“Are… are you sure?” Winnie asked, risking a glance at Eleanor.
Eleanor made herself smile encouragingly and nod at the younger woman. A cautious hope lit up Winnie’s face.
“You should come,” Diana urged again, giving warm looks to both Winnie and Eleanor. Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last, Eleanor reflected that she was very lucky to have her wonderful friends. Diana was pushing Eleanor to be generous, which was the exact kind of thing a good friend would do for you.
“You should really come,” Eleanor agreed.
Winnie bit the corner of her lip for a moment, looking uncertain. She looked so different from the bossy town official that Eleanor had first met outside her store that it was hard to see many similarities between the two versions of Winnie.
This was, she told herself, a good reminder that it was always worth giving people the benefit of the doubt. Garrett had told her as much whenever they’d spoken about Winnie, but Eleanor hadn’t listened. Next time, she promised herself, she would do better.
“Yeah, okay,” Winnie said, a tentative smile growing across her face, like the sun peeking out from behind a cloud. “Yeah. I’ll come to the book club. That sounds really nice. Thank you.”
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Eleanor promised her. She would make certain that it was so. This was going to be a fresh start for her and Winnie, and she was going to make certain that she did things right.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Most of Diana’s financial documents were digital, given that this was the twenty-first century, but she still had a small stack of physical documents with other important information. As she waited for Anthony to meet her at the store on Monday morning, she fidgeted with the stack, neatening and re-neatening it compulsively.
Her mind was at war with itself.
What if he thinks I’m a dope for letting my records get into such disarray? she fretted.
You’re not going to be the worst case he’s ever seen, her more rational mind chimed in.And besides, this is what you hired him to do. You wouldn’t have hired him if you didn’t need help.
What if he judges anyone who doesn’t have a head for numbers?Worry poked at her again.
Then he wouldn’t have a client base,she reasoned.Besides, you’re just asking him here in a professional capacity. As long as he helps, it doesn’t matter if he’s judging or not.
It did matter to Diana, though… though she didn’treallythink that Anthony was likely to judge her. He seemed to kind for that, not to mention professional.
But she’d liked talking to him, and she wanted him to think well of her. That wasn’t too strange, was it? It didn’t have to mean anything more, no matter how her friends teased her, did it?
The bell above the door to the shop chimed and Eleanor entered, as if she had been summoned by Diana’s thoughts.
“Good morning, honey,” Eleanor greeted cheerfully. “How are you doing today?”
Diana pushed aside the stack of papers casually, like she hadn’t been fussing with them for the past twenty or so minutes.
“I’m good! How about you?”
Eleanor pressed the back of her hand to her forehead in mock despair. “I’m in hate with my closet,” she lamented. “I was looking for an outfit that says, ‘I’m a cool bookstore owner who is totally going to make it in this town,’ but it turns out all my clothes actually say is, ‘I am painting today,’ or ‘I used to be married to a lawyer.’ Do you mind helping me find something a little more fun?”
“Do I mind?” Diana echoed. “Absolutely not. This is my favorite part of owning a boutique. It’s basically like getting to play dress-up but for adults.”
Eleanor grinned. “Well, play away. I’m happy to be the real-life mannequin. I am stressing about this outfit far more than I should, so I’ll be excited to get that off my plate.”
Diana threw herself into the task with gusto, glad to have something to distract her for the last half hour before Anthony was scheduled to arrive. She snagged Eleanor a few pairs of relaxed-fit, wide legged jeans that were in fashion right now and still cool enough to wear for summer, plus a few upscale t-shirts that would keep the outfit on the right edge of casual and professional. She grabbed a jacket with the cut of the blazer but a softer, almost sweatshirt-like material to bridge that same divide and to ensure that Eleanor didn’t get chilly in the mornings,when the breeze coming off the water could have a bite, even in the middle of summer.
While Eleanor tried on the clothes, Diana snagged some accessories, including a layered gold chain necklace and some white tennis shoes. White sneakers, in Diana’s opinion, could elevate any casual outfit to make it a little more put together and playful.
“Oh, wow,” Eleanor said when she emerged. She was wearing a light wash denim with a soft mauve short-sleeved sweater, which Diana had added to the shirt pile on impulse. “I wouldn’t have thought to pick this with my coloring, but I like it.” Eleanor had bright red hair, but in Diana’s experience with fashion, redheads could often get away with wearing more color than they thought.
“Okay, no blazer with this set,” Diana said, plucking the jacket from Eleanor’s hand. After a quick look around, she offered her friend a lightweight bomber-style jacket instead. “Try this.”
Eleanor pulled on the jacket.
“Pull up the sleeves to your forearms,” Diana advised, kneeling down to cuff Eleanor’s pants a little. “And here.” She stood and grabbed a blue and green enamel bracelet. “Try this—no, on the same side as your watch.”
