I call Marcus to let him know my plans and he tells me he'll be at the house in twenty minutes. Ending the call, I punch the camera button on the screen and snap several pictures of the area to help me decide what I need when I get to the store.
I head back into the house to change clothes, which seems silly to me, I'm hardly even dusty from the small amount of clearing I did before Prince came out. I put on the same dress I had already had on two different times from earlier. I slip my phone into my purse and head downstairs.
When I hit the landing, I'm somewhat surprised to hear Prince's voice carrying from his open office door. For some reason I assumed he was headed to Paisley, but happy he's able to do some 'work' from home. I make my way to his office doorway and he spots me immediately, flashing a smile. I wave to him to let him know I'm leaving, he gives me a subtle nod, we never disrupt his call.
Back in the foyer I open the front door, the beeps startle me again, that awful reminder that our lives have become a bit more guarded. I turn the lock and pull the door closed behind me, actually giving the knob a wiggle to verify that it is locked. Like clockwork, Marcus pulls into the drive, coming to a stop right in front of the door. He hops out in his usual pleasant demeanor, "Good afternoon, Dana," he opens the door.
"Good afternoon, Marcus," as I crawl into the back.
We get to Lowe's and as we start in, Marcus bypasses the shopping carts and grabs a flatbed cart before following me, he knows that when I'm here for the garden, I don't mess around. First stop is pond supplies, and this confuses Marcus at first, until he hears me explain about the water feature to an employee that helps me in selecting a new pump. In our travels through the area, I spot a couple Adirondack chairs that I would like for the flat area. When I go searching for another employee to arrange for them to be delivered, Marcus stops me, "Dana, we can get these home, one will have to tied to the roof, but that's no problem."
"Are you sure?" I question and Marcus nods. I worry that Prince is going to flip when he sees a chair tied to the roof of the SUV, but I take Marcus's word. Finally, I head to the plants and select some larger varieties that will help fill the vast openness and that can handle the lack of sunlight in the area.
With a full cart, we check out and then proceed load the SUV up. Marcus hefts the big chair onto the roof like it weighs nothing and ties it down while I load the plants into the backseat, because there's no room left in the cargo area with the other large chair. Within ten minutes we are ready to go, but I ask for one more stop, the grocery store. Armed with a list of items, that stop is a rather quick one and we're on our way home in no time.
When Marcus pulls into the drive, I keep an eye out for Prince, the coast is clear. I hop out of the SUV and go through the garage into the back, swinging open the gate for Marcus. As he unties and removes the one chair, I'm grabbing plants and shrubs from inside the vehicle, it takes several trips between us to carry everything to the back area.
We grab the grocery bags and head in through the garage, the three beeps announce our arrival. I wait to see if Prince appears, but he does not. I thank Marcus for all the help and grunt work, then we say our goodbyes and I go about unpacking my groceries. Feeling domestic, I bought ingredients to make a eggplant parmigiana and a chocolate cake, so I get to work preparing both.
In a reasonable amount of time I have managed to get the two items into the oven, and returned the kitchen back to order. I still hadn't seen any sign of Prince so I fix him a tea and approach the office door, I find it closed. Hesitating momentarily, I tap lightly. Almost immediately I hear him call to me, "Come in, Sugar." I open the door to find him reclined in his chair with his feet on the desk and the phone to his ear, he smiles when he sees me and motions me to come in. I'm halfway into the room when he holds up his index finger and politely ends the conversation. He presses the disconnect button, setting the phone down as his feet come off the desk, he crosses the room to greet me with the customary kiss on my cheek. "For me?" he asks accepting the steaming mug.
"I thought you could use it," I say as I watch him take a sip and savor it.
"Thank you, I've pretty much been on the phone since you left." He sips again, then makes a disgusted face, "Found out a few things about your ex."
I grimace, "We can't just let it go?" Surely, I think, Prince has better things to do than background check Aaron. This proves false as he rattles off all that he's learned, but seems surprised when I tell him, "I already knew all this, you could have just asked me."
It was basic info, a previous marriage, a child, some small infractions when he was a teenager, one driving under the influence arrest, and the last, but not least, going AWOL from the U.S. Army's boot camp. "You knew all this?!"
"Um, hmm," I nod with my lips pressed like he does.
He shakes his head, "You thought this was good boyfriend material?"
"No," I look at him as he sips his tea and stares at me in disbelief. "Remember how I told you we met? An online hookup?" A shudder of disgust passes over him, I stroke his arm as I remind him, "That was a long time ago, Prince." I raise my brows and ask, "Now can we let it go?"
"Yes," he says before a look of confusion flashes over his face.
We've been standing in the middle of his office, but he heads to the open door, and looks toward the foyer. It's then that I realize the aroma of dinner cooking is wafting through the house, the look he gives me is so comical, I have to laugh. "I'm not just 'a good lay'," I say as I meet him in the doorway and kiss his cheek. "I better go check on dinner," he's still standing there wide eyed, but when I head to the kitchen, he follows me.
The closer we get to the kitchen, the better it smells. I check the cake with a toothpick, it's ready, so I pull that out, dinner has a little bit longer. Prince watches in awe as I move about the kitchen and place the cake pans onto cooling racks. "You made a cake, too?" his eyes are big and he looks like a happy child.
I smile and nod as I pull out placemats and napkins, "Dinner is eggplant parmigiana, I hope," I laugh nervously. "This is my first attempt with this recipe," I confess, "so, keep your fingers crossed."
Before I can turn around to get some plates, he has come around in front of me, scooping me into an embrace. He's grinning happily, his whole face is consumed, there are crinkles around his eyes and even one on the side of his nose, it makes me giggle to see him lit up like this, "What?"
"You're cooking for me," he says like it's a big deal.
I shrug, "Yeah?" I say, searching his face.
His hands go into my hair and he pulls me in for a kiss that makes me forget everything. "Wow," I whisper when he pulls away, "I'll cook for you every night!"
He chuckles softly as he opens the cupboard to pull out the plates. Then to another cupboard for wine glasses, he wiggles his eyebrows at me before opening the chiller and selecting a bottle of wine. I smile as I watch him, and hope that sometime tonight I get to see him in just his socks again.
