Mrs. Moorsum, seemingly oblivious to Estelle’s discomfort, encouraged her, “Estelle, give Mr. Hans a bowl of soup. Everyone else has one except him.”
Estelle, still feeling flustered, hesitated while holding the tissue. Cristofer managed a bitter smile and tried to stand with the help of his walking stick, saying, “It’s okay. I can get the soup myself.”
But Estelle firmly insisted, “Just stay seated. It’s not easy for you to move around like that. Let me do it.”
Luke and Mrs. Moorsum had already sat down and were sipping their soup contentedly. They were pleased to see Estelle and Cristofer engaged in conversation. After Estelle slid a bowl of soup to Cristofer, he took a sip and complimented, “Mrs. Moorsum’s cooking is really amazing. The pear flavor is delightful, and the seasoning is unique. It’s perfect for this time of year.”
Still preoccupied with the earlier awkwardness, Estelle tried to change the subject, “Yes, Christina, you should drink more since you don’t like drinking water.”
Christina agreed, “Okay, Mom. This pear soup is nothing like the one at kindergarten. It doesn’t taste strange at all. It’s really delicious!” She happily finished her soup without any reminders.
Estelle nodded and added with her gaze lowered, “Mrs. Moorsum, your cooking is really admirable.”
Mrs. Moorsum graciously responded, “I appreciate your kind words. Thank you.”
Estelle glanced at the children, who were fully engrossed in their soup, and admitted, “I haven’t had your food in such a long time.”
Mrs. Moorsum quickly offered, “You should come here more often. I’ll be here all the time now. Feel free to visit whenever you want me to cook, and I’ll make whatever you want!”
“Yeah, you’re absolutely right,” Estelle said.
The children still had homework to finish, so they returned to the sofa after cleaning up their dishes. Yohan had some math exercises to do, while the girls had a simpler task of drawing and cutting paper.
Yvonne excelled at drawing, using crayons to create patterns on the paper. Christina, wielding a pair of scissors, suggested, “Let’s make cutouts of everyone in the family!”
Estelle, sitting beside them with a hint of amusement in her eyes, remarked, “Don’t you think that’s a bit challenging? Do you need my help?”
As she spoke, Cristofer also joined them, taking a seat beside the girls. He aimed to alleviate the tension that lingered from dinner. With a smile, he offered, “This sounds like a big project. I’d love to help.”
“Awesome!” Christina joyfully clapped her hands.
Estelle hesitated for a moment as if she wanted to say something but then decided not to express it. She took a deep breath and handed the crafting tools to Cristofer, saying, “You can help the kids, and I can go to the kitchen to help Mrs. Moorsum. She’s just returned, and we have a lot to discuss.”
In a flash, she darted towards the kitchen, leaving Cristofer behind. He looked up, watching her retreat, and let out a sigh, catching the attention of Yvonne and Christina.
Yvonne sweetly asked, “Dad, did you upset Mom? You should apologize to her. When I have disagreements with other kids at kindergarten, we apologize and reconcile.”
“That’s right. Even Don is really nice to us now.” Christina admired her sister’s wisdom.
Amused by their innocence, Cristofer replied, “Sure, I’ll apologize to your mom when I get the chance. But for now, let’s focus on your homework, alright?”
Meanwhile, Estelle entered the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to help Mrs. Moorsum. However, Mrs. Moorsum stopped her and said, “You don’t need to help me, Estelle. Eva has already placed the dishes in the dishwasher. I just need to take them out once they’re sanitized.”
Eva, standing nearby, still felt nervous and asked cautiously, “Estelle, are you here to punish me?”
Estelle, no longer angry, responded, “Am I really that petty? All I ask is that you stop lying to me in the future.” Estelle regarded Eva as a younger sister and didn’t hold her responsible for what had happened. She saw Eva as outgoing, smart, and kind. Estelle also remembered the story Cristofer had shared about Eva and her ex-boyfriend, so she wanted to look out for her.
Mrs. Moorsum, while plucking the stems off strawberries, wasn’t aware of the situation but decided to share what she had observed when she arrived at the house earlier that day.
“You arrived quite late, so you might not know what happened. When I got here this afternoon with my luggage, I saw Mr. Hans sitting on the sofa, looking very sad. Vincent was with him, trying to console him, but it didn’t seem to help. After Vincent left, Mr. Hans still appeared extremely upset.”
Estelle realized this was the time she had dinner with Wern and remained silent.
After thinking for a moment, Mrs. Moorsum continued, “I didn’t know why he was so distressed, but when I was signing the contract, he suddenly asked me if he looked different from before.”
Curious, Estelle asked, “What did you tell him then?” She wondered if there was something she had missed. ‘Cristofer looks quite young, so there shouldn’t be any significant changes. But his leg injury…’
Meeting Estelle’s gaze, Mrs. Moorsum replied, “I examined him closely, but I couldn’t find anything different. Eventually, I noticed some gray hairs in his sideburns.”
****
That day, Vincent returned to work at the company, and Luke was gardening outside. Inside the house, it was only Mrs. Moorsum and Cristofer.
When Mrs. Moorsum informed Cristofer about his gray hair, he quickly requested a mirror to examine it closely. He then asked, “Mrs. Moorsum, is it just one gray hair, or are there many?”
“It’s just one,” Mrs. Moorsum responded honestly. “Actually, it’s quite normal for a hardworking man like you to have gray hair. I’ve worked for another man who had a lot of gray hair in his twenties, even though he was younger than you. You actually look much younger than your peers.”
Upon hearing this, Estelle burst into laughter, and she turned to see Eva laughing so hard that she was bending over. With a twinkle in her eye, Estelle couldn’t resist asking, “What did he do next?”
Mrs. Moorsum chuckled and replied, “Well, he looked at himself in the mirror and anxiously plucked out the gray hair.”
As Mrs. Moorsum went on, Estelle was gradually lost in thought. ‘When I dated Cristofer before, I would always make fun of him as he was three years older than me. Back then, I looked younger than my peers. And when I was in Lanster, some people even mistook me for a high school student.’
‘Besides, other people at school would also gossip about us and say that Cristofer was too old for me. And Cristofer was often irritated by their words. Alas… We were so in love back then. Who would’ve thought we would end up like this?’