27
I was absolutely dying to ask Ruth about the sparks I had seen between her and Mr. Greene, but I forced myself to wait until the kids were in bed.
I told myself not to say anything and to let it unfold organically. But once Susie and Bobby were down, I just couldn’t help it.
Ruth was watching Ed Sullivan when I came down the stairs, and I managed to wait until he went to commercial after Judy Garland finished singing “Smile” before I turned to her.
“You and Mr. Greene certainly seemed to hit it off,” I said, watching her for a reaction.
She brushed a piece of hair (which hadn’t been out of place) behind her ear, which I gleefully took as a victory. Women in love played with their hair. Women who weren’t interested did nothing of the sort.
“Joseph? Well, we knew each other a long time ago, when he was at the O Street Market. You knew that.”
“Yes, but I couldn’t tell you the name of a single person at a market where I shopped before Eddie took over Greene’s.”
“Maybe you’re just not friendly enough,” Ruth said, her eyes drifting back toward the television, where a disembodied voice told us that people who think young, say Pepsi please.
“I’ve known Mr. Greene since I was in college,” I said. “I’ve never seen him light up like when he saw you.”
She touched her hair again. “Haven’t you ever run into an old friend?”
“Is that what he was?”
She snapped her attention back to me. “What are you implying? We were both married—happily married—when we knew each other.”
“I’m not implying anything. I just think it was an awfully ... happy ... reunion for a grocer and a shopper.”
“And what about you and Eddie? I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
That took an unexpected turn. “I—what? Eddie’s my best friend’s brother. Of course we’re friendly with each other.”
“Mmhmm,” Ruth said knowingly. “I had a best friend too. Her brother never did more than pull on my braids. He certainly didn’t come fix my wall when Abe passed.”
I ran a hand through my hair. She was impossible. “Oh, did you blow up your own oven and need him to? Or did your mother-in-law start a fire?”
“Cute,” Ruth said, then something in her demeanor softened.
“You don’t understand what it was like,” she said slowly, looking off into the distance.
“Abe did his best, but the Depression ...” She shook her head.
“Joseph was kind. He understood the hardship of feeding a family back then. And he was good about helping to stretch a dollar to its fullest. Not everyone at the market cared if your family went hungry. And when Abe died ... Let’s just say Harry learned a valuable lesson from that.
There was some insurance, but not nearly enough.
I took in boarders, and I worked at a drugstore while Harry was in school.
” She glanced back at me and shook her head.
“Harry never knew that. I never wanted him to know how tight money was.” She lowered her head, studying her hands.
“A woman working back then ... But Joseph used to slip extra food into my basket. He knew somehow. You can’t understand how much that helped when everything looked bleak. ”
I swallowed the lump that was rising in my throat.
I understood all too well. No, money wasn’t tight—Harry knew more than she realized, based on the sizable insurance policy he had hidden from me.
But those extra treats that Eddie sent for the children.
The way he always seemed to know the best small gifts for them.
The way he looked after us in ways that I didn’t even know I needed until he showed up to patch a wall, shovel a walkway, or bring dog supplies.
I understood exactly how much that support meant when life without Harry got too overwhelming.
I put a hand on top of Ruth’s. “He sounds like an even more wonderful man than I knew,” I said quietly.
She pulled her hand from mine. “Yes, well ... it was nice to see him.”
I didn’t tell her what I had overheard, about the funeral.
About how he didn’t want to overstep by coming to the shivah.
I couldn’t remember if Eddie was at Harry’s funeral.
I only knew that he arranged the shivah platters because Janet told me later.
That whole period was a dark blur of tears, when simply forcing myself to take the next breath consumed my existence.
I could still feel the weight of that sorrow—something physical, like when the summer humidity of DC felt like it was pressing you to the earth and not allowing you to breathe—whenever I thought about the funeral or shivah.
But I also wasn’t giving up on this one.
That awful man whom she invited to dinner last week was all wrong.
So was Mr. Moskowitz. But this? This had real potential.
Even if Janet—and Eddie—might not love it.
But then again ... Would they really deny their father the happiness that I saw on his face while talking to Ruth?
Okay, Janet would.
But Eddie would absolutely come around and help Janet to as well. I hoped.
“We should invite him for dinner,” I said, thinking aloud.
“No,” Ruth said immediately.
I looked at her, curious. “Why not? If he’s a friend.”
She pointed a finger at me. “Now don’t you go getting ideas,” she said. “It was nice to catch up with him. That’s all.” Her lips curled up into a coy grin. “Unless you’re interested in him, that is. In which case, I’d be happy to invite him.”
“Ruth!”
She chuckled. “That’s what I thought. Now hush. The show is back on. Ed said it’s going to be a really big one.”
“You know he says that every single week, right?”
“Has he been wrong yet?”
She did have a point.