And yet behind the blinking blond eyelashes, something flickered in the narrow band of green-blue. Concern for Charlie. Acceptance of the consequences of his words. Acceptance of losing her.
The front door opened. “Ivy? I’m back.”
Aunt Ruby! Staring at Gerrit’s tortured face, Ivy fought to control her breath and signaled for him to stay silent. She slipped out of the examination room, shut the door behind her, and stood in front of the door to keep her aunt out—and so Gerrit could hear. “Did you pass on the message?”
“I did, and I received one in return.” Aunt Ruby set a little box of medicine bottles on the desk, and she gripped Ivy’s hands. “Charlie is in hiding, and Dr. Tipton treated him.”
“Thank you, Lord.” Ivy sagged back against the door, and it rattled.
“Miss de Ferrers said he was shot in the side and lost a lot of blood. He’s still in danger.” Aunt Ruby leaned close. “We are not allowed to know where he is. Miss de Ferrers said the Germans will follow you, and you must keep that in mind when making home visits. I don’t know why she made me promise to tell you, but she insisted.”
“She’s being considerate.” Ivy raised a watery smile. She would no longer be treating patients in the ring.
Aunt Ruby’s gaze sharpened. “We need to promptly forget we heard this about Charlie. We know only what the Germans know, understood?”
“Understood.” She’d let Uncle Arthur and Aunt Opal know when she saw them next, but no one else. “You can tell Uncle Leo, but we mustn’t tell Fern.”
“No.” Her lips folded in, then she shook her head and glanced at her wristwatch. “Your first appointment is in twenty minutes. Is the examination room ready?”
“Almost.” As soon as she shooed away her visitor. “Why don’t you inspect the damage upstairs?”
Aunt Ruby clucked her tongue. “The waiting room.”
“I’ll take care of that.” Ivy set chairs upright as Aunt Ruby ascended the stairs. When she reached the top, Ivy would escort Gerrit out. Thank goodness he was wearing a civilian suit rather than his uniform—the field police would assume him to be a patient.
The front door banged open and shut, and Fern hurried into the waiting room. Her face was red, and tear tracks marred her high cheekbones. “Any news on Charlie?”
None that she could repeat, but Fern’s concern for her brother softened Ivy’s spine. “I don’t know where he is.”
Fern let out a fierce grunt. “This is your fault. You filled his head with nonsense, but all he had to do was obey the rules.”
Ivy’s spine hardened again. “I never told him to break any rules.And if he’d told me he planned to escape, I would have begged him not to.”
Gerrit would have too, and Ivy’s breath caught. He was no more to blame for Charlie’s actions than she was.
“You and Charlie.” Fern thrust a finger in Ivy’s direction. “You don’t even care how your actions affect me.”
A laugh erupted. The hypocrisy, when Fern didn’t care how her actions affected Ivy and Charlie. “You? Charlie has been shot, and you’re concerned about how this affectsyou?”
“I lost my job.” Fern’s mouth shrank into a tiny dot. “I went to Helmut to ask for his help, to ask for mercy for Charlie when they find him. But he said he can’t trust me, not with the family under investigation. He—they think I might be a spy.”
Ivy gave a sympathetic murmur. “He won’t see you anymore, will he?”
Sparks flared in Fern’s eyes. “It’s your fault. You couldn’t bear seeing me happy, and you ruined it.”
Ivy gritted her teeth so she wouldn’t speak the truth. Again.
“Is this your revenge?” Fern’s nostrils flared. “You’re jealous because I’m in love, and you—you know nothing about love. You never will.”
“I know more about love than you ever will.” Ivy let out a little gasp. Why had she said that? She’d all but admitted to being in love.
The sparks quenched, but the nostrils flared even wider, and Fern released a scoffing sound. “I pity you.” She whirled away and marched upstairs.
As soon as Fern’s bedroom door slammed, Ivy rushed into the examination room. “Did you hear Aunt Ruby?” she whispered.
“I did.” Gerrit leaned back against the examination table, gripping the edge, his expression taut. “Trust your friends to treat him, to hide him.”
“I do.” She leaned back against the table beside him so they could speak quietly.
