I'm beginning to write again, and if you've read my first book "Of Virtue and Grace" you know that I have a bit of passion for it, and for Jesus. However this is a completely different kind of writing, this one is fictional... I'm going to give you a portion of the first chapter here, and please keep in mind this is RAW UNEDITED and not complete or publication ready in any form, but I'd like some feedback. Read it and just leave me a comment below to tell me if it is something you would want to read the rest of... or if you have questions about a character, or suggestions for me I'd love to hear them.
Chapter 1.
Ruth and Howard Ingham, the most dedicated pair of lovers
that had ever graced God’s great planet earth, had lived so long with one
another that they really couldn’t be separated.
Not a day went by that the two were not intimately involved in each
other’s business. It wasn’t always
pretty, and they didn’t always agree, even on the important things, but they
always worked together for the good of their marriage.
The lessons that Ruth and Howard learned early in their
marriage left such a valuable impression on their hearts that it bound them
together in such a way as that no one could separate them. Ruth had never been able to have children,
she claimed that “God opened and closes the womb” and just simply trusted that
the Lord would provide, should he ever feel the need, and at eighty years old
the desire for her own flesh and blood children had long passed her. Howard and Ruth had always wanted children,
but their faith in the goodness of the Lord held them together, even when their
greatest desires for children had wrestled with their hearts and tugged at
their arms, the arms that held only each other.
Years of wondering if they’d ever have children had pulled
them apart, but also brought them together in new, much deeper and more
meaningful ways. Ruth clung to the
promises of the Lord in Isaiah 54, speaking his word over her life, praying
that the tent strings of her heart could be enlarged and that she could reach
out to all the motherless, and fatherless in her community.
Howard had worked hard throughout their marriage to provide
for Ruth, and to allow her to support the women that were able to give birth to
their own offspring. She found all sorts
of women and children to help and to love on every week. Her schedule often included meal preparation
and house-keeping for homes that were not even their own, but she never let
that get in the way of taking care of the home he provided. Howard and Ruth were always suited well for
one another.
Today however was different.
Instead of caring for women and children from the church or
neighborhood, Ruth was taking care of Howard.
Howard had suffered a heart attack, just a minor one according to the
doctor’s office, but serious enough that at age 83 there were questions about
whether he’d be able to stay home or whether a nursing home might be a better
place for the man she loved so dearly.
Ruth wouldn’t hear of Howard being in a home, she had energy and
dedication enough for both of them, so instead she hired a nursing student to
come once a day to check in on them and help them accomplish the things that in
their age might be difficult to continue now that Howard was restricted in diet
and exercise due to his health.
Ruth explained to the temp agency that she didn’t need
someone with a lot of experience and that a first-year student would be fine,
all she really needed was someone to come and help her with the heavy lifting
once in a while, particularly when Howard was feeling under the weather and
wasn’t getting to and from places in the house as well as he once did.
The temp agency sent Annalise, an 18-year-old college
freshman. Annalise stood rather tall,
Ruth guessed she was nearly six-foot, and though her hair was always pulled
back in a ponytail and her uniform always clean and pressed, Annalise had a
fire in her eyes that Ruth just hadn’t placed yet.
It was Ruth’s
favorite pastime to watch people and see if they’d let go of a secret or two
and let her into their world, and if they did she found a way right into their
hearts and dwelled there in a special place that only she would ever fit into.
Today, and Annalise were going to be no different. Ruth was determined to find that sweet hiding
place inside of Annalise, so as the college freshman drove her car up the
driveway, Ruth poured the hot water she’d prepared into a teapot and placed it on
a tray, and added some of her favorite tea flavors and cookies along-side the
pretty little teacups she thought Annalise might like best.
Annalise closed her car door and began the walk up the path
toward the Ingham’s beautiful two story yellow gabled home and admired the
flowers that had been carefully planted and weeded by Ruth herself, while
inside Ruth set the tea tray on the little table near the chair she would soon
welcome Annalise to sit in, and quickly moved a lap blanket to the back of the
chair where she usually kept it on chilly early fall mornings like this one. When Annalise climbed the three stairs
leading to the front porch she paused only a moment to enjoy the aroma of
flowers in hanging baskets and along the windows before proceeding toward the
carved wood front door, but just as her hand reached the space where her knock
would have planted itself to announce her arrival, Ruth opened the door,
leaving Annalise to knock on the air where the door had been.
“Annalise!” Ruth
cheerfully called. “I’ve been waiting
for you, Howard has too, but he’s taking a nap just right now, so I wondered if
you’d like to have some tea with me?”
“Mrs. Ingham you are so sweet and thoughtful! I’d love to have some tea with you!” Annalise had never been fond of tea as a
child, but just now that didn’t seem to matter, because Ruth was standing
eagerly there, framed by the white painted doorway with an eager smile written
in permanent marks across her face.
“Child, don’t call me Mrs. Ingham, I’d love if we could
become friends and you would call me Ruth!”
Annalise had heard Mrs. Ingham say this same thing at least two times
prior, but still couldn’t bring herself to be so informal with her first
clients. Especially Ruth, because Ruth
was the most distinguished and amazing woman she’d ever had the chance to get
to know, even if their knowledge of each other was wholly due to Ruth’s
husband’s illness.
It seemed to Annalise that Ruth was everything that she
herself was not. Where Ruth was
established in years, Annalise was young and naïve. Ruth had space for guests in her home, and Annalise
had a tiny dorm room she shared with another girl. Ruth was tidy and organized, Annalise
struggled to clean up after herself.
Where Ruth was welcoming and gracious to everyone, Annalise struggled to
feel as if she belonged anywhere well enough to be welcoming to anyone.
“Come in, sweet child, let’s have some of that tea, I’ve
heated the water and set out a tray already.
Just this way.” Ruth gently
guided her guest into the living room and offered her a high-backed wing chair
near the window where she could have enjoyed the view out the window, or the
warm fire on the hearth. Ruth’s gaze
fell on Annalise in such a way as if she were saying ‘make yourself
comfortable, stay as long as you like.’
“Oh Mrs. Ruth, I probably should get straight to work, what
can I help you with while we wait for Mr. Ingham to wake up?” Annalise pushed only slightly back at the
offered chair, she didn’t want to seem as if she were taking advantage of the
job and kindness of Mrs. Ingham and her husband.
“Well nothing to be done while that man rests, and we know
he needs the rest, so you just sit here and do the best favor you could for me…
just tell me about yourself.” Ruth
smiled and began to pour the steamy water into cups on the tea tray. “Let’s start with what kind of tea you
drink. A lot can be said about a person
based on the kind of tea they drink. Are
you a caffeinated tea drinker, a fruity tea drinker, or an herbal tea drinker?”
Ruth’s eyes lit up at each suggestion of the kinds of tea that Annalise might choose. It was a fun little game she liked to play
with new guests.
“Hmm, well I don’t really know, I didn’t like tea very much
as a child and I have not had many since then either.” Annalise thought it out. “I don’t think I need to be drinking
caffeine, it makes me jittery. What do
you recommend?” Annalise smiled and sank
a little deeper in the offered chair, she hadn’t realized just how soft it was
before, but it welcomed her to relax in the same ways that Mrs. Ruth did,
gently, slowly, and with a power that she didn’t even care to resist.
“If you didn’t like it as a child then you’ll probably need
some time to get used to it before you really enjoy it, I’ll start you off with
something fruity, that should be alright for you this time… what do you think
of peaches?” Ruth slowly pulled a tea
bag from her arrangement, it was labeled “peaches and crème”. Annalise smiled and nodded her agreement to
the flavor selection mentally telling herself that even if she didn’t like it
she would endure it for the sake of such a sweet hostess.
When Ruth handed the cup over to Annalise she began to pick
through the tea bags for her own tea cup.
Annalise quickly took the first sip of her tea, hoping that Ruth would
be occupied enough to miss her reaction should she not care for the
flavor. Yet she was gently surprised
with the aroma and the flavor of the tea, a gentle wash of warm water flavored
slightly of peaches and milk washed down her throat and warmed her
stomach. She actually really enjoyed the
sensation and the flavor alike. “Mrs. Ruth!
This is wonderful! I had no idea
tea could be so delicious!”
“Everything on God’s green earth can be that way,
surprisingly lovely and easy to accept… but only some things are worth it. Tea is worth it.” Ruth chirped with a hint of
passion in her voice.
A noise from the other side of the room disturbed their
reflection and called their attention.
Annalise immediately set her cut down and rushed to the aide of Howard
Ingham, who had apparently woken from his afternoon nap and made his way to the
living room.
“Mr. Ingham, you should have called for us, we would have
helped you out of your bed.” Annalise
gently scolded.
“I had a minor heart attack, I didn’t break a hip,
child.” Howard smiled and pinched
Annalise’s cheek gently as if she really were a child, and she smiled sweetly back
at him slightly embarrassed.
“I know, but this is what I’m here for! Not to drink tea, unfortunately, but to help
you.” Annalise cleared Mr. Ingham’s
magazine from his chair and pulled up his foot rest. “would you like a lap blanket, sir?”
“No, if anyone needs one of those it’ll be my wife, she’s
the one whose always cold.” Mr. Ingham
reached out a freckled hand toward his wife and partner in crime, and she
readily gripped it with a smile and a look of satisfaction on her face.
“He’s right, I’m always cold. Poor circulation they say, I say I’m just
plain cold, always have been.” Ruth’s
eyes never left Howard, even though it was clear she was talking to Annalise,
who had been situating her chair closer to Mr. Ingham’s side so she could check
his vitals.
The house fell silent as Annalise pumped air into the blood
pressure cuff she had attached to Mr. Ingham’s arm. She listened closely and watched the seconds
slip by on her wristwatch. When she was
finished she looked happily, nearly dreamily at Mr. Ingham. “You’re blood pressure seems to be within
normal today. Have you been listening to
Dr.’s advice in your diet?”
A gentle chuckle landed in Annalise’s ears. “I have a grand appetite, so does my dear wife,
and nothing beats the salads this woman makes!
However, I just don’t think I can live off from so little every day… I’m
desperate, I need more sustenance, tell that Dr. I need more meat! Howard
chuckled and leaned toward Annalise secretively “And CAKE!”
Annalise smiled and sat back in her chair, “well it sounds
like your wife has been taking good care of you Mr. Ingham! You should be so lucky, you probably don’t
deserve her!” Winking at Howard, Annalise packed her blood pressure cuff away
and stood. “Mrs. Ingham, would you like
me to take the bedsheets to the wash and replace them?”
“Ruth, dear, call me Ruth, I insist!” Ruth smiled back at her, “and yes honey, that
would be wonderful. I’ll just come along
and see if there is anything this old lady can do to help.”
“Alright, I suppose I can call you Ruth, it just feels so
informal.” Annalise looked around for
inspiration but found none and barreled through with the rest of her thought,
“you are so refined and gentile, I don’t want to be disrespectful by being too
familiar.”
Ruth only laughed, a light chuckle that reminded Annalise of
tinkling bells, but then the laugh grew and soon she was walking toward the
bedroom, hand to her stomach laughing.
“Oh honey, I’m not gentile or refined dear, I’m just old, and you are
not disrespectful if you are doing what I asked of you.”
While the women fussed with the bedsheets Howard opened his
newspaper and began to read, he didn’t even realize he fell asleep until
Annalise and Ruth had returned to the room giggling like school girls. It always amazed him that his wife could make
friends with strangers so quickly. He
always struggled with acquaintances, but had made a few lasting and deep
connections throughout his life and was happy with them, Ruth however was not
at all like that. People opened up to her almost immediately. Maybe it was her beautifully caring heart,
maybe it was her smile, maybe it was the fact that it was never an act with
her, she was genuine all the way through.
“Annalise, I have something for you, but I’d like to send it
in the mail, is that ok? Could you write
down your mailing address for me so I can send it?” Ruth was asking the home-help aide the same
question she would ask every new friend, and Howard smiled knowing that he
hadn’t messed up her life enough to change this tradition for her. Annalise jotted down her address on the
provided paper and gathered her things.
“I’ve enjoyed this visit, I’m certain I have no idea what
you are going to send me, but I’m not scared in the least.” Annalise smiled as
she turned the doorknob to leave.
“Oh, I certainly hope you wouldn’t be frightened!” Ruth was gravely serious about this tradition
and wouldn’t want anyone to be frightened of her monthly invitations. “and I
hope it arrives in the mail quickly for you.”
Annalise stepped out into the sunshine filled front porch and
breathed in the smell of Ruth’s flowers, smiled once more at Mrs. Ingham and
turned to leave. Ruth gently guided the
door closed and turned to Howard who was watching her from across the room in
in his reclining chair.
“How many does that make it now, Ruth?” He questioned her about this with every new
guest she invited over.
If Ruth were young enough she would have danced a little
victory dance right there, but she didn’t, instead she raised her arms in
triumphant fists to heaven and closed her teary eyes “Thank you Jesus, Thank
you for bringing us Annalise, and thank you for putting her in our path so that
we might share your wonderful love with her!”
She lowered her fists partially, opened her eyes and looked straight at
Howard “If she comes, then that will be twelve!”
For the last 2 years Ruth had been having morning tea on
Saturdays once a month with women she met around town, in church, the grocery
store, or any other place, each woman received a hand-written invitation every
month to join the rest of them for tea in the garden behind the house.
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