“You know better than that. I’m one of the organizers.” Rita stood. “Mrs. Gathers, thanks again for bringing Katja to us.” Her eyes sparkling, she said to Sophia, “Sweetheart, I am looking forward to getting to know you. Come back real soon.”
Rita picked up her leather pocketbook and motioned for Maceo to give Sophia a hug goodbye, which he did. Then Sophia watched the tenderness among the three as Ozzie kissed Rita’s cheek and exchanged a fist bump with Maceo. This was what she had been missing: genuine love.
“Why don’t we go into the kitchen. Do you two like pancakes?”
“I do,” Sophia said.
“Rita left us a batch in the oven, along with some bacon.”
Mrs. Gathers stood. “Mr. Philips, I’m in the middle of writing an article forThe Philadelphia Tribune. Do you mind if I use your desk in that corner to work on it? I’m sure you two have a lot to catch up on.”
“Absolutely,” he said, and then moved a few books around and pulled out her chair.
The kitchen was painted a bright yellow, and every surface was immaculate, not a dish in the sink or a crumb to be found.
“Do you drink coffee?”
“No, just water or milk if you have it.” Sophia slipped into the wooden chair adjacent to the refrigerator. The round table was covered with a checkered tablecloth, and two places had been set.
Ozzie sat the platter between them and then served the food. “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. Kept thinking about you coming back. Hoping that you wouldn’t change your mind.”
“Why would I do that?”
Ozzie shrugged, and a few silent moments passed between them.
“This is a really nice house,” Sophia said, thinking about how dilapidated the farmhouse was in comparison.
“Thanks. It took a lot to get us here, but it’s home. You’re always welcome.” Ozzie slipped a slice of pancake into his mouth, then put down his fork. “I placed ads in the local papers in Mannheim, and I never heard anything back. How in the world did you find us?”
Sophia told him about meeting Max, the German words flying from her mouth, and then about tracking down Mrs. Gathers through the white pages.
He said, “I had read about her inEbonymagazine years ago. But it never dawned on me that you could be one of the children she brought to America. I had always assumed that you were with Jelka in Mannheim. That’s why my trail always went cold.”
“That makes sense.” Sophia chewed. She went on to tell Ozzie how Mrs. Gathers had retrieved Jelka’s information from the St. Hildegard’s children’s orphanage and learned that she had moved to America.
He choked. “You lived in an orphanage?”
Sophia nodded. “But I don’t remember much.” She kept the nightmares of the fire to herself. “Jelka’s second husband was an American stationed in Mannheim. Jutta said when Jelka came over, she brought Jutta too. With Mrs. Gathers’s help, I found their address in Williamsburg, Virginia.”
“You are way more resilient than I was at your age.” Ozzie stood, then cleaned off the table and poured himself a second cup of coffee. “What are your adopted parents like?”
Sophia didn’t want to tell him that they were mean, worked her like a dog, and lied to her. Instead, she said, “I never felt like I fit. It always seemed like a part of me was missing.” Then she could feel her cheeks warm with delight as she told him about her three brothers.
“And you grew up on a farm? In southern Maryland?”
She nodded just as Mrs. Gathers entered the kitchen.
“Are you two all right?” she asked, looking at Sophia, who said that she was fine.
Ozzie rose to his feet and reached for another mug. “Please join us and at least have a cup of coffee with me.”
Mrs. Gathers sat on the other side of the round table. “Black is fine.”
“Sophia was just telling me that we were only living a couple hundred miles apart from each other all this time. Unreal.”
Then he got really quiet, and Sophia wondered what part of their lives he was reliving.
To ease his mind, she said, “Jutta told me that Jelka took me to the orphanage because her first husband was a dangerous man. She left me there, even though she didn’t want to, for my safety.”
