Rose Gardner's Florist Read online

  Rose Gardener’s Florist

  by Bonnie Dee

  Chapter One

  London 1907

  Rose Gardener’s Florist. Rose admired the sign above her brand-new shop for the hundredth time; gold letters against a green background with the stem of a red rose twined around the “R.” She had considered adding a smaller line below: Better Bouquets for a Brighter World, but her friend Hattie had convinced her it was too much verbiage and the customer’s eye could not take in so many words.

  “Simple and eye-catching is always best,” the milliner had said.

  The new word verbiage was to be added to Rose’s lexicon, another term she had learned from Hattie Glover while working as her assistant. If one wanted to elevate oneself in the world, one must speak properly, even using proper diction in one’s thoughts. Rose continually worked to eradicate all traces of her former accent, except when she visited home, where her family would sneer at her for putting on airs.

  Although it was still early in the morning, heat filled the air with muggy moisture. Perhaps this would be the last hot spell before summer ebbed into fall. The rainbow array of summer flowers would shift to golds and oranges. Rose might insert cattails, wheat stalks or autumn leaves into her bouquets. There was no one to tell her such common things didn’t belong in a proper floral arrangement. How wonderful to have the freedom to design as unconventionally as she wished. Living her dream of owning a florist had Rose’s arm fairly bruised from pinching to see if she would awaken.

  With a last look up Providence Street at the row of neat storefronts with colorful awnings, Rose went inside to check on the merchandise she’d purchased from the market earlier that morning. One must be at Covent Garden before dawn to meet the growers of fresh flowers, fruits and vegetables brought in from the country. But Rose didn’t mind rising far earlier than the sun. It reminded her of when she was small and would go with Gram to sort through the floral remains on the cobblestones. She and Gram would then spend the day selling nosegays to the toffs. Much had changed since then, yet a part of her would always be that skinny, knobby-kneed girl wearing a too-large, patched dress.

  Rose banished memories and focused on pulling dead leaves and flower heads. She gave the flowers a spray of water to keep them fresh. The multi-colored blooms in buckets were set on risers of varying levels to create a wall of color on one side of the shop.

  From the back room, she brought up an arrangement for the display window. The bouquet was so wide and tall, she could not see over the flowers. The loaded urn grew heavier with each step as she staggered blindly toward the front window.

  “Let me help you with that!”

  Rose yipped in surprise. The door was propped open to catch any stray breeze, so the bell had not announced a customer’s arrival. Unseen hands touched hers in an attempt to relieve her of the urn. Rose did not let go, and for a moment, she and her invisible helper played tug-o-war over possession of the flowers.

  They both released their grip at the same time. The urn slipped from her grasp.

  “No!” Rose had spent nearly an hour and used many expensive flowers to create the elaborate bouquet intended to catch the eye of passers-by. It was a sales tool she could not afford to lose.

  The customer grappled with the urn, caught it, staggered backward, and ended up on his knees with the arrangement clutched to his chest. Through the greenery, hazel eyes peered at Rose through round spectacles. “Sorry! I was trying to help.”

  “And a capital job you did of it, old boy,” a familiar voice drew Rose’s attention from her would-be rescuer to Guy Hardy, her investor and friend.

  Guy relieved the sandy-haired man of his burden of flowers. When the fellow rose, he unfolded like a long-legged bird to tower nearly a head above Guy, who was not a short man by any means. The stork helped Guy place the arrangement in the window with the best blooms facing the street.

  “Whew!” Guy exclaimed. “You’ll give yourself a bad back, Copper Top. I recommend smaller and lighter bouquets.”

  “Large ornate ones draw the eye, and please, stop calling me Copper Top,” Rose chided Hardy, who had become more like a brother to her than either of her own. Neither Dale nor Danny had helped make improvements on the storefront she rented, although to be fair, they worked all day and Dale had a family to look after. Meanwhile, Guy had been here almost every day, painting, building and performing other tasks she could not afford to hire out. Part of his reason for dedicating so much labor had been to distract himself from his heartache over losing Hattie. Still, Rose had still appreciated the help.

  Guy patted her head then drew his hand away as if burned. “Maybe Fire Top would be better. It is so very red.”

  Rose clicked her tongue in feigned annoyance. Her gaze turned to the tall stranger, clearly a friend of Guy’s.

  Guy clapped him on the back, driving him a step closer to Rose. “Miss Rose Gardener, may I introduce you to my friend, Mr. William Carmody, whom you may have heard me mention before.”

  Rose nodded. “My chum Will” had featured in a number of Guy’s stories. They partnered in tennis, fencing and other club activities reserved for rich men. But this fellow was not the man Rose had pictured. For an athlete, Mr. Carmody seemed incredibly awkward. His broad shoulders hunched—a tall man’s attempt to appear shorter—and he did not quite meet her gaze as they were introduced.

  “Pleased to meet you, Miss Gardener.” Carmody pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger.

  Rose smiled at him. “Thank you for trying to help me.”

  “‘Trying’ being the operative word,” Guy joked.

  “I’m sorry I nearly dropped your flowers. Clumsy of me.” The man’s low-pitched voice seemed cool somehow, like a smooth stream flowing by without a ripple. Rose wanted to dip her hand in the water and ruffle its surface.

  “How do you do, Mr. Carmody. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” She used careful diction as she held out her hand.

  He stared at it for a moment as if deciding whether to shake hands with a mere shop girl. Had she made a social error? Rose’s smile evaporated, but before she could withdraw, his large hand engulfed hers in a single pump before letting go.

  “Your store is very nice. I admire your, um”—he gestured toward the buckets— “flowers.”

  “Thank you,” she replied. Mr. Carmody’s stiff manner put her off, even if he had tried to help her carry the urn. Guy’s friend or no, it seemed Carmody was snobbish and superior with his formality and refusal to look at her.

  Rose turned her attention to Guy. “Will you be stopping by the millinery next, or have you already been?”

  Since Guy and Hattie’s happy reunion several months ago, they rarely spent a day apart. He was always either coming or going from the milliner’s shop.

  “I thought I’d bring my fiancée a bouquet to brighten her day, before Carmody and I engage in a fencing match. Peonies, please. Such a delightful scent.”

  “They are not in season. But she should like these pink roses.”

  Rose went to select the blooms for her friend’s bouquet. As she passed Mr. Carmody, he moved out of her way, bumping his elbow into a metal stand holding cards for funeral wreaths: At rest with Our Savior, Long Loved—Too Soon Lost, and so on. He caught the display before it could topple and steadied it.

  “Sorry. I’m so sorry.” He knelt to gather the heartfelt pronouncements from the floor and place them back into the rack.

  “Don’t worry, Mr. Carmody. I will take care of those later.” Rose would have liked to suggest he leave the shop before he created a more serious disaster, but this was Guy’s dearest friend, so she remained polite.

  “Listen, Red…” Guy ignored Carmody as if he were used to his frien
d’s clumsiness. “Can you make a bouquet that proclaims Please set a date? It has been some time since I presented Hattie with a ring. I’m ready for newly-wed bliss, but my dearest is ever cautious, as you well know.”

  “That’s a lot to ask of a bouquet. I would not apply too much pressure. When Hattie has considered the matter from every angle she will be ready. Wasn’t I right when I told you to wait for her forgiveness?”

  “Yes, my wise counselor, you did.”

  “Then don’t rush her about this once-in-a-lifetime decision.” Rose said, as she wrapped the plump pink roses in paper and handed the bouquet to Guy.

  He sighed dramatically. “I will rein in my impatience and hold my tongue. I just needed you to tell me so.”

  Rose glanced at the giant who had withdrawn to a corner, one hand crossed over the other in front of him as if to keep them from flailing about. Guy was apparently not shy about expressing his emotions in front of his friend. If he deemed Will Carmody trustworthy and loyal, perhaps the man was not so bad.

  Rose offered Carmody another smile.

  He grimaced and looked away. What a snob!

  Just then, the first actual customer of the day entered the shop, so Guy bid Rose farewell.

  Mr. Carmody did, too. “Good morning. That is, good day, Miss Gardener. Nice to have met. It was your pleasure…that is, a pleasure to have met. You. Today.”

  He ducked his head to avoid the lintel as he passed through the doorway.

  Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes.

  After that, she had no time, or reason, to think of the odd man until much later when she picked up one of the funeral notes from the floor: Gone but Not Forgotten.

  She thought of Carmody’s height and looming presence—somewhat as she had envisioned Frankenstein’s monster in Mrs. Shelley’s thrilling book, though not stitched together from body parts. And the monster would not have worn a scholarly pair of spectacles perched upon his nose. The thought of Carmody’s large hands seizing her body to carry her away made her shiver. Oddly enough, it wasn’t fear, but another sort of inexplicable excitement that zipped through her with the speed of lightning.

  What was it about Mr. Carmody that haunted her long after his rangy frame no longer filled her doorway? He might be ungainly, but there was a strange magnetism about his presence that made him difficult to forget. If Guy Hardy was pure energy filling any room he entered and drawing all attention, William Carmody was his dark counterpart, the shadow to his light.

  Too bad Carmody was also stuck up. Under other circumstances, Rose might have been interested in knowing him better. After all, he was her investor’s best mate.

  ***

  Idiot! Fool! Clumsy buffoon! No wonder pretty Miss Rose had laughed at him standing in the corner like a troll. She was probably laughing still at his clownish ways. And the stammering! He had hardly been able to put two intelligible words together.

  “Are you suffering heatstroke, Carmody?” Guy asked. “Perhaps you should go home and lie down with a damp cloth on your head rather than engage in a strenuous fencing match which you know I will ultimately win.”

  Will closed his fingers together. “Shut it.”

  Guy laughed as he led the way to Hattie Glover’s Millinery several doors down from the florist. Will would be equally uncomfortable in a room full of ladies’ hats and sundries, but at least there was no Miss Gardener to make him act like an utter fool.

  “Good morning, William,” Hattie greeted him, when he entered.

  “Good morning, Miss Glover.” Will remained near the door this time so he would not knock over a mannequin head.

  Hardy offered his fiancée the roses. “Good morning, my dearest.”

  She buried her nose in a bloom and inhaled deeply. “They are beautiful.”

  “The petals are not as soft as your lips.” Guy leaned over the display counter to murmur something that earned an even bigger smile.

  How at ease the fellow was with women. All women. Not only his beloved, but the entire gender. Will had never been able to speak easily with females, except for Penny. He wasn’t certain how he’d become shy. In the luck of the draw, his elder brother Rupert and younger sister Penelope had inherited charisma and confidence, while Will ended up with insecurity and self-doubt.

  He was only truly good at one thing—study, and he’d made it his life’s work to learn all he could about every subject under the sun. With his extensive library and prodigious memory, this made for a lot of information crammed into his brain. But to what purpose? What did it matter if he knew everything in the world? That was a mystery he had yet to solve.

  Guy bid farewell to his fiancée at last. “I will see you later, my love.”

  “If you’re lucky,” Hattie retorted. Then she smiled at Will. “You must join us for supper soon.”

  “I would welcome the invitation. Thank you, Mrs. Glover.”

  “Please, call me Hattie. We are too dear of friends for such formality.”

  Will followed Guy from the foreign sanctum of women’s hats and sundries to the bright outdoors. Immediately he began to sweat under layers of clothes. “The day is already hot and it is not yet noon. Are you certain you wish to exercise this morning? Perhaps a quiet game of billiards instead…”

  “Have to get you moving, or you’ll rot away indoors.” Guy briskly strode down the sidewalk.

  “Might I point out that the fencing is also indoors?” But Will amiably fell into step beside his friend.

  Soon they were at the club, suited, masked, and thrusting foils at one another. They lunged and parried around the piste in a sportsman’s minuet.

  Will was not as fit as Guy, but managed quite well when his strategic foresight met Guy’s erratic actions. As in chess, Will could calculate moves ahead, particularly knowing his friend’s style as well as he did. Ultimately, he scored the most points, vanquishing his opponent without need for a lethal blow.

  Will pushed off the épée mask and ran a hand through his matted hair, blowing a breath upward to cool his face. He reached for his spectacles to wipe steam from the lenses.

  Guy joined him at the side of the mat. “Half-blind and you still bested me. How is it you are so agile in a match.”

  “Yet so clumsy the rest of the time?” Will completed his thought. “I cannot answer that. All I know is that I made a fool of myself today at the florist’s shop.”

  “Nonsense. Very gallant of you to help Rose. I didn’t think to do so, just watched her struggle with the urn. As for knocking over the display, it was in the way. Anyone might have done so.”

  “But my parting words were abysmal. Why do I grow so tongue-tied I can scarcely speak when confronted by a pretty woman—or any woman?”

  “Lack of practice.” Guy gave Will a curious look. “You find Rose pretty? I suppose she is, but I hardly see it. She is like a sister.” He shed the top of his uniform, fanned himself and stated bluntly, “You fancy her.”

  “I don’t even know the woman.”

  “Yet you have visions of bright red hair and a saucy upturned nose dancing through your mind. Admit it.”

  “That is not true.” Will turned away, heading toward the changing rooms.

  Guy followed after. “I don’t know quite how I feel about that. If you were to woo her and things don’t go well, it would be awkward for me. My best friend and my business partner, not to mention Hattie’s friend. Decidedly awkward.”

  “Good of you to immediately expect the worst outcome and how it might affect you.” Will rushed to add, “Not that I would attempt to woo the lady, who is far too young for an old bachelor like me.”

  “Rose is twenty-two.”

  “And I am thirty. Nearly a full decade’s difference. Besides which, she is bright and lively, and I am as dull as a post. A woman like her could have no interest in me whatsoever.”

  “You’ve given this matter a great deal of thought for someone who isn’t interested.”

  Will fell silent. Refusing to engage w
as the only hope of turning Guy away from a subject once he’d seized hold of it. But his friend remained doggedly determined.

  “Hattie and I might invite you both to supper, giving our best friends the opportunity to become better acquainted. What could be more natural? That would give you a chance to press your cause.”

  “Do not do that, I beg of you. I cannot think of a more excruciating way to spend an evening.”

  Guy managed to drop the subject until they were both cleaned up, dressed, and on the street once more.

  “I understand you wish to woo Rose at your own pace. But, my friend, that is often at the speed of a glacier melting. Might I make a recommendation to get you started? The woman sells flowers. You have a mother, a sister, and many aunts and female cousins. Purchase a bouquet—often. Become her best customer. When the timing is right by your prehistoric timepiece, ask her on an outing.”

  “Hardy.”

  “Yes, Will?”

  “Do not insinuate yourself into my romantic life. I am quite content to go on exactly as I am.”

  “But you could be even happier with a blue-eyed redhead, who possesses a sweet disposition seasoned with a little pepper.” Guy brandished an invisible foil. “Point.”

  Chapter Two

  After a busy day of helping customers and snatching time in between to fill orders, Rose was nearly too exhausted to move, let alone attend a meeting. But she had pledged herself to the Women’s Social and Political Union, which met this evening. A woman’s right to vote was a cause she believed in deeply. If she gave up simply because it was an inconvenience, what sort of suffragette was she?

  In some ways life had been easier as an assistant at the millinery. After work, her evenings had been her own without the constant worry over the shop’s success. Running a store, she now appreciated Hattie’s burden of ownership as never before.

  Another big change was the utter quiet of living alone. As Rose prepared a solitary meal in her flat above the shop, she almost missed the chatter of the girls at Miss Cecily’s boarding house. Her friends there had shared stories about themselves or their workdays at a shop or office. Before that, Rose had lived in a raucous family of six in a two-room, cold-water flat. She’d longed for peace all her life. Now she’d gotten it and the silence was sometimes deafening.