Cassandra was in the ladies' room touching up her makeup and fluffing her hair. She wasn't sure why exactly she was primping. As she'd told herself before, this was work. Apparently something that normal working people did. She laughed at herself, she'd never had a job with working meals or formal meetings. In the years between leaving her parents' house and her surgery, she'd done a variety of things, mostly cleaning because she'd not had to interact so much with people. And being an assistant and then a Librarian at the Library was certainly nothing close to normal. But Jacob Stone thought she was a bookkeeper so that was the part she'd play.

Jacob Stone. He was handsome and so sweet. She'd only known him the two days but she could tell beneath that harried father and store owner there were hidden depths. If she actually was an Oklahoman bookkeeper she might enjoy getting to know him better. It had been a while since she'd been on a real date. She'd barely dated at all pre-surgery, her condition making it far easier to avoid relationships or keep them super casual. And she'd been just past recovery when Flynn had found her.

Life in the Library made relationships difficult. Flynn had encouraged her to date and she'd dated a few people. But it was hard and it was hard not to keep to old habits of super casual. Besides, it was hard to explain to the person she was dating when she had to keep cancelling plans. Flynn had had the same problem until he'd met Eve Baird. Eve was military with a schedule even weirder than Flynn's. She'd eventually found out about the Library when Flynn needed her help on a mission. She'd been surprisingly understanding (again probably because her job was weird) and she and Flynn had found happiness together. Now they were both retired, living a life of domestic adventure with a baby on the way.

But military types weren't really Cassandra's. So she'd have to find someone smart, quiet and bookish who had a weird life. She cackled at herself in the mirror. Yeah, that had worked out so well so far.

She was blotting her lipstick when the pretty dark haired clerk walked in. They'd been introduced briefly and Cassandra knew her name was Mabel and she was leaving the store soon to move to Tulsa.

"Hi, Cassandra. Jake says you guys are gettin' dinner? Then I reckon you're off."

"Yeah," Cassandra sighed. "In the morning, I guess. Work never stops. I do hope my recommendations help, this store is wonderful and places like this should be saved."

Mabel smiled. "I'm sure gonna miss it, but I've gotta move on or I'll miss my chance."

Cassandra chuckled. "Know a little something about that."

"You're not from here, I mean Oklahoma are you?"

"No, I'm from back East. Just kinda needed to well, you know," she flapped her hands. "Ended up here." That was close to the truth, really.

"That was my thought too. I might come back, but I'd regret it if I didn't at least try. I mean I've got roots here like Jake, but I don't know, he just always wanted to stay."

"Is that why you and he?" Cassandra blushed. "Sorry, I'm prying."

Mabel giggled. "Oh, I wouldn't have minded, Jacob is as nice a man as you're ever gonna meet. And we grew up together but we always ended up with different people. He got married and then when that fell apart, well he's not dated since. And I know he wants someone who isn't gonna leave. And that's not really me. Not now."

"I'm prying again, but what is the story there? He has the kids all alone?"

Mabel made a face. "Yeah, I mean everyone knows it. Mandy was a flake and that's the nicest way to put it. He never should've married her, but the more people told him he was makin' a mistake, the more he dug his heels in and went for her anyway. She got pregnant real quick with the first two and that was fine but then Abby . . . ."

"Abby?"

"I dunno. All I know is that the minute she was back from maternity leave with her, she was stepping out on Jake. She ran off with the guy she was seeing when Abby wasn't even a year. Poor Jake got a Dear John and she ain't been back to see any of 'em."

"Wow," Cassandra said, thinking that explained a lot about Abby. And now she felt even more guilty about leaving, given how Abby was warming up to her. "No wonder he hasn't dated."

"Yeah, don't blame the guy. He's not likely to find someone who wants to settle in a small town with a man with a bunch of kids either. All the girls our age are married, divorced with their own flock or left. Anyway," Mabel headed toward a stall. "It has been nice havin' ya, Cassandra. Hope it goes well."

"Yeah, thanks Mabel," and Cassandra left the restroom to give the other woman privacy.

There were two choices for dinner within walking distance of the store and Jacob chose the beer and burger place over the family restaurant.

"This early it'll be quieter there, the other place will be packed with kids."

Cassandra stuck to water with her burger and Jacob sighing, ordered an iced tea.

"I could use a beer, but I've gotta get back to work tonight."

Cassandra slid a few pieces of paper across to him. "These are my recommendations, keeping in mind that I'm just a math person and I don't know a lot about retail. These were completely based upon your numbers and a little bit of my experience as a shopper."

He nodded, peering down the page. "You're askin' me to cut inventory?"

"Hear me out," Cassandra said softly. "I know it's a general store. And I'm not asking you to completely cater to tourists either. Your biggest local business is in the feed and seed section. So obviously you're gonna want to keep that. But stuff like the groceries and the cell phones? The locals are getting that from the big box and grocery stores by the highway and the tourists aren't looking to buy the same thing they can get at home. You're spending money on items not selling. I'd suggest instead to keep the old fashioned candy and maybe look to sell locally made items." Cassandra shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure what you would have here, but maybe honey or jam? That sort of thing. Locally made products are big with both the locals and tourists. "

"I see what you're sayin'. But that freezer unit is fairly expensive."

"Well, you could probably make some money selling it. If you wanted to keep it, it would come in handy in the summer time for selling individual ice cream bars and things. Again that would drawn in the tourists as well as the people shopping or working down here who want to grab a quick treat. Not sure what you could do with it the rest of the year, though let's face it, kids like ice cream no matter what. And I don't know, maybe there's some local making sausage or something."

Jacob chuckled. "I sense a trend here."

"Well, this is just my gut as someone who likes to shop," Cassandra shrugged. "The buy local trend is big right now, everywhere. Tourists love bringing something back that they can't get anywhere else. And locals want to support their neighbors and anything that keeps jobs in town. Your store is unique and historic. Let's focus on that uniqueness. Stuff that people can't get on the other side of town, stuff they want to come out here for."

Their food came they took a break to eat, mostly chatting about the kids instead of work.

"I'm still real sorry about Abby. But she's so slow to warm up to people, I didn't want to mess up a potential thaw."

"It's fine, really. She's very sweet. All of your daughters are."

Jacob sighed. "They are, but they probably aren't the best behaved kids out there. I try my best, but I've got a lot on their plate."

"All you can do is your best," Cassandra said, "I'm sure it's not easy."

"None of your own?" he asked.

"No, I never really had any offers."

"Well, that's shame, a woman like you? Should have folks bangin' down your door to take you out." Jacob's smile was flirtatious until Cassandra blushed and looked away. Then he cleared his throat. He really had no idea what had come over him. In another life, Cassandra Cillian might have been a possibility. But not in this one, where he had a life that included three motherless young girls.

He took a big gulp of his iced tea and turned back to the sheet of figures. He asked her a couple of other questions, although he really thought her recommendations were sound. Then he got to the end.

"Lordy, Cassie," he said, not even realizing he'd nicknamed her in his astonishment at what she'd written. "This is a pretty detailed event you've got there."

"I might have gotten a bit carried away. I love planning parties. You don't have to follow any of that."

He sighed. "I'd love to follow it, it sounds amazing. But I just can't. Mabel'll be gone and I can't be askin' my ex-in-laws to be doin' this sort of thing. Damn, I wish I did know someone who could do this. Because I think it would turn things around for us."

Cassandra stared at him across the table. Her life before the Library had been divided into two. Before the tumor, she'd let her parents dictate everything she'd done in her life. With the tumor, she'd let her health dictate everything. Then there was her life in the Library. Sure she'd done the first impulsive thing she'd ever done when she took the job. But afterward, there was the clippings book and the appointment book and lists and duties. She absolutely adored her job, but again it dictated her life.

So she took a deep breath, knowing Jenkins would be disappointed but Ezekiel wouldn't be. And said, "I'll stay and help you do it."