They were ready on time for supper and just helped Annerieke bring the dishes to the dining room together. Mark and Greet were already there. Greet approached Margreet: "You took care of those Hydrangeas didn't you? So very nice, it makes it even more homely! I just sat on the edge of the bed looking at them for a moment. Those colors, so between full and faded flowering... so beautiful! I heard from Annerieke that you are going to dry them later and then put them in those big vases. You really have an eye for it, I think it will be beautiful!"

Margreet beamed, "It’s great that you are enjoying it so much! It was special, I was at the thrift store to buy those glass vases. When I had taken them from the shelf, I felt I had to look around a bit more, there was something else, but I didn't know what. And then I saw those two big vases, exactly the colors of the Hydrangea flowers when they are in full bloom! I just knew I had to take them."

Mark had come to stand with them. "And what happened to the towels? I was just so thoroughly cold that I decided to take a good hot shower. I noticed the towel smelled so good. Do you use a different detergent?"

"No," Margreet laughed, "Sjaak had cut off a lot of sprigs when the Lavender was at the end of its flowering and hung them in bunches in the shed to dry. I snatched quite a few sprigs from them yesterday... with Sjaaks permission of course... and hung them in the linen closet on the landing. This morning I also noticed that the smell had already penetrated the towels. Oh wow, your reactions make me happy! Thank you!"

Mark and Greet sat down at one of the tables and Margreet left for the kitchen to see if more could be brought to the dining room. She saw the large tray of desserts standing there. She wanted to pick it up, but go an idea: "Annerieke, this tray, do you think it would be an idea if we put a rug in it? That might just look a bit cozier."

Annerieke smiled and opened a cupboard. She pointed to a pile of rugs. "At one time I used those, but I felt burdensome to take care of more laundry because of it, so I stopped using them after Erik died. I had enough to deal with at the time."

Margreet nodded, understanding, but not thinking it was a problem for herself: "The washing machines are never completely full of towels and so on, so as far as I'm concerned we can add a few more rugs. Do you mind if we start using them again?"

Annerieke nodded, "Go ahead, it always looks cozy."

Margreet immediately started to put the bowls on the counter and placed a small rug in the tray. It was big enough to hang over the edge on all sides a bit, even over the handles. She put the bowls back on, enjoyed the effect for a moment, and brought the tray into the dining room. Joke, who was just about to sit down, immediately saw what she had done and raised her thumb, "Nice to see the rugs back in use! Looks sweet!"

Margreet gave her a wink and went back to the kitchen to eat herself.

.

What it was because of, no one could tell afterwards. But a fact was, Lisa was touched by something, triggered by something, and she got all upset. She no longer knew what to do and felt hopelessly uncomfortable. She was closer to crying than to laughing, but the tears refused to come. When she stood up, she looked from one to the other with big bewildered eyes.

Sjaak now was to the point where he would have preferred to pull her into his arms to comfort her, to offer her safety, but intuitively he felt that he was not yet the right person to do that. He tried to find the right words, or something else to do, but couldn't think of anything. That made his old feeling of awkwardness in company come back to the surface with great speed.

Where everyone was focused on Lisa, Huib also saw what was going on in Sjaak. He shot up and went over to him, put his hand on his shoulder and took him into the hallway for a moment. "You can't do anything for now, no matter how bad it is, she will feel safer if a woman helps her. Margreet has already gone to her." Huib had seen her embrace Lisa. That gesture had caused her tears to flow soundlessly.

"Sjaak, I don't know what she wants after this, but I think Margreet and I will invite her to join us later. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes of course, I..." Sjaak started to reel a little, "I would have liked to help her, but... You know, yesterday something bizarre happened. I didn't have a click with Lisa at all yet, she didn't seem unsympathetic, but nothing more. And in the garden she and Margreet were teasing me a bit and then suddenly I felt upset, I had no idea about what. And man, I still can't believe it, but I suddenly knew that Lisa is the woman who belongs to me. I couldn't get my head around it, I wasn't in love with her at all or so."

Huib nodded smiling, "I understand, you have felt the spark huh, your soul has clearly spoken, but you felt nothing else. I saw it happen yesterday at lunch, a spark that ignited. And later in the afternoon I could hear through your piano playing that you had discovered it. And at the end of the afternoon, how you stood listening to Lisa's violin playing... Your face spoke volumes. I loved seeing you had discovered it, but also felt sorry for you. You'll have to be patient man, I can't imagine that Lisa will throw herself into the arms of another man immediately after all she's been through."

Sjaak felt pleasantly surprised, "I don't quite understand how it works, that you knew before I did, but Huib, I'm happy about it, I felt so uncomfortable, so awkward! I didn't know what to do with it. I wasn't even in love, I didn't feel anything. Well, that has changed in the meantime, and in a way I'm glad about that, but it also makes me long for her, and I can't do anything with that yet. And now that she is so upset, I would prefer to do what Margreet is doing now. Pull her against me, comfort her. But the realization that that's not good for her yet, that made me feel so powerless, so clumsy!"

"Powerless yes, in some sense you are at the moment, but awkward no, it has nothing to do with being awkward. You do feel that way, but you are not. You have been touched in that old wound of yours, that wound that is in the process of healing. You have come a long way, Sjaak, but apparently it is not quite over yet. It doesn't matter, just let it be as it is, it will take you another step forward. And there will come a day, when you will feel how you can be there for Lisa and how you can lure her to you."

Sjaak grinned, "That makes me curious!"

"Me too," Huib laughed, "we'll see!"

They went back to the kitchen. Huib saw that Lisa had already calmed down and dried her tears. He went over to her, put his hand on her shoulder, "Say Lisa, would you like to go home with us tonight after cleaning up?"

Lisa nodded, "Margreet just asked that too, and I think I'd like that distraction for a while. But... am I really not too much to you?"

"Well no, if you get annoying, we'll send you back here!" Huib teased. Seeing his roguish eyes, she understood that it was a little tease, and smiled. "Okay, I'll see how far I can go!" she teased back.

Everyone burst out laughing. "Good for you Lisa, give that guy the creeps!" Sjaak encouraged... and immediately abruptly shut up, startled by his own spontaneity.

Huib and Lisa, however, laughed at him. "Oh yeah Sjaak, I'll give him a shit!" Lisa responded.

Now it was Huibs turn to stare at her open-mouthed, while Sjaak burst into laughter.

Annerieke and Margreet looked at each other and shook their heads.

"Nice couple huh," Annerieke said to her.

"Well, that’s what you say, really a bunch of weirdos!"

To chapter 64. Distraction

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