Capture the tide.

Chapter 9

Dinner with Marina and her grandmother was pleasant even if Joseph had felt he was intruding on their annual Sunday roast though they both insisted it was fine for him to be there. Most of the dinner was spent in comfortable silence, each person sitting amongst their own thoughts as they ate, conversations picking up on one topic or another before dulling once again. Joseph noted the way Marina's eyes lit up at the table, as if she was finally feeling some sense of normalcy return. 

As the night came to a close, he bid Marina goodnight before her grandmother Christine led him to the door, discussing what they'd need from the markets come morning. 

"If you could go by Mrs. Masons stall and grab a jar or two of her Homegrown honey that would be wonderful, I just used my last bit to glaze the chicken and I don't fancy waiting another week, I like to have it on my toast in the mornings." Mrs. Brooks said with a smile that crinkled the lines beside her eyes.

Christine had refused his help in the first days but as supplies got low Joseph could tell that she didn't feel right leaving her granddaughters side just yet, so she'd reluctantly relented and had been sending him on errands ever since. Whether it was to the markets, around the farmlands or to places her arthritis pained knees couldn't reach, whatever she had asked for Joseph had obliged with a warm smile on his face. Some of the work was harder than others but he began to relish in that opportunity to get his hands dirty, falling in love with the farm and the work that needed to be done. So much so that he found himself walking around the grounds finding other things to do when he'd run out of tasks. Early mornings and late nights, dinners with Marina and her grandmother, sitting on the back step with a cup of tea as Marina read her recent chapter aloud to him, watching the dogs play and the sun fall behind the trees. This last week as hard as it had been watching Marina heal, had been the best week of his life.

Joseph blinked and found Christine starring at him with a warm knowing smile as he faced towards the farmland beyond the porch with longing in his eyes, her cleared his throat suddenly realizing that she was waiting on a reply.

"Of course, Mrs. Brooks, is there anything else you might need?" Joseph asked politely with a sheepish smile.

"I've have known you for years Joseph Tarly, you can call me Christine" She let out a soft laugh that had her eyes twinkling in amusement.

"Very well... Christine" Christine smiled in appreciation before his eyes wandered once again towards the farm. They both stood there for a long moment, starring out at the grassed sea, the sounds of the wildlife mixing with rustling of the trees and becoming one.

For a while all they did was watch and listen to the land move with appreciation, seeing a beauty that not all eyes see, finding a common understanding in each other. Minutes passed by as they watched mesmerized before Christine said softly, words filled with love, "Thank you for always looking after my Marina".

Joseph looked towards her as she faced the grounds, he went to speak but he choked on the words as Marina's grandmother's eyes lined with silver, shining with appreciation.

"Before she met you, Marina was merely a shell of what she once was before she lost her mother... she was lost and angry... so angry" Christine's chocolate eyes grew distant and sad at the memory. "And rightfully so... I never gave up on that girl and even though she would smile, it always had a distant sadness to it"

Joseph could do nothing but listen as Christine told him her version of events. He remembered how Marina had been before and after her mother's passing, a bright bubbly girl who although preferred her own company had always been in the center on conversations in class, asking questions no one would think of, encouraging and helpful to all no matter their ranking and completely unafraid to admit when she was wrong. A true and brilliant leader, one Joseph had hoped to follow when they took their father's places.