Chapter 11: They're Gonna Make Their Own Decisions

The alarmed switched on. The way too chipper voice of the radio DJ exploded from the speakers. Ruthie rolled over and pulled the blankets up over her ears. Normally, she'd jumped awake at the sound of her alarm. She had always been a morning person. The only time she wasn't a morning person was after Martin left to be with Sandy and Aaron. She had gladly moped around in bed so she didn't have to face reality at that time.

This morning it was more a case of staying up too late replaying her past that was causing her inability to awake. Last night, the radio brought comfort. This morning, the radio brought noise.

"Today will be a great day with temperatures around the mid 60s and not a cloud in the sky. It's the perfect day to get in the car and drive down to the beach or park or just spend some time outside with a friend." The weatherman's voice carried over the airwaves.

Ruthie's eyes flung open. That wasn't noise. It was sign from God. She now knew exactly what she needed to do today. Kicking off her blankets, she tumbled out of bed forgetting how much her body needed the sleep. She was glad she took a shower last night so she could be ready faster.

She quickly chose her tan peasant skirt, white knit shirt, and vintage tan vest to wear. She brushed her curls out and left them dangling at her shoulders. Digging into her jewelry box, she pulled out the turquoise necklace that Martin had given her the Christmas after he told her about Sandy. She had never worn because it had always symbolized Martin trying to buy her affection but today it symbolized his love. She put it on. Even though she knew it wasn't magical, it seemed to give her courage as it lay around her neck.

She pulled on her brown boots, grabbed her purse and was out the door. Now came to hard part, convincing her parents to let her go.

The smell of pancakes and bacon flew into Ruthie's nose as she descended the stairs into the kitchen. Her parents were doing their usual Sunday morning activities. Annie was at the stove while repeatedly calling to Sam and David in the next room to stop watching cartoons and come get their breakfast. Eric was sitting at the table sneaking a piece of bacon when Annie wasn't looking while also looking over his sermon notes.

Ruthie's boots made their characteristic clacking noise when they hit the kitchen floor to announce her presence.

"Good morning, honey." Annie looked over from the stove. "How many pancakes do you want?"

"None thanks. I couldn't eat a thing." It was the truth. Ruthie's stomach was in knots and she knew she couldn't eat until she talked to Martin.

"Does this have to do with your date last night?" Annie took the frying pan off the burner to focus on her daughter. "Your father said it didn't go so well."

Ruthie looked at her Dad's innocent expression. She hadn't said that all. "It went fine. Bryant and I just figured out we weren't right for each other."

"Oh." Annie managed out. Her face seemed to spell out a mixture of relief and worry.

"Listen. I know its Sunday and I'm supposed to go to church but I was hoping that just this one time, I could skip. I need to take the bus and talk to Martin. It's really important." Ruthie looked each of her parents in the eyes.

Eric and Annie look at each other like they knew something Ruthie didn't know.

"What?" Ruthie caught on to their knowledgeable glances.

Eric slowly got up from the table and moved closer to his daughter. "We're sorry we didn't tell you this before but Martin came by the house last night."

"What?" This time it came out more like an exclamation than a question.

Eric continued. "He wanted to talk to you. I told him you were on a date and then he left."

Ruthie felt an angry burn up inside her. Why hadn't he told her last night? Why were her parents so against her and Martin? "Why didn't you tell me when I was talking to you last night?"

Annie moved to place her hand on Ruthie's shoulder. She knocked it off. "We thought it wasn't that important and honestly, we don't even know where you stand with Martin."

"Martin is important to me so of course I would want to know when he wants to talk to me and you know Martin and I are friends again. This is about the fact that you two don't want Martin and me to be friends let alone anything more."

"Ruthie…" Eric pleaded for his little girl to understand.

"No, Dad. I understand you are trying to look out for me but I got to follow my heart." She walked toward the back door. "I'm going over to see if Martin's still at home. Maybe I'll see you at church. Maybe I won't." Ruthie slammed the door shut leaving her parents standing there dealing with whether they had done the right thing or not.

The whitewashed front porch was the same, give or take a few more hanging and potted plants from Mr. Brewer's plant shop. A breeze blew the wind chime that Ruthie had given them when Mr. Brewer had returned home from Iraq. Martin had mentioned to her one day how his mother would always buy a wind chime for each house they lived in. Ruthie wanted their new home without Mrs. Brewer to have a wind chime of its own too.

She sighed before she pressed the doorbell. Ready or not, she was about to put herself in a position of vulnerability which she hated so much.

Mr. Brewer answered the door. He seemed pleasantly surprised. "Ruthie! It so great to see you. I don't think I've seen you over here for a couple years. Come in."

Ruthie smiled as she walked into the foyer she had grown so accustom to that summer before her and Martin's whole world turned upside down.

"So was there a reason you came over?" Mr. Brewer asked already knowing the answer.

"I was hoping Martin was here. I wanted to talk to him." She blushed a little.

"Hey Dad. Who was at the door?" Martin came from the back of the hall where the kitchen was carrying a bowl of cereal in his hands. He nearly dropped the bowl when he saw Ruthie standing there.

"Well, I guess that answers each of your questions?" Mr. Brewer said as his son and his future daughter in-law, at least he hoped she would be his daughter someday, stared at each other. "I'll leave you two alone. " He walked back to the kitchen taking Martin's cereal with him.

They stood there a few moments unsure what to say.

"So…I guess your Dad told you I stopped by last night."

Ruthie nodded. "Uh, yeah. A little late seeing as though I almost jumped on a bus to Sequoia to talk to you."

"You did?" Martin seemed unsure over whether that was good or bad. "What for?"

"I wanted to talk to you. Actually, I need to talk to you. I can't hold this in any longer."

Martin motioned for them to move into the living room. They walked into the simply decorated room of blue and white. They were both nervous. Martin kept running his hands into his hair while Ruthie wrung her hands. They sat down on the blue striped sofa.

Ruthie was up again a second a later. "I need to say this now because if I don't I think I'll lose my nerve."

"Okay." Martin said tentatively.

Ruthie started to pace a little before positioning herself right in front of Martin. "I love you. I've always loved you and I've been a fool to think I could have ever loved anyone else. I think we deserve a chance. But I want to take this slowly. I don't want to commit to any future marital plans at this moment because we both know how life can change in a second. I just know that I love you and I want to be a committed relationship with you. I want a chance at a future but I don't want any stupid promise rings or any of that. I just want you." She took a breath of air and looked at Martin's stunned expression.

A smiled soon replaced the surprise. He stood up in front of Ruthie. She always forgot how tall he was especially compared to her. "I love you too. I'm the one who's been a fool to insist that I could only ever love you as a sister. I've treated you horribly and I don't deserve you."

Ruthie smiled up at him. "That's all in the past now. Let's just move forward."

"Okay." Martin leaned down and kissed her. It was the first kiss they had ever had that felt so real and passionate without any guilt. Neither one of them ever wanted to let this moment end.

When they finally pulled apart, they felt like two different people. They still felt like Ruthie and Martin but now they felt like their lives were finally right: intertwined with each other's.

"So, do you want to go to church with me?" Ruthie asked.

"Of course, but I think I should changed first." Martin referred to the fact he was still wearing his pajamas. He kissed her one more time before heading upstairs to change.

Ruthie sighed happily as she sat back down on the sofa.

Mr. Brewer appeared at the doorway. "You were listening weren't you?" Ruthie smirked at him.

He laughed. "Takes a spy to know a spy."

The church courtyard was still a bustle of people catching up with the events of the past week. Many were casting their nosy glances at Ruthie and Martin who were standing off to the side holding hands.

"We really should go in before everyone else has gotten a seat and we become even more of a spectacle." Martin felt uncomfortable under the stares of the gossipy old women and knew it would get worse when they got in the sanctuary.

"Yeah. I guess." Ruthie tightened her grip on his hand as he guided toward the church doors. She had never cared what her parents thought about her and Martin before. Now it seemed so important that they approved. What if they forced them to break it up? What if they banned her from seeing him? Could they even do that? She was eighteen after all. I'm not going to let my parents screw up the greatest moment of my life.

She loosened her grip on his hand. She stood a little taller and put a smile on her face. She was ready to face anything as they walked into the sanctuary. The organ music playing How Great Thou Art seemed to guide them along as they passed pew after pew till they reached the front.

Eric sitting up on the stage immediately started darting his eyes back and forth from Annie to the new couple with a concerned look on his face. Annie turned around and all the lines on her face fell in disappointment. Lucy looked surprised but happy. Kevin looked like he was ready to give a sex talk. Jane looked jealous. The Colonel and Ruth smiled in approval after all Martin was the son of a marine.

"You owe me twenty bucks." Mac whispered in Margaret's ear. Margaret sighed digging into her purse and slipped a twenty dollar bill in Mac's outstretched hand. She had bet Martin would end up with Sandy but with Sandy engagement to Jonathan and Martin and Ruthie together, that didn't look like it was going to happen.

"Martin!!" Sam and David exclaimed. They had always loved Martin. He taught them how to play baseball.

"Hey Guys." Martin tussled their hair. "Mind if we sit next to you?"

Annie and Jane, who were sitting on the opposite side of the twins, seemed reluctant to move further into the pew but they did anyways. Ruthie remained silent. She felt awkwardly outside of her family.

Once they had sat down, Lucy leaned in from behind. "When did this happen?"

"This morning." Ruthie smiled.

Lucy looked like she was going to squeal. "I'm so excited for you."

Thank God for Lucy to always be the supportive older sister. Ruthie felt some relief. At least the whole family wasn't against their relationship. She knew this relationship wasn't going to be easy and she could use all the love and support from her family as possible.

The choir stood and began to sing which signaled to the congregation to stand. Ruthie felt Martin's arm snake around her waist. She looked up at him. He was smiling down at her. No matter what her parents thought, it all felt so right.

Next Week on Far Away: Ruthie learns that everyone had an opinion about her relationship with Martin.