Chapter 2 - THE GIRL WHO NAMED THE ROSES
Ruby arrived at seven-thirty the next morning carrying a lunchbox decorated with yellow ducks.
She found Mateo standing beside Lady Thundercloud.
He was holding a watering can.
Upside down.
Ruby stopped.
"Mr. Mateo?"
He looked over.
"Good morning."
She examined the can.
"Are you trying to water the handle?"
Mateo looked down.
Then turned it around.
"Apparently."
Ruby sighed with the patience of someone facing a very difficult student.
"Mom says everybody has to start somewhere."
Mateo smiled.
"Your mother sounds wise."
"She is. Except when she says broccoli tastes like tiny trees. Trees shouldn't taste like that."
He laughed.
The sound startled both of them.
Mara appeared moments later.
She was wearing work boots and a faded green jacket, with her hair tied in a loose knot.
When she saw Mateo holding the watering can, she stopped.
"Mr. Varela."
"Mara."
Her eyes moved from the can to Ruby.
"Ruby, did you ask Mr. Varela to work?"
Ruby looked offended.
"He volunteered."
Mateo nodded.
"Against my better judgment."
Mara almost smiled.
Then her expression became serious.
"Sir, I received a notice this morning."
"The sale review."
She nodded.
"I was told the conservatory may close by the end of the month."
"It won't."
Mara stared.
"Sir?"
"I'm reviewing the matter personally."
She lowered her eyes.
"Thank you."
Mateo watched her carefully.
"How long have you managed this place?"
"Four years."
"Elias hired you?"
She nodded.
"He did."
Mateo looked around.
"Why?"
Mara hesitated.
"I had just finished a horticultural therapy program. I was looking for work."
"And?"
"He interviewed me for twenty minutes, then asked why I'd chosen plants instead of people."
Mateo smiled faintly.
"That sounds like him."
"I told him plants were easier."
"What did he say?"
Mara's expression softened.
"He said I was wrong. Plants were just quieter about what hurt."
Mateo looked away.
For a moment, the greenhouse blurred.
Ruby tugged his sleeve.
"Mr. Mateo?"
He looked down.
"Yes?"
"Do you know what Lady Thundercloud needs?"
"Sunlight?"
"No."
"Water?"
"Not today."
"Fertilizer?"
Ruby shook her head.
"Patience."
Mateo looked at the rose.
Then at the little girl.
"That's something I'm not very good at."
Ruby considered him.
"Then you should practice."
Later, Mara showed him the conservatory's records.
Elias had established community programs for veterans, children, and people recovering from serious illness.
The garden provided supervised activities, classes, and quiet spaces.
But attendance had fallen after his death.
Funding had been reduced.
Several programs had been canceled.
Mateo frowned.
"Who approved the cuts?"
Mara looked uncomfortable.
"Mr. Greco."
He turned another page.
A line item caught his attention.
FACILITY MAINTENANCE: $480,000.
Mateo stared.
"Four hundred eighty thousand dollars?"
Mara nodded uncertainly.
"That's what the report says."
"What was actually spent?"
She opened a binder.
"About sixty-three thousand."
Mateo looked up.
"Where did the rest go?"
Mara's expression changed.
"I don't know."
That afternoon, Mateo called his chief financial officer.
He requested a complete audit of the foundation.
Then he called the freight supervisor he'd dismissed six months earlier.
The number was disconnected.
Mateo stared at the screen.
He remembered the man's bewildered face.
The folder.
The silent elevator.
And the way he'd dismissed him without listening.
For the first time, Mateo wondered how many warnings he'd ignored.
That evening, Ruby left a folded piece of paper on his chair.
Inside was a drawing.
A tall man stood beneath a glass roof.
Beside him was a little girl holding a watering can.
Above them, in uneven purple letters, Ruby had written:
MR. MATEO IS LEARNING HOW TO REST.
May you like
He stared at the drawing for a long time.
Then placed it carefully inside his jacket.
