Winnie snatched back her hand like she’d been burned.
“Of course,” she said tersely.
Still, she trailed behind Eleanor and Garrett as they continued on to the clerk’s office. Eleanor was tempted to remind Winnie that she had no reason to follow them but decided against it. Maybe if Winnie saw for herself that there was nothing amiss with these reams and reams of paperwork, she would stop whatever strange campaign she was on to interfere with Eleanor’s project.
The clerk, a soft-faced woman with long, graying hair, smiled pleasantly at the trio as they entered her office.
“Good morning,” she said. “How can I help you today?”
Eleanor opened up her folder and began removing paperwork. It was one of those accordion-style folders, the kind she had seen her ex-husband, a lawyer, use when he really meant business.
She hoped that Winnie recognized that this was avery serious folder.
“Good morning,” Eleanor said. “I am here to confirm that I have the paperwork so that my home can be turned into acombination residence and bookshop.” She cut a sidelong glance at Winnie. “Allthe paperwork.”
Winnie pressed her lips together. Eleanor almost hoped she would say something.
The clerk seemed entirely oblivious to the tension.
“Ooh, a bookstore? Oh, Magnolia Shore islongoverdue for a bookstore. I know you can get anything online these days, but I do just love the part where you browse the shelves and find a hidden gem, don’t you?” She beamed at both women. Eleanor beamed back. Winnie did not.
“I absolutely agree,” Eleanor said. “I’m so glad I’m going to be able provide that service to the town. I am a newcomer here, but I love Magnolia Shore, and I am looking forward to being part of the business community here.”
Eleanor recognized that she might be laying it on abitthick, but she couldn’t resist.
“And we’re going to be so pleased to have you,” the clerk said, already beginning to shuffle through the paperwork. “Winnie, are you involved in this project? This paperwork is precise. Looks like your usual kind of work.”
Goodness, this was one of the best days Eleanor had enjoyed in a good long while.
“No, I’m not involved,” Winnie said primly.
The clerk paused her shuffling. “Oh,” she said.Why are you here, then? It was the unspoken question. The clerk might have been too polite to say it, but Winnie clearly heard it.
“All right then.” The clerk returned to looking over the paper. “I see you’ve got your Articles of Organization, your Employer Identification Number, and your Incorporation Application.”
“That should include a copy of the Director Identification Number,” Winnie said, leaping on the opportunity to point to a blank field.
“I included the entire DIN approval document, if you’ll see Appendix C,” Eleanor said sweetly.
Winnie didn’t say anything else after that. The flicker in her expression made Eleanor briefly pause in her internal celebration to wonder why Winnie was so focused on Eleanor’s bookstore. It couldn’t be personal, after all. They hadn’t even met before Winnie had come over to tell her all the things she felt Eleanor was doing wrong. What inside Winnie was satisfied by sticking her nose in? It had to be something.
“And Magnolia Shore Book Shop,” the clerk said, drawing Eleanor’s attention away from wondering about Winnie, “that’s the business name, right? Or just a placeholder for now?”
“Just a placeholder,” Eleanor said, a touch sheepishly. “I read online that that’s okay, as long as it’s an accurate descriptor of the business.”
“As long as you get your change of name form approved before you open, yes,” the clerk confirmed. “But if you end up sticking with this, you won’t need it.”
“Amazing,” Eleanor said.
The clerk tapped the pages into a neat pile. “Actually, you’re the amazing one. This is as tidy a stack as I’ve ever seen. Have you ever worked in municipal government?”
“Nope,” Eleanor said, inwardly preening. “Just did a lot of research.”
“Well, nice work. I’ll get these filed and double-checked, but I really don’t see any problems that are likely to crop up. If they do, I’ll call right away so you can fix them.”
“Even the waiver about the fence location?”
“Oh yeah.” The clerk looked wholly unconcerned. “It’s only a few inches. I can’t imagine anyone kicking up a fuss about it.”
