Chapter Twenty-Three

When Frozen ends, Nelson suggests that Laura and Rebecca take Katie up to their rooms until Ruth comes back. And then he's left with knowing he's got to call her. He takes his empty mug back to the kitchen to wash it out and then takes out his mobile to ring her.

She answers after less than two seconds. "Shall I come pick her up?" she says, not bothering to say hello.

"The film's ended. I dunno what you've got for the rest of your day. I was…I was going to see if you wanted to stay for dinner. Things seem to be going well with all the girls," he offers awkwardly.

"It's up to you. Kate can stay for dinner if you want her to. You know what she likes to eat."

Nelson pauses. "I'd like you to come for dinner, too. Unless you're still mad at me."

"I'm not mad. I wasn't mad."

"What would you call it, then?" he counters.

She sighs into the phone. "I was…hurt. We've been so happy, Nelson. At least I have."

"Me too," he interjects.

"But I mean what I said before, we've not thought this through. In the moment, being together like we have, it's wonderful. There's just so much more we need to think about," she tells him.

"I think we've thought about more than you realize, Ruth," he says. "I think you need to have a little faith in me."

Ruth hesitates. "I'll come for dinner. If you promise not to bring this up at all. If we can just get through the evening without any discussion about you and I and whatever future there might be."

"That's all I want for now," he tells her earnestly. "I just want to sit and have a meal with all my daughters and with you. You said before you don't know Laura and Rebecca very well. And I want you to. And I want them to know you. They're both leaving tomorrow, and I don't know when they'll be back. So this is our only opportunity for now."

"Alright," she finally agrees. "I'm heading over now. Shall I pick up anything for dinner?"

"I've got pasta here and Laura makes really nice salads. Anything else you or Kate want?"

"If you can get her to eat even one bite of salad, I'll…"

He grins to himself. "You'll what?"

She laughs, clearly in spite of herself. "Alright, what? What reward do you want if you can get her to eat salad?"

"If I get her to eat salad, I can come spend the night sometime this week."

"I'd hope you'd do that even if she doesn't eat salad," Ruth responds softly, almost as though she's embarrassed.

Nelson's heart soars. After their fight, he'd not been sure if she'd still want the arrangement they'd had prior to today. "Alright then, I'll spend the night sometime this week and if she does eat the salad, I'll be in charge after she goes to sleep."

Ruth balks slightly at that statement. "You're always in charge, aren't you?"

"Well last time I had you do whatever you wanted. This time I'll do whatever I want."

She still doesn't quite like the sound of it. "Erm…well…"

"I promise I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable, Ruth. I wouldn't want to do anything you didn't want. It…well, I hope you don't think I'd…"

"No," she answers quickly. And she knows that. She knows he'd never do anything to coerce her in any way. Not like that.

"I'm not going to go any details while we're on the phone and the girls are just upstairs, but I've got some things in mind. Some things I think you'll like," he adds.

"Alright, fine. If you can get Kate to eat salad at dinner tonight, you can do what you want when we go to bed together the next time. And if she doesn't eat salad, you'll have to come over next weekend and do some chores around the cottage that I'm not tall enough or strong enough to do on my own, alright?"
He chuckles, "Alright."

They hang up shortly after that. Ruth drives back toward his house. She's feeling infinitely better than she had before. Nelson hadn't really apologized for his flippancy earlier and for not taking her feelings seriously, but she's come to realize that it's just her own anxious insecurities prompting all that. And they will have to talk about it sometime. They will. She's just not ready for it yet.

Thankfully, Nelson had wanted to move past it just as much as she does for now. And she can come to his for dinner and get to know Laura and Rebecca a bit better and see Kate interact with them, and, as Rebecca had said in the kitchen, they can all start to get used to each other.

Ruth wonders for a moment if she should pick up anything to give to the girls. But Nelson had told her she didn't need to get anything, and she wouldn't know what to get for them anyway. Her inclination would be to get some kind of fancy dessert, but neither of those girls look like the kind of people to indulge in cakes the way Ruth does. And she doesn't want to give Kate the excuse to have any more sugar. So in the end, she turns up back at the Nelson house empty handed.

She rings the bell and Rebecca answers the door. "Welcome back. Dinner's almost ready. Dad's cooking. It's really wild."

Rebecca's good humor makes Ruth smile. "What's he making?"

"Pasta. I know it's just boiling water, but he's taking it so seriously."

Ruth smiles a bit wider at that. "Did he wait till the water was at a proper boil?"

"Yeah," Rebecca laughs. "He had Kate help him and to stand back on the stool and watch the water, and she saw bubbles and got all excited and he said, 'No, that's just a simmer, we've got to wait,' and I had no idea he knew that."

"He's eager to learn," Ruth says gently.

"Did you teach him that?"

She nods.

Rebecca smiles. "Good on you. Didn't know the old dog could learn new tricks."

"Don't let him catch you saying that," Ruth warns good-naturedly as they make their way to the kitchen.

"Don't let me catch her saying what?" Nelson asks, turning away from the pasta to see them.

"Dad, Ruth says I shouldn't call you an old dog."

He laughs. Oh she does love the sound of his laugh. "Well, I am an old dog, aren't I? That's where all the gray hair and scars come from. Being an old dog."

"Why've you got scars, Daddy?" Kate asks.

Nelson turns his attention to her, where she's standing on a step-stool about a foot away from the stove—something Ruth notes with satisfaction, as she's too far away to hurt herself on the gas flame. "Being a policeman is very dangerous and sometimes I get hurt. And sometimes the really bad injuries leave a scar."

"Did you ever get shot?" she asks, little eyes big as saucers.

"Yes," Nelson answers. He does not say anything further on the subject. "Rebecca, is the sauce ready?"

"Nearly. But drain the pasta if it's done," she replies, taking her place at the stove again, on the other side of Kate's stool.

"Where's that strainer?" he asks.

Ruth notices it on the far counter. "Here, I've got it," she says, bringing it over to the sink for him.

Nelson brings the pot over. "Cheers, love," he says in thanks. He pours everything into the strainer and shakes it a few times to get the residual water off the spaghetti, just as Ruth had shown him a few days earlier. As the steam clears he turns his head to look at her with a small smile. "Hello," he greets softly.

She smiles. "Hello."

Laura has finished with the salad and puts it on the table. She helps Kate wash her hands and take her seat. Nelson has put spaghetti on each of their plates, very little for both Laura and Kate, one of whom insists she doesn't want to overdo it on carbs and the other of whom has a very tiny stomach. Rebecca then spoons sauce onto four of the plates while Nelson puts butter and salt and pepper on the one for Kate.

They all take their seats. Nelson shows Ruth where to sit and places an unexpected hand on the small of her back to guide her. He lets his hand linger there and drift up her back and onto her arm as she sits down. She'd not expected him to be affectionate in front of his daughters, though this barely counts. Still, it's not unwelcome. And as they all dig in to their meal, all of them with happy faces, Ruth can't help but feel like maybe…maybe this might all work out.