Ruth gave him a reassuring wave.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” his mother asked, watching her closely.
The question took Ruth by surprise. “I’m afraid I am.” Ruth didn’t want to be—something she hadn’t acknowledged openly until this moment. He’d described his reluctance to hand her his heart to break. She felt the same way and feared he’d end up breaking hers.
There seemed to be a tacit agreement not to broach these difficult subjects during dinner.
The four of them sat on the patio around a big table, shaded by a large umbrella. His mother had made corn bread as well as the salad, and the steaks were grilled to perfection. After dinner, Ruth helped with the cleanup and then Paul made their excuses.
“We’re going to a movie?” she whispered on their way out the door, figuring he’d used that as a convenient pretext for leaving.
“I had to get you out of there before my mother started showing you my baby pictures.”
“I’ll bet you were a real cutie.”
“You should see my brother and sister, especially the nude photos.”
Ruth giggled.
Instead of the theater, they headed for Lake Washington and walked through the park, licking ice-cream cones, talking and laughing. Ruth couldn’t remember laughing with anyone as much as she did with Paul.
He dropped her off after ten, walked her up to the front porch and kissed her good-night.
“I’ll pick you up at noon,” he said. “After your morning class.”
“Noon,” she repeated, her arms linked around his neck. That seemed too long. Despite her fears, despite the looming doubts, she was in love with him.
“You’re sure your grandmother’s up to having company so soon?” he asked.
“Yes.” Ruth pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “I think the real question’s whether we’re ready for the next installment. I don’t know if I can bear to hear exactly what happened to Jean-Claude.”
“Perhaps not, but she needs to tell us.”
“Yes,” Ruth said. “She couldn’t talk about it before.”
“I know.” Paul kissed her again.
Ruth felt at peace in his arms. Only when she stopped to think about the future, their future, did she become uncertain and confused.
Seven
Ruth and Paul sat with Helen at the kitchen table in her Cedar Cove house as rain dripped rhythmically against the windowpane. The day was overcast and dreary, as it frequently was during spring in the Pacific Northwest.
Helen reached for the teapot in the middle of the table and filled each of their cups, then offered them freshly baked peanut-butter cookies arranged on a small dessert plate. Ruth recognized the plate from her childhood. She and her grandmother had often had tea together when she was a youngster. Her visits to Cedar Cove were special; her grandmother had listened while Ruth chattered endlessly, sharing girlish confidences. It was during those private little tea parties that they’d bonded, grandmother and granddaughter.
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