Return to Me by Carolyn Menke

Author:Carolyn Menke [Menke, Carolyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: women's fiction, WWII, bomber, train stations, 1940s
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Published: 2015-05-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Are you sure this will work?” Sadie asked James nervously as they stood before a brownstone on the Upper West Side. Her fluttering insides were quieted by his embrace on the steps.

“We can only hope,” he murmured between kisses. “We don’t have forty-eight hours to spare.”

A woman appeared at the door before they rang the bell. She ushered them into the vestibule, out of the cold. James greeted her then said, “Sadie, I’d like you to meet Langley’s…I mean Peter Langley’s aunt, Alice Sherwood.”

“Nice to meet you.” Sadie extended her hand.

Alice took both of Sadie’s gloved hands and held them out, tilting her face. “Look at you. Every bit as lovely as I expected. I often wondered what became of Audrey’s ‘little dear’.”

“Thank you.” Sadie felt a blush flood her cheeks.

Alice shook her graying head and placed one hand on the hip of her stylish dress. “Has it really been sixteen years?” Then she winked at James. “Come in, you must be famished.”

Sadie whispered, “Does she know why we’re here?”

“Not yet.”

Alice had the table set and suggested they eat. Sadie and James exchanged glances because there were only three place settings. Alice said she’d anticipated their visit ever since hearing through her nephew of the small world connection. In fact, she insisted they stay the night. Sadie decided if that was what it took to accomplish their goal, they would stay. But where was Judge Sherwood?

“Excuse me, Alice, I hope you don’t mind me asking, but isn’t your husband joining us?” Sadie asked as they arranged their napkins in their laps, with Sadie and James sitting next to each other and the third plate across the table from them.

Alice stopped cold. She set down a heaping serving dish and bowl of rice before responding. “Peter didn’t tell you,” she said to James. “George passed last month.” She made the sign of the cross.

Sadie locked eyes with James. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed that their simple, on-the-spot ceremony was not meant to be, but she also sympathized with Alice. To lose the love of her life—she couldn’t imagine it. She sought James’ hand under the table and squeezed it.

“I’m very sorry for your loss, Alice,” she said.

“Yes, very sorry,” James said.

“He’d been ill for some time. Anyway, can’t have Cantonese without mai tais to wash it down, can we?” Alice dabbed at the corner of one eye as she excused herself.

They made the best of the circumstance, encouraging Alice to speak about George, seeing how it seemed to improve her mood.

“In Paris, before the war of course, we ate at this quaint out-of-the-way place called Camelot,” she said, the first of many tales of their European travels.

Sitting beside each other, James’ hands lingered on Sadie’s as she passed a dish.

“No menu there,” Alice said. “We were served whatever the chef found at the market that day.”

James held Sadie’s gaze longer than necessary until she released the dish.

“George told me I was eating rabbit’s cheese,” Alice continued, slightly slurring her words.

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