Chapter Thirty

Ruth has been distracted all day. After a strange night that ended so wonderfully with Nelson and a terrifying morning that also ended well with Nelson and Kate, Ruth had to go to teach her Wednesday tutorial.

Class had gone well. As well as could be expected for a summer graduate course. But there's really only so much she can say about isotope testing and the analysis of the result variances. And after class, she has to host office hours in case anyone has questions. Not that any of them do. There's still another few weeks before their term papers are due and then another two after that to revise for the exam. Ruth doesn't expect anyone to really need her till just before that paper is due, though she'll be quite busy answering emails and having meetings with students till the end of term after that.

Today, it's very quiet. Her poster of Indiana Jones sits merrily up on the wall. The shelves stuffed with research materials are growing a bit dusty. The sun shines outside her tiny window. Ruth should probably be working on writing the exam, since she's got the time now, but she finds she doesn't really want to. She's happy just daydreaming in her office.

How, in the span of about a month, had this happened? Michelle leaving. Nelson starting to spend more time with Kate and in Ruth's bed. All three daughters finding out about their relationship and meeting each other. And now she and Nelson have crossed the 'I love you' hurdle. And Kate knows about it and she's happy? How can this possibly all be real?

A sharp knock sounds on the partially open door, causing Ruth to jump.

"Oh, sorry." A stunning redhead saunters into the room, apologizing for scaring Ruth.

But Ruth smiles to see her friend. "What are you doing here?" she asks.

Shona sets herself elegantly in the seat beside Ruth's desk. "We got back from Mallorca yesterday. Phil's got work to do, so we tagged along to campus. Louis is having his nap right now in Phil's office so I thought I'd come see if you were still here after your tutorial."

"Technically it's my office hours, but no one's here," Ruth explains. "How was your trip?" Shona is looking tanned and beautiful and relaxed and happy, though other than the tan, Shona almost always looks like that.

"Oh it was a dream!"

Ruth just sits back and listens politely as Shona goes on and on about the incredible two weeks she and her partner and their son had spent on pristine beaches and eating incredible food and just having the best possible holiday. Shona is a bit much a lot of the time and often makes Ruth feel even worse about herself than usual, but she also knows that Shona likes to talk and share things and has very few people with whom she could do that. And Ruth knows that Shona, for all her maddening perfection, truly cares about Ruth as a friend.

And because she cares about Ruth, she finishes telling her stories and immediately asks, "And how have you been? What's been going on?"

For perhaps the first time in her life, Ruth smiles in response to that question. "Things are really good. I…erm…" She hesitates, realizing that she'll have to tell Shona what has been going on but strangely doesn't want to.

"You what?" Shona presses, laughing. "Ruth, you're blushing, what have you been up to!?"

"Well, about a week before you left on your trip, Michelle left."

Shona frowns, not quite following. "Michelle…"

"Nelson. Nelson's wife. She left him."

"WHAT!?" Shona shrieks.

Ruth shushes her with a laugh. It is sort of fun to tell someone who reacted so excitedly. "Yes, she left and moved in with her mother in Blackpool. She and Nelson have been talking and they've begun the divorce petition and they've got it all worked out. He's going to sell the house."

"Oh my god, that's unbelievable. Was there…I mean, did you know?"

She shakes her head. "Not till he showed up on my doorstep the night she left. He was in a really bad way. Came to see Kate and then told me what happened and slept on my sofa."

"Oh." Shona sounds very disappointed at that.

Ruth, not usually one for teasing or dramatics, just can't resist. "He hasn't been sleeping on my sofa anymore though. Just that one night."

"Well I should hope he hasn't. But now that Michelle's gone, do you think that you two will…"

"We have," Ruth confirms.

Shona's eyes go wide. "You have!? Oh my goodness, Ruth, you have to tell me everything! Are you together now? Does Kate know?"

This is what Ruth had been afraid of. She never really has enjoyed 'girl talk' like this. Especially when it is her own girl talk. "We're sort of together. Kate knows. As of this morning."

"Did she catch you?" Shona gasps.

"In a way. We forgot to set an alarm so she found Nelson in my bed."

The look on Shona's face tells Ruth that her friend is thinking how bloody glad she is that she's not sleeping around like she used to, now that she's got a child. "So how did that go?"

"Well, actually," Ruth says happily. "I don't know how much she really understands about it all. I mean, she's always know that her dad doesn't live with us, but she's got other friends whose parents aren't together and she knows plenty of children whose parents aren't married. And it'll be nice to not have to sneak around so much now, but we will have to be careful going forward now that she knows."

"So is that what you meant by you and Nelson are 'sort of together'?" Shona asks knowingly.

Ruth sometimes forgets that Shona is a literature professor and much better than most people at picking up on small details and subtext. "Yes. Last night he told me he loves me." She feels herself blushing but she can't help it.

"Did he say it first?"

"Yes." She doesn't tell Shona that he'd said it when she was crying because she'd been traumatized by a sexual position. Some things don't need to be shared, even amidst girl talk.

Shona smiles. "That's good. Men don't say it first unless they mean it. Phil said it first, too."

Ruth does not say that Phil is an idiot and Shona is essentially a goddess so Phil falling in love with her was never the part that anyone was surprised about.

"Alright, so he said he loves you. What's 'sort of' about that?"

"Well, I don't know what we do from here. I mean, he's still in his house. He'll get a place of his own once he puts the house on the market. Kate and I are in the cottage."

"Why don't you get a house together?" Shona asks, as though that's the most logical thing in the world.

And maybe it is logical. Maybe that's what Ruth should do. Start somewhere new with Nelson. But the very thought of leaving her cozy cottage and her wide-open space at the salt marsh is absolutely abhorrent to her.

At his own house, Nelson is pacing back and forth with the estate agent. The man has been making measurements and taking notes about things. He'd already been to look at the place and said he'd come up with some listing options, whatever the bloody hell that means. But today, he had called Nelson and asked to meet him at the house at two o'clock. So here he is, in the middle of the workday, waiting while the estate agent takes notes and hums to himself periodically.

"Anything you need from me?" Nelson asks as the man types furiously on his phone.

"I'll have a formal offer for you tomorrow," he replies.

Nelson is completely thrown. "What?!"

"I was talking to another agent who's working with a very motivated buyer. Described what his buyer wants, and I thought of this place. The measurements were to give a bit more definite information, but it all works with what they want," the estate agent explains.

"But the house isn't even listed yet."

"Doesn't need to be. Unless you want to list it. Might be able to get a higher offer that way, but an offer without a listing will make things go quicker."

That's something to think about. The money is not at all what concerns him. Having things move forward, that's what he wants. This house is the past. And he can't move on with Ruth and Kate or with anything else till it's sold. "How much quicker?"

"This potential buyer wants to close by the end of the month."

"That's…quick," Nelson answers, slightly stunned.

The estate agent just shrugs and goes back to his typing.