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, isveryexcited 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 Ididsay 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 businessquitethat 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 tothinkabout 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 themostproactive, 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 areallydorky sense of humor.”
