"It is... almost sad..." Rachel sighed wistfully as she bent to pull a pan of muffins from the oven. The kitchen filled with the warm scents of apple and cinnamon. Ronnie sniffed appreciatively, eyeing the muffins. "So quiet now," she added. "Everyone gone and the wedding over, and I barely had a chance to get to know Katie before she left... do not touch those, Ronnie, you will burn your fingers!"
"Ouch!" Ronnie grimaced, pulling his hand away from the muffins, too late for Rachel's warning. "Is sad, isn't it. My little sis, off and starting a new life far away..."
"And so life goes on," Rachel murmured, her eyes suddenly filling with pain. "Ronnie..." she reached out to grip his arm, wavering on her feet. "Why must life change like this?"
"Are you okay?" Ronnie frowned, leading her to a chair and pushing her into it. "What's wrong, Rachel?"
"It... it... is just..." she stammered, clinging to his hand. "This change. So much, so fast... and I am young... to have experienced it all... Here I am on the other side of the world now... my family gone... and already on my second husband..."
"You sound as if you expect a third," Ronnie laughed uneasily. Rachel squeezed his hand so tight it hurt.
"God forbid," she whispered. "Two is enough."
"You don't... regret it... do you?" And Ronnie found it suddenly hard to breathe. What if... what if Rachel had only married him because he was a way out of the wreck and ruin of Germany? What if it was just for Benjie, that he would be raised in a safe and stable home? What if she never really had loved him at all? His heart pounding wildly, he sank to his knees at her side, finding his legs too weak to stand on. The thought of Mac and Katie now... how happy they were together, how in love they were... suddenly seemed to taunt him.
She smiled through her tears, lifting his hand to her lips and pressing it against her heart. "Love begets love, dear heart. At first I was only grateful, and I thanked God for you... but when I saw you that day in the refugee camp and knew you had come for me, that was when I knew you loved me, and at that moment I felt my broken heart mending... and filling with love again. With a new love, a love so strong and deep, the like of which I have never felt before... and I knew I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you, no matter where we were or what happened to us. God has chosen a path for me... and while it was a dark and twisted path at times, with no light to be seen... it led me to you... and the greatest blessings my life has ever known. Do not ever doubt my love, my husband. I cherish what has been and what I had before, and I will never forget my time with Isaac, for a part of me loves him still... but in a different way. And I cherish what is here and now. My heart and all of me is yours, now and forever, and I will never look back in regret. It is impossible."
For a few moments, all was silent. Her words having overflowed, Rachel knew not what to say next. Nor did Ronnie know how to answer. But the look in his eyes when he glanced up at her spoke more than a thousand words. Nothing more needed said.
And a good thing it was too, for Benjie was awake and fussing in the next room.
"I'll get him," Ronnie rose hastily, but Rachel was already on her feet.
"Oh, let me... you start on those muffins!"
Ronnie needed no second invitation and eagerly went after the muffins. But halfway through his first one, a thought struck him. More of an epiphany than a thought, really. And it was so sudden and so urgent that he never questioned it.
"Hey, Rachel!" he yelled, his mouth still full of muffin. "What did you say your sisters' names are?"
"Rebekah," Rachel called back, stepping back into the kitchen, Benjie in her arms. "And Rishona. Why?"
"Just wondered," Ronnie shrugged, reaching for a second muffin. He wasn't about to mention this idea to her, what if it went horribly wrong? "Rebekah and Rishona... Adler, right?"
"Jah," Rachel murmured, cuddling Benjie close.
"What was the city again? Where you grew up?"
"Dusseldorf," Rachel frowned, looking confused. But she didn't question him again. "They were sent to Solingen in hiding."
"Right," Ronnie nodded, hoping desperately he could remember this. "In 1943, right?"
"When they disappeared? Jah. In March."
"And they would be eleven and thirteen now?"
"If they lived," Rachel's eyes looked haunted. She glanced around the kitchen as if desperate for a change of topic. "Oh, Ronnie, the time... I am supposed to be at Emma's in five minutes and it is a fifteen minute walk... would you get Benjie dressed? I have to go soon."
"Sure." Ronnie watched as Rachel set Benjie in his highchair, placing a muffin in his dimpled hands. When her back was turned, he scrambled for the notepad by the fridge, hastily scribbling out some notes.
"Rebekah and Rishona Adler, from Dusseldorf, Germany, last seen near Solingen, March, 1943, ages 11 and 13..."
"I'll... uh... be going into town this afternoon," he shoved the note in his pocket. "Anything you need?"
"There is a list by the refrigerator," Rachel said absently, covering the remaining muffins with a towel. "I have to... how do you Americans say it... take a... powder?!" And she stood on tiptoe for a kiss before dashing out the door.
"We're gonna have to work on that slang of yours!" Ronnie called after her, laughing.
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