"Mostly?" she questions. Amelia does not skip a beat.
"All in due time, my dear."
"All time is overdue, Charlie Crane."
Chapter 28
1944
Zurich, Switzerland
Life had fallen into place with a sense of normalcy. It was the most normal I had felt since childhood, and while there were things I would still change, I knew I was on a path that would lead me to the future I desired.
I had been working many hours a day at the bakeshop. Herr John, the owner, had offered me more responsibilities along with sweeping, and I was now preparing loaves of bread before sunrise.
The quiet hours were a time of contemplation as well as daydreaming. I imagined Amelia in the bäckerei:her auburn hair in tight curls, red painted lips, and matching nails. She would be leaning her elbows on top of the front counter, staring at me as I rolled the fresh dough. She would call me charming, and I would tell her she looked radiant in her new dress that I saved three weeks’ worth of pay to buy. Amelia would kiss me on the cheek, hand me a bagged lunch, tell me to have a wonderful day, and then she’d be off to the art gallery down the street where she would spend her time drawing and painting commissioned pieces of work.
The quiet hours were also a time of darkness. As the daydreams would end, the silence would creep in, and I would think of all the things I should have done differently throughout my life.
When I had made at least fifty loaves of bread, I could leave for the day. The early shift would usually end just after lunchtime, and I would head back to the bed and breakfast to offer Frau Joel a hand.
The summer’s heat was extraordinary that year. Children were not even playing in the streets as they usually would be. It was simply too hot. My shirt was practically drenched by the time I arrived at the house, yet, Herr Joel was still outside pruning the gardenia bush. He must have been used to that type of heat because he was hardly breaking a sweat.
"How can you stand the heat?" I asked him, approaching the front step.
"Lots of water and lots of breaks," he answered. Herr Joel was a man of few words, but he was a pleasant person with a heart of gold just like Frau Joel.
"I brought home a few loaves of bread," I told him, lifting the paper bag a little higher.
"You’re a good man, Charlie Crane," he said.
I started up the stairs, but Herr Joel stopped me in my tracks. "Oh, Charlie, could you check the post box? I think there is a delivery."
"Ja, of course," I told him. Maybe Claude had written. We had been writing back and forth for some time, but his letters had stopped as of late. Mama assured me he was fine. She had seen him around town a few times, but he always seemed busy. Sometimes he seemed so busy he didn’t notice when Mama passed him on the street. It wasn’t like Claude to have his head in the clouds, so I had written a few more times in the previous few weeks to make sure he was all right. I was worried, as I knew the nightmares kept him awake a lot too.
I opened the mailbox, finding it empty. "Nein. There isn’t any post, Herr Joel," I called over.
As I closed the mailbox and turned back for the house, a sight knocked me off my feet.
"Brother!" he shouted, a smile stretching from ear to ear.
"Claude!" I jumped on him, nearly knocking him flat to the ground. "What are you doing here?"
"You said you wanted me to come and visit. So, here I am."
My hand was around his shoulder, gripping it so tightly. I couldn’t believe he was there, in front of me. I hadn’t seen him in so long. "It is so good to see you."
"Same, brother. It’s quite nice here."
Herr Joel clomped over to us in his work boots. "Sorry to startle you, sohn. When your friend arrived, he said he wanted to surprise you. He told us how the two of you had grown up together. It’s nice to see you have a friend, Charlie," he said. I had wondered if they talked about my habit of loneliness, and I figured after that comment, they must have. "Claude, I hope you and your lady—"
"Uh, Charlie, I have someone I want you to meet," Claude interrupted Herr Joel. I was caught looking between Herr Joel and Claude, trying to understand what was happening. I didn’t see anyone else around.
Claude craned his head to the side, looking toward the back of the house. "Juliette, darling."
Juliette. Darling?
A petite young woman with long blonde curls, rosy cheeks, dark eyelashes, and big doe-like eyes came bouncing around the corner, running right into Claude’s side where he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Charlie, this is Juliette. Juliette, this is my brother, Charlie."
