Page 39 of Leviticus
“Ruth? Ruth!” I called out, sprinting down the stairs. I entered the kitchen and found her. “Jesus, you scared me!” I shouted and she jumped, dropping the frying pan down against the stovetop with a clatter.
“Mercy! I scaredyou!You just about made me jump out of my very skin, Levi!” she yelped. I tried to slow my breathing, to calm my racing heart.
“I just… I thought…” I stammered dumbly.
“You thought what?”
“I thought you had left,” I finally admitted, my arms falling limply to my sides in defeat.
“Left you? Why would I leave you? And where would I go?” she scoffed, as though the mere notion were ridiculous.
“Well, after last night and everything that was said — or not said. I mean, I suppose —”
“Levi, I took a vow. That means not leaving,” she stated with such sincere honesty. She was completely adamant, her eyes locked on mine and driving her point home in their dark depths. There was no lie to her. There was nothing but utter conviction. That conviction, that devotion, took my breath away.
“Ruth, I can’t wait until tonight,” I blurted out.
“To have this talk of ours, you mean?” she asked with the faintest hint of a smile playing at her lips. It was almost … well, it was almost like coy flirtation. Was Ruth flirting with me? The very notion flabbergasted me.
“Yes. I spent a lot of time thinking about it last night,” I began.
“When you were chopping wood,” she interjected, plating our food deftly, like it was second nature.
“Yes, when I was chopping wood. And as much as I wanted to give this talk some time, to give my words time to ruminate and to give myself time to make sure I was speaking words that you would understand, I just…” I trailed off as words failed me once more. What was with me lately? I was not a blundering buffoon, inarticulate and stammering. Well, I wasn’t until Ruth came around.
“You just what?” she urged, setting me back on my path with a knowing smile.
“I just don’t want to put it off any longer. You don’t need well rehearsed words. You need honesty. You deserve that, if nothing else.”
She set the plates at the table and came to my side, placing her hand on my arm and smiling at me like I was the cause of her happiness.
“Thank you, Levi. Thank you for hearing me. Your honesty is all I wanted. But let’s wait until after breakfast, okay?” With that, she lifted onto her tiptoes and kissed my cheek before taking her place at the table.
Breakfast was filled with relative silence broken up with small spurts of small talk. Once we were both finished and Ruth had cleared the table, it was time.
“Do you want to talk here or —” she began.
“No, let’s talk in my study.” I didn’t miss the way her cheeks flushed that beautiful rosy hue. “I promise to keep my hands to myself.” I vowed with an honest smile.
“For now I suppose that’s fine,” she stated with a come-hither smile I had absolutely no idea she possessed. And then she walked right past me towards my study.
Ruth Temple was flirting with me.
I picked my proverbial jaw up off the ground and followed her, shutting the door behind me.
“I want to start by saying that this conversation isn’t an easy one for me, and there are things we will discuss that might not be easy for you to hear. But I would ask that you listen until the end and not jump to any conclusions,” I started, pacing the room.
“You sound more like the headmistress from school, about to scold me, rather than my husband trying to tell me something,” she chuckled.
“No, not scolding. I have no reason to scold you.”Yet,I added in my head. “I just want to make sure I’m being very clear.”
“Levi, I’m not going anywhere. I promise to not jump straight to conclusions and I promise to listen to everything you have to say. But I have a few things of my own I want to add.” That surprised me.
“Go ahead,” I urged, eager to hear her thoughts.
“I will listen to all you have to say and I will do my best not to judge or jump to conclusions, but in return, you will answer any questions I have.” Her request was a reasonable one, a sound one even, and one easy to accept.
“Very well, I accept.”
