“Ilse?” Jan suddenly appeared on the doorway.
The knife fell from her grasp, clattering to the marble countertop.
Oh God.
Oh God.
Oh God.
How had she become so weak?
Jan walked into the kitchen, and she swallowed past the painful lump in her throat. “W-what is it?”
He handed her several pieces of mail. “I forgot to give you this.”
“T-thank you.” She managed a smile. “Go back to the living room. I’ll bring the food out when it’s ready.”
“Okay.”
She waited for him to leave before reluctantly reaching for one of the envelopes on the table. It used to be that prospects of receiving letters excited her, but now it only filled Ilse with dread.
Tearing the envelope open, she pulled out two greetings cards and was startled to find that it was from her parents and Jan. They were dated almost exactly a year ago, a day after Christmas.
She read Jan’s card first, her lips curving at his familiar and nearly illegible scrawl. Everything was also written in big block letters, mainly because he found it the easiest style to write.
DEAR ILSE,
MERYMERRY CHRISTMAS!
SORRY IF I MAKE YOU ANGRY SOMETIMES.
I LOVE YOU.
JAN
She folded the card closed with shaking hands.
Our dearest Ilse,
May this be such a wonderfully sweet surprise that you will think it is your most precious gift, and you will have no need to burn a hole in our pockets like you usually do. Even now, we can’t remember how it is you’ve convinced us that it’s okay for you to shop for your own Christmas gifts.
We love you very much. You are the image of perfection the first day you were born, but when we saw how much you love your older brother, we realize that you were even more perfect than we realized.
We used to worry about Jan, wondering who would take care of him if we were gone, but then you came into our lives, and we realized that God has answered our prayers through you.
Stay as you are, our beloved baby girl.
Merry Christmas!
Love,
Mama and Papa
Chapter One
Present Time
Red Light District, Amsterdam
