At the end of the evening, a few guests helped cleaning up. Huib quietly went his way in it, pretending not to see Margreet. In reality, he had been watching her all evening. He had fantasized about what it would be like to dance with her. How would that dress look like if he made her spin? And now, at the end of the evening, he was doing his best to banish all those thoughts from his mind.

Margreet, unconsciously, did not make it easy for him to do so. She, like the other helpers, went around the room cleaning up. It was just not possible not to see her and that dashing skirt of hers!

When the tables and chairs were back in place and the stall lanterns were cleared away, the guests went back to their rooms. Margreet wanted to go too, but Huib stopped her. He had put on a CD with dreamy music. He couldn't resist, he had to try it!

"Your dress should be able to sway," he said, and before she even realized it, he had already grabbed her one hand and was holding it up. "Spin Margreet, spin on your axis!"

"Ooooh how beautiful! Margreet, how beautiful, that skirt!" Annerieke had come in to wipe the tables with a damp cloth. She lingered for a moment to enjoy it, then went to clean the tables and a moment later wished them a good night.

Margreet was getting a little dizzy from spinning and tried to pull her hand free so she could sit down for a while. But Huib had other ideas about that. His desire for her, his desire to hold her, was great. He wanted to protect her, to help her, to caress her. He pulled her against him with his one arm, and when he saw her horrified eyes, he put her head against his shoulder with his other hand. As he led her quietly, barely moving from their places, he stroked her hair. They were silent, only the music was softly audible.

When the music ended, apparently it was the last piece on the CD, they were completely silent. Huib and Margreet remained still in their embrace for a moment. Huib placed a soft kiss on her hair.

"You are so beautiful Margreet, I could hardly take my eyes off you tonight, I just had to dance with you, but not with all those spectators, just you and me..."

Margreet looked at him, feeling that she was completely relaxed, so different from the beginning of the evening, despite the fire inside that had been rekindled and seemed to be spreading throughout her body.

"It was nice Huib, thank you," she whispered. "How could this be from the devil?"

"Not, it can't. If there is a devil at all, it is not capable of creating something so beautiful, is it?"

"No..." Margreets eyes went to the CD player for a moment, and then back to Huib, "I loved that music too... shall we do it again?"

Huib smiled, "I would love to, I think it's a beautiful piece of music. And how nice for you that you are getting the taste for it!"

He turned on the CD again on the last stretch, looked at Margreet and held his arms invitingly wide. Would she dare? To his great surprise and delight, she did not hesitate for a moment, but stepped forward boldly so that he could put his arm around her waist again. This time he put his hand not on her hair, but on her shoulder.

Margreet looked up at his face. She took him in, his cheerfully wavy blond hair, the shape of his face, his mouth, his beautiful blue eyes that looked at her so intensely. She marvelled at herself, that she dared to just look at him, that in the end she even dared to keep looking into his eyes and felt completely relaxed about it!

They danced without saying a word, until the final chord of the musical piece. Then Huib grabbed her head with two hands, and with tears in his eyes he gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"How is it possible Margreet, such a big difference between the beginning and the end of the evening? I can't imagine that's just because of your dress, unless it's a magic dress..."

Margreet laughed, "No, it's not, though I do feel special in it! I was surprised too, that I could totally relax now, even enjoy it! I just talked to Joke and Emma about emotional healing, and I think... Tonight when I couldn't do it very well, and certainly couldn't talk to you about it, I cried terribly in the kitchen."

Huib nodded; he had heard it, but had not been able to go to her. He had also thought that it wasn't necessary, because his mother was still there.

"Annerieke let me cry out and then we talked. It was intense, but could it be that something was already healed then? Can that happen so quickly?"

"From my own experience, I know that you can experience pieces of healing quickly. I can't say that that particular wound is completely healed, probably even not, but to the point where you've come you're a little more able, in your case, to relax more. You will still have to go through more things to get full healing from that wound. But you've already taken a big step, a leap in healing. And I'm glad about that!"

"Yeah, me too," Margreet sighed. "I think I might dare to join in next week, a dance to this kind of music... Well, we'll see about that next time. I think I'll take a shower and go to sleep, I'm pretty tired from everything. Good night Huib, and... thanks!"

"You're very welcome girl, it was special to me to experience this with you!" He gave her another kiss on her forehead. "Sleep well!"

Margreet smiled, a little embarrassed with the situation. She felt her desire to give him a kiss back, but she didn't dare, not yet. She was afraid of what he would think of it and how he would react. Silently she went out of the room, upstairs....

To chapter 28. Doing needlework together

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