“My mother sang too.”
“Sometimes,” Delia said, a surprise streak of longing biting at the back of her throat. “When I miss her the most, I hum one of the songs she used to sing to me when I was little. It makes me feel a little better, as if she’s right here with me.”
Anna watched her a moment and then nodded.
The quiet stretched between them for a few moments before Delia broke the silence.
“Do you know why your father and I get so upset when you run away or when we don’t know where you are?” she asked.
She was sure Anna would nod. The answer felt obvious, after all. But the girl shook her head.
“We worry,” Delia told her. “It scares us. Your papa especially. He wants so badly for you to be safe and comforted. When he doesn’t know where you are, he becomes afraid that something terrible has happened.”
Anna squinted her eyes, as if what Delia said didn’t make sense. “Really?”
“Yes.” Delia paused, wanting to ask a hundred more questions but also not wishing to make Anna miss her mother even more than she already did. She also didn’t want anything she asked to come across as criticism. So, she opted to leave the subject alone. “That’s why we want to know where you are. And why we’re upset when you run off. Now, I thought I might show you how to bake bread, if you’d like.”
Anna smiled. “Yes, please.”
Delia led the way to the kitchen, tucking away what she’d learned to share with Max later.
Chapter Fourteen
“I NEVER MET HIM,” ANNAsaid when Max asked her about her grandfather.
That was curious. He looked at the telegram he held in his hand. It was written as if Snyder had never received Max’s letter.
Maxwell, Tell Anna to be prepared to leave. I’ll be arriving shortly. S. Snyder.
There was no indication of when the man was planning to arrive, but Max would have unpleasant news for him. Anna was going nowhere.
“Did your mother ever speak of him?” Max asked.
Anna shrugged, which could have meant anything, he’d come to realize. He stuffed the telegram into his pocket.
Anna spoke again. “He brought food once.”
Max met Delia’s eyes over Anna’s head as Anna went back to cutting potatoes.
“But you didn’t get to speak with him?” Delia asked gently.
Anna shook her head as she chopped. “I came home and found it. Mama was out. I told her later. She got mad and gave it to some people downstairs.” She frowned at that last part. “I wanted it. Especially the preserves. I couldn’t ever find preserves.”
Max tried to make sense of her words, looking again at Delia to see if she understood. But Delia appeared just as befuddled as he was. She wiped her hands on a cloth before sitting in thechair next to Anna. “What do you mean by finding them? At a market?”
