Safe Haven (39 page)

“One thing has nothing to do with the other,” Ilse protested.

Gisele slumped back. “You are a hopeless romantic, Ilse. At least the man is gone and out of your life finally.”

The conversation at the counter had switched to crops, as the men recalled how the POWs had helped with the previous season’s harvest. “Won’t be needing their help this season,” one man commented. “This season our boys will be home to help with the harvest.”

“And we will be who knows where?” Gisele muttered.

They ate their supper in silence and walked back to the Drivers’ house to pick up Liesl before returning to the fort.

“I’m glad he’s gone,” Gisele said as they parted ways to go to their respective barracks. “You should probably burn that note. If they are looking for him and realize you—”

“I’ll take care of it,” Ilse said and gave her friend a hug.

That night once Liesl was in bed, Ilse sat down at the kitchen table to write to Beth and Josef in England. Josef deserved to know what his father had done, for surely he would have no word of him for some time to come—if ever again. Just before she sealed the envelope, she slipped the note that Detlef had written inside with a note of her own asking Josef to see what he might learn about the fate of Marta and the children.

  CHAPTER 20  

B
y October Theo had no doubt that he had made a huge mistake when he agreed to run for Congress. His disappointment with the way things worked—or more to the point, did not work—in Washington grew daily as the fate of his aunt and cousin and the hundreds of others caught in the limbo of red tape at Fort Ontario slogged on and on.

In September the government had taken yet another survey, asking the residents of the shelter where they would prefer to go if given a choice—back to their country of origin, to some other country outside the United States, or to some community in America where they had contacts or the residents were willing to help them establish a life there. At the time of the survey two relatively small groups of refugees from Yugoslavia had already asked to be repatriated to their homeland. Theo was well aware that of all the refugee groups the Slavs had always been the most interested in returning home—even if there were no home there. But of those who still called the fort home, overwhelmingly the vast majority had indicated their preference was to remain in America. It made Theo wonder what it would take before the powers in Washington began to consider the reality of the situation. It seemed they preferred to engage in turf wars between various departments—Interior versus State and Justice, and the Congress versus the White House. Clearly no one was willing to take responsibility for making a decision. Was this really the way Theo wanted to spend his days? Two tiny steps forward followed by three giant steps back?

What difference could he possibly make? Surely there was another way. He had been far more effective in his limited role helping Joseph Smart than he could ever be in Congress. There had to be another plan.

He tried not to show his frustration in his nightly talks with Suzanne. Her career had never been on more solid ground or more successful. She had achieved her first byline with her interview of Robert St. John, and a publisher was interested in her book. Edwin Bonner had offered her a full-time position on the national news desk at the paper.

Theo had always understood the importance that Suzanne’s work held for her. She trusted in the work—in digging through facts and innuendo and finding a truth that she could put down on paper. She had become especially diligent about checking her facts and finding at least three sources to back them up before writing a single word. The fiasco with Gordon Langford had taught her well. The reality was that she had far more trust in her work than she did in most people.

Of course there had also been those life-changing episodes—first the death of her sister, followed by her parents’ divorce and her father’s death, and most recently her belief that Langford truly loved her when in fact he was simply using her. Theo had to admit that she had plenty of reason not to trust others. He was still not entirely sure that she trusted him, although he had not given her a single reason why she shouldn’t. He could only hope that in time she would come around. He knew she cared for him, but was she even capable of love? Love required two people believing in each other unquestionably. One might disappoint the other, but even then there had to be that rock-solid belief that the disappointment had not been premeditated or intentional.

Suzanne talked a lot in their nightly chats about her vision for their future—a future that involved them both living and working in Washington. Theo was increasingly uncertain that such a future would ever come to be. Every time he sat in on a meeting for worship, he tried hard to open his heart and mind to God’s plan for his life. Why would he have been led to run for public office in the first place if he wasn’t supposed to do it? Was there some other message in that choice—some lesson he needed to heed? Or just maybe God’s plan for Theo was exactly what he had thought it was before Jim Sawyer and Suzanne came into his life—one day he would take over the farm that had been in his family for three generations.

Theo walked to the mailbox to collect the mail and found among the bills and other pieces a letter from his sister, Beth. It was addressed to his parents, and while it was certainly not unusual for Beth to write, the timing seemed off. After all, supposedly she and Josef and their two children were already on a ship crossing the Atlantic on their way back to Wisconsin. Their last communication had been a one-word telegram: Approved!

He studied the postmark and realized the letter had been posted from the station in their little village on the day after they were supposed to have left for Southampton to board the ship. His mother was hanging clothes on the line that stretched from the house to the huge elm tree in the side yard and back again.

“Letter from Beth,” he said, handing her the envelope.

She put it in her apron pocket. Beth’s letters were always so filled with news and humor that they had taken to waiting until they could all be together to read them. “We’ll open it at supper and read it together,” she said, squinting up at him. “Theo? What is it?”

“I … nothing … maybe you should just go ahead and open it now.”

His mother gave a nervous laugh, but her smile froze as she studied his face. She fumbled for the letter and handed it to him. “You read it.” Her hand shook as she gave him the envelope.

Theo ripped it open and removed the two pages inside. He scanned the contents and then gave his mother the good news first. “They are all well—no one is sick or injured,” he assured her.

“But?”

“They are not being allowed to come. Josef’s father is an escaped POW, and Aunt Ilse wrote to Josef telling him this so now the authorities think that Josef—and probably Ilse—have knowledge of where he is hiding.”

“They are not coming home?” Ellie ran her fingers lovingly over the sheet that Theo knew she had washed in preparation for setting up Beth’s childhood bedroom.

“Not now, Mom. Soon,” he promised, although he had no way of knowing that. “Once this is all worked out.”

She turned back to her laundry, shaking out a pillowcase that matched the sheet and pinning it to the line. “Go tell your father.”

That night Theo was late calling Suzanne, and he could not hide his distress over the news his family had received that day. Beth was not coming home.

“But the war is over, and she’s an American,” Suzanne argued.

“Josef is not an American, and his father is an escaped prisoner of war.”

“But Josef is not his father. Besides, couldn’t she come with the children? Why are they detaining her?”

“She won’t come without Josef,” Theo replied and could not help thinking,
Would you go without me?

“But—”

“It is what it is, Suzanne, and you can’t fix it, okay?” He knew he was being unfair, but he was so irritated both at the circumstances his sister and brother-in-law found themselves in and at Suzanne’s incurable assumption that something could be done to change that. Would the ripples of this war never cease?

The silence between them was made all the more difficult because they could not see each other’s faces, could not reach out a hand to touch the other one in support, could not find the words necessary to break the tension.

“Sorry,” she murmured finally.

“No. I’m sorry for snapping at you. It’s been a rough day. My folks are devastated. They haven’t seen Beth in over five years, and they have two grandchildren they’ve never held and …”

“Why on earth would Ilse—”

“It’s not her fault, Suzanne. She wants to find her sister. You can’t blame her for going down every possible avenue to accomplish that.”

“But I—we—I was working on that and making progress.”

Again, the terrible quiet interrupted only by the muffled sound of traffic outside her apartment windows and night birds and crickets outside his.

“Talk to me about your day,” he said finally, his tone conciliatory. “Give me some good news.”

“I have an offer for the book.”

“Really?” He was overjoyed for her. She had worked hard to put the manuscript together, sending him sections to read, and he had found himself enthralled with the story even though he knew most of it already. “Oh, honey, that’s terrific.”

“It’s not firmed up yet and it’s an offer from a small press here in the DC area, but it is an offer.”

“First a byline and now a book deal—wow! I’m really proud of you.”

“The only thing that would make it better would be if you were here with me. I cannot wait for you to move here so we can be together.”

Theo did not know what to say. He needed to tell her, but he had hoped not to have to say anything until after the election. If—when—he lost it would be a moot point.

“Theo? What’s going on?”

Did she really know him so well? He cleared his throat. “You know if I lose the election—”

“You won’t. People love you. I saw the way they wanted to speak with you, be with you at the Fourth of July event. I have told you before, Theo, you are a natural.”

“But we have to be realistic, Suzanne. I could lose.”

Now she was the one who said nothing for so long that Theo wondered if somehow they had been disconnected. “Are you still there?”

“Even if you don’t win, you could still move here. There are plenty of jobs and—”

“Or perhaps you could give Wisconsin a try? We have newspapers and everything.” He tried to make a joke of it, but they had danced around this topic for some time now without really discussing it. She had simply assumed that he would come to Washington and refused to consider that there might be any other outcome.

“I know. It’s just that right now everything is coming together for me here and—”

“Hey, we don’t have to make any decisions tonight. Let’s just enjoy your news—a real live book. That’s something to celebrate. Does Ilse know?”

“No. I thought of writing to her and Gisele and the others, but I chose to tell Detlef Buch’s story as well, and now that he’s escaped …”

“That’s hardly your fault.”

“I know, but with Josef being detained and … Your folks must be so devastated.”

Theo recalled his mother’s ravaged face as he gave her Beth’s news. “My parents are survivors, Suzanne. Dad was even talking at supper about maybe he and Mom could go to England over Thanksgiving. Things are slow on the farm then, and it just might be a good time for them to get away.”

“Would you want to go?”

“I’d love to see my sister and meet my niece and nephew and Josef, but somebody has to milk the cows.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, and you’ll be getting ready for the swearing-in ceremony in Congress after the holidays. I’ve found a couple of apartments that might work out for you. Of course with the war over things are starting to fill up fast.”

“All I need is a room,” Theo assured her. He glanced at the clock. They had talked for nearly an hour. “You need to get some sleep,” he said.

“And you don’t? As I recall, those cows get up pretty early.”

He laughed then sobered. “Suzanne, whatever happens with the election, know that I am so very happy for your success.”