“It is good she is here.”
“It is. We’re going to the beach. On a hot day like this, the water will feel wonderful.” She fanned her face as if the weather were to blame for her bright cheeks. And her foolishness made them burn even hotter.
“The beach?”
“At Vedbæk. There’s a lovely stretch by the Ahlefeldt villa.”
Hemming’s eyes grew huge. “Ahle—”
“Yes, the owner of the shipyard. I suppose it’s hard to believe there’s a real person behind the company.” Her mind filled with the sad story her grandparents had told her. “A person with hurts and cares and family troubles.”
Hemming’s gaze grew even wider, revealing silver in the blue of his eyes.
Gentle soul that he was, perhaps he couldn’t imagine a troubled family, and affection for him bloomed. “Your family must be thankful for how you care for them. Thankful you’re the sort of man who doesn’t cause family trouble.”
His chin drew back. He blinked. He backed up. “I—I must go.”
Compliments seemed to embarrass him, and she waved goodbye. “I’ll see you tonight.”
He slung his satchel over his shoulder and strode out of the church.
Else followed. When she crossed the threshold, sunlight illuminated Hemming as he hurried away with hunched shoulders, past her grandparents, who gave him subtle sidelong glances.
Possible. Impossible. Two ideas that were mutually exclusive, and yet both were true. A strange form of complementarity.
Cool water lapped at Else’s feet. She stifled a squeal and forged deeper into the sea.
“It feels so good.” Wearing a red swimsuit, Laila kicked at a wavelet.
Else tugged at the straps of her aquamarine suit. “I do miss the warm waters in California. My brothers and I would jumpas the breakers hit. Sometimes we’d miss and go tumbling in the surf. That couldn’t happen here.” She trailed her fingers through the peaceful ripples.
Laila waded in up to her waist. “Will you go back to California someday? Your brother’s at Caltech. Maybe you could become the first female physicist there.”
Else laughed. “No women allowed at Caltech. That’s why I joined my other brother at Berkeley. They’ve admitted women for generations.”
“Do you want to go back?”
Braced against the cold, Else plunged forward. “I don’t know.” She’d hoped to excel at the Institute for Theoretical Physics and wait for the most intriguing invitation.
Now she’d be happy to land a teaching position at a small liberal arts college.
Right now the war trapped her. In April, the Germans had interned the seventeen American men remaining in Denmark. If they ever came for the women, her papers as a Danish national and her position at the institute might protect her.
But if she lost her position at the institute, she’d also lose that protection.
Laila clucked her tongue. “Such a long face, my friend. Remember, you did get your name listed as an author on that paper.”
“I did.” When she’d met with Jørgen Wolff the next day, he’d insisted Mortensen include her because she belonged to the team. Not because he believed she deserved credit.
Else had presented her case calmly and rationally, but so had Mortensen. How was Wolff to know which one of them was lying?
“It’ll work out.” Laila swept her arms like wings through the water. “Mortensen knows he can no longer walk all over you. He’ll have to find a new victim.”
Else sighed. Mortensen had begun picking on Kaj Knudsen, a brilliant young graduate student whose naïve, bighearted ways irritated Mortensen.
Two boys chased each other behind Else and Laila, sloshingthrough the water. One boy tackled the other, and they bumped into Else.
She toppled forward into the water, squeezed her eyes against the salt and cold, and stumbled to get her feet beneath her.
