He stands shocked for a moment then shakes his head. “Oh, I couldn’t ask that of you!”
“Honestly, I would really like to give back to the village. You have all been so welcoming to me while I have been staying here! I’d really like to!”
“Wow, well…” He rubs his neck unsure if he should trust me with his livelihood. “I guess a break would be good.”
“I promise, I will look after it like my own.”
He is still unsure. “But it’s a lot to ask of you.”
“It’s really not. And I really don’t mind!”
“Well, we open Monday, Wednesday half day, Friday, and Saturday half day and Sunday half day. But I come in on Tuesday morning for the milk delivery. Pete does the Saturday shift so you won’t need to worry about that. He has always liked doing it and Angela… well, she likes to come in on a Wednesday, so really it will just be the other days you will be needed.”
“It’s no problem. I’m here for a few more weeks so it’ll keepme out of mischief.”
He stands for a moment contemplating my offer. “Well, if you’re sure, that would be really great!”
“Perfect. How about I come tomorrow to shadow you then you take leave from then?”
“Yes, yes, that sounds good, and Fi has a home visit this weekend. I could take her to the beach. Oh, thank you, Harriet, you are a good soul. Cerci and Aradia have been an amazing support with the store, so it’s clear to see the apple does not fall far from the tree.” He smiles with his whole face. His old, tired eyes have a little brightness in them again.
“My pleasure. I’ll come back in the morning for you to show me what to do.”
He agrees and shakes my hand, more than once and with a lot of enthusiasm.
I head out of the shop and up the road to the butcher’s. I can see Chris just starting to shut up shop for the evening. I head inside as he is just putting a tray of some leftover scraps into a bag.
“Am I too late to grab the last few lamb chops?”
He looks up at me surprised as he had not heard me come in.
“Of course not. I was just bagging up some leftovers for my dogs. They’d be upset if I came home empty handed,” he titters. He heads over to the last five lamb chops. “How many?”
“I’ll just take the rest, thank you,” I politely say.
He carries on wrapping up the meat and heads over to the till. I try to crane my neck to see if I can see Sam in the back, but I can’t see. Chris notices me looking.
“Anything else?” he asks suspiciously.
“Sorry,” I say sheepishly. Come on, Harri, just ask. “Is… Is Sam around?”
“Ahhh, you must be Harri, the girl from London.” He smirks playfully.
“He’s spoken about me?” I ask, blushing slightly.
“Doesn’t shut up about you, girl.” He belly laughs to himself. “Harri this, Harri that.” I blush even more, and he realises. “Not trying to embarrass you, dearie, it’s nice to put a face to a name.”
“Thanks.” I can feel the heat in my cheeks. Sam’s been talking about me to everyone in the village it seems. “So, is he in?”
“Yeah, he is in the back. Sam! There’s a lady friend to see you!” he shouts in his gruff voice.
Sam appears from the back with a bloodied apron and gloves.
“Hey.” He smiles, his lips curving into a soft, inviting expression. His dimples appear and deepen, and the smile grows.
“Hey.” The smile is infectious. The butterflies start their dance once again in my stomach. My centre tightens with the thought of last night’s kiss as I look at his lips.
Chris rolls his eyes. “You’ve got five minutes then you’ve gotta sort that delivery out.” He pats Sam on the back and heads to the back of the store to give us some privacy.
