Trudy couldn’t avoid Bradley over the next two weeks. She wanted to know him better, as he’d said. Everyday things were easy to learn about someone else. Likes, dislikes, little annoying or endearing habits.
What she’d intended to be a weekly ritual turned into an everyday happening. She would bring Bradley food, intending to drop it off and leave. She’d tote along either biscuits or rolls from her mother, or leftover meat or something for Bradley to make himself a sandwich. Instead of her heading straight back to the farm, she and Bradley would end up walking the streets of Fredericksburg, occasionally running into yet another friend or a distant cousin of his.
The day before Kathe’s wedding, Bradley was grinning when Trudy arrived at the Sunday house. A brown paper–wrapped parcel sat on the table, addressed to him in care of the Nimitz Hotel. “Look what I have here. I was hoping it would arrive.”
Trudy studied the parcel, securely tied with string. “A package. Good. You mentioned the other day about waiting for something to arrive.”
He tapped the brown paper. “Go ahead, open it. It’s for you.”
“For me?” She worked at untying the string, which didn’t work, so Bradley worked at it with his pocketknife. The paper unfolded to reveal a book, cover side down. She turned the book over.
Photography Fundamentals and Beyond: A Professional’s Primer.
“Bradley—” He understood her. It wasn’t a romantic gift, by any definition of the word. Any fellow could buy a girl flowers or chocolates, but this, this was personal. “I studied what I could, but I always had to return the photography book to the library.”
“Well, now this copy is yours forever.” He took her hand and squeezed it.
“Thank you, thank you so much.”
“I think you could be a professional photographer, and not just portraits. You could work anywhere.”
“It means a lot to have someone believe in me like this, especially you.” The air grew thick, just like it did weeks before under the live oak trees.
“I do.” He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it.
The memory of his gift followed her through a sleepless night until the following afternoon, when she stood inside her cousin Kathe’s bedroom, where the temperature soared with early June heat. Kathe stood in front of a small circular fan, moving as it oscillated.
“I’m melting, Trudy. Oh, why, why didn’t Peter and I wait until autumn to marry?” Kathe frowned, but Trudy laughed in spite of her own somber thoughts. “And here you are, my maid of honor, laughing at me.”
“It’s too late to turn back now,” Trudy said. “Besides, Peter is well enough to get married.”
Kathe nodded. “He’s going to walk me during the recessional—oh dear, I can’t cry. Not yet.” She fanned her face and glanced at Trudy. “Okay, you. ’Fess up. What’s going on with you and my handsome, young journalist cousin from Washington? You’ve been seen around town nearly every day.”
“I don’t know. I wish I knew. But”—Trudy shivered at the memory—“he kissed me once.”
“No. Scandalous, and him so new in town.” Kathe’s eyes were wide, but she followed the fish-eyed expression with a smile.
“Don’t act shocked.” Trudy studied her friend’s face. “Wait. Did you tell him about Kurt? Because the other day, he brought up Kurt and knew what happened.”
“Um … well, we sort of all did, the first night he had supper with us.” Kathe started moving back and forth in front of the fan again.
“I wanted to be the one to tell him….” Trudy sank onto the bed. She should have told him herself, but she hadn’t wanted to press the issue as if she were trying to prove to him that she was “available.” She picked up the pink gown, simple, with an A-line skirt. The idea of getting into her maid-of-honor gown wasn’t pleasant. Although the gown was beautiful and lovingly sewn by Tante Elsie, she’d melt just like Kathe would.
“I’m sorry. Bradley wanted to know, and it all just sort of came out.”
A soft knock sounded at the door. “Are you almost ready? The guests have almost all assembled in the backyard,” said Tante Elsie.
“Almost,” Kathe called out. Then she continued in a lower tone. “You’re not mad at me?”
“Of course not. We—he and I—well, we agreed to continue getting to know each other.”
“Why don’t you look happy about it?”
Trudy stood and ran her fingers over the fabric of her dress. “For one thing, he’s going to leave. That’s a given fact. He can’t write about Fredericksburg forever and his boss wants him to move on eventually. And another thing, how do I know that this isn’t moving so fast? He makes me feel …”
“Like you’re flying on air, like you’ve been running for a day and can’t catch your breath?” Kathe asked.
“Something like that … yet I look at my parents, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them like that.” Trudy frowned. “I don’t want to chase some dream that will only leave me heartbroken in the end.”
“I’m sure your parents felt that way about each other, as did mine,” Kathe said. “We’ve just never seen them young and in love. Everyone starts somewhere.”
“You’re right.” Trudy nodded.
Kathe took her dress from the hanger and held it up to herself, studying her reflection in the mirror. “I prayed long and hard about Peter. He’d come home injured, and I knew that now was the time for us to marry. But I wanted to be sure that it wasn’t just me going all ‘hearts and flowers’ over the whole thing. One morning I woke up and I just … knew … beyond a doubt, that Peter was the man for me and I was ready to do everything I could to have a good marriage. And, here we are.”
“Here you are.” Trudy smiled at Kathe. “Let me help you get dressed. We need to get you downstairs so you can have that long-delayed wedding.”
Silently, she added, Lord, show me the way …
Bradley watched as Trudy glided down the grassy lawn of the Zimmermanns’ main house. Her hair swept up into a pile of curls on her head. Her light pink dress skimmed her knees with a wide skirt, and her bouquet of fresh flowers from the garden made a pretty contrast.
Her eyes met his, and a faint blush swept down her neck and toward her shoulders. What a two weeks it had been since taking up temporary residence in Fredericksburg. His first set of columns had won praises from Frank. That had earned him more time here.
But time here would be coming to an end, regardless of how much Bradley tried to prolong it.
“There’s a war going on, Payne,” Frank had told him. “I appreciate the fact you’ve brought a human interest angle to the stories about Fredericksburg and your family, but our readers always want something fresh and new. If it starts to get stale, I’m pulling you out of there for your own good.”
“I understand, Frank,” Bradley had said.
That conversation came roaring back into his memory as he watched Trudy pass by where he stood. He’d found a treasure here in this Texas town, a treasure of family and the promise of more with Trudy.
The minister asked them to rise as Kathe Zimmermann walked toward the outdoor altar. She leaned on Hank’s arm. She made a beautiful bride, her dress simple yet just as elegant as any Bradley had seen in his travels. His grandfather gave him a slight nod as they passed.
Grandfather. Opa. Thank You, Lord. Please don’t let me make the mistake my father did by pushing people away and running from people who love me. He didn’t know how to act with a family. He was used to keeping his own hours, his own time and schedule, without anyone except his editor to give him a timetable for anything. Now people were asking for him, wanting to be involved in his life. He’d never found himself in a family gathering like this.
Kathe had asked if he wanted to read a scripture during the short ceremony. At first he declined, until his grandfather talked him into reconsidering. He could scarcely drag his gaze away from Trudy, who stood at her friend’s side. If there was any indication that she had dreary thoughts about this not being her own wedding day, Bradley didn’t see it. He did see the woman who’d stolen his heart. First, her talent and sense of adventure inspired him, but then he saw her love for her family and her town.
“And now, a few words from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians,” said the minister. He nodded at Bradley, who rose from his chair and walked to the small arbor. He took the open book that the minister held, already turned to the correct passage.
He cleared his throat. “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels …” The familiar poetic words of truth came from his lips. “Charity suffereth long, and is kind … beareth all things, believeth all things, endureth all things …”
He allowed himself a glance at Trudy, whose gaze held his for a millisecond before she lowered her focus to her bouquet. A blush swept over her features.
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”
Lord, help me, I’m in love with Trudy Meier.
The rest of the ceremony ticked by without his conscious thoughts directed at the newly married couple. This wasn’t in his plans. What could he do now that his heart was held by a honey-haired photographer from a tiny Texas town? Certainly she talked about adventure and wanting to see the world. There were drawbacks. He knew them. Tough travel conditions, uncertain accommodations. There was occasionally some danger. He wasn’t guaranteed a permanent position at the magazine. What if he ever found himself out of work, with a wife to take care of?
He knew Trudy’s mother had expressed a few objections to the idea of her only daughter being paired with a freelance journalist. He didn’t blame her. The practical part of him understood all too well. If it were his daughter, he’d want her tucked safely into the shelter of a town like Fredericksburg. But then, Trudy wasn’t a child, but a grown woman capable of making adult decisions.
Someone nudged him. Opa Hank. “You going to hang back and not try to get a piece of wedding cake?”
“Huh?”
“You were anywhere but here, young man.”
“Sorry. It was a nice ceremony. I’m honored that I was included.”
“I know that the young Meier girl had your attention.”
“Was it obvious?”
“Of course it was.” His grandfather walked beside him in the direction of a long table filled with delectable dishes. Someone had baked a ham, another friend or family member had brought homemade sausage. Plenty of potatoes and garden vegetables. And—the cake.
“Hello.” Trudy’s voice came from somewhere off to the side, close to his right shoulder.
He turned to face her. “Hello, yourself. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She colored at his words. “It was a lovely wedding, wasn’t it? I’m glad you said yes to Kathe about reading the scripture. I know it meant a lot to her.” Trudy waved off a fly, who’d developed an interest in her bouquet.
“It meant a lot to me, too. It’ll be one of my favorite memories of Fredericksburg and meeting my family.” He took a step closer to her.
“You sound as if you’re leaving …” Trudy bit her lower lip.
“Eventually, I am.” He tried not to put a damper on the day. “Okay, probably sooner than eventually. I knew I would be …” He didn’t add, and you did, too. The pain in her eyes almost made him wince.
“I’d heard the rumors, but didn’t want to believe them,” a female voice said. Bradley didn’t know the woman who’d come to stand beside them. She looked to be a few years younger than Aunt Elsie, and she glanced from Trudy, to him, then back to Trudy again.
“What rumors do you mean, Mrs. Schuler?” Trudy asked.
“You’ve taken to running around town with this man who claims to be a Zimmermann, while my son—my only boy—is somewhere missing in Europe.” The woman’s eyes crackled with anger, but Bradley saw the fear inside them, too. One of his friends had gone missing after an air raid in London a year ago. No one had heard from him since. Sad, how life kept going even when someone’s sudden absence left a gaping hole.
“I miss Kurt, too, and I wish he were here.” Trudy stood her ground. The words she said sounded odd. How much did she really miss him? Bradley couldn’t guess. Today wasn’t the right place or time, but eventually they’d have to square off and face each other, all cards on the table, and both of them would see what the other held.