“You're walking,” he said with a look of wonder and disbelief. His arm was in a sling, but the rest of him looked fine though deathly thin. He had made his way across half of Germany on foot for the past two months, and had managed finally to meet up with the Resistance in Alsace. They had airlifted him out of a little village near Strasbourg. It had been a harrowing three months, for her as well. He just stood there and held her in his arms. “I never thought you'd walk again,” he said honestly.

“Neither did I,” she said as she nestled in his arms. She had been desperately afraid she would never see him again. “I was so worried about you.” He knew she would be, but there was nothing he could do. It had been difficult and frightening, even for him, but the mission was a success.

“I had to come back after what you said when I left.” He hadn't forgotten, nor had she. They had much to say and decide now, especially Amadea.

“Papa! We have a band!” Rebekka was shouting at him, and the others told her not to spoil the surprise. After she let the cat out of the bag, they played two songs for him, and he loved it. They were up till nearly midnight, and told him about Amadea celebrating Chanukah for them.

“You seem to be going backward in history,” he teased her after they went to bed, and they were sitting holding hands by the fire. It felt like a dream having him back.

“I just thought it was important for them to have a piece of their history left intact and restored to them.” It seemed strange, but it meant something to her, too. She could imagine her mother doing the same things as a child. And so many had died for being Jewish, it was a way to honor them now, too. It was as though she could hear their voices, not just her own, as she read the prayers.

“I'm not going to lose you again, Amadea. I walked halfway across Germany to come home to you. You can't leave me now,” he said seriously. Her eyes never left his.

“No. I can't. I know that now. I knew it before you left, that's why I told you that I love you…” She looked sad for a moment then as she held his hand. But she knew now that she belonged here, with him, and their kinders, whichever ones stayed in the end. “I always thought I'd go back to the convent,” she said sadly. But too much had happened. Too many people, too many lives, too many people she had contributed to killing, even if she had done it to save others. And now she wanted to be here with him. But it no longer seemed wrong. It seemed very right. And the only choice she could make. She could never have left him, although the convent and all it had meant to her would remain forever in her heart. It had been a difficult decision, but she felt pleased and relieved with the end results. While he had been away, she knew more than ever how much she loved him.

“I was so afraid you'd go back, and I didn't want to interfere with what you wanted,” Rupert said kindly.

“Thank you for respecting that.” She looked at him with eyes full of love. She had been so sure that she would always be a nun, and now she was his, in all the ways she had never dared to dream.

“I would have let you go if it was really what you wanted, and it made you happy… but that seems like a long time ago. Now, I couldn't bear it,” he said as he pulled her close to him and held her. So often in the past three months, he had been so desperately afraid that he would never come home to her, and she had been afraid of the same thing. Finally, after all they'd been through, they both knew this was right. They had both crossed lifetimes to get here, lost people they loved, stared death in the face too many times. They had earned all that they had found.

He carried her up the stairs that night after they put the lights out. She still couldn't walk stairs easily, but she would in time. They hesitated on the landing, and he kissed her, and then with a shy smile she said good-night and he laughed. This was not Paris and the peach nightgown. This was real life. They both knew what had to happen, and that it would soon, in the right way, at the right time. They had the rest of their lives.

28

A PRIEST MARRIED THEM, AND A RABBI SAID A BLESSING, AS the children stood all around them. They were the first children they had shared, and they both knew that many of them would stay with them. And with luck, they would have children of their own, although his lost sons would never be forgotten. Amadea had finally taken her final vows, the ones she had been meant to take, though not the ones she had expected. Life with its twists and turns, terrors and pains and blessings, had led them to each other, through tortuous paths, to a peaceful place at last. They had found each other, amidst the echoes of all those they had once loved and who had loved them.

Danielle Steel


DANIELLE STEEL has been hailed as one of the world's most popular authors, with over 530 million copies of her novels sold. Her many international bestsellers include Miracle, ImPossible, Echoes, Second Chance, Ransom, Safe Harbour, Johnny Angel, and other highly acclaimed novels. She is also the author of His Bright Light, the story of her son Nick Traina's life and death.