Zoe listened as her accountant ranted on the phone. There wasn’t any point in trying to interrupt him, he’d just talk over her. He was an older, antiquated type who believed a business shouldn’t be run by a woman. Although given she seemed to have lost ten thousand dollars, maybe he was right. Maybe the business would do better without her as the owner.

Chris Lyons had offered her a substantial sum for the business. But he had no interest in keeping the garage open. He wanted to demolish the current buildings and turn the area into a range of luxury apartments for people to have as second homes. With the beach views and the weather, he was convinced it would make all the investors a lot of money.

Chris had even offered her the chance to get in ‘at the bottom’ as he called it. She could double or triple her investment. Although having no financial worries was attractive, she didn’t believe in what Chris was doing. She’d seen far too many small beach areas being destroyed by over development. The locals would be pushed out of their homes to make way for those who could afford the newer developments. As for the impact on the wildlife and sea life, she shuddered. The town was lovely as it was. They didn’t need high rise apartments destroying the landscape. A customer walked in. Smiling, she saw it was Mr. Epstein. She put the cell phone on hold, sure her accountant wouldn’t even notice.

“Morning Mr. Epstein. What can I do for you?”

“My car dear. It just won’t run properly. Don’t know what’s wrong with it. I know you think I should get rid of it.”

She did, the car was ancient and not in a way that made it a valuable antique. She hesitated though, he’d gotten real upset the last time she suggested he replace it.

“Want me to have a look at it?”

“Would you? You seem to have a golden touch. I can wait while you take your call.”

“Oh he won’t notice.”

“Your young man should treat you better,” said the older man.

“Oh Mr. Epstein, you are funny. It’s my accountant. He doesn’t listen to me, prefers the sound of his own voice.”

“Oh.”

“He thinks women should stay at home and have babies. Not run businesses, particularly garages. Unfortunately, today he has a point.” Especially when they turned a successful business into a money pit.

“Why can’t they do both?”

“I knew I liked you, Mr. Epstein.” Zoe smiled at him. “I gave him all my tax paperwork but it seems I have mislaid some money. He’s going to have a heart attack if he gets himself worked up any more over it.”

Never mind her. She had tossed and turned all night wondering how she could get the missing ten thousand dollars. She could sue the man who drove into her for whiplash or something, but she wasn’t injured. That would be fraud and she knew doing something wrong wouldn’t help her in the long run.

“Taxes are a serious matter, but I can’t see how you could make a mistake. You always seem so organized and thorough.”

If only he knew how useless she was with math.

“Thank you, Mr. Epstein, but not everyone holds that opinion. No, seriously. I have dyscalculia, it’s like dyslexia only it means I can’t read numbers. Makes putting accounts together rather difficult.” That was the understatement of the century.

“Oh I see. I still believe there must be a mistake. You do a fine job young lady of masking your difficulty. Why don’t I have a look at your paperwork? I’m retired, but I used to be an accountant.”

“I couldn’t ask you to do that.” She wished he would, but felt bad asking him.

“I don’t mind. I have plenty of time since retiring. I do the books for the DC Williams foundation out of love for Emily and her father before her. I would gladly help you out, if only to save you from an ear bashing. It helps make my day go faster, too.”

For a second, Zoe glimpsed real loneliness on Mr. Epstein’s face.

“In that case, I will do you a deal. I’ll cook dinner for you so long as you don’t mind eating with my little brother.”

“Lovely. I can’t remember the last time I had a home cooked meal. Not to mention delightful company. Thank you Miss Clark.”

“I also insist on servicing your car for free. Not that I’m sure I’ll be able to fix it.”

“Now that I can’t agree to. If you don’t charge customers, you won’t be able to stay in business.”

It didn’t seem to matter whether she charged them or not. The garage was in more trouble that one paying customer could bail them out from. Zoe picked up the call on hold to save herself from replying. As she’d thought, the accountant hadn’t even noticed she wasn’t there. She told him she would get another opinion on the books. That shut him up fast. They spoke for a couple of minutes before she hung up.

“What did he say?” Mr. Epstein asked.

“He said he probably made a mistake somewhere. It was odd. He never thinks he’s wrong.”

“Hm. I still think you should get a second opinion. Accountants are people, we make mistakes too.”

Zoe nodded. She would have to get the paperwork back.

But first she had to fix his car. “Pop the hood for me, will you please?” She had a look underneath and quickly saw the problem. It didn’t take long for her to swap the fuses out. She put the hood back down. “Try it now.”

The car started. Mr. Epstein smiled, lighting up his face and making him look younger.

“You really should smile more often, Mr. Epstein.”

“I will when we eat dinner. I’ll bring dessert. Does Tuesday suit you?”

“Absolutely,” Zoe answered. Dom had a game on Wednesday, so she was relieved when he didn’t suggest that night.

He drove off with a call out to remember the paperwork.

Giggling, she cleaned up her tools. Then the joy left as she remembered the day before. Why couldn’t she just let the accident go along with memories of Declan?

As if she had conjured him just by thinking his name, he pulled up to the garage and walked over to her.