so he’d been interested to hear about what they had encountered with online dating.
Their reports had been mixed, some good, some bad.
But they’d all pretty much admitted that they preferred the old-fashioned way to meet people, as it felt a little more organic and less high-pressure.
He still couldn’t really picture himself getting back in the dating scene, even though the idea of having someone to come home to was starting to have some appeal again, after fighting his way through the fog of grief that had plagued him for years.
He definitely wouldn’t start with the apps, though.
This meant that Anthony was absently surprised that Diana was using the dating apps herself.
She was a very attractive woman, and he’d had a great time talking to her during all their encounters thus far.
Even without that personal experience, he would have expected that her work in retail made her personable.
Plus, Magnolia Shore was full of friendly people.
It really didn’t make sense that someone who seemed as great as Diana was still single, but he supposed that he didn’t know her whole story.
It was possible that she’d met someone and things didn’t work out, or maybe she’d had some other form of upheaval.
He hadn’t expected to ever find himself single again, after all.
Life just had a way of throwing you curveballs.
Diana hastily cleared her throat and closed out her phone screen, so Anthony politely pretended he hadn’t seen anything.
“So,” he said, putting on his briskest and most professional demeanor. “Tell me what we’re looking at, here.”
“Right,” Diana said, sliding into professional mode herself. “Okay, so I had a bookkeeper for a while, but she wasn’t the most proactive, and I’ve only somewhat been able to dissect her so-called system since I had to let her go…”
For the next quarter of an hour, Diana walked him through the places she felt like she understood what was happening in her books and the places that she felt totally lost. Anthony could see why a layperson might get caught up at certain points, as the former bookkeeper hadn’t been terribly diligent in their labeling, but to him, this was going to be a breeze.
“So,” he said when he was done with his review. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”
Diana gave him a terse smile. “Oh, dear. The good news, I guess.”
“This is going to be very easy to straighten out,” he said, jerking a thumb at his computer. “You’re in pretty good shape, and I can fix any weird filing things. It’ll be straightforward.”
Diana relaxed visibly. “Okay, so what’s the bad news then?”
“The bad news is that I was really just setting up for a joke and I have a really dorky sense of humor.”
She blinked at him, confused for such a second, then swatted playfully at his arm. He chuckled and darted away.
“That is so dorky,” she agreed. “Total dad joke.”
He grinned, spreading his hands in a what are you going to do gesture. “I am a dad, you know.”
“Oh!” Diana snapped her fingers. “Speaking of…”
She rummaged under her desk, pulling out a tote bag that threatened to overflow with books.
“So, I might have gone a little overboard when I was going through my collection, but I also had more boxes in my attic than I realized. All of which is to say that if Eloise finds herself needing even more books, I still have… way too many.” She pulled a fat, battered paperback off the top of the stack that she’d nestled in the bag. “Has she read this?”
Anthony reached out and accepted the copy of Little Women, it’s cover worn soft by repeated reads.
“You know,” he said, turning the book over in his hands, “I don’t think she has.”
Diana’s face lit up.
“Oh, she’s in for such a treat. It’s my absolute, absolute favorite. But prepare yourself for tears when… well, no spoilers, in case you haven’t read it.”
“I haven’t either, actually,” he admitted.
“You are also in for a treat,” she informed him. “You will note that I’m not adding something like ‘if you read it too’ because you have to read it.”
“Didn’t you just say I should prepare myself for tears?” he teased, charmed by her enthusiasm.
“Well, yes. But you won’t be sorry,” she added hastily.
“So, I’ll cry, but I’ll be happy about it?”
“Exactly.” She nodded smartly.
“That’s quite a book,” he said, musingly.
He didn’t read as much as he ought to these days.
He liked reading, but the life of a single father always felt as though it was plagued by about a thousand things to do.
But maybe he ought to take it back up again, especially if it could get Diana so excited.
“It is,” she agreed, apparently pleased that he could see it. “Anyway. Give it to Eloise. I was about her age the first time I read it. I’m confident that she’ll love it.”
“I appreciate it,” he said warmly. “Eloise is doing great with the change, making friends and putting herself out there, but she still loves to curl up with a good book to unwind at the end of the day.”
“I’m not new in town and I like to do that,” Diana said, laughing. “It sounds like she’s doing really well, especially with all the change. Uprooting your life is hard, even if it ends up being for a good reason in the long term.”
“It is.” He ran his hand back and forth through his hair, as if this gesture could shake loose some of the stress that had been so persistently rattling around his head these last few months.
“Although El seems to be doing better than I am, at least on the socializing side of things. Pretty much the only time I’ve gone out and done something not related to work or parenting is that night we met at Anchor Bistro. ”
“You made a great choice, though,” she said. “Anchor Bistro is a local’s spot, even in summer. When we first met you there, I was actually kind of worried, because I didn’t realize that you had moved to town and worried that we were about to be overrun by tourists.”
They both laughed at this.
“Good to know,” he said. “That seems like it’s a great way to meet people, then. People who will actually be around for longer than a week, I mean.”
“Absolutely. My friends and I make it out there as regularly as we can. It’s harder for the ones that have kids, of course,” she acknowledged. “But if you ever make it over, odds are you’ll run into me… or Cadence, or our friend June, who was singing that night,” she added.
“That sounds nice,” he said, surprised by how much he meant it.
But it had been surprisingly easy to talk to Diana…
though perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised, given that it seemed as though he was always falling into easy conversation with her.
The last… oh goodness, had it really been nearly an hour that he’d been here? It had flown by.
Aware that this was a business day for Diana and that she didn’t need him taking up any more of her time, he bid her a quick farewell, thanking her once more for the books and making a mental note to remind Eloise to write a nice thank you note.
He left, the heavy tote slung over his shoulder, and began making his way slowly back toward his office.
He couldn’t help hoping, as Magnolia Boutique faded out of sight, that he would run into Diana again… and soon.