The romantic part of her soul—which had mostly shriveled to next to nothing after its in defeat in love—thought she should probably go out with Sam just once to ensure there wasn’t a tiny spark that she’d somehow missed or overlooked. However, seeing him this morning only solidified her made-up mind, as it did every time she saw him. Sam Brody wasnot“the one” for her.
She knew it in her bones. She knew it in her soul.
It was pointless to pursue anything with him. If she agreed to a date, it would only lead him on, and she absolutely did not want to do that. Having been literally left at the altar on Alpha-Prime made Beryl…incredibly careful about any romantic intentions, whether on her part or anyone else’s.
Deputy Sam Brody, a nice, handsome Alpha man, was not for her.
No matter her private feelings, she still had to do the dance with him and be cordial. He didn’t deserve to bear the brunt of her true feelings being spilled out in public. Plus, it made for bad grocery store managerial skills to insult local law enforcement. She knew this much was true. So, she tiptoedcarefully to spare his feelings, hoping he’d eventually take the hint and stop asking her out.
“Good morning, Beryl,” Sam said, his eyes taking in her red hair before centering his attention on her eyes. He was dressed in his crisp deputy uniform, looking sharp and a fine specimen of a man for someone. But not her.
“Hi, Sam,” she said, trying not to sound as cross as she felt.
Beryl liked him as a friend and that was all. If he persisted in asking her out, one of these days, she’d have to be forthcoming with him. Today was not that day. She didn’t want to do it in front of any possible patrons of the Supernova Supermarket. With that in mind, she glanced around to ensure there were no customers close by. They were as close to alone as they could be in the busy store. Good.
“Are you free for lunch?” he asked, his tone bright and cheery for so early in the morning.
“I’m not,” she said quietly, unable to look him in the eye, not even bothering to say she was sorry. Her gaze went toward the front of the store and the next chore she had to tackle this morning. She needed to restock the cashier stations with more bags.
Please take the hint, Sam. I’m not interested. I never will be.
“What about dinner? Or maybe lunch tomorrow?” he asked hopefully. “Or dinner tomorrow?”
And there it was. He just couldn’t help himself. Beryl pushed her girly feelings aside, the ones that wanted to avoid confrontation, ready to lay the law down that she’dneverbe free for lunch if he was looking for romance. Even if he said they could just be friends, she would always know he wanted more and she couldn’t give that to him.
He deserved better. He deserved to date someone who really liked him and wanted a relationship that might go somewhere. She was never going to be that person for him. Maybe not for anyone ever again.
There was also that terrible scandal back on Alpha-Prime that would likely be forever attached to her family’s name. No matter what her former fiancé said, she had no doubt it was the real reason she’d been left at the altar.
Did Sam not know about that? Did he not care?
Beryl was saved from saying anything at all by a sudden, dreadful noise from the front of the store. It sounded like the growls of an angry robot grizzly bear mixed with a banging noise.Space potatoes, this is shaping up to be a spectacularly long day. And it’s not even 7:30.
It was, however, a handy reprieve from Sam’s constant pursuit.
The terrible noise crashed through the store again. Beryl sighed internally. It was a sound she’d heard recently, but had put off dealing with during an equally difficult day last week. Weren’t they all difficult days? It seemed like it to her.
The store’s large ice maker was having a meltdown and she hadn’t called anyone in to take a look at it. Today, the ice machine sounded like it was one robotic, growling noise away from exploding in a blaze of glory.
She’d have to move the ice machine to the top of today’s to-do list, given the grinding-slash-banging noise had reached an epic level in the last few seconds.
Beryl made her way to the front of the store, Sam following closely at her heels. The rising cacophony of sound told her the ice machine hadn’t given up the ghost yet.
It was right next to the front door. Sam had to go to work sometime, right? Perhaps this would help push him out the door. Probably not, but she could dream.
The square metal ice machine was intact, but that noise was grating. The only way she’d been able to stop it before was to unplug the ice machine, but that wasn’t a long-term solution.
Beryl waved at the cashier, Tanya Miller, who’d just finished checking out Mrs. Coventon, sans her giant box of cookies because of evil coupon rules. The bag boy, Clement, was following the elderly woman outside with her purchases. Beryl made a mental note to have Clement restock the bags at all the checkout stations when he came back in from the parking lot. She had a new chore to do.
She walked right to the ice machine and peered behind it to where the plug was stuck in the outlet. She didn’t want to pull the plug but hated the grinding, banging noise even worse.
To her surprise, she saw the source of the banging problem right away and thought there might be a quick fix. The bracket on one of the back corners intended to keep the machine from tipping over was loose. Whatever was wrong with the ice machine was causing it to jitter, which in turn slapped the bracket repeatedly into the wall. Being careful not to trap her fingers, she carefully pressed the bracket back in place. Mercifully, the banging stopped. The robotic, grinding growl continued. Beryl was no mechanic, but she figured it was coming from the motor. So, two separate problems instead of just one.Great.
As soon as Beryl released the bracket, the banging resumed. This time, the long, forlorn sigh she tried to hold in escaped, though she doubted anyone but her heard it over the racket.
“You should probably unplug that,” Sam said, from way too close behind her.
She clamped her mouth shut to stop the unkind words that were about to spill from her lips. She didn’t want to be mean to Sam—he was just sonice—but wished he’d take a hint already.
