“I followed Ruth's example, you know."
He tilted his head in confusion. There was a Ruth in his neighborhood. But when could she have met her? "Ruth?"
She gave him a pull-yourself-together look. "King David's great-grandmother."
"Oh, that Ruth." He sat up straight. "Wait. You did?"
She turned so she could look him in the eyes. Softly, so softly he had to lean close to her, she whispered, "Your people be my people, and your God my God."
Whatever control he had exerted over his heart for months, whatever walls he had built, simply crumbled. He tugged her until she laid against his chest, and for a long time, simply held her.
"I love you," he said.”