The Gardens Part 2
☕ Coffee, Pie & Surprise
Part Four: The Ghost on the Beam
As the evening stretched on, the Greenhouse Café began to settle into that cozy, in-between feeling it always seemed to find after dark.
The pie plates were mostly empty.
Coffee cups collected near elbows and notebooks.
The candles burned lower.
Outside, lantern light spilled across the pathways like liquid gold.
Nobody seemed particularly interested in leaving.
Every time someone stood up to go, another conversation started.
At one point Eloise began telling a story about accidentally adopting a ghost sometime in the late eighties….Nobody knew if she’d actually adopted a ghost..Nobody knew if she’d actually meant the eighties.
Nobody interrupted her anyway.
It was a wonderful story…Mostly because she kept changing details
whilst Maren sat listening beside Theo.
Across the room, Lucinda Fox had somehow become part of every conversation at once…A talent Maren found both impressive and slightly terrifying.
“I once met a woman who married the wrong twin.”Lucinda said.
“There were twins involved?”Iris asked.
“There were four twins involved.”
The entire table stared…Eloise blinked hard.“That’s impossible.”
Lucinda took a long sip of coffee.
“That’s what made it memorable.”
Mateo laughed so hard he nearly dropped a spoon.
Meanwhile, above everyone’s heads, Violet sat comfortably atop one of the greenhouse beams.It had always been one of her favorite places.
Nobody bothered her up there.
She could listen to conversations.Watch people.
Enjoying the noise without having to be part of it.
Tonight she found herself smiling more than usual…The Gardens felt happy. Perhaps more complete with Lucinda here .. But there really isn’t a better way to put it than …. Happy.
The kind of happiness that arrives unexpectedly and then decides to stay for dessert and it changes you. It just changes everything.
The jukebox in the corner caught Lucinda’s attention.“Oh.”The ghost stood.“What is that?”Theo looked over.“The jukebox.”
“It looks annoyed.”
The room immediately burst into laughter.
“It always acts annoyed.”Ravi said.
Lucinda wandered over to inspect it.
“Does it work?”
“When it wants to.”
“What does that mean?”
“No one knows.”
The answer appeared to offend Lucinda personally.She pressed a button.Nothing happened.She pressed another.Nothing.A third.Still nothing.
Lucinda folded her arms.“I don’t appreciate being mocked by furniture.”
As if determined to prove her wrong, the jukebox suddenly roared to life.
Music exploded into the room.
The residents laughed.
The jukebox seemed pleased with itself.
“Oh that’s rude.”Lucinda informed it.
Violet laughed.
A real laugh this time.
Bright and warm and impossible to stop.
Lucinda’s head immediately turned upward.
Caught.
For one ridiculous second Violet considered pretending she hadn’t laughed.The idea lasted approximately half a second.
Lucinda smiled.Not dramatically, but just enough.
The kind of smile that said:I see you.
Little by little, the evening began winding down.Mateo wiped tables.Iris gathered empty mugs.The record ended.Then another.Then another.The chatter softened.People moved slower.Nobody seemed eager for the night to end.
Lucinda lingered near the café doorway.Watching people.Taking everything in.The plants.The lanterns.The laughter.The warmth.As if she were trying to memorize it.
Then she looked up.
Directly at Violet.
“Do you always stay up there?”
Violet tilted her head.
“Sometimes.”
“That sounds lonely.”
The answer was so simple that Violet wasn’t sure what to do with it.
No teasing.No jokes.No flirting.Just honest observation.She glanced around the room.At Theo.
At Maren.
At Eloise.
At all the people she’d quietly kept company over the years.“Sometimes,” she admitted softly.
Lucinda nodded.Like she understood. Maybe she did.
Below them, nobody seemed to notice the exchange.The living carried on talking…Laughing while gathering coats and finishing coffees or teas .
The Gardens humming along exactly as it always had.
“I’m glad you came down tonight.”Lucinda said.
Violet blinked.“What?”
Lucinda smiled.“You looked like you were having fun.”
A laugh escaped Violet.
Fun…Nobody had accused her of that in years…
Before she could think of a response, Lucinda started toward the door.Then paused.Looked back and a mischievous sparkle appeared in her eyes.
“Do you like roses?”
Violet narrowed her eyes immediately.“Why?”
“That wasn’t an answer.”
“Neither was that.”Lucinda’s smile widened.
“Good.”
And just like that, she stepped outside into the lantern-lit courtyard.
Leaving Violet staring after her…Smiling despite herself.And wondering why a simple question about roses suddenly felt like the beginning of trouble.🌹✨
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