Annerieke had decided to take a break with a book that afternoon. She had made a large glass of tea, grabbed her book, and nestled herself on the couch with a nice warm rug over her. But instead of reading, she sat still, her glass in her hands on the still-closed book.

She thought of Simon, let her mind wander to the previous evening. How special it had been. She really could not have imagined this. So soon after Erik's death...

She compared the two men, the men of her heart. She felt, that with Erik she had had a deeper contact, as if they often knew from each other what they were thinking before it was spoken. They simply knew each other, from the inside out. She understood that it was that deep soul connection she had had with him, and wondered if you could only have a connection with one person in such a deep way.

Still, the soul connection with Simon was amazing too. That click was just there. And beyond that, it was probably just a matter of time. They would get to know and feel each other better and better.

She concluded that it was fine the way it was, Simon was not Erik, and that was fine. She smiled, a smile that swept through her entire being. She experienced a deep happiness, was intensely grateful that she had received this second happiness.

Annerieke picked up her book and looked for the page where she had left off and immersed herself in the story again. She was soon completely back into it, so much so, that she was startled by her mobile phone, when it signaled through the alarm that it was time for her to go to the kitchen. With the story of the book still completely woven into her thinking and feeling, she got up, draped the rug on the corner of the sofa and brought her glass to the kitchen. Thus introspective, she walked to the guesthouse.

.

Margreet's alarm had gone off a little earlier, because before she would help Annerieke in the kitchen, she wanted to pick up the laundry and tidy up. She put her knitting in the nice basket next to her chair and brought Huib's mug and her own glass to the kitchen. Elly had just come downstairs asking if they felt like looking at her work of this day.

"Yes indeed," said Huib, and together with Margreet he followed Elly into the children's room. With open mouths they stared at the wall.

"Ooooh," was the first thing Margreet could utter, "you should see those little butterflies." She moved a little closer to look at the details. "What a precise job this has been Elly! So many details!"

"That was my process over the last few days," Elly replied. "In the beginning I didn't dare work so precisely, but now I do, and that's fine, especially since I'm now working on smaller birds and butterflies. It was so much fun to do, really, I had a fantastic day!" She beamed, "And I expected to be dead tired by now, but I don't feel tired at all, quite the contrary. I just thought, that's probably because I'm doing what I really enjoy doing. What do you think, is that right?"

Huib and Margreet both nodded. "When I'm busy with that tapestry or my cardigan, I don't get tired either. The work in the guesthouse sometimes makes me a bit tired, but that's not too bad, actually."

"It's the same with me," Huib added, "I can spend hours doing woodwork, but I don't really get tired of it. Sometimes I feel my muscles, but never seriously. But today I've only been busy behind the computer. I notice that in a strange way that does make me a little tired, but more in my head. I felt it pulling and pushing in my head sometimes, especially when I was busy further thinking about how I will lay out the website, what I want to put everywhere in text, what is needed, what is convenient, what is beautiful. That was probably my process point today."

"Well, it's not exactly the kind of work you're used to, it's completely new, so it will require something different from you than woodworking. There you also have to make plans, overviews, drawings and so on, but still different, I think," Elly thought.

"Yes, the idea is the same, but it is indeed quite different. Organizing the construction of a piece of furniture is quite different from putting together a website. Still, I like doing it, more than the administration of the guesthouse. The guesthouse is great, but that was more Erik's work. The administration is nothing more than a necessary evil. I'm glad I'm all in now, that I now know how it works and that it takes me very little time.

But what the three of us are doing now is really about my own passion, and at the same time about your passion, and I enjoy that too. Would you like to take a look at how it has turned out so far?"

The women nodded in agreement and went downstairs with him. Huib showed them the work page he was working on. Then he turned on all the pages and showed them what it would look like when the site went online.

"Can other people see what you've already put on there now that you've turned the pages on?" asked Elly.

"Yes, they can, but no one will see it, because no one is looking for it, no one knows this site exists. That's another thing, we'll have to go on social media, on Twitter and Facebook or something. I know you can pin a post at the top. There we can then give the link to the website, and briefly describe what it's about. And every time something new comes up on the site, we can also mention it on social media. I'm curious how we're going to experience that. I think all three of us need our own accounts on social media, then we can each personally advertise our own work."

"There's quite a bit involved, Huib," said Margreet, "but I'm sure it will be fine! I'm off now, dear folks, I've got to get to work!"

"And I'll walk with you that way," Elly announced. "See you tomorrow Huib!"

"See you tomorrow Elly, see you at diner Margreet!"

To chapter 154. The new lovebirds

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