Page 56 of Baby Blue
He made another stop as he drove toward home. When he stepped into the shop with the baby carrier hanging from his hand, he looked around. What would she like? “May I help you?” an older lady asked.
“Yes. Um, what kind of flowers would I get for a new love?”
“Oh! Well, isn’t that sweet? I think pink roses are nice. But red are too.”
Blue thought about it for a minute. “Do the colors mean something?”
“Yes, they do. Hang on.” The woman disappeared behind the counter, then came back with a card. “It says here that red means beauty. Pink means happiness. And white means respect.”
“I think I want four red, four white, and four pink, please,” Blue said. Then he spotted a pretty vase. “And I want them in that.”
“Yes, sir! That’s a good choice. We just got those vases in and they’ve been very popular.” In ten minutes, she had the flowers together and ready. “And you get one of these little cards to put with it.”
“Thanks.” Blue took the card and pen she handed him and wrote a little message.
Red stands for beauty because you’re gorgeous.
Pink stands for happiness because that’s what I feel when I’m with you.
White stands for respect because I respect you more than anyone I know.
Love, Brent
The woman took the card from him, slipped it into the little envelope, and stuck it into the holder in the vase. “There you go! She’ll love these.” She took Blue’s debit card, ran the transaction, and handed him the slip.
He’d bought flowers for a woman! That was something new. The lady took pity on him with the baby to tote and brought the flowers out to the truck for him. He wedged them between him and Indigo’s car seat so they wouldn’t turn over and drove straight home.
Leaving the flowers in the truck, he took the baby inside and got her settled into her bed, then grabbed the flowers from the truck seat and sprinted across the yard. Anne was probably asleep, so he unlocked the door and stepped inside.
Sure enough, she was stretched out on the couch, a book on the floor where it had fallen when she’d drifted off. He set the flowers in the middle of the table, then locked the door quietly behind him and went back home.
He’d gotten a load of laundry in the dryer and a second load in the washer when his phone pinged two hours later.
I love you, BrentWallace.
He grinned.Like the flowers?he texted back.
No. Love them. Thank you. Dinner?
Dinner. Then it hit him: He should take her on a real date that weekend! That would be so nice. He’d have to start planning it, he knew, or it wouldn’t happen, and he wondered if he could get anybody on that list to babysit for them.
He was standing at the counter, making up bottles, when a pair of hands wrapped around his midsection and someone laid their face against his back. “Well, hello there, sleepyhead!” he said, laughing.
“Where’s the girl?”
“She’s been down for a nap for about two hours. Maybe you should wake her up.”
Anne wandered across the room in her scrubs and Blue watched her go. “Probably should.” He heard her in the nursery when she said, “Hey, pretty girl! Wanna get up and visit with me before I go to work?” There were some baby-type noises and Anne said, “Yeah! You got new toys! Daddy’s been busy today, hasn’t he?”
“Anne?”
“Yeah?” she yelled back.
“I cashed the check. Glen said congratulations and good luck.”
“Yes!” he heard her shout and start to laugh. “You’re daddy’s pauper rich, little girl!”
After Anne left for work, Blue took Indigo and went over to stay with the kids. That had become his routine, and he loved it. He had a family and someone to hold him. Life was good, as good as it had ever been.
