Chapter 74 - What Ruth Wanted
Ruth wanted yellow flowers.
She wanted lunch that people could eat without balancing tiny plates on their knees.
She wanted music she could dance to.
And she wanted Marco to stop suggesting that they cancel everything and sign papers quietly.
We learned the last part when she said it across our dining table.
Marco looked at his hands.
“I’m trying not to make this harder.”
“For whom?” she asked.
He did not answer.
Ruth leaned forward.
“If Maya decides she can’t attend, I will be sad. I’ll still want to marry you.”
“I know.”
“I’m not sure you do.”
Lena and I had been invited to help finalize the arrangements.
For a moment, I wondered whether we should leave.
Ruth glanced at us.
“Stay. Apparently we need witnesses for the planning as well.”
Marco gave a reluctant laugh.
Then he looked at her.
“I don’t want you losing something because of me.”
“I’m choosing a marriage, Marco. I’m not choosing which people are permitted to have feelings about it.”
He sat very still.
She reached across the table.
“I need you to want the day with me.”
After a moment, he took her hand.
“I do.”
“Good. Then tell me whether you like the music.”
By the end of the evening, they had chosen almost everything.
The flowers remained under discussion because Isabel had strong opinions about adding purple.
At home, Noah asked whether Marco was going to live farther away.
“Not much,” I said. “He and Ruth have found a place between her work and his sister.”
“Will he still come here?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“We’ll make plans.”
He considered that.
Then he asked, “Does he have to answer if you call during the wedding?”
I looked at my son.
“No.”
“Even if it’s important?”
“He’s getting married. Somebody else can answer.”
Noah nodded, satisfied.
I remained at the table after he went upstairs.
There had been a time when I expected the people closest to me to remain interruptible.
A birthday.
A holiday.
A quiet dinner.
Everything could wait if I called.
The following morning, I checked the wedding arrangements with Marco.
Transport.
Times.
The items he had asked me to bring.
Then I asked what he planned to do afterward.
“A few days by the coast.”
“Good.”
“I’ll have my phone.”
I looked at him.
“Take photographs.”
May you like
He smiled.
This time, he understood what I was asking.
