Klara's Truth by Susan Weissbach Friedman

Author:Susan Weissbach Friedman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press

CHAPTER 16

Klara was so flustered from her run-in with Filip that she didn’t even notice the bustling neighborhood around them. Finding herself babbling about it, she felt uncomfortable as she and Hanna made their way to their hotel in historic Kazimierz.

“What are you, a child?” Hanna finally asked, throwing her hands up in the air as they made their way through the throngs of people.

“No. Of course not,” Klara declared, feeling that Hanna was no longer on her side.

“Well, you’re acting like you’re ten years old, and the boy you like just showed up uninvited to your bowling party.”

“I never had a bowling party,” Klara mumbled.

“That’s not the point. The point is that he’s allowed to be in a public place, and you knew he’d be in Krakow. You’re acting really silly,” Hanna said with exasperation. She looked over at Klara and asked more gently, “C’mon, what’s really wrong?”

“Nothing.” Klara opened the map of the old Jewish Quarter as they stood on a busy street corner.

“It’s like you’ve never dated a man. Have you? Have you ever dated anyone, for that matter?” Hanna asked, peering at her cousin.

“Yes, of course I have,” Klara replied sharply, tucking her hair behind her ear and folding the map. “I’ve dated men before.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a month or two.”

“A month or two?” Hanna asked, leaning in.

“Yes,” Klara replied, starting to walk again. She hoped Hanna would drop the subject but found herself opening up more than she had planned to. “Well, they were mostly long-distance relationships or just flings, because I used to travel so often due to my work. I dated a colleague for a while. We were on a dig together in the Yucatán last year, just professionally, but we had dated some years earlier. He turned out to be more in love with himself than he could ever be with me or anyone else, and unfortunately, he didn’t believe in monogamy,” she added, irritated at the memory even after all these years.

“I really don’t get it, Klara. You’re almost fifty years old. You’re smart. You’re interesting. You’re attractive . . . a bit uptight, but not completely. What’s wrong with you that you won’t allow people to get close to you?”

Klara’s face turned red as she stared down at the cobblestones. “I don’t like it when you talk to me that way, and frankly, I don’t know that I want to discuss it any further.”

An image of Jacob Herschler flashed before Klara. She knew that it had something to do with him, but she couldn’t bring herself to explain it to Hanna now, if ever. Just thinking about him made her head hurt, and she said little for the rest of the trip to the hotel. Hanna took the hint.

By the time they had retrieved their luggage and arrived at the charming four-story townhouse that was Hotel Kazimierz, it was early evening. Klara was exhausted, and her head was now pounding. She wished that she could afford her

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