Page 34 of Uproot

"Plans? Is there a hoedown going on in Upwood tonight?" Bobby asks, laughing.

"You're fucking hilarious, you know that? Get off my screen. I'll talk to you later," I grunt. I disconnect the Zoom meeting as he continues to cackle at his own joke.

Helen gets up with me, picking up her tablet and notes. "I will go back to my cabin and finish up emails, Sir. Unless there's something more that you need?" she asks.

"No, that will be fine, Helen. Send me over anything that comes up that is crucial, and set up that meeting for next week with our investors, please," I say, grabbing my phone.

"Of course, Sir," she agrees, nodding and hurrying to the front door.

I go to tell Dragana goodbye before I grab my keys and head to the SUV. I have 20 minutes until I need to pick up Edison, and I have a stop I need to make first that's very important.

I make my way into town and find the shop that I spotted the last time I went to Reece's Grocery store on Main Street.Mary's Flowers.

I parallel park and then make my way inside the quaint shop. A bell chimes as I push open the door, and the fragrant smell of flowers greets me as I look around. There are paintings of a variety of flowers all over the baby blue walls, and one painting that is a replica of the storefront of the shop. There are potted plants and flowers on shelves throughout the shop as well.

There are vases lining another shelf that look to be handmade, and a counter is off to the side that is painted the same color as the walls.

"I'll be right up!" A woman's voice calls out from the back as I continue to look over the various groups of flowers surrounding me.

A woman comes jogging up front a moment later, wearing a black t-shirt and jeans with an apron that has the shop name on the front. She smiles at me enthusiastically as she comes over to greet me.

"Hi there! Sorry about that, I just had a delivery come in," she says moving to shake my hand. "I'm Mary, how can I help you?"

I shake her hand, and then slide my hands into my pockets. "No worries. I'd like to buy an arrangement for someone, " I say, walking over to the shelves. "Something with a nice variety of flowers."

She nods eagerly, "Oh wonderful! Do you have some particular flowers in mind? Is it for a specific occasion?"

"It's for a first date," I respond. "I like these. I'm not sure what they are called?"

I point to two different types of flowers, and she smiles, "These are carnations. And these other ones are called Cherry Blossoms. Very beautiful, and they actually symbolize new beginnings."

I nod, liking the sound of that, "Perfect, I'd like both of these," I say.

She gets to work selecting some more flowers to accompany them, and I try to keep the bouquet mostly pink. When we are done, she takes our selections over to a small metal table to put it all together.

"Are you new here?" she asks, glancing over at me as she goes to get some scissors.

"I'm here for the first time, yes, but I'm not living here permanently. Just here for a few weeks," I respond, picking out a vase from the shelf.

"Where are you from?" she asks, as I bring it over to her.

"New York," I respond, leaning against the counter.

She pauses, giving me a strange look before continuing to cut the flowers.

She finishes the arrangement, placing the flowers intricately into the vase I selected. "Would you like to have a card typed out, Sir?" she asks, walking over to her laptop.

"Yes. Please write, "To new beginnings". And the name for the card is Selah. S-e-l-a-h.”

"Her eyes dart up to mine, "SelahLansing?"

I nod, going in my pocket to take out my wallet, "Yes. Do you know her?"

She smiles brightly at me, "Yes of course! She's one of my good friends!" she exclaims laughing.

"Great, so do you think she will like these?" I ask, happy to have someone with some better inside knowledge to help me.

"Oh definitely! Selah loves anything pink," Mary chirps, typing quickly into her computer.

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