War Girls Complete Collection Chapter 303

Chapter 22: Anna

A

nna paced the apartment, a deep worry wrinkle on her forehead. It wasn’t at all like Peter to return home late. He should have arrived hours ago.

“Anna, darling, you’ll wear a hole in the floorboards if you don’t stop,” Mutter said and Anna stopped pacing with a sigh. But only for a moment.

“Where is he?” She circled the sofa in the living room.

“Peter is a grown man. He might have had to work overtime.”

“He’s never worked overtime before. The administration office always closes on time, no matter how long the queues still are.”

“Sit and drink,” her mother demanded and brought her a glass of hot water with a few leaves of lemon balm soaking in it.

“I need something stronger to calm me down,” Anna said with a laugh, but sipped on the infusion.

Several minutes later Peter walked in the door. She stumbled up, barely keeping the hot liquid from spilling over. “Thank God, you’re home!”

Peter chuckled and took the glass from her hands, setting it on the sideboard before wrapping her up in his arms. She kissed him on the mouth and recoiled. Firing angry glares at her good-for-nothing husband she said with an icy tone, “You were out drinking? I’ve been pacing the floor, imagining all sorts of horrible things happening to you, and you went to a bar?”

Peter held up his hands, trying to soothe her. “I can explain, if you’ll give me the chance.”

She turned away, crossing her arms over her chest. “How do you explain making me worry like this? And for a beer? A beer we can’t afford?”

He clasped her shoulders and turned her around to face him. His bemused smile irked her and she was just about to give him a piece of her mind when he put a finger over her lips. “I promise you’ll be on your knees begging me for forgiveness when I tell you my news.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “I don’t see how you plan to achieve that but go ahead. Give it a try.”

“Tom Westlake came to my office and insisted I go out for a beer with him. He paid, so you can stop worrying about money.” Peter’s ice-blue eyes brightened with delight and she had to focus hard on her determination to be angry with him.

“So you went out with Tom. That doesn’t excuse making me worry.”

“Ah, sweetheart. You should be more accepting of your husband or I won’t tell you the big… grand… fantastic news.”

Anna would have laughed at his antics, but she couldn’t well give in just yet. First she had to let him stew in his own juices a while longer. Although she couldn’t shake off the feeling that he indeed enjoyed the situation and it was she who was left stewing. “Alright then, what’s your big news?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” he teased her and tapped a finger on his cheek. “What about giving your husband the greeting he deserves after a long day of work?”

“God, I hate you,” she said. Once again he’d flipped the tables on her. He knew exactly that she was dying to hear the news – and his lips would remain sealed until she surrendered to his demands.

“You love me.”

“Maybe a tiny little bit.” She pecked his cheek and found herself in his grip, a pair of passionate, beer-smelling lips devouring her mouth. She couldn’t stay angry any longer, and when they came up for breath she asked, “So what’s the great news?”

“Tom went to Aunt Lydia’s farm to visit Ursula.”

“He… he saw Ursula? And the baby?” Her legs gave out and it was a good thing that Peter was still holding her in his embrace.

“He did. And he’s enamored with both of them.”

Anna nodded.

“But there’s more good news… he saw Richard.”

“Richard? As in my brother Richard?” Suddenly she felt like hovering in the air. “Where? How? Why?”

“It seems that Richard arrived on the farm several weeks ago after an adventurous escape from Poland.”

“Oh, wow!” Anna’s brain stopped working. All she could think of was the solemn face of her younger brother the last time she’d seen him shipped off to the front. She kissed Peter again.

Her mother walked into the room giving her daughter a stern look. “Tsk. You can do this in your room.”

Anna flushed. Her mother was very traditional and didn’t like public demonstrations of affection, not even between husband and wife.

“Excuse us, Frida, but we have wonderful news to share,” Peter said.

“Oh no, you are not… expecting?”

“No, Mutter.” Anna knew that while her mother would love to have another grandchild, she was worried about the circumstances and feared they’d not have enough food to feed another mouth. “It’s much better. Richard is with Aunt Lydia.”

“Richard?” her mother asked hesitantly. “You have news from Richard?”

“Yes, Tom…” Anna shut her mouth. They hadn’t told Mutter about Tom’s visit and Anna sure as hell didn’t want to be the bearer of

that

news.

Peter came to her aid. “A colleague at the administration found out that Richard was discharged from the Wehrmacht and has married my sister Katrina.”

“He did?” Anna beamed with pure joy. “You are forgiven for coming home late. This is such good news. Both of them made it and are well and alive.”

Mutter dabbed at her eyes and turned away. The door opened again and Lotte arrived together with Jan. “What’s wrong? Who died?” she squealed, seeing her mother in tears.

“Nobody,” Peter said.

“Then why is she crying?” Lotte asked. Anna could understand her shock, because their mother never cried. Anna had seen her mother cry only once – followed by a nervous breakdown. Jan put his arms around his grandmother’s waist, murmuring, “It’ll be alright.”

Anna glanced at Peter and could see his heart swell with pride for his son. Frida Klausen and Jan weren’t related by blood, but they shared a bond that was much stronger than even with her own children.

“Why do my children keep getting married without me there?” Frau Klausen asked no one in particular.

Anna stared at her mother and shared a look with Lotte, who shrugged and said, “Who got married?”

“Richard.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me.” Lotte flopped onto the sofa, kicking off her shoes. “Is anyone going to fill me in?”

Peter took to the task. “A colleague found out that Richard and Katrina made it safely to Aunt Lydia’s farm and got married not long ago.”

Lotte gazed from Peter to Anna, to her sobbing mother, and a beaming Jan, who was jumping up and down with glee. “Who is Katrina?”

“My sister,” Peter said.

“They got married without me, just like the two of you,” Mutter complained.

“Why on earth did I have to be born into this family, where nobody wants to adhere to traditions?” Lotte lamented.

“You’re the one to complain,” Anna laughed. “When have you ever valued rules and traditions?”

“That’s not the point here.” Lotte theatrically rolled her eyes. “The point is… nobody properly informs the family about important events.”

“Peter just found out today…” Anna stopped talking as guilt crept into her bones. There were quite a few secrets Lotte didn’t know about. One of them was the existence of Tom and that he was Evie’s father. She gave her sister a smirk. “Well, it’ll be on you to be the first of us four to have a proper wedding then.”

“Don’t tell me you’re planning to get married, too?” Mutter said, boring her eyes into Lotte.

“Definitely not. I’d need a man for that, wouldn’t I?”

Anna was immediately sorry for her remark, because she knew how much her sister suffered because she hadn’t had news from her boyfriend. Not since he’d been captured by the Red Army in January.