It wasn’t just that she was an interesting contradiction, what with her severe bob and prim features that contrasted with the softness that had been revealed by her frustration and worry this evening. And it wasn’t just that he found her nice to look at, although he was still rather proud of himself for looking at a woman and seeing more than a potential colleague or what have you.
He also found himself wanting to understand that sadness that lurked beneath Winnie’s surface. Something was bothering that woman, and it wasn’t just a busted battery in her car.
And a bizarre part of him wondered if there was anything he could do to make her feel any better.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Until he had begun working at a hardware store, Garrett had never thought much about the demographics of the kind of people who came in to buy equipment and supplies. After about ten years on the job, he could sum up his customers as “early risers.”
He saw about as many customers between eight and eight-fifteen in the morning as he did for the entirety of the afternoon.
Thus, when he looked at the old analog clock that had hung in the same spot on the wall for the entire time that he’d owned Nuts and Bolts hardware and saw that it was one in the afternoon, he decided that this was a good time to break for lunch.
And if he was going to get lunch for himself, he should grab something for Eleanor too. She’d been so busy at the bookstore recently, after all. It would just bepolite. It wasn’t because he was looking for an excuse to see her…
He shook his head, laughing at himself. Who was he trying to convince? Heck yes, it was just an excuse to see her.
He flipped the sign on the front of his door toClosedand tacked up the handmade sign that promised that he would be back soon, then headed to his car. The Main Street Diner woulddo for lunch today, he decided. They had Eleanor’s favorite tuna melt there, and it traveled pretty well.
Garrett had not always been the kind of man who made excuses to see his girlfriend or who knew her favorite lunch and brought it to her. In fact, anyone who had known him even a year ago would have laughed at the idea that Garrett Wilder, resident curmudgeon, would find himself this wrapped up in a woman.
Even more surprising was that he did not regret it for a minute.
Eleanor had come into his life like a red-headed tornado, all energy and chaos. At first, he hadnotbeen prepared for it, nor had he been particularly welcoming. Their first few encounters had been more friction than friendliness.
But the more time they’d spent together, the more irresistible he had found her. And now?
Well, now he was pretty confident that he was the luckiest guy in Magnolia Shores. He didn’t intend to let Eleanor get away from him either.
A year ago, that kind of long-term thinking would have made him start to feel sweaty and anxious. But for the first time in a long time, since before his fiancée had left him ten years prior, he looked to the future with excitement rather than seeing it just as something to endure. For the first time since Maria had left him shortly before they were scheduled to be married, he was actually grateful to her for doing so.
He hadn’t been able to see it until he had gotten to enjoy this happiness with Eleanor, but he and Maria had never been right for one another. He was just lucky that Maria had been able to see that before they’d gotten in too deep.
“Well, well, well. I would have said that I haven’t seen you in a long time, Garrett, but I’m not sure I’m seeing you now. Surely this cheerful, smiling fellow can’t be our Garrett Wilder.”
Garrett, again demonstrating how much he had changed recently, grinned at this teasing instead of scowling. He waved at Janie Peterson, the daughter of one of his most frequent customers at the hardware store.
“Yeah, yeah, you and your dad are bothhilarious,” he snarked, making the woman, who was about his age, laugh. “Can I get a tuna melt and a roast beef sandwich? Both to go, both with a side of fries?”
“Of course,” Janie said, plugging it deftly into the system, then passing the order through the open kitchen window to the cook. “I take it that one of these orders is for that pretty lady who has put you in such a good mood recently?”
“The tuna is hers,” he admitted, smiling. “I can’t account for her taste though. First the sandwich that puts tuna and cheese together, then saddling herself with this old grump.”
“Pfft,” Janie said, shaking her head at him. She had always treated him with a faintly maternal air, even though she couldn’t be more than three or four years older than he was. “You cut that out. You’re a catch. Or…” She paused, her eye twinkling. “You are now that you’re not so grouchy all the time.”
“Hilarious,” he said, deadpan, not really minding the teasing. “Give me that food, will you? I have to get out of here before I end up laughing too hard at your jokes.”
“Give Eleanor my best,” Janie called as Garrett headed out, bag of food in hand.
It was a short trip to Eleanor’s bookstore, but Garrett found that the shop’s small parking lot was full, forcing him to park farther down the street. As this traffic promised, the store was crowded, no doubt due to the leaf-peeping crowd that had started to come into town as fall took New England by storm. Garrett slipped inside the store and glanced around, finding Eleanor deep in conversation with a couple who was holding a large stack of books in their arms.
Not wishing to distract her while she was in her element, or risk disrupting what looked like a pretty significant sale, Garrett put the bag with the food on the small shelf that Eleanor kept behind the cash register for her personal items. He took his own sandwich out of the bag to take with him, then scrounged around for a scrap of paper to leave her a note. When he found it, he paused.
He could write something simple, just a quick note that the lunch was from him, not some random sandwich left behind by a customer. He found though, that he wanted to do something a little more. Something romantic, even if it did feel a little cheesy.
Take time to eat something, Ellie. You are looking amazing. You’re such a star at your business. And to put things in book language… this chapter together is my favorite in the book of my life. I hope we have lots more chapters together. Garrett.
He paused over the signoff. It felt a little impersonal, but he’d made his intentions pretty clear in the note, hadn’t he?
