"I don't like that man, Mama," I replied, speaking out of turn.
"Charlie, do not talk that way. That is pure blasphemy. Our country needs change, and Adolf Hitler will do just that. You watch, he will." With a smart tap on my cheek, Mama pointed her finger, making her point clear, which only left me with more thoughts.
I was too young to understand the complexity and meaning of a country adopting a dictator as a leader. However, it might not have mattered how old I was, because Hitler's promises blinded many of us.
History was developing every single day. Life changed quickly for all young and old, men and women. No one was safe with their thoughts and opinions because we were no longer allowed to think on our own.
Hitler's troops tried to mold us—me, but I was a strong boy and a stronger man.
I bent, but I did not break.
Adolf Hitler made laws against loving a different kind.
Then, I broke the law.
It was the best decision I have ever made.
Chapter 1
Current Day
Iwas sure this day would not come after waiting more than seventy years for this miracle.
My focus falls on the telephone—the one still connected to the wall by a cord. The ring is loud and high-pitched; foreign after how long it has been since the last time it rang. For a moment, I consider letting the old clunky black desk phone with thick buttons continue to chime. I’m sure it’s just a telemarketer.
I complied with society a few years ago and purchased a cellular phone, but after falling victim to this wireless world, I have found that the device has just one purpose: solitaire. The young man who sold me the phone was nice enough to download the game before I left the store, which promised to keep me entertained for hours.
With the small chance the call is not from a salesperson, I shift my tired body toward the edge of the seat. My recliner whines as I lower the footrest. The chair must be as old as I am by now. The three steps I take to my writing desk feel like a mile while wondering who might have taken the time to call an old man like me.
I lift the phone from the receiver and hold the cool plastic up to my ear. "Hello?"
The silence following my greeting forces a chill up my spine.
A young woman’s voice starts and stops, but the sound is unfamiliar. I assume she must have dialed the wrong number until I hearhername.
Amelia.
Amelia Baylin.
I continue listening to the words coming from the other end of the phone. "She—she is alive, but not well. Her heart is failing—she’s had two strokes. Charlie, sir, she’s been asking for you."
While listening to who I now know to be Amelia’s granddaughter chatter with apprehension, I twist away from my desk, wrapping the coiled cord around my trembling hand.
A lump falls to the bottom of my stomach—a sensation I haven’t experienced in such a long time.
Amelia needs me.
It has been seventy-four years since I have spoken to the love of my life. The only love of my life.
She remembers me.
My hand cups around my mouth as my eyes fill with tears ... tears of joy. Then my gaze falls upon the matching leather recliner beside mine.Amelia’s chair. She has never taken a seat in her chair, but having it beside mine all these years has made me feel like a part of her is with me when I sit here and contemplate the way life should have been.
Amelia should be by my side.
I have dreamt about her falling back into the chair with a sigh of relief after a long day. I have also dreamt about her easing carefully into the soft leather as her aging knees threaten to give out as mine do on rainy days.
With a sharp breath, I straighten my shoulders, turn back to the desk. "I will be on a train, first thing in the morning," I tell Emma, Amelia’s granddaughter.
