“One,” he said. “You could. I’m on vacation and don’t have anywhere to be. Two, you didn’t ask. And three, you can’t deny me my chance to do my good deed for the day.” He pointed atthe dark sky. “I’m running out of time, Winnie. The deadline is looming. Please! You have to help me.”
He was being decidedly silly, and she did gift him one little smile.
“Well, when you put it that way…”
She closed and locked her car, and Shane made a mental note to tell Eleanor not to ask Winnie about the car for at least a day or so. Winnie’s shoulders were stiff and defensive, as though she was bracing herself for potential criticism. She really seemed like someone who just needed a break.
They piled into Eleanor’s car, Winnie shifting the pile of books that Shane had gotten that day from the library. She glanced down at the title of the top volume, then gave Shane a wry look.
“Six Ways to Determine Your Career’s Next Steps?”she asked.
Shane gave her a slightly sheepish shrug as he backed out of the bookstore’s small parking area.
“Okay,” he said. “In my defense, the rest of them are fun vacation books.”
“You’d better hope that you’re right about Eleanor being forgiving,” she teased. “Her own brother doesn’t even patronize her bookstore. How’s that for loyalty?”
Shane was encouraged that Winnie felt cheerful enough to tease him.
“She did tell me I could borrow from the store while I was deciding, but then I got really worried about bending things, so I decided the library was my friend.”
“The library is everyone’s friend,” she said with mock solemnity.
“And,” he went on pointedly, “I did ask Eleanor for the career book. But she said, and I quote, ‘I would help you, but I only sell interesting books here.’”
This startled a loud bark of laughter out of Winnie. Shane felt uncommonly proud of himself.
“And you needed a boring book?” she prodded.
He let out the tiniest sigh. “Yeah. I’m a computer programmer in San Francisco.”
“That’s cool,” she said approvingly. “That sounds like you have taken a lot of productive career steps already.”
“Oh, totally,” Shane agreed. “It’s my dream job. Or, itwasmy dream job. But recently it’s been a touch overwhelming. Eleanor recommended…” He hesitated. “Okay, shelovingly badgeredme into coming here, taking a beat, and regrouping. The book is supposed to help me get some clarity.”
She turned the volume over in her hand, consideringly. “And is it working?”
He shrugged one shoulder, then paused at a stop sign to look around the corner. “Too soon to tell. I’m just hoping that it can help me feel a little less… stuck. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt that.”
There was a long stretch of silence. Then, Winnie sighed.
“Yeah,” she said quietly. “I know exactly what that feels like.”
He wanted to ask more. He really did. He was surprised to find himself terribly curious about Winnie Burnett. He wanted to know why she had been anxiously standing near the door at the book club meeting, wanted to know why she’d seemed so desperate to get out of what seemed to have been a lighthearted social event. This had to be connected to the unmistakable heaviness in her tone when she said she felt stuck too.
He knew that heaviness. It was the thing he’d come to Magnolia Shores to escape.
She didn’t offer anything more though, and it wasn’t his place to pry. Instead, they chatted casually about the science fiction book in his stack that Winnie had already read. Other thanthat, she just gave him directions to her home, a sweet little townhouse with several large potted plants on the front porch.
“Thanks for the ride,” she said earnestly as he pulled up in front of the house. “It was really nice of you.”
“Hey, no sweat,” he said. “Good luck with getting the car battery situation fixed.”
She held up two sets of crossed fingers. “Here’s hoping,” she said.
Shane stayed where he was parked until Winnie unlocked her door and headed inside, offering him one last little wave before she disappeared inside the house. He pulled away from the curb and began the short drive back to his sister’s house.
Winnie Burnett. He found her… intriguing.
