Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Auburn
I went back to the nursery the next day.
And the day after that, but it wasn’t until the fourth time I visited the nursery that I was waited on by the omega.
Luckily, they didn’t only sell plants for the garden.
One entire section was devoted to house plants, and each time I went in, I’d bought one.
If I was going to be a stalker, I wasn’t going to be one who lost somebody their job.
On that fourth day, as the door closed behind me, I caught a glimpse of a man and an older woman disappearing into the back, leaving just one person in the front section of the business.
He stood behind a table, a row of ceramic pots lined up in front of him next to a bag of soil and an array of small plants with colorful leaves.
“Hi.” I approached him carefully, afraid to do anything that might send him running. “I was starting to think you were avoiding me.”
“Me? Uh, no. How can I help you, sir?”
“It’s Auburn, and I am looking for a small plant for my bathroom window.” It would have to be small, since there were already three on that sill. “The ones you’re working with are very pretty. What are they?”
“Coleus. They are a tender perennial, so if you grow them outside here, they might not survive the winter, but as a houseplant, they can live on and on.” He filled a pot halfway with soil then added small scoops of other materials from buckets on the floor.
“These are a kind of bead that holds water and some extended-release plant food.”
“You take such good care of them.” I watched as he settled the roots of one of the plants on the mound of dirt and covered them gently. “How long have you been working with growing things?”
“Not very long, but I try to learn a little something every day.” He patted the soil like a blanket and set the pot aside then reached for another. “And you are the new ice-cream man.”
“Well, kind of. That makes me sound like I should have a truck playing a little tune, cruising through the neighborhoods instead of a brick and mortar. But now that you mention it, is there anyone with a truck doing that?”
“I don’t think so.” He hadn’t told me his name, but he conveniently wore a tag that said Oakley, here to help you put down roots. “At least I’ve never heard of one. There are several food trucks, too, but none that sell ice cream so far as I know.”
“Maybe I might have to look into that, next year or the year after,” I murmured more to myself than him. “Anyway, how much are the coleus?”
I bought one, of course, and the next day I came back again, but the omega wasn’t working. This went on for the next week and a half, and I caught him on the job more often than not. Each time, I bought a plant to justify my visit, and they were starting to make my apartment look like a greenhouse.
If I didn’t figure out another way for us to spend time together, I was going to need to buy a house just to have room for the plants.
“Hi, Auburn.” Tim, the nursery owner looked up from the clipboard he held. “I’m afraid Oakley isn’t here today.”
“You think that’s the only reason I come in here?” I chuckled. “Your plants are very nice, you know.”
“Oh, I’m aware.” He reached behind him and came back with a small potted succulent. “Have one on me.”
“You don’t need to do that.” I held out a hand but didn’t quite take it from him. “Really.”
“Think of it as a punch card. Buy ten or however many you have and get one free. Oakley will be back tomorrow.”
I accepted the purple succulent in its shiny gray container. “Then thank you. I hope you’ll come for ice cream when I finally get the place open. It seems, the harder I work the slower I go.”
“It can be like that, can’t it? But from what Oakley says, you’ve got a lot of work to do to get to your goal. Maybe you need some help with that?”
“I do, but I haven’t stopped doing the remodel long enough to try to get someone.” I held up the plant and smiled at it. “Thank you. I think I’ll go back and find a home for this little guy.”
No matter how much I had to get done, I couldn’t stop myself from visiting the nursery every day to spend a few minutes with Oakley.
I enjoyed watching him at work with the green things, and I always bought the one he recommended or was working with.
By virtue of his being on the job, we couldn’t have a deep personal conversation, and I didn’t know if he even wanted to.
After the first time, we mostly spoke about his work or a bit about what I had in mind for the ice cream shop.
It was pleasant but not nearly enough for me or my bear.
Leaving each time to go back to my own shop got harder and harder. My bear demanded I tell him he was our mate, and I insisted we wait until he showed more interest or even let him figure that out for himself. It was quite a ping-pong game.