“Eva, darling.” Beatriz got up from the sofa and approached Eva with open arms. “You are looking very healthy.” She took Eva into her embrace. “Give your grandmother a hug.”
Eva forced herself to remain calm just as Tessa had urged and tried to relax her posture. She embraced Beatriz and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You are looking good.”
“Thank you, darling. Uncle Wilbur had a pressing matter that he couldn’t get away from or else he would have been here.”
“I saw Uncle Wilbur yesterday,” Eva replied with a genuine smile. “He was following me around Berlin.”
Beatriz's smile froze. “Well, we were concerned for you, so I asked your uncle to keep an eye on you. Berlin is not a safe place anymore. As you saw, those horrible Americans nearly demolished this beautiful city. We won't talk about those awful Russians. What a horrible race of people, worse than the Jews.” She put her arm around Eva's shoulders. “Is there anything wrong with sending Uncle Wilbur to make sure you were safe?”
“Of course not. You also sent Mrs. Muldoon, so I understand your need to know about my safety,” Eva replied as they sat on the sofa. “Don't mind the rug here—there's some blood that was spilt and we're trying to get the stains out.”
“Oh? That’s most unseemly. I was wondering what that stain was.”
“It was a rather unfortunate incident. We had Uncle Dieter mistaken for an intruder and he got himself struck by a poker to the face and then shot. Very messy,” Eva said.
“Your uncle Dieter? Here?” Beatriz asked. “I was in Bonn and haven't seen Dieter for a week or so. What possessed him to do such a daft thing?”
“I don't know.” Eva shrugged. “I’m assuming he came here to finish the job my father started.”
“The job your father started?”
Eva stared at Beatriz for a long moment. “Father tried to kill me. We both know that. Uncle Dieter wanted to finish the job.”
“Your father did not try and kill you, Eva. Your father was out of his mind with grief. He overreacted and I think you should find it in your heart to forgive him. It wasn't you that hurt Dieter, was it?”
“No.” Eva shook her head and smiled. “That was Zoe. He surprised her when she went for some water. Not to worry. Isabella will wash it off.” Eva smiled as the housekeeper came forward with a tray. “I thought you might like some coffee.”
“That was thoughtful of you.”
Eva sat back and smiled at Isabella, who handed her a cup of tea. She waited for Beatriz to continue.
“I don't know where to begin, Eva. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you…”
“Not so long.” Eva took a sip of her tea. She leaned across the coffee table and picked up the cigar she had placed on the table beforehand. It was her grandfather’s favorite brand. She took the cigar and bit the end off, which she knew would totally disgust her grandmother. She smiled as she took the cut end out of her mouth. She lit the cigar and waited for a moment before she took her first drag from it.
“Do you have to smoke those horrible things?”
“I like them,” Eva replied. “It relaxes me.”
Beatriz made a noise to convey her disgust that sounded like a cross between a snort and someone gagging. Eva smiled. “Your grandfather was a huge smoker and look where that got him.”
“He was a happy man,” Eva responded. “He loved simple pleasures.”
“Yes, he did; he was a rather simple man.” Beatriz sniffed. “Now where was I?”
“You were saying how lovely it was to see me again and that I should forgive father for trying to kill me,” Eva reminded her.
Beatriz scowled. “I do not like the tone you are taking with me. You are not showing the proper respect to your elders.”
Stay focused, Eva, and don’t let this woman get under your guard. Eva heard Tessa’s voice in her head and she took a deep breath and resisted the urge to tell Beatriz what she really thought. “You are happy to see me?”
“Yes, I am. You are looking very healthy. How is your back?”
Eva drew on her cigar for a long moment, letting Beatriz wait. “As you would expect it to be. It won't ever get better than it is.” Eva, calm down. Tessa’s voice echoed in her head and she shook it. “The bomb blast in Paris made it worse.”
“I understand you don’t want to talk about it, but I was only asking out of concern for you. Your grandfather had a bad back and it did make him very agitated some days,” Beatriz explained. She captured Eva’s attention with the mention of her grandfather. “I understand your pain.”
“Do you?”
“I said I understand your pain. There is no reason for your rudeness.”
“Did you visit Papa before he was executed?” Eva stared at Beatriz.
“I did,” Beatriz replied without missing a beat. “It was unfortunate that he was sentenced the way he was.”
“Unfortunate?”
“Yes, darling. Unfortunate. The victors always lay down the rules. That's how they did it after the Great War.”
“What about what he did to me? Did the victors lay down those rules as well?”
Beatriz shook her head. “As I said, that was not your father. He was out of his mind with grief at the death of his wife. You will have to forgive him. Hans was a very damaged soul. Dieter and I were very concerned for his health and for yours as well.”
“Of course,” Eva said quietly as she restrained herself from bolting from the room. The conversation was making her stomach churn.
“You will have to forgive your father for the vicious way he assaulted you.”
“I have forgiven him,” Eva replied honestly.
“You have?”
“Yes. I loved my father even though he tried to kill me, three times,” Eva said with a slight shrug.
“He was out of his mind.”
“Yes. Was Uncle Dieter out of his mind as well?”
“No.” Beatriz shook her head. “He was acting in your best interests.”
“In my best interests?”
“It is unseemly to have deviant thoughts.” Beatriz put her cup down and clutched her hands in her lap. “You are a Muller, and as my granddaughter and the heir to the Muller fortune and reputation, we couldn't have deviancy like that take hold.”
“You condoned what they did?”
“I felt that you needed the proper treatment. If that was the wrong thing to do, to care for my granddaughter, then yes, I am guilty of caring,” Beatriz explained. “I will never say that it was wrong to look after my granddaughter. Your father beating you was wrong. He was out of his mind with grief and although I don't think he was right, you can excuse him for that.”
“Do you know what they did, Omi?” Eva asked, using the affectionate term for her grandmother.
Beatriz leaned back and relaxed. “I do. Sometimes the cure is as horrible as the disease,” she replied in a gentle tone. “It wasn't easy for me to know that you were suffering. Not a day did go past when I didn't feel your pain.”
“You felt my pain?” Eva shook her head as she stood up outraged. “You felt the electric shocks go through my body, felt my back spasm in agony, felt my terror?”
“No, but—”
“Did you feel my fear when they gave me drugs that invaded my mind and made me so ill I didn't even know my own name? When I soiled myself like an infant? Did you feel that?” Eva's voice trembled with emotion. “Did you feel it every time they robbed me of my dignity? Every time my heart thundered in my chest because I was so terrified what they were going to do to me? Did you feel my heart exploding, Omi? Did you?”
“Eva, you must realize—”
“What do you want me to realize?” Eva's voice broke. “What? You cared so much that you let me be tortured?”
Eva heard a gentle thump and turned to find Zoe bounding down the steps. She blinked back the tears as Zoe come to her defense. Zoe went up to Eva and they turned away from Beatriz for a moment.
“I'm here now,” Zoe whi
spered in Greek. “You are not alone in this.”
“I never was. I knew you were here,” Eva's said softly. “Together?”
“Together.” Zoe smiled, and out of sight of Beatriz’s line of sight, took Eva's hand and kissed it.
They turned to Beatriz.
“I am having a private conversation with my granddaughter, do you mind?”
“Your private conversation is over. I do mind. It's now my business.” Zoe put a protective arm around Eva's waist and glared at Beatriz.
Chapter Forty-One
Beatriz leaned back on the sofa and regarded Zoe with a long hard stare. “You don’t seem to understand, young lady, that I am having a private conversation with my granddaughter.”
“I’m not deaf,” Zoe countered. “I know what you are doing and I’m telling you that your private conversation has just ended.”
“Who do you think you are to be talking to me that way?”
“My name is Zoe Lambros. We were introduced earlier, but you may have forgotten my name,” Zoe replied.
“You have a smart mouth.”
“And you, Mrs. Muller, are a despicable, callous woman who gave no thought about the pain she was putting her granddaughter through.”
“I’m not even sure why I’m still talking you,” Beatriz replied with a shake of her head. “You wouldn’t know the pain I went through. Do you even know how it feels to know your beloved granddaughter is a…” She took out her handkerchief from her purse and dabbed it against her eyes. “I found out my granddaughter was a deviant and you don’t think that is painful?”
Zoe pulled the coffee table over and sat on the glass panel facing Beatriz. She leaned forward and regarded the woman with a slight frown. “Wow. That was a performance worthy of an award.” Zoe slow clapped Beatriz for a few moments. “You were in pain because Eva was a lesbian?”
“Yes. I do hate that word.”
“You hate the word lesbian? What’s wrong with the word? I hate a lot of words that are ugly like the word ‘Muller’. That word makes my teeth ache and my hand wants to reach out and slap someone.”
“You are the rudest child I’ve ever met!”
“My papa used to say that some people were dumber than two planks of wood. I never knew what he meant until now,” Zoe said with a little shake of her head.
“You are a very disrespectful and rude woman.”
“Yes, rude, distrespectful and another rude! I should go find a thesaurus so you can come up with more words,” Zoe quipped and chuckled at her own joked. “You seem to think I’m disrespectful, rude and more rude but you are still sitting here,” Zoe countered with a tiny smile.
“I am. I want to let Eva see the kind of woman you really are.” Beatriz folded her arms.
“You want to let Eva see what kind of woman I am?” Zoe giggled. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Muller, I pre-judged you. When Eva talked about you when we first met, I took you for a woman of integrity and a kind, gentle soul.”
“Eva was right.”
“No.” Zoe shook her head. “Eva was lying to herself and making herself believe that’s what how you were, but you are not.
“How old are you, young lady?”
“I’m twenty-two years old.”
“Your parents, if they weren’t dead, would have been very disappointed to find their daughter was a deviant.”
Zoe got up from the coffee table and picked up one of the pokers by the fireplace. “Do you know what a war does to a person, Mrs. Muller? It makes them a little crazy. When someone goes crazy they do this.” She lifted the poker.
Beatriz screamed and covered her head with her hands. Zoe swung and hit a vase beside Beatriz.
“My aim is really off,” Zoe muttered and then laughed maniacally.
“You are crazy.”
Eva got up and sidled up to Zoe. “You are dangerous with that thing.”
“I know!” Zoe giggled. “I was aiming for the other vase…I hope Aunt Irene didn’t like that one.”
“You are a lunatic!” Beatriz screamed and got up off the sofa.
Zoe tapped her ankles with the poker. Beatriz lost her balance and fell.
“I’m not really.” Zoe sat back down on the coffee table. She rested the poker on the floor and leaned her weight on it. “I’m going to tell you a story.”
Beatriz put her hand over her heart and took a deep breath. “You both had your fun. I understand that you are hurt by what happened to you in Aiden and you wanted some fun at my expense.”
“Is that what you think this is? Some fun?” Eva asked.
“Eva, darling, I want you to think before this farce continues any further. I will press charges against this lunatic woman when all of this is over.”
“What do you want me to think about?”
“Your life,” Beatriz replied. “Think about what your life would have been like had you not been seduced by that wretched girl, Greta Strauss.”
“She’s got a point there,” Zoe muttered. Beatriz gave her a surprised look. “I agree with you about that evil she-devil.” Zoe smiled at her.
“You are a strange woman,” she said to Zoe, and then she turned back to a bemused-looking Eva. “I want you to think about this, Eva. I managed to stop the damage that Strauss girl had done on your life.”
“How did you do that?” Eva asked. She sat next to Zoe on the coffee table.
Beatriz leaned back and adjusted her gloves. “I gave Greta what she wanted. I gave her what all those types of deviants want. I gave her money and property.”
Zoe resisted the urge to really use the poker on Beatriz.
“That is why I’m going to offer the same deal to your friend here even though she is a completely crazy woman.”
“You want to offer me money?” Zoe asked. She turned to Eva with a smile. “Now this is more like it.”
“It is?” Eva asked. “How much do you want to walk away from me?”
“I know you girls are just playing with me, but I’m serious, Miss Lambros. I am willing to offer you property and money. If I were a peasant from some backward little village, I would take it.”
“I am a peasant girl from a backward little village.” Zoe nodded. “I agree with you.”
“You do?”
“Oh, I do. I come from this really small backward little village, Mrs. Muller. Really small, and it’s a farming community. I don’t want your money because I don’t need it. Nice of you to offer it, but I don’t take blood money. Do you know what happened in this small village in 1942?”
“No. What?”
“Your son came to town. Do you know what else happened in 1942?”
“No, but I’m sure you will tell me,” Beatriz replied, obviously tired of the games. She turned to Eva. “You are my granddaughter and despite everything that has happened, it doesn’t change the fact that you are Eva Muller.”
“Was your granddaughter.”
“You are a Muller, and whatever you may say or do, you remain a Muller. You were married to that wonderful Erik Hoffman for a very brief two years and I believe he was killed somewhere I can’t remember.”
“He died in Africa.” Eva shook her head. “Did you know my real father was in Larissa?”
“Of course I didn’t know where this sheepherder had disappeared to. I do not keep track of peasants.” Beatriz waved Eva’s statement away. “Your mother was from Larissa, and when your father told me where he was being sent, I thought it would be a good idea to take you along.”
Eva stared at her, looking aghast. “You wanted Papa to take me into a warzone? Into Larissa?”
“I wanted you to get close to your father. What he did was wrong and you needed to spend time with him. If you saw what your life would have been like had he not married your mother, then you would appreciate your life more,” Beatriz reasoned and sat back on the sofa.
“You wanted to send me into a warzone?” Eva raised her voice. “Let me get this clear, Grandmother. You sent me into a warzone so I could get close
to my father?”
“Don’t raise your voice at me, young lady. Yes, that is why I wanted your father to take you there.”
Zoe shook her head in disbelief. “You are amazing, Mrs. Muller. I find it truly amazing that someone can live as long as you have, raised three sons, had a loving husband, and yet be totally devoid of common sense.”
“How dare you!”
“Oh, sit down, you old windbag.” Zoe poked Beatrix in the chest with the poker.
Beatriz quickly sat back down and touched the spot where the poker had touched her.
“There is something I need to thank you for.”
“What’s that?”
“Sending Eva to Larissa,” Zoe replied. She gazed at Eva and didn’t try to disguise the love she felt for her. Beatriz snorted in disgust but Zoe ignored it. “The best thing to happen to me.”
“That’s disgusting. Eva, think about what you are doing. Your grandfather left you with quite an inheritance. You can’t claim it if you are not married.”
“Is that right?” Eva held up her left hand with her wedding band. “I am married.”
“You’re married?”
“Yes. His name is Theodore Lambros.”
“I don’t believe you.” Beatriz shook her head. “So this crazy woman professing her love for you is wrong?”
“I am married to Theodore Lambros. I have a marriage certificate.”
“How? In church?”
“No, at the Registry. Just as good.”
“I’m assuming there isn’t a Catholic priest alive who would want to conduct such a solemn ceremony under such false pretenses. Makes a mockery of the institution of marriage. I don’t believe it.”
“Ah, but that is where you are very wrong, Beatriz.” Father Johan Faber came down the steps and walked to Beatriz.
“Johan, what are you doing here?”
“You know Father Johan?” Zoe asked.
“Mrs. Muller and I go back many years, don’t we, Beatriz?” Johan took Beatriz’s glove covered hand and smiled.
“Yes, we do. Father Johan was the hospital chaplain when my Alexander passed away,” Beatriz said quietly. “I would have thought you would be horrified to find out your great niece is a deviant.”
Awakenings (Intertwined Souls Series Book 4) Page 32
