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NEW YORK, 1900
Marie stepped off the carriage in front of her father's store located in the Diamond District of New York. If there was a confrontation, It was best to meet with him in his shop, not at home. His familiar bell tinkled when she opened the door. The sound reminded her of childhood when she would visit with him after school so he wouldn’t work late into the evening. He would close up shop and walk home with her. Proudly showing her off to the other merchants as they passed. What happened to those days of smiles, ice cream, and laughter? Marie walked carefully with Moon past the displays toward a light where she knew her father would be bent over a project with a jewelers glass in one eye.
“Father, Its Marie, she said quietly as Moon sat attentively watching the Man looking up from his work before removing the eyeglass. His shoulders were hunched when he stood giving him the appearance of a shorter man than he was. Marie noticed how he aged since she last saw him, a twinge of guilt touched her heart as she observed him arranging his tools as he had always done in the past before he closed up shop. Can I buy you some ice-cream Papa?” Marie asked in a husky voice choking back a tear?
* * *
MARIE STOOD BY HER father's side visiting the grave of her mother.
“I never told you this, you are so much like your mother, such stubbornness, even our Rabbi Daniel did not understand. He said to look at it as a blessing, who better to argue with than someone who loves you. You can’t lose!”
“Are we going to argue now?”
“No, no, the Rabbi, who never could get you to convert, said I was trying to keep you safe after your mother died.” Her father sighed before continuing. “I think I wanted to keep you near me by marrying a local. I was scared of living without my Anna. I still, am but in a softer way now thinking of all our good memories. At first, I was mad. I rejected those past times, my anger made me turned my back on you. I was wrong, will you ever forgive me?”
“Only if you promise never to do that again,” Marie said with tears in her eyes.
“Oy vey, he was such a Shmendrik, what was I thinking? You can do so much better. Let us go have our ice cream, you can tell me all about your gold your grandma’s been bragging about. She also said you can afford to buy your Poppa a cone or two, but you’ll need a bucket to please this pretty one.” He said with his hand proudly resting on Moon’s head as they walked side by side. “Come to think of it, I was wrong again. You couldn't be safer.” He said looking down into Moon’s eyes who moved closer to her father pushing her muzzle under his waistcoat.
“What a silent schmoozer,” Marie thought of Moon as they all headed toward the Ice Cream Parlor.
Her father sat quietly listening attentively interrupting only with an occasional slurp from his melting ice cream soda as she related her adventures in the Yukon.
“This Mr. Soupy sounds like a Mensch or as you Gentile’s say, an important man, but a good person who did what pleases him. You too are that way. I’m envious of both of you. What’s on your agenda for your next adventure?” He said with a big smile, she was more used to seeing.
“I’m buying grandma Adele’s Villa Adele, in Monaco. She, of course, will not accept any money, but I talked to my lawyers we set up a trust for her. It seems Grandpa left her with meager earnings.”
“True, father was a scholar interested only in his books.”
“I spent a great deal of time in his library, growing up. I’m eager to see the old house again.”
“What do you intend to do with it, like you say it is an old estate but very run down. I have been paying part of the taxes the flower fields don’t pay enough to cover. They too are a burden for you. What I’m I saying, with three gold mines who cares about taxes!”
“Will you come and visit with me after I finish bringing your old home back to life?”
“Of course, you are my only child, not to worry I will bring mother. She will complain, but if you are there, she will come. We will have a celebration invite our relatives, the perfume growers. They are a smelly bunch, but your grandpa and grandma love them all,” Her father said laughing!
The End1
Until the next Sue Lee Mystery, “Merry-Go-Round
After years of developing the Atomic bomb, nuclear physics hides in shame as a circus clown, but laughter turns deadly when the real anarchists stepped out from behind the masquerade.
Remember, Books are written to be shared.
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