He wasn’t such a sharp fellow, but at least he had heart. He made friends for life, and when they needed him, he put his back into it, so to speak. That was enough to let me feel respect and affection for him; I’m like that too.

He always felt like he was more articulate in his heart than with actual words, and I can understand that feeling. Even with an English degree and stage experience, I have felt that loss for words along with the best of ’em.

The thing that made me actually love him, though, was the affair of those roses. Ironic, how he asked me “whither away?” the night beforehand; then he got to Widow Stanwick’s house and found that the roses he had cared for so painstakingly had actually started to die. He seemed to wilt himself, on the realization that his work had taken a wrong turn. Old Mrs Stanwick hadn’t yet discovered them, as they were out front, and Thad decided that if he had anything to do with it, she’d never notice the roses until they were back in bloom.

to be continued!