She blinked at him, confused for such a second, then swatted playfully at his arm. He chuckled and darted away.
“That issodorky,” she agreed. “Total dad joke.”
He grinned, spreading his hands in awhat are you going to dogesture. “Iama dad, you know.”
“Oh!” Diana snapped her fingers. “Speaking of…”
She rummaged under her desk, pulling out a tote bag that threatened to overflow with books.
“So, I might have gone alittleoverboard when I was going through my collection, but I also had more boxes in my attic than I realized. All of which is to say that if Eloise finds herself needing even more books, I still have… way too many.” She pulled a fat, battered paperback off the top of the stack that she’d nestled in the bag. “Has she read this?”
Anthony reached out and accepted the copy ofLittle Women, it’s cover worn soft by repeated reads.
“You know,” he said, turning the book over in his hands, “I don’t think she has.”
Diana’s face lit up.
“Oh, she’s in forsucha treat. It’s my absolute, absolute favorite. But prepare yourself for tears when… well, no spoilers, in case you haven’t read it.”
“I haven’t either, actually,” he admitted.
“You are also in for a treat,” she informed him. “You will note that I’m not adding something like ‘if you read it too’ because youhave toread it.”
“Didn’t you just say I should prepare myself for tears?” he teased, charmed by her enthusiasm.
“Well, yes. But you won’t be sorry,” she added hastily.
“So, I’ll cry, but I’ll be happy about it?”
“Exactly.” She nodded smartly.
“That’s quite a book,” he said, musingly. He didn’t read as much as he ought to these days. He liked reading, but the life of a single father always felt as though it was plagued by about a thousand things to do. But maybe he ought to take it back up again, especially if it could get Diana so excited.
“It is,” she agreed, apparently pleased that he could see it. “Anyway. Give it to Eloise. I was about her age the first time I read it. I’m confident that she’ll love it.”
“I appreciate it,” he said warmly. “Eloise is doing great with the change, making friends and putting herself out there, but shestill loves to curl up with a good book to unwind at the end of the day.”
“I’mnotnew in town and I like to do that,” Diana said, laughing. “It sounds like she’s doing really well, especially with all the change. Uprooting your life is hard, even if it ends up being for a good reason in the long term.”
“It is.” He ran his hand back and forth through his hair, as if this gesture could shake loose some of the stress that had been so persistently rattling around his head these last few months. “Although El seems to be doing better than I am, at least on the socializing side of things. Pretty much the only time I’ve gone out and done something not related to work or parenting is that night we met at Anchor Bistro.”
“You made a great choice, though,” she said. “Anchor Bistro is a local’s spot, even in summer. When we first met you there, I was actually kind of worried, because I didn’t realize that you had moved to town and worried that we were about to be overrun by tourists.”
They both laughed at this.
“Good to know,” he said. “That seems like it’s a great way to meet people, then. People who will actually be around for longer than a week, I mean.”
“Absolutely. My friends and I make it out there as regularly as we can. It’s harder for the ones that have kids, of course,” she acknowledged. “But if you ever make it over, odds are you’ll run into me… or Cadence, or our friend June, who was singing that night,” she added.
“That sounds nice,” he said, surprised by how much he meant it. But it had been surprisingly easy to talk to Diana… though perhaps he shouldn’t have been surprised, given that it seemed as though he was always falling into easy conversation with her. The last… oh goodness, had it really been nearly an hour that he’d been here? It had flown by.
Aware that this was a business day for Diana and that she didn’t need him taking up any more of her time, he bid her a quick farewell, thanking her once more for the books and making a mental note to remind Eloise to write a nice thank you note. He left, the heavy tote slung over his shoulder, and began making his way slowly back toward his office.
He couldn’t help hoping, as Magnolia Boutique faded out of sight, that he would run into Diana again… and soon.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Okay,” Winnie lectured her reflection sternly. “You can do this. You can be normal! You can make friends.” She paused, assessing. “Well, you can do all those things once you put on a better outfit,” she amended, turning back to her closet for the umpteenth time.
