The rain kept falling. The purple vinyl spun. And somewhere, Prince laughed.

Marta leaned back. “And yet. You forgot Dirty Mind .”

Leo stared at his sticky notes. “So... my list is wrong?”

Marta stood up and patted his shoulder. “Kid, there are 39 studio albums. Plus the vault. The ‘best ever’ Prince album is the one you’re listening to at 2 a.m. when you realize he’s not coming back. For me? It’s The Rainbow Children . Because it’s a mess. And he never cared if you agreed.”

She walked to the back room, then called over her shoulder: “But for the blog? Put Sign o’ the Times . You’ll get fewer death threats.”

Marta, the store’s 50-something owner, didn’t look up from her magazine. “You’re making a ‘Best Ever’ list. First mistake.”

Marta finally looked up. A tiny smile cracked her face. “Oh, you brave, stupid kid.”

“What?”