After an awkward brunch, Thea conveniently excused herself, saying she would get back in ten minutes after giving some pie to her neighbours.
Rees knew she was not particularly fond of these neighbours. She just used it as an excuse to give Rees and Ruth some time to speak and mend things with each other.
"Let me help you with it," Rees said as he folded his sleeves to clean the dishes, along with Ruth.
His sweet gesture touched her heart. Now that Ruth knew that Rees was a son of Edwin's mentor and belonged to a well to do family, she found it admiring how grounded he was.
In the times where the household chores were entitled to only women, she had seen him helping Thea in daily errands and other things without complaining.
Mrs Green even grumbled that he had made Thea lazy.
Ruth did not say a word and focused on what she was doing. Five minutes later, the silence between them poked her mind. She had never been so silent around him before.