Page 54 of It's Not PMS, It's You

I just wanted Ruth to be happy.

At first, I was tempted to go home after we had finished the job and let Ruth be surprised when she came home and found the place put back together. But then I thought I needed to explain some things, especially why I felt the need to disobey her direct orders. I had three surprises for her, and hopefully they would be enough to smooth out any friction between us.

“I hear a car out front,” Brandon said, moving some of the loose dirt around the rose bushes with his hands one more time.

I grabbed the empty bags of fertilizer, bunched them into a ball, and stuck them in the recycle bin on the side of the house. Then I returned to the backyard and sat on the bench by the fountain, waiting for Ruth.

Sure enough, a minute later, Ruth peeked through the kitchen window out to the backyard.

Her jaw dropping open could have been perceived as a good sign or a bad sign, depending on what was going on in her mind. I wasn’t a mind reader. I would just have to wait to find out.

Please let her be happy when she sees what I did.

Ruth came outside and took a few steps toward the roses, pointing at them. “I told you not to touch anything.”

I nodded. “You did.” I turned to Brandon. “Why don’t you go ahead and take off. I’ll talk to you later.”

He creased his brow. “Are you sure?”

I almost wanted to laugh.

He was probably thinking of staying around to protect me from Ruth.

I can handle her.

He’d obviously forgotten that I had been married to someone a lot like her.

“I’m sure.” I shooed him away toward the side yard with my hand. “Seriously. You can go.”

He hesitated. “Okay, but make sure you eat something. You’ve been working almost ten hours without a break or food and that’s not good for your heart.”

“What?” Ruth said. “Are you crazy? Why would you do something like that?”

“He’s exaggerating,” I lied. “Talk to you later, Brandon. Thanks again for everything.”

“You’re welcome. Good night.” He smiled at Ruth and walked by the both of us.

“Good night,” Ruth said, which was a good sign.

The silent treatment would’ve been a lot worse.

We both watched Brandon disappear through the side gate.

Ruth turned back to me. “Please explain yourself.” She took a few steps closer to the roses and inspected them. “I told you not to touch these. You don’t know the significance of these roses and what they mean to me.”

“Actually, I do.”

“Is that right?” She placed her hands on her hips in an all-too familiar move I had seen before, letting me know that she was confident I had no idea what the hell I was talking about and that she was looking forward to setting me straight. “You know that my grandmother planted them with me before she passed and that they’reveryspecial to me?”

What did I tell you? I saw that coming a mile away. And she did set me straight because I was wrong in my assumption. I thought she just loved her roses. I had no idea they were connected to someone in her past who brought her special memories.

I winced. “No, I didn’t know that part about your grandma. My condolences.”

“Thank you, but she lived a good life. Died at ninety-five, happy and satisfied.”

I forced a smile at Ruth, trying to calm the waters. “That’s good to know.”

“Yes, but that’s beside the point.” Karma walked over to Ruth and licked her leg below the dress. “Not now, Karma.You’rethe one who started this. Why did you dig up my roses?” She scratched the dog under her chin. “You can’t go doing things like that, even though we know it was really someone else’s fault, not yours.”