Chapter 4

Come on Over

Martin pulled up to his house and sat there for a minute in his car. He couldn't believe that he went through a whole day and did not see Ruthie once. He knew that he wanted to see her at some point during his time in Glen Oak; he just didn't know when that was going to be.

Martin was startled by a knock on his driver side window; he jumped and turned to see none other than Reverend Eric Camden. He smiled and got out of the car and said, "Hi, Reverend Camden."

"Good to see you Martin after all this time. How are you?" Eric said patted Martin on the shoulder.

"I'm good. I'm really busy with the team and I'm here for a few weeks." Martin said.

Eric said, "Yes, I know. I've talked with your dad. He's really glad you're in town. We all are."

Martin smiled, "I am too. It's nice to see everyone."

"So, have you talked to your dad today yet, Annie called him earlier and she invited the both of you over for dinner tonight." Eric said.

Martin's eyes widened, he didn't know how he was going to face Ruthie at dinner after being here for two whole days without saying anything to her. He almost tried to come up with some sort of excuse, but, decided not too. Besides, this would be a great chance for him to see Ruthie and finally talk. "So, will everyone be there?" Martin asked.

"Yeah, I think Lucy and Kevin and their kids and of course all of us." Eric said with a hunch that Martin was checking to see if Ruthie was going to be there. Eric always felt that Ruthie and Martin would end up together one day, but, since Peter came into Ruthie's life again, he didn't know.

"What time?" Martin asked.

"I think it's at 6:30, but, your dad will know for sure. See you then." Eric said as he walked down the street to his house.

Martin turned and headed inside for a quick shower.

Peter dropped Ruthie off in front of her house and she seemed to be in a hurry to get out of the car.

"Everything okay?" asked Peter.

"Uh, I just have a lot of homework to do and I need to talk to Lucy anyway. I'll see you later, okay." Ruthie said as she turned to head towards Lucy's house.

"Wait, I'll walk you over." Peter said jumping out of the car catching up with Ruthie.

"It's really okay, you don't have too. I think that I'm capable of walking next door." Ruthie giggled.

Just as they headed across the yard, Kevin was out in the yard with the dogs and the kids. He waved to Ruthie and Peter just as he was being tackled by the kids. He loved playing with them in the yard.

"Hi Ruthie, hi Peter", Kevin said through a tackled laugh.

"Auntie Ruthie!" Savannah said as she ran over to hug her. Ruthie bent down to hug her back. She couldn't resist a hug from one of her favorite nieces. The boys shortly followed and ran behind Savannah as fast as their little two-year old feet could take them.

"So, you two will be at dinner tonight, right?" Kevin said.

"Dinner? You only say that when there's someone coming to dinner." Ruthie said curious.

"You don't know. We are having a welcome home dinner for Martin. He's back in town for a few weeks. I'm surprised you didn't run into him at the high school. He's been there all day." Kevin said completely unaware of the ripple he just caused.

Ruthie's mind went completely blank. She thought to herself, did he just say what I thought that he said. Peter turned to look at Ruthie to see her reaction. She didn't react, she just stood there.

"Well, that's nice." Ruthie managed to say. She looked past Kevin and saw Lucy coming out to the yard and Ruthie crossed quickly so that she could talk to her. She remembered Peter and turned and said, "I'll see you at dinner. It's probably at 6:00 or something. Just hang out here with Kevin for a minute, okay."

Ruthie grabbed Lucy's hand and went inside her house.

Peter looked at Kevin and said, "Great."

Kevin looked and said, "What did I say?"

"Oh, just the name that I've been avoiding to say around Ruthie all day long." Peter said bummed.

"You knew he was there, didn't you?" Kevin said.

"Yeah, I knew since early this morning. I ran into him in the coach's office. I haven't told Ruthie because I didn't want her to know. I thought that I could keep it from her til he was gone. Things were going so great with me and her. I asked her to prom today and it was a perfect day. Til he showed up again." Peter vented.

"Well, I don't think that Ruthie likes Martin. I mean, she used too. But, that was a long time ago. She's with you, isn't she? But, don't let her find out that you knew he was here and you didn't tell her. Martin was one of her closest friends and no matter what, she will care for him. She may not love him, but, she will always care." Kevin said.

"You are starting to sound like your wife" Peter said.

"Well, marriage has a tendency to do that to you. You start to rub off on one another." Kevin said shaking his head.

Lucy looked at Ruthie and immediately knew.

"So, how did you find out?" Lucy said.

"Kevin", said the still stunned Ruthie.

"Sorry, I was going to tell you this morning. I wanted you to be prepared." Lucy said.

"I think that I'll be okay. I mean, it's just Martin." Ruthie said almost trying to convince herself.

"Yes, it's just Martin. Martin Brewer, the guy who… who… well, let's not go into that. Is Peter coming to dinner too?" Lucy said.

"Yeah." And then Ruthie thought about how jealous Peter was of Martin and said, "This isn't good. Peter is going to try and act overly boyfriend-ish around him."

"Well, he is your boyfriend." Lucy said.

"I know. It's just that I wish I could talk to Martin alone. I haven't seen him since he left to go see Sandy when Aaron was born and then he went to the whole baseball thing when he found out that Aaron wasn't his. I feel like I've been on the outside looking in of his life for the past two years. I don't even know what I'm going to say to him when I see him." Ruthie said as almost unleashing a string of emotions inside of her locked heart.

"Well, whatever you say, I'm sure you'll think of the right thing to say. You always do." Lucy said.

"Luce……. What if I still love him?" Ruthie said not really asking as a question, but, just more of a statement.

"Well, then, I guess you better figure that out. Because, you've got a great guy out there who is totally in love with you and his name is not Martin." Lucy said as she faced Ruthie to the side window towards the front yard.

Ruthie took a deep breath and started to say something but Lucy knew what it was and said, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about our talk".

"Thanks." Ruthie said, "I'll see you later". She walked out into the yard towards Kevin and Peter.

"Peter, I'm going to go work on my homework before dinner, okay. See you later. Thanks for the ride home." Ruthie said.

"Okay. Sure, I'll see you later. Do you want to talk?" Peter said waving bye to Kevin and the kids and walking with Ruthie.

"About what?" Ruthie said knowing exactly what Peter wanted to talk about.

"Martin", Peter said thinking to himself that he can't believe that he just said that.

"What about him?" Ruthie said trying to not sound interested.

"Well, I mean, I guess, I … I … "Peter said stumbling over his words.

"What Peter, what is it." Ruthie said.

"Do you still like him?" Peter said quickly.

"To be completely honest with you, I have no idea how I feel about someone that I haven't seen in over two years. I know that I really like you and I am happy with you. That's what I know." Ruthie said hoping that was enough.

"Well, that wasn't exactly the answer I was looking for." Peter said. He wondered what tonight would hold. Would Ruthie see Martin and drop him in a minute. He was definitely going to show Martin who Ruthie belonged.

"Sorry, but, that's the answer I have for you. I'll see you tonight." Ruthie said with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She walked into her house and as she went up the stairs to her room she walked over to the window almost without thinking and looked towards Martin's house.

"Lord, give me strength for tonight", she whispered.

Stay tuned.