Chapter Five
Beryl picked up the phone to call the ice machine repairman.
She was glad she was still sitting. She figured she’d need to be seated when she heard how much it was going to cost. She wasn’t far wrong.
Mr. Dobbins promised to stop by the Supernova Supermarket in a couple of hours to take a look.
He made a point of telling her she was lucky he had a light day with any openings at all.
She didn’t feel lucky. But she thanked him for agreeing to come on the same day she called.
The ice machine taken care—or as much as it could be—she promptly turned her attention to the rest of her schedule.
The night before, Mica had mentioned that he wanted her to help at the mine if she had time.
She’d told him, “Don’t count on it,” because she would be busy all day.
And her schedule hadn’t even factored in the noisy ice machine.
Beryl typically didn’t have extra time to spend at the bauxite mine, but she tried to be there for at least part of one day out of every week.
However, today was not that day.
There was a large dry goods shipment due in the next hour, on top of all the regular deliveries the store received each day. She had a full day plus the added fun of the ice machine repair guy fitting her in. She suspected it wouldn’t be cheap.
A knock at the door made her flinch before calling out, “Come in.”
If you dare, she wanted to add. She hated to have such a poor attitude so early in the morning. Usually, she wasn’t such a grump…at least not until the end of a long day.
Francine Boudreaux opened the door wide enough to stick her head in. “Too busy to chat or do you want to vent?”
Beryl laughed. “Choice number two, for sure. Grab a seat, Francine.”
Francine was one of the first employees Beryl had met when she took over the Supernova Supermarket. The previous owner had not been a very good boss to any of the people working here, but Francine especially had been picked on. Fixing that issue was the first thing Beryl took care of.
The Ashcraft siblings had made a lot of changes for the better. Francine had been a very good employee from the start. She had been particularly helpful when Beryl and her siblings arrived. As a result, she and Francine had become quite good friends.
Her husband, Raphael Boudreaux, was a part-time galactic bounty hunter and worked belowstairs with Cam Grey in security for the Big Bang Truck Stop.
Francine often joined him on his adventures across the galaxy, but was very good about giving notice when she was going to be gone for an extended time.
In fact, she’d recently returned from a month-long absence.
Beryl envied the couple’s great marriage and the close, loving relationship they shared.
She had hoped for the same life for herself, once upon a time.
Alas, it turned out not to be in the cards for her.
Despite Beryl’s busy day, she wanted to take time to catch up with her friend.
Plus, she needed to tell someone who cared about Jake.
Francine parked herself in front of Beryl’s desk and said, “So, I saw Sam Brody leaving as I was coming into the parking lot. Is he still hot on your trail?”
“Yep.” Beryl rolled her eyes, then thought about Jake Jones and smiled.
“What was that? An eyeroll and a smile? What has happened? Have you changed your mind and decided to date the deputy?”
She huffed. “Nope. I met someone.”
Francine grinned. “Awesome. Do tell. When did you meet this new man in your life?”
“This morning as I was trying to let Sam down easy, again. I really hope he’s figured out that I don’t want to go out with him.”
“He should have figured it out a long time ago,” Francine said. “The man’s practically a stalker. What happened today and does it have anything to do with the terrible noises coming out of the ice machine up front?”
“It’s a long story about the ice machine meltdown, but basically, Jake Jones from Dark Matter Metal & Leather stopped in just when it lost a bracket on the back corner. He’s going to make a custom one for me. That will at least take care of some of the noise.”
“Awesome.” Francine grinned. “And what else is he going to do for you?”
Beryl planted her elbow on her desk and settled her chin in her cupped hand. “I don’t know yet. But I like him.”
“Excellent.”
“Sam seemed to understand that I liked Jake the moment I saw him. And I really did. I’m talking, like, wow.”
Francine perked up in her chair. “Tell me about Jake Jones. Everything! I’ve been to Dark Matter Metal & Leather, but I only saw the store manager. Frederick something?”
“I guess. Well, Jake is tall with dark blond hair, blue eyes and a sunny disposition.” Beryl shook her head. “I don’t know what happened. I just knew the instant I saw him that he would be important to me. Is that crazy?”
“Of course not!” Francine said. “In fact, that is the very definition of how every fairytale romance starts out. I should know.”
Beryl rolled her eyes again. “I don’t know if I’m looking for a fairytale romance but it would be nice to have someone that I like to go out with now and again.”
“You deserve a fairytale romance, Beryl. And if you like him, I say, go for it.”
“Thanks, Francine.” Beryl leaned back in her chair and pushed out a soft sigh. “I know that I am rather gun-shy about men in general, but I honestly got a good feeling about Jake.”
Francine looked like she was about to burst. Beryl had to nip that in the bud. “I’m still not looking for anything permanent.”
“And I still think that is a shame. While I believe you deserve romance in your life in whatever form you want, my romantic little heart would love to see you get your happily ever after.”
Beryl smiled. “I appreciate that. And I will never say never to happily ever after, but for now, it’s just sort of nice to feel a spark with someone.”
“My, my—you felt a spark?” Francine asked. “You didn’t mention that.”
Beryl shrugged. She thought of the moment when Jake’s arm brushed hers and the noticeable electric current that had sizzled excitingly over her skin.
She intended to test that reaction the next time she saw him.
When she picked up the bracket from his shop, she would casually initiate contact to see if there was another spark.
She couldn’t wait.
Jake drove to his small house at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac to put his groceries away and pack a simple lunch before driving to Dark Matter Metal & Leather.
He wanted to get started on the project for Beryl as soon as possible. He had promised to complete it in a day. He would likely work into the night to ensure it was ready tomorrow. Jake couldn’t wait to call her. Couldn’t wait to see her again.
According to Frederick, before his stay in the hospital, Jake would come and go from his workshop using the private entrance at the rear of the building.
The only time he entered the retail part of the shop was briefly in the afternoons or if he had an appointment with a customer who wanted a unique or large item made.
Since he’d gotten out of the hospital, Jake had taken to entering the shop through the front door and stopping to check in with Frederick before sequestering himself in his workshop to complete the projects he’d left behind along with his memories.
Still, he’d known the projects were his.
He looked forward to finishing each and every one of them.
Jake walked into the shop, his eyes immediately finding Frederick behind the counter. “Good morning,” he said, closing the door behind him.
“Good morning, Jake. Good to see you.” Frederick had said the same thing to him each and every morning. Jake knew he genuinely meant it.
“I have a new project that I picked up at the grocery store, of all places.”
Frederick smiled. “Leave it to you to find work to do at the Supernova Supermarket.”
“I know I have other projects with deadlines, but I’d like to squeeze this one in. Beryl is desperate to fix her ice machine. I really want to help her out quickly.”
“Beryl?” Frederick’s eyebrows went up.
“That’s all you heard?” Jake asked.
“Yep.”
Jake smiled. “She’s the owner.”
“And is she pretty?”
Jake rolled his eyes. “Yes. But she also needs my help and I want to help her.”
“That’s good enough for me.” Frederick paged through the project book and said, “The next piece you’ve promised isn’t due until early next week. So no problem with your special project for…Beryl.” Frederick seemed way too happy about his new project, but Jake grinned.
“Good. Thanks for checking.”
“My pleasure. It’s good to see you excited about a project for once.”
Jake stopped. “This is the first time I’ve been excited about a project?”
“Well, you were often happy to help people, but today you seem ready to leap into the air with joy to get started on Beryl’s project. So, that’s new.”
Jake considered his words. “I guess I am excited. I didn’t realize I wasn’t before.”
“That’s not to say you were unhappy. I don’t mean to imply that.
It’s just good to see you so cheerful. Before, it sometimes seemed to me that you were very otherwise focused.
Perhaps something I didn’t know about weighed heavily on your mind.
You simply seem less stressed since you returned, which has to be a good thing, right? ”
Jake wondered what he’d been so focused on.
Perhaps it was good he didn’t remember anything beyond two weeks ago if it made him a stress monster.
He shrugged it off and put his mind on something that did give him joy.
“Right. Thank you, Frederick. I’m going to get started on Beryl’s project. Do you need me for anything today?”
“Nope. You’re good to go.”
“Excellent.” He left the retail space, determined to tuck himself away in his workshop for the day to create a bracket for Beryl. He couldn’t wait to call her to come pick up the item. And if his arm happened to brush hers in the process, all the better.
He would look forward to the electric sizzle it was sure to create.
Beryl spent the rest of her day trying to convince the repairman that she didn’t want a new ice machine. It wasn’t that old. “Fix it, please,” she said. “I know when it was purchased. It should last for five more years. Minimum.”
“You know, machines these days don’t last as long as they used to,” Mr. Dobbins said.
Beryl crossed her arms. “Well, this one will. Please fix it. I don’t have the budget for a new one anytime in the near future.”
“Suit yourself.” He squatted down behind the ice machine that had been pulled away from the wall so he could work. “Would you be willing to spring for a new motor at least?”
“Why can’t you fix the old one?”
“I can, but for about the same price, you could get a brand-new motor and maybe it would last longer.”
“If I get a new motor, I would require a blood oath signed by you that I won’t have any more problems for at least five years, maybe a decade, if I’m being honest.”
“A decade? I don’t even know if I’ll still be around in a decade,” he said, sounding aghast.
Beryl said, “Don’t sell yourself short, Mr. Dobbins. I have every faith in you surviving for much longer than a single decade.”
He grumbled under his breath about his aging knees and joints, but turned away to remove the engine from the back of the ice machine. She hoped he’d be able to repair it quickly.
Beryl had sent Clement with the last of the unmelted bags of ice in her machine to the Big Bang Truck Stop when Mr. Dobbins arrived to do the repair and she’d had to unplug it. It had been a relief from the terrible noises that spilled out of the machine all morning.
When he returned, Clement told her he’d filled the Big Bang Truck Stop’s two ice machines nearly to the brink.
It had helped that throughout the morning, Beryl had the cashiers putting the hard sell on each and every grocery customer who came through the checkout line, offering a discounted price on ice. She’d sold more than expected.
Beryl thought about the price of a new motor and reconsidered. “Okay. How much for the repair versus the new motor?”
He recited the numbers from memory. It was only a twenty-dollar difference. New motor for a bit more.
She waffled but finally agreed. “Can you still fix it today?”
Mr. Dobbins nodded. “I’ll fetch the new motor from my truck and have it installed within the hour.”
“So you knew I’d change my mind and had it on hand?”
“I had hoped.” His expression wasn’t contrite.
“And the warranty?”
“Let’s split the difference and make it seven and a half years. What do you say?” He extended his hand with a hopeful look on his face.
“All right. Deal,” Beryl said, shaking his hand. “Thank you for fixing it.”
Mr. Dobbins nodded and left to get the new motor from his truck. Beryl was grateful. It wasn’t exactly the outcome she wanted, but if it meant she had a quiet, working ice machine, this was another item she could cross off her list for today.
With luck, tomorrow she’d be able to pick up the new bracket from Dark Matter Metal & Leather and see Jake again. In some ways, she couldn’t wait, but it paid to be cautious. The next day’s meeting with Jake would be a test of sorts.
Beryl was starting to question whether she’d really felt a spark with Jake or just appreciated a good-looking male.
That kind of instant spark had never happened to her before.
Maybe it was a reaction to Sam being glued to her side, ever trying to win her affection.
Maybe she simply chose Jake over Sam. Maybe she’d imagined the spark. Maybe not.
So tomorrow would be a test. The spark test or the re-spark test.
Beryl couldn’t help but look forward to it. Because deep down inside where her romantic girly notions were hiding, she knew if there was anyone for her, it was Jake.