He helped me up. “Are you okay, Oakley? That wasn’t like you at all.”
“I-I don’t think so. I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
Tim seemed vaguely okay with that and nodded his head. “Why don’t you take the rest of the night off. You’re very pale.”
“Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I think I will.”
As I left, I felt Tim’s stare, following me. He knew shifters and he would understand, but the problem was, I didn’t fully understand. I’d sworn off alphas and even the idea of fated mates.
So why now?
It would be so easy to give in to my bear’s instinct and let myself be swallowed by the notion that this person who I’d never met was mine.
But my human side had endured too much betrayal.
Still, I was curious. What if I did belong to him, and in his arms was the safety and comfort I’d always dreamed of?
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 coveredthem 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 saidOakley, 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.”
