Chapter 97: Nice (1)
"Mother, please stop adding more to the basket. She is only one person."
"She can share them with her friends," Beatrice said, filling the basket she found for Annalise with many vegetables. "There are many ways you can make use of them. You don’t need to cook them up with something and you can snack on the fruit when you are lying down at night. "
"Thank you," Annalise replied.
"It is time for us to leave. I have other places to be," Rafael said, wanting his mother to stop now. "I will visit again."
"With Annalise?" Beatrice asked.
Rafael glanced at Annalise, who showed an awkward smile. He had a feeling he could not pay her to visit his mother ever again. "I will see," he answered.
Beatrice stood up from the ground with the full basket in her hands. "Don’t wait so long to come visit me again. I am only four houses away so there should be no excuse. I suppose I cannot keep you back when you have spent more than enough time with me. Hold the basket for Annalise, Rafael. Be a man," she said, pushing it into his arms.
"I could hold it," Annalise offered. If Beatrice could walk around with it while adding fruits and vegetables, it could not be that heavy. Sometimes Beatrice looked as though if you pushed her with one finger, she would fall over.
"I raised Rafael to always carry something for a lady. I’m sure he doesn’t mind carrying it for you, and he would have done it if I had not told him to. Right?" Beatrice asked, giving Rafael a look that urged him to say yes. He might be travelling around with thousands of men with only fighting on their minds, but that did not mean he should have lost his manners.