Chapter 10 — The Vase

Clara did not smile.

Lupita, though, stepped forward, and looked warmly at the bouquet in Clara’s hand.

“Those are beautiful flowers, ma’am,” she said, “even if the stems got a little bent in transit.

Are they for someone special?” And Clara, who had absorbed contempt from these men without a flicker, found that this simple, gentle question, the first anyone had asked about the roses, undid something in her.

She lowered her eyes.