Doctors and nurses in their prim white caps moved among the patients scattered on the lawn, yet there was only one nurse Finn wanted to see.
Each day, Nurse Ellie went into town with requests from patients to pick up various sundries from the commissary or to post letters. This morning she was making a special trip to the jeweler to pick up the engagement ring he had commissioned for Delia. As soon as he had the ring, he could finally propose. This day was more than ten years in the making, and he had prepared for it with care.
Delia visited him for lunch every day, and normally they ate on the sheltered veranda that was crowded with patients sitting at long tables. Not today, though. Finn wanted privacy to propose to her and so had made special arrangements to use one of the quaint round tables in the garden usually reserved for staff. Folks on the veranda might still be able to see him and Delia, but at least they wouldn’t overhear their conversation.
The creak of the front gate caught his attention, and he set aside the kite frame he was working on. “Ellie!” The nurse had just arrived, and he walked across the lawn to meet her. “Do you have the ring?”
Ellie grinned and held up her hand, the gemstone flashing on her ring finger. It was a square aquamarine stone, the exact color of the sky on a cloudless day, and Delia’s favorite color in the world.
“It’s gorgeous,” Ellie said and batted her eyelashes at him. “Are you sure you don’t want to propose to me instead?”
“Ellie, there are a couple dozen guys here who would love to take you home with them, but my heart is already taken.”
She faked a sad face and tugged the ring from her finger. “Have it your way,” she said and handed it over. “Hey, I heard a Holland America ship is arriving next week to carry more troops home, and it has lots of civilian berths available. If you get married quickly enough, maybe you can book passage on it instead of waiting for a troopship.”
The news was too good to be true. The Holland America line had first-rate passenger cabins, and it would make for a perfect honeymoon. The prospect of returning home never felt closer. Delia’s work with the CRB was coming to an end, so she could leave Europe with him.
Now that Belgium had been liberated, the small nation was in no greater need than any of the other war-torn countries. Each day saw more Belgian men and boys returning home, all those who’d been conscripted by the Germans, including Mathilde’s husband. It took Mathilde a little longer to make her way home from Switzerland, but after four long years, the Verhaegen family was once again whole.
It was almost one o’clock, the time he asked for lunch to be delivered to the garden table. He returned his kite-making tools and the half-finished frames to the workroom used by recovering soldiers and headed to the table.
All was ready. A cloth-draped basket held warm croissants, and two stoneware crocks each had a crusty layer of melted Gruyère cheese. He lifted a lid, inhaling the scent of caramelized onion. He had even bought a bottle of champagne, which was hidden beneath the table in a bucket of ice. The ring was in his pocket.He was so eager to get married and go back home that he was tempted to start packing his bags.
One o’clock came and went with no sign of Delia. He shouldn’t worry. Le Havre swarmed with thousands of soldiers flooding into the port village for their chance to sail home. The narrow cobblestone streets, built to accommodate horse carts and bicycles, now groaned under the weight of Army trucks and convoys hauling artillery lashed to flatbeds and bundled canvas tents stacked six feet high. All of it needed to be shipped home. Le Havre had never been meant to handle the crush of demobilization, so he shouldn’t be worried if traffic snarls caused Delia to be running late.
Finn used the extra time to cut a few azalea blooms for a centerpiece on the table. With nothing else to do, he sat with the basket of cooling bread and bowls of soup. Who cared if lunch got cold? For as long as he lived, Finn would never take a mouthful of food for granted.
Twenty minutes later, Delia hurried across the carpet of grass toward him. Her hair was sloppy, and she looked overheated. “Sorry I’m late,” she said, her cheeks chapped from the sea breeze. “It’s been a dreadfully busy morning.”
“Is something wrong?” It wasn’t like Delia to appear so frazzled, and it worried him.
“Nothing is wrong!” she rushed to say. “I’ve sent letters to all the CRB volunteers throughout Belgium, notifying them to expect no more shipments. I paid the last of the outstanding bills for renting the barges. As of this morning, the CRB is officially disbanded.”
A lump rose in his throat, and a suspicious prickle stung his eyes. Working for the CRB would forever be his proudest accomplishment in life, and they had finally reached the finish line. Their work was over, and they had completed the task with honor.
He lifted his glass of water. “Congratulations,” he said.
They clinked glasses. It was a toast of commemoration, of joy, of relief. It was time to return to normal life and start rebuildingtheir world. The engagement ring was burning a hole in Finn’s pocket. He was ready pop the question.
“Bertie wants a favor,” Delia said before he could pull the ring from his pocket. Her expression was a combination of regret and resignation. Finn owed Bertie his life. The problem was that Bertie knew it and wasn’t shy about asking for favors.
He left the ring in his pocket and rested his hands on the table. “Let’s hear it.”
“Now that the CRB is disbanded, Bertie has turned his attention to the American Relief Administration.”
“I know,” Finn said. It had been all over the newspapers for weeks.
The war had left Europe in a state of ruin—cities destroyed, fields barren, and millions of people teetering on the edge of starvation. Widows and orphans had been left homeless, and refugees wandered aimlessly throughout the continent, desperate for a safe place to land. Bertie planned on taking what he’d learned from running the CRB to head up an expanded version called the American Relief Administration. Their aim was to provide food, medicine, and shelter to avert the humanitarian catastrophe that threatened all of continental Europe.
“He’s looking for people to join the new organization,” Delia said. “Plenty have volunteered to work in France and Belgium, but hardly anyone is willing to go to Germany.”
Finn folded his arms across his chest, not liking the direction he sensed this conversation was going. “Please don’t tell me that Bertie is asking us to go to Germany.”
“His telegram didn’t exactly ask us. He merely pointed out that he’s in dire need of people willing to go, and we are both experienced in relief work.”
Father Gerhardt’s voice rose to the surface of Finn’s mind.“Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God.”A laugh began deep in his belly. “Oh Father Gerhardt, I can finally repay my debt to you,” he murmured.
“Bertie said we could go anywhere in Germany we want,” Delia continued. “Everywhere is destitute, and he needs people he can trust.”
