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‘I can’t wait!’ And I really can’t.
We chat for another hour about our favourite authors, our automatic buys – Kerry Greenwood for Janice, and Harlen Coben for Donald. We’ve got enthusiasm, if nothing else!
Chapter 11
I spend Wednesday morning planning the People Library and just how we’re to go about marketing it. How to explain to people exactly what it entails. Once I have my pitch in order I call Finn.
Butterflies flutter inside as I dial his number. It’s probably because I’m nervous about sharing the idea with him after facing Maisie’s lacklustre reception. Finn, of all people, will be able to gauge how the town will take it and if he says they’ll hate it, I’ll be crushed. But I’m determined to go ahead with it, no matter what. We have no other choice really, so I’ll either fall flat on my face, or I won’t.
‘Let me guess, you’re desperate to see me and you can’t wait until Friday night,’ he says, his voice oozing warmth.
I laugh. ‘Am Ithattransparent?’
‘I’m right?’ he says surprise in his voice. He’s really just too sweet for his own good.
‘Sort of right. I want to buy you dinner tonight and run my idea past you for the article. I’m sorry for all the mystery leading up to this point but I had to get permission from a few people and make sure it was good to go. Also, I kind of need the article written post haste.’
He lets out a theatrical sigh. ‘Only wants me for my mighty pen. Always the way.’
I shut my office door so no one can hear my flirty voice. ‘You know what they say, the pen is mightier than the sword.’What, Ellie?My flirt game is so rusty it’s cringeworthy!
‘That was to make us nerds feel better about being nerds.’ Maybe Finn doesn’t think so, but sheesh. I really need to learn how to do this better. I shake the thought away. I’m here for the People Library!
‘Didn’t you get the memo?’ I ask. ‘Nerds are cool now.’
‘What a relief.’
He makes me smile just hearing his voice. ‘So dinner. How about we meet at the local pizza place?’ I struggle to remember the name. ‘And you can stuff your face with pepperoni pizza while I wow you with my bright idea.’
‘I do love stuffing my face.’
‘Then it’s a date. Say 7 p.m.?’
‘Done. I’ll bring my mighty pen.’
I giggle. ‘You do that.’ In actual fact I’ve seen Finn take notes and he always uses his iPad but I make a mental note to buy him a novelty sword pen, if there’s such a thing!
We say our goodbyes and I get the rest of the day underway. We have our first rhyme time session tomorrow and I only hope we have more than one child attend otherwise it’s not going to live up to expectations about being a social event for parents and children. I check the area that Maisie set up and am happy how colourful she’s made it with beanbags and knitted poufs that she found in the basement. I look forward to the day we can fill the children’s area with brand-new books.
When the day comes to an end, I walk home, shower and change,ready for dinner with Finn. I give my appearance a cursory once-over and decide that it’ll do. I’m sticking with the make-up-free look and casual attire. More importantly I skim through my material, making sure I haven’t forgotten anything that Finn might be interested in to use for his article. I place it all in a tote and head off to dinner. One thing I’m loving about Willow Grove life is the ability to walk everywhere without the need for cars or trains. Nothing is too far away, not even Sofia’s castle.
When I get to Fuoco Pizzeria, Finn’s inside already, a pretty waitress paying him particular attention. I shake my head and smile. That small-town charm works a treat with the ladies and he’s got it in spades.
He stands when I get to the table and gives me a loose hug. ‘You smell good,’ he says and I laugh in surprise.
‘Well, shucks. You certainly have a way with words, Finn Ford.’
He blushes. ‘Sometimes my mouth runs away and I have a helluva a time catching it. But you do smell good, almost edible like candy floss.’
A jolt of electricity runs through me. ‘I aim to please.’
The pretty waitress completely ignores me. I don’t take offence. She’s blinded by Finn’s dazzling smile and who can blame her? As she perches on the edge of table, Finn jiggles in his seat, as though he’s uncomfortable with the attention while she chats away about her day and the fact the coming weekend iswide openwith no plans. Zero. None. When he manages to get a word in he says, ‘Ah, erm, Donatella, this is Elodie, the new librarian. Elodie, this is Donatella. Her parents own Fuoco, but Donatella is the brains behind the rebranding.’
‘Oh?’ I say. ‘It looks great. What was it like before?’ It must be a recent thing because the scent of fresh paint lingers faintly in the air.
Donatella rolls her eyes as if the memory pains her. ‘Well, it was called Tony’s Pizzeria for about a million years. Like so, meh, right? My papa is old-school and still thinks he’s in the hills of Sicily most days, but I managed to convince him to rebrand and renovate, though I must admit it took me a while to convince him. But I did eventually. The trick is never giving up. When you want something, you go for it.’ She waggles her brows at Finn and lets out a flirtatious giggle. ‘And so Fuoco was born.’ Finn is beetroot red and looks like he wishes the floor would swallow him up. He’s so wholesome, he can’t even deal with a saucy Sicilian like Donatella.
I try to help him by getting her attention. ‘And fuoco means fire in Italian?’
