She was already calling itthe shop, like the decision was already made in her mind.
Diana grinned at her. “You totally could,” she agreed.
Eleanor realized that all her friends were looking at her expectantly. She laughed.
“Okay, I’m not going tocommitto anything right now,” she said. “Let’s just eat some more snacks and I’ll think about it, okay?”
“You had me at ‘eat more snacks,’” June quipped.
Everyone laughed, and their conversation drifted back to other topics. Even so, Eleanor found her mind drifting back to her potential new business.
She needed a job, after all. She certainly had the space. It seemed like a wild idea, to think of herself as a business owner, as someone who ran a bookshop. And yet, a little voice in the back of her head kept chiming in with the same question, over and over.
Why not? Why not her? Why shouldn’t she be able to do it?
A grin slowly spread across Eleanor’s face. Why not her, indeed.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nut and Bolts did pretty good business, for an independently owned hardware store in a smallish town. But Garrett had to admit, as he pulled his truck into the parking lot on Tuesday morning, it was the first time he’d seen someone waiting for him before the shop even opened.
He jumped down from his truck and made his unhurried way toward the front door, reusable coffee mug in one hand, keys jangling in the other. The waiting person was writing feverishly in a little notebook on her lap. It was only when he got closer and she looked up that he realized it was Eleanor, the woman he kept finding himself insulting.
Do not say anything rude to this woman again, he told himself sternly.
“Uh, hey,” came out instead.
Inwardly, Garrett rolled his eyes. He wasn’t sure that was better.
Eleanor drew in a deep breath and blinked up at him, almost as though part of her was surprised to find him here, in front of his own store, during business hours. She shook her head, like she was clearing away cobwebs.
“Sorry,” she said. “Late night. Hi.”
Now that she mentioned it, she did look a little tired, although not necessarilyweary. No, she looked energized, like she’d been awake over something good, something exciting.
And Garrett needed to stop thinking about this woman’s sleeping habits, or indeed about any kind of habits of hers,right now.
She waited while he unlocked the front door and switched on the lights. He wouldn’t have said she waitedpatiently, as there was irrepressible energy about her, even as she was just standing there. It made him curious, darn it. He did not want to be curious.
Still, professional curiosity was okay, right? It wasn’t getting involved if he just asked why she was in his shop, was it? That was just good customer service.
Garrett decided not to think about how he had never cared about customer service a day in his life.
“So, what brings you in?” he asked as casually as he knew how.
Eleanor’s smile was blindingly bright. Garrett cursed himself. This was not information that was helpful to him. He didnotneed to see her look so pretty and shiny with excitement.
“Well,” she said, her voice almost shy, the tone at odds with the way she looked like she was practically vibrating with whatever had gotten her so hopped up. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“Hoo boy,” he said, shocked to hear his own voice coming out almost teasing.
She made the most adorable little face at him. Garrett was just furious with himself for noticing.
“Okay, so you remember my house?”
“You mean the place where you beaned me with a shelf? Yeah, you didn’t hit me hard enough to affect my memory.”
Goodness gracious, he was teasing her.Teasingher. That was only a step or two away from flirting! Garrett did not flirt. Absolutely not.
