(Book 2) This Could B Us

Part 41

My alarm sounds at 6 o'clock, I groan, roll over and stretch, I'm alone in the bed, but I knew I would be. Surprisingly, knowing beforehand makes it easier to deal with, I think as I force myself up. Angel's flight out is early because she loses an hour crossing back into Eastern Standard Time zone, plus, she works tonight. I want to take her out for a good breakfast before we meet the jet at 9 o'clock.

I shower quickly, getting ready as fast as I can, I don't want to waste a minute that I have left with her. Throwing on a nicer T-shirt and jeans than I would normally wear to garden in, because I really don't want to have to come back home and change before heading to Paisley. Once I'm ready, I do quick stop by to check on Angel, I find she's packed and ready to go. We head downstairs quietly, we really had enjoyed ourselves and hate that it's coming to an end.

When we get to the bottom of the stairs, she asks, "Is it wrong that I kinda don't want to go home?"

"No, it's not, I get, it really. There's something about Minnesota. Although, I may change my mind come winter," I laugh.

"Oh, that's right, remind me to only visit you in the summer," she laughs, too.

"Let me grab a few things I'll need to use at Paisley, then we'll go eat." We gather her bag, some compost bags, my gloves, garden tools, and my floppy hat. With my car loaded up, we head to a nearby Perkins for breakfast. Prince would be grimacing over our last two meal choices, without a doubt, but both were well worth it.

We arrive on the tarmac almost twenty minutes early, the jet is waiting, but we don't rush our goodbyes, this turns out to be a good thing. I see a flash of shiny black as the familiar SUV turns onto the tarmac, coming towards us. I recognize Marcus's smiling face as the SUV approaches and parks beside my car. Marcus exits at the same time Prince emerges from the back, he's wearing a devious grin. Angel is right, he is sly, I laugh to myself.

"Hey, Baby," I get the welcomed cheek kiss, as his hand rests on my low back. "I decided it was rude of me not to see Angel off," he leans in to whisper, "and let Marcus say goodbye." I nod knowingly.

"You just may be a softie, Mr. Nelson," I whisper into his ear, taking the opportunity to flick his ear with my tongue.

I see him bite the inside of his lip, "Not if you keep doing that, Sugar."

Prince takes a deep breath, approaches Angel and takes her into a hug. He says his goodbye, then steps back politely to let me have my turn. I know I look a bit sad as I move in to hug her tight, I thank her again for the visit. When I pull away, it's her turn to look sad. Now we're all standing in a circle, but Angel and Marcus start to look awkward as her bag is being loaded onto the jet.

I look at Prince and wink, "Angel, you call me when you land, okay? I'm going to kidnap Prince while I have a chance."

Prince winks back at me, both their faces light up when they realize we're leaving them alone to say their goodbyes. Prince takes over his 'driver' roll, and we both wave as he steers my car off the tarmac. "Good call, Sugar," he smiles looking over at me.

"I was serious about kidnapping you, you're going to help me pick out some flowers."

He sighs,"Ooookay."

I can tell from his demeanor that he is not at all bothered by this sudden change of plans. Since he's familiar with the location of that garden center we arrive pretty quickly.

First thing I show him is some peonies that are in bloom. He surprises me as he points to a crisp coral color, for some reason I would have assumed he would gravitate to the lavender. Since the peonies will only bloom for about six weeks or so, I lead him over to the lilies and day lilies for continued color.

This proves to be harder for him, because they have yet to bloom, we have to look at pictures of the flowers. He asks, "How do we know it will be that color when it blooms?"

"They're lilies, it's what they do," I laugh. "Unless they have them mixed up, which I doubt, it should be the color that it shows in the picture."

He looks down at the peonies that are on the cart, then scans the pictures, "These will go together," he points to one in a similar color, but he doesn't look pleased with the choice.

"Flowers don't have to match, plus these probably won't bloom at the same time. You have your coral color now, what color would you like next?"

"Oh," he says as I notice his eyes start to glaze over, he's done with the flowers, I think to myself.

I turn to him, putting my hand on his chest, and look him in the eyes, "Just give me 10 minutes and I'll be done. Any other color you would like to see? Remember, this is your building."

"I love every color." He scans the selections around him.

"Do you want to walk with me or wait in the car while I do this?"

"I'll stay with you, I want to see you in action," he perks up.

I nod, pulling the cart behind me, I start to fill it leisurely with a nice variety of flowers. Unsure about the lilies, I only grab a few to add interest, but I'm trying to stick with flowers that say easy maintenance or prolific bloomers.

I apologize to Prince as my 10 minute time frame is growing, I'm spending a lot of time reading plant tags, "The flower choices are so much different here in Minnesota, I'm sorry," adding some phlox to the cart, and put another flower back.

"Take your time, Sugar." Not being the one picking out flowers, now he's amused, as he watches me scurry about picking and choosing.

I look down at the cart, the coral peonies in the center are now surrounded in a mixture of color. I frown, pulling out some bright pink flowers and replacing them with a yellow variety. I look up at Prince, he's smiling, waiting to see if I'll change them back, I don't.

I wave my hand over the cart, "Yes?" I raise my eyebrows.

"Yes, I like it," he nods, studying the cart from all angles.

I laugh, "It won't look just like this when they're planted, but it will be these colors," I hold up a package of Canna lily bulbs, "and these guys get up to 6 feet tall with beautiful foliage for a backdrop." I get the smile and nod again, he's humoring me now.

"Alright, you," I kiss his cheek, "let's get you back to what you do."

I wheel the cart to the register, and let them know I also need dirt and mulch delivered to Paisley Park within a couple hours, sooner if possible. The total wasn't bad, I still had plenty of Prince's cash left. I decide add on a beautiful concrete birdbath I had spotted the other day. I want it for the house, but they'll deliver it with the other to Paisley, I'll get it home somehow.

I wheel the flowers to the car where Prince is standing waiting for me, his face confused, "Aren't they delivering those, too?"

"Nope, I got them," and began putting them into the cargo area.

He looks at a loss for what to do, "Want help?"

I raise my dirty hands to him, his eyes get big, I shake my head, "I got this," and wink.

Loaded up, he opens my door then goes around to get into the driver's side. I'm already cleaning my hands with diaper wipes that I keep in the glovebox when he gets in, he looks relieved. I pretend to smudge his cheek with my finger, and I get the big eyed shocked look, we both laugh.

"Paisley Park, please," I joke, sitting up proper and looking ahead.

"Yes, ma'am," he puts the car into gear.