“You must feelsobrave,” Whit added.
“And if you like it here in Magnolia Sands?—”
“It’s Magnolia Shore,” Winnie corrected tersely.
The two women nodded, as if this correction was all the confirmation they needed of Winnie’s pathetic life.
“Of course it is,” Britt said, like she was dealing with a toddler who kept insisting that the sky is green.
There was an awkward pause where Winnie didn’t respond, as she was doing her best to convince herself not to “accidentally” kick one of them under the table.
“Well,” Whit said with the satisfaction of a woman who knew she had won. “It wassogreat catching up. We’d better go get our seats now, though. Our moms are joining us soon. Toodles!”
This was accompanied by an actual finger wave as the two slid out of the booth and sauntered to their own table on the far side of the restaurant, where they immediately bent their heads together and started whispering furiously, all while sending not at all subtle glances in Winnie’s direction.
Winnie found that this put her off her appetite pretty quickly. Not even the perfect tomatoes could salvage a meal after that.
With a sigh, she left enough money on her table to cover the bill and a tip for the waitress. She gathered up her papers and shoved them in her bag with much less care than she would normally use. Anything to get out of this restaurant as fast as possible, she told herself. Just get out of here.
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 hernormalwasn’t all she hoped it would be.
Diana had admitted defeat. In the great battle ofMadsen 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’malwaysworking 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.”
