Huib had walked home, found Margreet with her knitting in her rocking chair. He told her about his little conversation with Lisa and Sjaak.

"There's a lot coming at them," Margreet sighed, "I'm sure it won't be easy for them to go to that house, but good, I think. And then going to sell that house... It all seems to be luxurious there, posh but chilly, Lisa has told me once. Funny, she's such a very ordinary young woman, and now, when everything is sold, she'll probably be super rich. I wonder how she'll handle that."

"Probably good, although I'm curious about it too," Huib responded. "By the way, they're coming to see that movie on Friday night. Oh yeah, I was going to let you hear that song, I'll look it up on YouTube."

He was already walking to the computer, but at that moment they both heard Lisa playing again.

"Not just yet, I like hearing the song, but I like hearing Lisa too. What beautiful she plays huh?" Margret's brainwork laid still on her lap, while she was listening with her eyes closed.

At that moment there was a knock at the back door. They heard the door open immediately and a moment later saw Elly enter. "Am I not disturbing?"

"No, not at all, come in!"

"Just for a moment, I wanted to ask if it's convenient for you that I'm going to paint that wall soon."

Huib responded, "Yes, but... I hadn't talked to you about it yet, Margreet, but I actually want to start working on the window frames and such tomorrow. The weather will be drying well for the next few days, so I expect that if I can get the painting done tomorrow, everything will be dry by Wednesday. Then you could get started on Wednesday like that. Or later, just what you want."

"I'd like to help with those window frames, but is that possible, won't that harm the baby?" asked Margreet.

"No, I've deliberately chosen paint without toxic substances, so that you can join in. And because the weather is going to be dry and it's not very cold, we can leave the window open a bit all day to ventilate the room. You know what, I'm going to start sanding today, so that we know for sure that we can paint everything tomorrow. And then from Wednesday you have the space to start your painting, Elly. I'm very curious to see what that will be!"

"Oh, I can totally see the picture! But how shall we do it with the paint, Margreet? Shall I go after it myself or do you want to come along?"

"I'll leave that all up to you Elly, just surprise me! Then tomorrow I'll have plenty of time to work on the window frames too."

Elly nodded, "Fine, I understand that you'd like to do that together. It's just nice work, a bit different than what you're used to. Dear people, I'm off again, I'll drive to that do-it-yourself store to pick out paint. And I think I'll come and paint on Wednesday, see you then!"

"No, see you tomorrow! Movie night!" Margreet reminded her. "You're coming too, right?"

"Oh yes, we mustn't forget that. Is it true that all the guests are coming too, that's what Martin was talking about... won't it be too crowded for you?"

"No, it will be nice. We are looking forward to it!" Huib smiled at her.

"Good, well, see you tomorrow night then! I like the prospect of a mini cinema. Tell you what, I'll bring bags of popcorn, okay?"

Margreet laughed, "That’s great! We'll make sure there are plenty of drinks."

Elly said goodbye happily. Near Sjaak and Lisa's house she stopped to listen. What a beautiful melody ... Elly felt that not just some musical notes were played, this was really played with emotion. She remembered that Sjaak played the piano. Would he also play the violin? Or would Lisa be doing this? Intuitively, she knew it had to be Lisa. Somehow it seemed to fit her. As the music followed her, she walked slowly on to the parking lot near the guest house.

.

Huib wanted to start sanding, but Margreet warned him that it was almost time for lunch. He looked at his watch. "You're right, time always flies here! I can go to the barn and look for sandpaper, then I won't have to do that after lunch any more.

After lunch, he went straight to work. It was more work than he had thought. He just managed to sand the window frames, the doorposts and the door itself, and tape the windows and the wallpaper around them, before he went to the pensions kitchen for dinner. At the table, it was a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. As always, they shared with each other what they had experienced that afternoon.

"Tomorrow Margreet and I are going to paint, the coarser work, and on Wednesday Elly is going to start her painting, the finer work, a mural," said Margreet.

"And we are going tomorrow to the house where I lived with Henk, to take away from there what I still want to keep, and also the things I don't want to end up in the hands of wrong men, which could victimize other women again. I don't think we'll be taking very much with us. The rest is going to be auctioned off. The auctioneer is Alexander, the husband of my lawyer Ellen Hendriks. He is going to organize the auction as soon as possible. He will take pictures of what is going to be sold, and then publicize it. Once that auction is over, we'll put the house on sale."

"That should bring in a lot of money, Lisa. You're going to be a wealthy woman, and I want you to know that I grant you that with all my heart! Do you have any idea what you're going to do with that?" asked Margreet.

"Yes, we do have an idea, a general one, to spend it on projects that have our hearts. We already have one project in mind, but I can't share that just yet. That will come soon, I think. In any case, I don't feel like playing the rich woman, we're just going to do with it what seems really good to us."

Annerieke nodded at her, "Sounds good! And nice that you guys are going to do this together."

Lisa smiled at her, "I want nothing more than together!" She squeezed Sjaak's hand for a moment.

.

That evening Huib and Margreet were quietly tidying up at home, when Simon came along with the construction drawing. He had already visited Sjaak and Lisa, shown them their drawings and made arrangements, and now he came to do the same with Huib and Margreet. He put the drawing on the dining table. They bent over it together. Margreet found it difficult to estimate how big the spaces would be. When she said that, Simon picked up the drawing and asked her to come with him to the construction site.

With his folding ruler, he measured out for her where the shed and laundry room would be. "About like this, and like this..." He measured again, "this is where the drying room will be."

"It looks wonderfully spacious," Margreet thought.

"It is, it's very spacious, really very spacious, but who knows how much you're going to need that," he said with a smile at her belly nodding.

Together they laughed at him.

"I would love it," Margreet said, "a big family. I was always alone with my parents myself, and I didn't like that. I'd like to have siblings for our oldest. Fortunately, children usually come one at a time, so we can take it one at a time to see how we want to proceed."

"Well yeah," Simon thought, "just take it easy, just like you say, one at a time."

"That's right!" laughed Huib. "And that drawing looks great to me, it looks like you've thought of everything, connections and all, so as far as I'm concerned you can make the preparations you need."

"Fine, then I'll go order the stuff. Can I send you the bill for that right away, as soon as I've ordered? Or would you rather pay everything at once when we're done building?"

Huib looked at Margreet for a moment, and when she nodded, he replied, "Just send the bill, and we'll pay it right away."

"Fine, dear people, thank you for your trust," Simon said.

"Oh man, I know you, don't I? You've been like a second father to me for years, I really haven't forgotten that!"

Simon blushed slightly, but looked at him gratefully: "I'm glad of that! I wasn't always such a sweetheart as a young man, but your father helped me come to terms with myself and discover myself, and I'm still grateful to him for that. Back in the day, I loved coming to your house regularly, being a little bit part of your family. And you, you're a guy after my own heart, always have been."

Huib smiled. "While you're here now, a word about something else, Simon. Tuesday and Thursday nights we're having movie night here at the house. Would you like to come too?" Huib explained to him what kind of movies he had in mind.

Simon nodded, "Actually I'm too busy for that, but working day and night is no good for anyone, so this is a great reason to relax for a while. Alright guys, I hope to be there, thank you for the invitation! You have no further questions? Then I'll go home and get the order ready."

"No, no questions, everything is clear. See you tomorrow night!"

With a greeting and a wave, Simon went home, this time directly.

To chapter 126. Confronting the past

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