Chapter 13The old doorbell buzzed tiredly in the kitchen. Its sound, to which Ruth had grown accustomed, resembled a crow’s croak.
“He’s here.”
“So it appears. I thought you wanted to answer the—” Nili looked up from setting the table. “Ruti, you’re white as a sheet.”
Ruth nodded, her feet firmly planted to the aging turquoise-and-white-checked linoleum.
“Oh dear,” Nili said. “This one really does have you in a tizzy.”
“What was I thinking, inviting him here?”
“I believe you said something about showing him how—”
The doorbell whined again.
Ruth’s eyes grew wide. “I can’t do this.”
“Yes, you can.” Nili guided her to the kitchen doorway. “It’s either that or leave the poor man standing in the rain on the doorstep all night.”
Ruth brushed the front of her smooth-lined, tea-length bl
