A Harsh and Private Beauty by Kate Kelly

Author:Kate Kelly
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inanna Publications
Published: 2019-01-16T16:00:00+00:00

8.

THE NORTH STATE STREET flower shop bell rings as Daniel opens the door, hurrying in from the cold November morning, his three-year-old daughter Ruby in his arms. Closing the door with his foot, he swings Ruby up and through the air in one fluid, athletic movement. Childish laughter floods the room, and Dean O’Banion, entering the shop from the back room, laughs at the expression of sheer joy on Ruby’s face. Swinging Ruby again in a long arc, Daniel slows his movement and deposits her firmly on her feet before him. Ruby’s face is flushed, both from the cold morning and the excitement of the ride, her dark hair escaping the confines of her woollen hat. She beams with adoration up at her father, happy to be out with him and away from the house on Maple Street, where the blinds are drawn and the rooms are quiet and sad.

She knows her brother is gone; she’s just not sure where. His clothes are still there and his crib is still in his room, where mommy sits rocking, waiting for him maybe, his favourite teddy bear on her lap. Ruby knows it’s his favourite because even though he can’t speak yet—except for the “da, da, da,” that makes her laugh—every time she holds Teddy up to him, he always reaches for it. Sometimes he reaches so far forward that he topples right over, rolling like a sausage onto his stomach, his hand still reaching for Teddy, his smile showing two small white teeth breaking the gum. He never cries, her little brother; he is always smiling, and his smile gets even bigger when he sees Teddy. That’s how she knows….

“And how is our beautiful wee princess today?” Dean O’Banion asks, crouching down and taking Ruby’s chin in his hand, his face large and looming before her. “Oh, you sure are a beauty, aren’t you, Ruby girl?” He lapses into his phony Irish accent. Kissing her forehead, Dean stands, smiling at Daniel. He is dressed in the white smock he wears when he arranges flowers, his shears still in his left hand. “I imagine she’ll keep you busy with the boys in a few years.”

“Yes, I’m sure she will,” Daniel answers, smiling down at his daughter.

“How’s Jeanie doing?”

Daniel shrugs the smile from his face. “Better, I think. The flowers were magnificent, Dean. Thank you.”

“No need to thank me, Daniel. My heart goes out to you and Jeanie.” Reaching out, Dean places his hand on Daniel’s shoulder, but the intimacy is too much for both men. Daniel, twisting out of reach, takes in the massive amount of flowers for the first time; roses—white, yellow. and red—sit in buckets of water crowding out the floor. More flowers than he has ever seen overwhelm the counters and spill from basins. He spots geraniums, orchids, and baby’s breath, along with even more that he couldn’t possibly name. The smell is an overwhelming mixture of pleasant and sickening.

“What’s going on? Getting ready for a big wedding or something?”

“No, no.

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