Savannah arrived right on time. Her voice cut through the relative quiet of the late Monday morning grocery store lull as Amie and David reached the cereal aisle.
“Don’t do it,” Amie warned, watching her companion react to the voice. “You’ll only make things worse.”
“I wouldn’t,” David argued, reaching for a box on a high shelf. He struggled to get the height he needed without dropping the rest of his groceries.
“Trust me,” Amie said, holding out the basket she’d been carrying. “You will.”
David eyed the basket, then begrudgingly deposited his armful of groceries before retrieving the elusive cereal box.
Amie passed him the basket, grabbing a bag of granola off a shelf. “Be right back. Don’t interact with Savannah.”
She left behind a grumbling David as she exited the aisle. A woman was wandering toward her, looking frustrated as she peered down a different aisle.
“Raina!” Amie called.
The woman looked at her, brightening. “Hi, Amie,” she said, abandoning her search and walking over.
“Did you see Savannah?” Amie asked. She already knew the answer, but she liked to start the conversation with something casual. The manager of Shelf Starter was always wandering the aisles on her morning off, and despite Amie knowing exactly what she was looking for and where to find it, she didn’t want to unnerve Raina with her intimate knowledge of the other woman’s grocery list.
“Yeah,” Raina said, almost apologetically. “She’ll run out of steam soon. Probably.”
They both winced as Savannah’s distant yelling crescendoed.
“Were you looking for something?” Amie prompted, wanting to get back to David.
“Ah, yeah. I ran out of granola—”
Amie held up the bag she’d grabbed. “I’ve got this granola if you want it.”
Raina looked startled. “I don’t want to take your—”
“Don’t worry about it. I also just decided I don’t want this peanut butter. Crunchy, not smooth.” Amie shoved the groceriesinto the other woman’s arms. “And if you need a can of pinto beans, make sure to take it from the top of the pyramid of cans, not the bottom. Gotta run, bye!”
Amie darted down the juice aisle just in time to intercept David, who was striding purposefully toward the flower counter.
“No you don’t,” she said, grabbing the back of his shirt and yanking him to a stop. “Leave it alone.”
“But—”
“Go get your eggs,” Amie said. “I promise you, by the time you get them, she’ll be done.”
David mumbled something about not having to take orders from her as he proceeded to follow her orders. While waiting for him to return, Amie helped Canned Peaches Man find the canned peaches and prevented Destroyer of Fruits from causing an avalanche of apples (his mother thanked Amie as she deposited the toddler back into her shopping cart).
Sure enough, by the time David returned with a carton of eggs, the grocery store had once again descended into blissful quiet.
“ ‘The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,’ ” David said as they made their way to check out. “Edmund Burke.”
“Edmund Burke didn’t say that.”
“Yes, he did!”
“No, he didn’t. I looked it up after the fifth time you quoted it to me.”
David didn’t speak for several minutes after that.
Chapter TenA Flower Arrangement
Day 3 A.L.
