Then why couldn’t he shake this feeling of dread? That if Edie couldn’t find it in her heart to forgive him, he would have lost something infinitely precious?
Merrilee gave him a motherly smile. “That’s very nice of you, sweetheart.”
Beau walked out of the dining room and headed up the stairs. No, not nice. Necessary. It was time he corrected the wrong his father had done to Merrilee. Even if nothing came of his aunt’s letters to John, Beau would have absolution.
And what about Edie? He’d been suspicious of her since the very first, when she’d almost taken a swing at him with the fireplace poker. Maybe she would have knocked some sense in his thick skull. Even if it meant never being forgiven, the hurt of losing her friendship—and the hope of something more—just might kill him.
Chapter Thirteen
Gravel crunched beneath Edie’s feet as she turned down the road toward Merrilee’s. Shards of dull light danced in and out of the shadows of the tall oaks lining the drive, the muffled sounds of Bing Crosby crooning in the distance from the radio in the parlor. Edie smiled.
Almost home.
It had been a good day. Not only had Major Evans come by to personally thank her for her slight modifications on the latest B-29 plans, she’d gotten a message from Gertie. Construction on the phone lines in her neighborhood would start in the next week or two.
She quickened her pace. She couldn’t wait to get home and share the news with Beau.
It had been a little more than a week since they’d started the repairs on James’s house, not that they had made much of a dent in the growing to-do list. They’d fix one thing, only to find two more problems that needed work. Most nights, they’d sneak in long after the house had quieted down for the evening, only to be met by Merrilee with two plates of food, warm from the oven.
Edie smiled to herself. Those late dinners had become the best part of her day, sitting in Merrilee’s kitchen, talking baseball and school and life after the war.
“Edwina Michaels?”
She jerked around. Had she been so deep in her thoughts about Beau that she hadn’t heard the man sneak up behind her? A quick glance around the moonlit drive revealed the shadows of two more men standing at the edge of the tree line.
“The Bund?”
The words escaped Edie’s throat before she could call them back, her nose burning at the nauseating smell of animal excrement that clung to the man’s clothes as he took a step toward her. “You’re causing problems around here, woman, and we don’t like it.”
Here? Then these weren’t the men her parents sent to take her to Berlin. She tried to draw in a breath, but coughed instead. “What exactly is it that you don’t like?”
“Quite a few folks around town have noticed that you’ve taken a shine to…” He struggled with the words, almost seeming to choke on them before finally spitting them out. “That Stephens girl.”
Edie’s hands fisted in disgust by her side. “Why can’t I be friends with whom I want?”
“Not when she’s a…”
Before the profanity had barely left his lips, her bare palm connected with his cheek.
He snatched her up by the waist and drew her flush against him, his stench robbing her of what little breath she had left. A sharp pain ran through her shoulder when he twisted her arm behind her back. “Who do you think you are, asking Ben Cantrell to string phone lines out there? Making those people think they deserve a telephone?” He pressed her hand in between her shoulder blades. “We don’t cotton to folks like you, sticking your nose where it don’t belong.”
Edie closed her eyes. She’d scream if she could, but the words wouldn’t come. Lord, help me! Please!
“Let her go!” The familiar voice punctuated each word with a terrifying fierceness.
Edie gasped a lungful of putrid air. Beau!
“You stay out of this, Beau Daniels.” The man’s hold relaxed, but he still held her close. “This has nothing to do with you.”
“I beg to differ. You’re trespassing on my aunt’s property and harassing one of her boarders.” Beau took a step toward them. “Most folks around here wouldn’t blink twice if I shot you first and asked questions later. Got to worry about spies and all, being this close to the bomber plant.”
The man tightened his grip, then pushed her away. Edie fell back, hitting the hard ground, pain stinging like tiny pinpricks along the tender skin of her palms and her right ankle.
She’d figured the man would run, but instead he just stood there, staring at Beau. “She’s sticking her nose where it don’t belong, bothering Ben Cantrell for one.”
Beau chuckled. “I wouldn’t mind having Ben’s job then. Must be hard, being harassed by a beautiful woman like Ms. Michaels.”
Beau thought she was beautiful? The night air did nothing to cool the heat flaming her cheeks. Well, she refused to just sit there like a bump on a log. “Gertie Stephens and all those people need to have a way to call for help if they need it.”
“Those people don’t need any help,” the man bit out, his arms waving wildly, casting frightening shadows against the pale canvas of gravel. He swung around to Beau. “And you’d be doing her a favor if you’d remind her of that.”
Those people. Edie bristled. Wonder what this guy would say if he knew how many of “those” people were fighting and dying over in Europe or the Pacific? And what for? To come home to this?
“Are you making threats, Bobby Ray?”
“Nothing you hadn’t said before yourself, Beau.” The man barked out a harsh laugh that clanged through Edie, off-key. “You and I both know how things are around here. Accidents happen. And it would be a crying shame if something happened to such a pretty little thing like Ms. Michaels.”
Before Edie could blink, Beau pounced, grabbing the man by the collar, dragging him along the moon-drenched path before throwing him up against a tree like a rag doll. The man squirmed to catch his balance, but a hard shove from Beau stopped him dead.
Gathering up the man’s shirt front in his fisted hand, Beau stared down at him until they were at eye level. “You come near Edie again, and I’ll kill you.”
“You’re not going to be able to take us all out, Beau. I’m not the only one around here who doesn’t appreciate that woman nosing in where she has no right.” He pointed an accusing finger at her. “Helping those n—”
“Get out of here!” Beau roared, then pushed away from the man. “Before I change my mind.”
Bobby Ray fell over on all fours, and crawled away from them. “You’re going to regret this.” He pulled himself up and disappeared into the inky darkness.
The world went still around her, as if waiting for the next burst of poisonous words to spew from that disgusting man. Only the sound of gravel shifting close by brought her head up.
Beau kneeled down beside her, his arm going around her, making her feel safe for the first time since the ordeal began. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, Edie stretched her hands, prickles of pain scattering across both palms. “Just scratched up a bit.”
He took her hands in his and turned them palms up. Dark ribbons of blood spread into tiny tributaries across her pale flesh. “We need to get you cleaned up. Maybe put some iodine on those scrapes.”
She came out of the fog she’d been in, suddenly worried for her landlady. Edie shook her head. “I don’t want Merrilee to know about this.”
“There’s a first-aid kit in the kitchen.”
“Okay.” Before she could figure out how to stand without doing further damage to her hands, Beau put his free arm under her knees and lifted her to his chest. She raised her gaze to his and her breath caught, the clean scent of his aftershave teasing her nose. She stiffened. “I can walk, you know.”
“This way will be a lot faster.”
“What about your knee?”
Beau’s lip quirked up in a half smile. “Are you worried about me?”
“It’s just that I’ve already fallen once tod
ay.” She looped her arm around his neck, bringing him closer still. “Don’t want to do it again.”
His low chuckle rumbled against her side, causing her to tremble. “And here I was, thinking you had finally changed your mind about me.”
“No.” The word left a bitter taste in her mouth. When had she changed her mind about Beau? Was it working alongside him at his father’s house, or was it sooner—maybe when she’d regained consciousness after giving blood and looked up to find him watching her with a mixture of concern and gentleness? “Well, maybe a little.”
“I’ll take it.” He smiled down at her, his breath warm against her cheek, his eyes dark with sparks of silver from the moonlight.
Edie’s heart melted a little. She’d just been spooked, that was all, thinking the Bund had finally found her, were going to whisk her away. These feelings for Beau were just nerves strained from the attack, nothing more, not when she couldn’t tell him the truth, that her parents believed in Hitler’s doctrine, that their one desire was for her to follow them back home to Germany. Would he believe she’d chosen to stay and fight for Old Glory? Or would he think the worst of her?
Beau hurried across the yard, weaving in and out of the oak trees’ shadows like an infantry man dodging enemy fire. Behind them, the static of the radio cut through the silence until finally settling on a station. The faint scent of freshly cut grass and Beau’s aftershave caused an interesting sort of dizziness that only seemed to worsen when she dropped her head to his shoulder.
A rush of warmth flooded through her when he opened the door to the kitchen. A large stone building in the far corner of the yard, Edie had thought it inconvenient when she first moved in, but now it felt like a haven. Or was that just the feel of Beau’s arms around her?
That thought spooked her. “You can let me down now.”
He looked at her then. Moonlight filtering in through the window over the sink carved deep lines of concern across his forehead and around his eyes. “Are you sure?”
Her head bobbed up and down. “Yes.”
Beau set her on her feet gently, his arm still encircling her, steadying her as she touched the floor. With something akin to reluctance, she pushed out of his embrace and headed for the sink. Beside her, she heard the scratch of a match, then light from the kerosene lantern filled the room.
“Let’s see how bad your hands are.”
“I can take care of this myself, you know.”
Beau grabbed a dish towel from a drawer and folded it in two, laying it on the countertop in front of her. “I have no doubt you could. But what if you’ve got some gravel or a sliver of wood embedded in your palms? It’ll be kind of hard working a pair of tweezers with an injured hand.”
The man had a point. Edie unfolded her fingers and laid her hands, palms up, on the towel. “Just be careful, okay?”
The cockeyed grin he gave her made her stomach flip. “As gentle as a kiss.”
For the next several moments, Beau worked quietly on her hands, his movements steady and purposeful as he picked tiny pieces of gravel from the tender flesh and placed them in the towel. Edie drew in a deep breath and relaxed. A girl could get used to this feeling of being taken care of, as if Beau considered her a precious treasure whose price was far above jewels.
Beau lifted his head, his eyes meeting hers. “I think I’ve got everything. All we need to do now is get you cleaned up.”
Where had the air in her lungs gone? And how had she ended up so close to him, almost able to touch noses? She jerked her head back. “I can do that.”
“Here.” Was that a flash of disappointment in his eyes as he led her to the sink? Or merely hopeful thinking on her part?
When Beau turned on the faucet, tepid water sluiced over her skin. Beau stood close by, his fingers rubbing tender circles against her palms. She couldn’t fall in love, not until this war was over and the danger of her parents’ betrayal didn’t hold power over her anymore.
Turning the water off, Beau handed her a clean towel. “Go and sit down at the table, and I’ll get us some coffee.”
“Thank you.” Edie blotted the water off her hands gently. With her few scratches, she should be as good as new in a couple of days. Pulling a chair out, she plopped down. “And not just for cleaning me up. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t showed up when you did.”
“It was nothing.” He placed a mug in front of her, a ribbon of moisture coiling out of the cup in a perfect cloud. “But I do have a question for you.”
She wrapped her fingers around the cup, her scratches stinging a bit before the warmth relaxed the muscles of her hands. “What’s that?”
“What is the Bund?” Her heart slammed against her chest. Every avenue of escape suddenly evaporated like the steam from her coffee cup as he continued. “And why did you think they were after you?”
* * *
Edie’s fingers tensed around the coffee cup. Made her look guilty as sin. What on earth had she gotten herself into? Beau grimaced. “I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”
“You can’t help me.” Her sad little sigh tugged at his protective nature. “Nobody can.”
Didn’t she know he would do anything to keep her safe, even at the risk of his own life? The thought startled him. Yes, he wanted to protect her, but she had to be honest with him. “Try me.”
He could see the struggle going on inside her, the tug-of-war that played out on her expressive face until finally, she slammed her eyes shut and let out a defeated sigh that tore a hole through him. “I don’t know where to start.”
Maybe his confession about her letter would make it easier for her to talk. Leaning on one hip, Beau reached into his back pocket and pulled out the folded paper. “I know you’re German. I found this on the floor the night I came in through the front window.”
Edie unfolded it. “Part of Grandmama’s letter. I must have dropped it that first night when you climbed in through the window.” She rested her forehead in the palm of her hand. “I’ve been so busy, I didn’t even notice it was missing.”
“I’m sorry, Edie. I should have returned it to you that next morning, but I didn’t. I wasn’t sure what to make of it.” Beau hesitated a second. “Are you mad?”
“I guess I should be, but no.” Pressing both palms over her eyes, she shook her head. “You were just looking out for Merrilee and Claire.”
Beau wasn’t sure he deserved complete absolution from this woman, but if she was willing to give it, he’d grab it with both hands. “So talk to me.”
Edie swallowed, her throat moving in awkward little waves. “My parents came over after the Great War to find work for Daddy. He was a banker, and there weren’t very many opportunities for him back in Germany at the time.”
“And you?”
“I was born a couple of years after they settled outside of Detroit. An all-American girl.” She scoffed.
“So what happened with your parents?”
“Nothing for a while. They just went about living their lives.” Her shoulders caved in slightly. “Then when I was about eleven, the bank failed and Daddy lost his job. But it was more than that. He was different. Lost. As if everything inside him died the day they nailed the bank’s doors shut.”
Beau nodded. He’d seen those men while traveling the country with the Civil Conservation Corp. The vacant look in their eyes, the gnawing fear, not just in men but in their wives, their children. The idea of Edie—smart, beautiful Edie—being one of them twisted his gut. “How did your family get by?”
“Daddy was good with his hands so he picked up some jobs repairing stuff—you know, toasters and things. Momma took in mending. We managed.”
“And you?”
She chuckled softly. “A little bit of everything. Daddy called me his Jackie of all trades. But I hated it, Beau.” She closed her eyes, as if shutting out the memories. “When the university offered me a full scholarship, I thought it was my way out.”
&nbs
p; He could see her thinking that. Reaching toward her, Beau settled his hand over her forearm, his fingers wrapping around the delicate bones and soft skin. “There’s no shame in that.”
She dropped her chin to her chest. “I should have stayed at home.”
He pushed a loose curl behind her ear. “Now why would you say that?”
Edie drew in a shaky breath and met his gaze again. “That’s where the Bund comes in. Like I said, Daddy changed after the bank shut down. He felt like this country had let him down. So he joined this political group. At first, I thought it might be the best thing for him. You know, working toward changes that would ensure anyone who wanted to work could find a job. But then I started hearing things about them.”
The hairs on the back of Beau’s neck stood razor sharp. “What kinds of things?”
Her face went pale in the dim light of the lantern. “That the leadership of this group had gone to Munich and had an audience with Hitler himself. That they were harassing Jewish businesses in Detroit. I thought it was rumors. I mean, how can that kind of thing be happening here in the United States?” Edie drew in a shaky breath. “So when the Bund came to campus, I went to go hear them out.
“Listening to them speak, I realized the truth.” Edie bowed her head, the light catching the glitter of tears shimmering on her cheeks. “My father was a Nazi.”
What this woman had gone through. Standing, he gently pulled her into his arms, cradling her head in his hand, whispering a kiss against her hair. He sensed there was more, but he wouldn’t rush her like he might have done in the past. She had been held captive, not by barbed wire or loaded guns, but by a child’s love for her father, a man who had betrayed her trust.
Minutes later, she lay heavy against him, her tears spent. Beau tightened his arms around her. “I’m so sorry, Edwina.”
“I tried to talk to Daddy right after I graduated,” she whispered, her voice shaky. “Bell Bomber had just approached me about working for them, but I hadn’t really made up my mind.” She swallowed. “Daddy wasn’t too happy to hear about the job offer.”
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