Chapter Twenty-Four
Dinner is a surprisingly pleasant affair. Laura and Rebecca are so kind to Ruth and to Kate, Ruth isn't quite sure what to do. She had not expected them to be so warm and so nice. But of course, Nelson and Michelle had raised two smart, beautiful, perfect girls. And Ruth could see now that Kate was lucky to have them as her sisters, role models for her as she grew up. Though Ruth was not very pleased to see Laura's eating habits and worried about that. But then again, Ruth herself is not the best model of healthy eating, so perhaps Laura's tiny bites and shuffling food on her plate are less of a problem. Either way, it's not any of Ruth's business till she sees it affecting Kate.
"Ruth, Dad says you're an archaeologist who works with the police?" Rebecca asks.
"Sometimes," she replies. "I'm a forensic archaeologist. I specialize in bones. And so when the police find bones, they call me."
Rebecca turns to her father. "Lucy?"
He nods gravely but says nothing.
"That was the first, yes," Ruth tells her. "We found Lucy on the saltmarsh, thankfully alive. But the bones found out there were from the Iron Age." She can feel herself getting a bit too excitable and tries to stop herself from going overboard. No one really cares, Ruth, she reminds herself.
Laura wrinkles her nose. "The saltmarsh? It's so creepy out there. All flat like that, you can't tell where the sea ends and the land begins."
Ruth nods. "That's the magic of it. In ancient times, crossing places like that were revered, where the boundaries between our world and another are thin and indistinguishable."
"See? Creepy," Laura confirms.
"I love the saltmarsh!" Kate interjects excitedly. "The sea lavender blooms and makes a purple ocean!"
"You've been out to the saltmarsh, Kate?" Laura asks in surprise.
Kate nods. "We live there. Mummy and I go out there all the time. Daddy came with us to the beach last week," she informs them proudly.
The revelation that Ruth and Kate live out in the saltmarsh seems to go over very badly. Both Laura and Rebecca are quiet, just eating their dinner. Nelson keeps his head down. Ruth feels extremely uncomfortable but doesn't know what to do about it. She knows Nelson agrees with his daughters. He hates the saltmarsh, hates that Ruth and Kate live there. But that cottage is hers and she loves it more than anything and could never imagine living anywhere else.
That's another thing Ruth will have to keep in mind going forward. Nelson wanting to be with them and to try for…something. Ruth wants that too, of course, but Nelson doesn't like her house. And Ruth cannot even contemplate giving up her home for him. A problem for another day, surely.
"So what do you do when Dad isn't calling you about bones he finds?" Rebecca asks, cutting the awkward silence.
"I teach at University of North Norfolk. Mostly graduate courses in archaeology these days. I've got one summer tutorial at the moment," Ruth replies.
"Did you always know you wanted to be an archaeologist?" Laura asks with interest.
Ruth smiles. No one's really ever asked her that before. It's a very nice question. "Sort of. I read History at university. But then I took one archaeology course and that was it for me. The combination of science and history and art and mythology has always interested me about it. And I was lucky to have extremely wonderful tutors who inspired my love of the work."
Laura smiles at that. "What's your favorite part about it?"
"Archaeology and my study of bones is really all about the study of humanity. How people were treated at death and saved for posterity tells us a lot about how they lived and what was important to them and what their world was like. There aren't a lot of answers in my work, but there's clues. There's ideas and hints about what things might have been. And there's a comfort for me at least in gaining the gift of those hints from those that lived long before us," Ruth answers. She surprises herself, actually. She's not usually so eloquent. But she genuinely loves her work and enjoys talking about it to people who are interested.
"And digging!" Kate adds.
Ruth laughs. "Yes, there's a lot of digging. Hard work, but good work." She looks at her daughter to smile at her but pauses. "Kate, you've got spaghetti all over your face."
Nelson steps in at that point. He takes Kate's napkin from her lap and helps wipe her mouth. "There you are, love. All clean. And now you can eat some of your salad."
The expression on Kate's face is one that Ruth knows very well. Her daughter is about to launch into a tantrum.
But it looks like the others all notice and leap into action. "Salad's really good, Kate," Laura tells her. "It makes you really strong and healthy and you'll feel great."
"Yeah," Rebecca agrees, "And Laura made this salad. I don't usually like salads but I really like it when she makes it."
Nelson is grateful for his daughters' assistance. "Just try one bite, Katie. Just for Laura. Please?" He looks over and sees Ruth look at him warningly. She's got no faith that this will work. And for a moment, he thinks she's right.
But then, miracle of miracles, Kate takes her fork and stabs a piece of lettuce and a crouton. And with an extremely suspicious look on her little face, she puts the fork in her mouth. She chews and looks like she's about to cry. But everyone is watching her, and she eventually swallows. She turns to Nelson. "Daddy, do I have to eat any more?" she asks quietly.
"No, you don't have to eat any more if you don't want to. But thank you for taking one bite." He can't help but look over to Ruth and smirk. She just shakes her head with a small chuckle.
"Kate, can I ask what you didn't like about the salad?"
The little girl turns to Laura, considering for a moment. "Slimy," is all she replies.
Laura smiles at that. "Okay. Maybe the next time we see each other, you can help me make a salad and we can figure out if we can make one you like?" she offers.
Kate nods in agreement. Ruth leans over to Laura to say, "That's really sweet of you. I have the worst time getting her to eat any veg."
"Veg is my specialty," Laura boasts.
Nelson feels his heart swell with pride. All his girls. All together, all getting along. He can almost envision meals like this in the future. Laura and Rebecca coming to visit him and Ruth and Katie. One day in the future when they're all settled. Katie can spend more time with her sisters. They can all be a family.
But as quickly as he warms with that thought, an icy feeling takes hold of him. He really ought to call Michelle. She should know what's going on, that Laura and Rebecca have met Katie and Ruth. And he really does need to move the divorce along. The sooner the better, really.
Soon after his triumphant win of the bet in getting Katie to eat salad, the meal is over. Ruth and Kate have to go back home, though it pains him to see them go. He never likes saying goodbye to them.
He picks up his little girl and kisses her cheek. "Thanks for coming over today, Katie," he tells her. "Did you have a nice time?"
She nods enthusiastically. "I like your house, Daddy. Next time, can I bring my Sylvanians?"
"I'm not going to be living in this house for too much longer," he explains. "But I'll be coming over to your house again soon, and we can play with your Sylvanians then."
Kate does not seem overly concerned with the sale of the house, which is for the best.
Nelson puts Kate down and turns to Ruth, suddenly feeling very awkward saying goodbye to her. They've said goodbye in a friendly and chaste way a million times. But nowadays, their relationship is so compartmentalized. And he's having trouble keeping to himself this time.
"Hey Kate, do you have any toys in your mum's car?" Rebecca asks suddenly.
Kate begins excitedly explaining, and Ruth hands Laura her keys. The girls take Kate outside to the car. Rebecca looks behind her and winks at her father.
"Seems like we have a supporter," Ruth notes. She seems shocked by this and really, so is he.
"I'll take whatever I can from them. I don't want you to leave partly so I'm not left alone to hear their opinions," he notes.
Ruth regards him curiously. "Do you think they hate me?"
"No, I think they really like you," he assures her. "But it's sort of weird, my daughters telling me they like the woman I'm seeing."
"Hmm," she hums.
"What?"
"I don't think I've really ever thought of us like that. That we're… 'seeing each other' but I suppose we are."
"Well, why don't we work on the semantics another time, and if it's alright, I'd like to kiss you goodbye before the girls come looking for us," he says.
Ruth smiles, which is something he thinks he might never get used to. She's so bloody beautiful when she smiles. Just radiant and wonderful. And she's still smiling when he wraps her in his arms and leans in to press his lips to hers. She puts one hand around his waist and one on the back of his neck, and he can't help but deepen the kiss. But far too soon, she pulls away.
Nelson rests his forehead against hers. "I feel like it's been an age since I've done that."
"Four days," she informs him.
"Has it?"
"When you left on Thursday morning."
He smiles. "Four days is a long time. Can I come over Tuesday?"
She tilts her head up just slightly and kisses him once more. "Please. And you did win the bet, so start thinking of how you'd like to spend your winnings."
Nelson cannot help but skim his hands down the curve of her spine and give her bum a squeeze. "I'm already thinking about it."
Ruth gives an uncharacteristically adorable squeal and jumps away from him. Nelson just laughs happily. "I cannot believe you sometimes," she says, laughing with him.
"I think you'd agree, Ruth, the sex is really good."
She blushes bright red. "Yes, it is."
He smiles. "Alright, go take Katie home before I can't think of anything but shagging you." He gives her one more quick kiss. "I'll call you tomorrow night, and I'll see you Tuesday," he says.
Ruth nods. "Good."
And with that, he opens the front door for her to wave her and Katie off. Laura and Rebecca come stand beside him as they watch Ruth's Renault drive off down the road.
