Half-Blown Rose by Leesa Cross-Smith

Author:Leesa Cross-Smith [Cross-Smith, Leesa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: None
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2022-05-07T00:00:00+00:00

They get Loup’s birthday present from reception and take it out to the garden so he can open it. The electronic sampler is light blue with black and gray knobs and buttons. Loup smiles at her and nods, thanks her brightly.

“And when I bought it, the color of the week was blue. It’s kismet,” she says.

“This is too much and you didn’t have to do it.”

“Of course I did. It’s your birthday and you wanted it. Also, you’re really fun to shop for.”

Loup has a funky, quirky style that leaves room for almost anything. A few weeks ago, she’d found a white short-sleeved button-down with green palm fronds on it and bought it for him on a whim. He wore it often and she’d seen it in his bag too. She also bought him a nice new set of drawing pencils when she stopped in the art supply store for clay.

She ordered him a new pair of steel-gray cotton sheets when he told her he only had one pair, the navy ones. She asked him why every guy in the world only had one pair of navy-blue sheets and he found it so funny, but Vincent swore it was true.

Loup is a thoughtful gift giver, too. He gave her an orchid and a vanilla kush candle in violet glass the first time they saw each other after Christmas. He showed up with an armful of red roses on Valentine’s Day, apologizing for the cliché but saying he couldn’t see roses without thinking of her. And, unknowingly not to be outdone, Cillian sent her an extra dozen roses on the holiday too, in addition to his regular Saturday flower deliveries.

A couple across the grass argues, not quite loudly, but enough for everyone to hear. When Loup is finished inspecting his birthday present, he thanks Vincent again and leans over to kiss her. He takes the cigarette from behind his ear and lights it, offering it to her. She smokes and listens to the fighting couple.

“I bought your son trainers!” the woman says angrily. Vincent watches her counting on her fingers. “My niece is getting married in the summer and look at us fucking it up!”

The man is wearing sunglasses and drinking something brown from his glass, not saying a word. A little orange cat paws across the grass under the table.

“My niece is getting married!” the woman says again.

“What’s that got to do with us?” the man finally asks.

“Buy your own son a pair of fucking trainers, then!” the woman says, standing and stomping off, carrying her bags with her and disappearing into the hotel. The man stands too, and for a second it seems like he’ll follow her, but he doesn’t. He slumps back into his chair and lights a cigarette.

Vincent and Loup smoke and talk, unable to focus too-too much on their conversation because the woman who bought the man’s son trainers keeps returning to the garden to tell him so. The man replies with a “so what” over and over again.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.