Chasing the Runaway Bride by Susan Meier Read Free Book Online Page A

middle register. With April Johnson back in the bakery, Joni Zimmerman in the deli, and no groceries to ring up, she was alone and looked bored in the checkout aisles.
    “Hey, Bunny.”
    “I like your shirt.”
    Nearly past the register area, Piper stopped, turned, and smiled. In Bunnyworld a clothing compliment was high praise, not to be ignored. “Thanks.”
    “If you’re still looking for cashiers, since the Nelsons and their friend quit because they don’t want to work with you, I have two friends who are willing to interview.”
    Piper had been in management long enough to know she’d just been served the Human Resources sandwich. When someone needed a reprimand, Human Resources at Health Aid directed managers to compliment, then reprimand, then compliment again. They believed bad news went down easier sandwiched between two compliments.
    Bunny had put a little bit of a spin on it. She sandwiched her insult between a compliment and a request for a favor. Same effect, though. The insult reminded her that she should be grateful anybody wanted to work for her, so she should grant the favor.
    “I’m not so sure the Nelsons quit because of Piper.” Jenny Forsythe, a tall brunette who’d spent her entire life at least twenty pounds overweight, walked to her cash register, apparently just arriving for the nine o’clock shift. “Wendy and Cathy both got jobs at the candy factory.” She shrugged into her O’Riley’s Market smock. “There’s a waiting list for those jobs. They didn’t just walk in this morning and get hired. This has been in the works for months.”
    Piper smiled at Jenny. But regardless of why the Nelsons quit, she was still short cashiers. She faced Bunny. “Have your friends stop by and fill out applications.”
    She headed toward the back of the store again. Even from a distance she heard Bunny needle Jenny. “So you think it’s a coincidence that Piper takes over and the Nelsons quit?”
    Her face reddened. Here it came. Scorn about her being the runaway bride. The condescending attitude. The snickers behind her back. The refusal of anyone to completely respect her.
    Cool as an October morning, Jenny didn’t miss a beat. “Yes. But even if it isn’t, if I were you, I might be a little more careful about how I treat the new boss. This isn’t Health Aid. She doesn’t answer to a corporate office anymore. You can’t torment her and threaten to call the corporate office and complain if she fights back. She is the corporate office here.”
    Piper stopped walking. Holy crap. Had Jenny just defended her?
    “I’m just saying—” Bunny began, but Jenny interrupted her.
    “I know what you’re saying. The woman’s a nutcase who likes to get engaged and embarrass her fiancé when she publicly dumps him. But she’s a nutcase who is our boss. You can gossip about her all you want when we leave. But while we’re in here, we have to pretend to like her.”
    It wasn’t the best defense in the world, but Jenny was smart enough to at least respect her as a boss. For now, that had to be enough.
    She straightened her shoulders. Rome wasn’t built in a day. It might take her the entire year she owned this store with Cade to repair her reputation, but she intended to repair it.
    A head of lettuce flew over the bread aisle, bounced off her shoulder, and fell to the brown tile floor in front of her with a thump .
    “What the—” She bent and picked it up as Myrna Feodore and Alice Lenosky came roaring around the corner. Myrna’s tennis shoes made a screeching noise as she skidded to a stop. Alice had one hand on her ever-present floppy sun hat and the other on the blue store basket she held.
    “It’s mine!” Myrna said, grabbing the lettuce from Piper’s hand.
    “Mine!” Alice disagreed, trying unsuccessfully to snatch it from Myrna.
    “I got it first.”
    “But you saw me reaching for it!”
    Piper sighed. No one had ever come to blows over a vegetable in the drugstore, but there had