Huib tried to struggle through the pile of paperwork. Orders, bills, requests for renting a room, monthly statement of finances and so on. He felt terrible about this, but it was part of it.

His father used to do this job, before… until just recently. He had died in a stupid accident. Besides the bizarre jumble of feelings of disbelief, denial, pain, sadness and despair, there was the practical consequence of this circumstance: running the guesthouse his parents owned. Since he had no brother or sister to offload the pile of tasks, he'd decided to take over his father's duties at least for now. He was young, just turned twenty-one. He hadn't celebrated it, hadn't felt like it.

In addition, he had no idea what he wanted to do to earn his daily bread. Or… actually, deep in his heart, he knew, but he saw no chance of doing anything with it, especially not now, with much of the responsibility for the guesthouse resting on his shoulders.

He sighed deeply, feeling pretty bad, pushed into a corner he didn't want to sit in at all. For now, he would throw himself into what needed to be done, with the utmost reluctance, because he felt he had no choice, at least not right now. Just look at it day by day, hoping that light came to this gloomy horizon. What else was he supposed to do?

.

In addition to being a hostess, his mother had always been the cook of the boarding house. She was good at cooking and baking. She had not been specially trained for it, but had taken courses on the Internet. Huib smiled when he thought back to that. He himself had always enjoyed his mother's cooking as a child, but she felt that she should be able to do something special for the boarding house they were building. Sniffing around on her tablet, she'd picked up ideas and immediately put them into practice in the safe kitchen of their home. Huib and his father had been her guinea pigs. He had admitted to her that she usually surprised him with delicious results! If it had been a success at home, she decided to keep the recipe so that she could try it in the guest house kitchen later.

A few years later, the response from the guests had been overwhelming. No one had ever complained about the meals. Thanks to her search on the internet for fine recipes, they had only feasted and cheered. Yes, his mother was a top performer at this job.

Only… she passed herself! Huib felt she had no time for herself, no time to mourn, to process, to learn to cope with this new life without her husband. Every day the guests had to eat, shopping had to be done, and cleaning had to be done, not to mention the daily household work upstairs, where the guests had their rooms. Huib had already been able to relieve her somewhat by taking over some household tasks from her. But he noticed that after a few weeks it was actually too heavy for him. He found that realization difficult to digest, he was young, healthy and strong, he had to be able to do this. Could it be because he actually hated changing the beds, the laundry, the cleaning? Or had it to do with his own grieving process?

He didn't know exactly what it was, whether he was just tired or simply found the work boring, and since some days he didn't care anymore.

He had taken a gamble, which he had experienced as an emergency jump. He had placed an advertisement and asked for help, a domestic help. Whoever released him from that work would be given a room, which until recently was used for storage. What he himself had found a pity was that he could not offer his helper her own toilet and shower. His lifesaver would have to use the sanitair his guests also used.

To avoid getting stuck with someone he didn't get along with at all, he had listed a trial month in his ad. After a few weeks he would be able to see if the person in question was suitable for the job and fit in with the atmosphere of the guesthouse.

To his surprise, a young woman responded almost immediately. And what surprised him even more was the happy click he had experienced reading her businesslike response. A click, a certainty that she would be the right person in the right place. The word "maybe" didn't even cross his mind, this was just the right woman!

He had considered talking to share this with his mother, but hadn't dared. She might have thought it to be strange that he had felt that way. Not that she found everything strange so quickly, but… well, to be honest, Huib found his inner reaction to that job application email rather bizarre! Before sending her a reply, he read her email a few more times, mostly wondering what made him feel that click, what, what words had made sure she was the one to hire. Yes, to accept her, not even invite her for a job interview first, but just accept her, for that trial month, and as soon as possible!

He hadn't been able to find out what had been special in what she'd written, it was just a pretty standard application, nothing special at all. And yet he was sure of it: it had to be her, as if she belonged here! And he had responded immediately. It took only a few minutes before he got her answer: she would be right in front of him the day after tomorrow.

Involuntarily uncertain thoughts raced through Huib's head. Had he done well to act so quickly? Was she really the right person? She reacted so instantly, he wondered if she was suffering from an overdose of self-confidence, or if she was some drama queen trying to prove herself.

He shook his head, don't whine, it would only be for a month, if she didn't fit in, he would just kick her out again! He answered her message as cordially as possible and arranged a month's contract for her so that she could sign it the day after tomorrow.

Then he ran up the stairs two steps at a time to the storage room that had to be emptied and cleaned. He felt like he had gained wings, a mountain of new energy. He lugged things for hours to the big shed behind the guesthouse. When he had put everything in a corner there, he draped a sheet over it to keep everything from getting unnecessarily dirty.

Then he went back to his new employee's room, opened the window wide for the necessary fresh air, and cleaned everything. He made the bed and put a pile of linen in the wardrobe so she could move on for the time being.

He checked the lights, the heating and looked around several times, wondering what more he could do to make it cosy. It was not cozy at all, it was actually super bare, a bed, a built-in wardrobe and a low cupboard, but he had no idea how to change that. He closed the window, stepped out of the room, and closed the door behind him. He would find out what she thought, hear what else she might need.

Now he had one thing left to do regarding that young lady's arrival: to inform his mother. Since the guests were already entering the dining room, he knew he would find his mother somewhere near the kitchen or dining room. He saw that she already had dinner ready. She was busy shoveling the potatoes into a large tub of the buffet warmer. When she had finished the bowl, Huib silently took it from her and led it into the dining room. He checked to see if the buffet warmer was on already and went back to the kitchen to get the next tray. They worked together for a while until they could wish the guests a tasty meal and put the pans in the water in the kitchen.

“Mom, I have to tell you something,” Huib started when they sat at the table with a full plate. His mother looked at him for a moment, while she put a bite in her mouth: "Tell me boy, my mouth keeps chewing while you're talking ," she said with a smile.

Huib looked at her tired face. “We hardly pull it together just the two of us. I recently placed an ad to find someone to take over some tasks. And I've hired someone, she's coming the day after tomorrow. Just for a month, a trial month, I covered that.”

His mother looked at him in surprise. “What a good idea Huib, but… why didn't you discuss it?”

“You know what was so strange, mom, it just came kind of naturally. I was busy with the administration, and suddenly felt the burden on my shoulders. I was worried about you, I saw every day how tired you were, how your face was rarely relaxed. And I actually felt the same with myself, I noticed that the stretch went out more and more. We worked together, made sure everything was ready on time, and we managed to do that, but we couldn't take care of ourselves and each other anymore. All those thoughts suddenly flashed through my mind while paying bills, and the solution came right after it: place an ad! I barely thought about it, just followed my heart, placed an ad, and moved on with those bills. Very quickly, within an hour, I received a response to the advertisement. I read it through and... well, that was really crazy... I just knew it had to be her. Don't you think that's crazy too mom? I just knew! I've read her email a few times and haven't been able to find anything special, even hardly anything personal, but I knew it had to be her. I responded immediately, asking if she could come for a trial in November, and if she would like to come two days early to get to know us and the guest house. She answered almost immediately that she will come the day after tomorrow.”

He saw that his mother had got tears in her eyes.

"What is it? Why are you getting emotional? Do you think I didn't handle it right?"

“You are the best son I could wish for,” his mother replied, “you have followed your heart, and I trust that it is all right!” She got up and reached over the table with her hands, grabbed him by the head. "I'll have to rub that in on you!" and she ran her hands through his hair. They laughed and ate leisurely.

“Do you like some coffee?” his mother asked after dinner.

"Yeah, tasty! Let's sit down for a while before we have to clean up."

A moment later, with a mug of coffee in their hands, they looked at each other.

"It's really good Huib, I'm glad you did it."

“Me too, I haven't seen you this relaxed, even smiling…since daddy...”

She smiled again. They drank their coffee in silence, both with their thoughts on their deceased loved one. Mother and son, silently connected…

To chapter 3. Destination reached

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