Memories

|39| • His Words, Not Mine •

When the door opened, neither Brian nor I really had a chance to react before I found myself in Ruth's arms.

"Henrietta!" She exclaimed and smiled at me. "It's wonderful to see you again." Still smiling at me, she pulled away a little and looked me up and down. "You've grown up, you look wonderful."

I smiled back at her. "Thank you. It's good to see you again too.." There was just something about the way she greeted me that immediately made me feel welcome, without any questions.

Ruth rubbed my arms gently before she let go of me to greet Brian almost in the same way. "Come on in, you two," she told us, stepping aside.

"Wait, Mum, we have to get our suitcases first," Brian told her before the two of us did exactly that. Ruth called Harold to help us, but before he had come inside from the garden, the suitcases were already in the house and all that was left to get were my plants. That brought us a few questioning looks, but when I explained it, Ruth assured me she would take good care of my plants.

When that was taken care of, we were invited inside. Knowing that we'd be coming, Ruth had made rhubarb crumble from the leftover rhubarb of the year. We sat on their small terrace and enjoyed the delicious food while Harold and Ruth asked us questions about our plans for the trip. I noticed how both of them kept looking at us curiously, with that curious expression only parents could have, but neither of them dared to ask about what exactly it was between Brian and me.

I had to admit I was relieved about that. Sure, Brian and I knew what we had, but somehow that was enough for now. However, I offered to help Ruth with the dishes and that put me in a position where I had to deal with her curious looks in a lot more intense way.

"You know, when Brian said that he was meeting up with you again I could hardly believe it at first."

"Me neither," I agreed, smiling widely. "I was so upset with him, but... he's Brian, so I couldn't stay upset with him forever. I missed him a lot."

"Did you give him a hard time at least? I told him that he shouldn't give up on such a good friend so easily, but the one time he should have listened to me, he didn't."

What Ruth said made me laugh a little. "Well, I tried to give him a hard time, and I did for about a night, but I missed him so much and it was so good to talk to him again. What matters to me though is that he knows that he messed up."

"Yes, he really did," Ruth agreed. "But at the same time it's so good for him that you're back in his life. I don't know how much he told you but now he's the happiest I've seen him for a long time. It's like when he and Harold finally finished his guitar, he was so excited and so happy and it reminds me of that again."

I didn't say anything, I just smiled. How could I not? That was wonderful to hear.

"It was never like that with .. you know, her. But now with you, he's my happy boy again. Thank you for taking care of him, for giving him another chance," Ruth added, smiling at me.

"It's making me happy too, you know? So if I wouldn't give him a chance I'd really just be hurting myself as well. He's a wonderful man, you can be really proud of him." I smiled back at her and put away the last of the dishes that she had cleaned.

"I am." Ruth nodded a little. "Are you excited for your trip?"

"Oh very," I told her, smiling widely. "I still can't quite believe it's actually happening. It was such a spontaneous idea, but he was determined to take me on a trip. I don't think I could have said anything that would have made him give up on that plan. He insists on paying for everything, I don't quite know how to handle it. I keep telling him that I could pay but he keeps telling me that he's got it."