“LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?” Gisela asked as Evelyn opened the door under the sink, and the garbage pail came rolling out at her and lifted its lid.
“Now that’s practical,” Evelyn said, “and comical too, somehow, like it’s tipping its hat.”
“You don’t need to rinse first, just put them in, either along the side or, look, like this, in between.” Gisela took the platter from her and placed it crosswise to the other plates in the dishwasher. “Cups and saucers, the smaller stuff up top, utensils here. Just not the big knife, see, it has a wooden handle. Always hand-wash wood. Hand me that bowl.”
“But it’s too big somehow.”
“Ah, pooh, look, just on top of the rest, no problem. And the cups, too, they fit along here, on a slant. Works best when it’s fully loaded. Just don’t put spoons together, ’cause they fit into each other.” Gisela distributed several teaspoons around the boxes of the plastic basket. “Open that again. The door under the sink, open it again, that’s where the detergent and clear rinse are. The detergent here, and this is for the rinse—but it doesn’t need any, there’s enough there, usually good for four or five runs. And now turn it on. Right. You don’t have to adjust anything else, just push the button and you’re done. I keep it at fifty-five degrees. Just turn it on once it’s loaded. But don’t open up while it’s running, it doesn’t like that, it’s not the youngest anymore.”
“And no drying either?”
“Nope, tomorrow we’ll take everything out shiny clean.”
“And glasses?”
“I always run them over quick with a towel. If they’re not perfectly straight up—”
“I’d love to make myself useful somehow. Maybe do some of the shopping?”
“Oh Eva, I’m just glad that you’re both here. We use the car to do the real shopping, and I pick up the little things on my way home from work.”
“And what about housecleaning?”
“That’s Monica’s job, Mondays and Fridays. I’m just happy to finally have some life in the place again. Johannes didn’t even come home for Christmas, and I understand—Guatemala is more interesting than Eichenau. And when Birgit does show up, she likes to sleep in the living room anyway, so she can watch TV.”
“We’ll be getting a little money shortly, we can add it to your household budget—I think your husband would think that’s fair.”
“You can do that, sure. But you can take a lot of what he says with a grain of salt. He’s a sweet man, really. Come on, let’s take a load off. Want to share a little Baileys with me? Do you like liqueurs?”
“Yes, sure do.”
Gisela ran a cloth over the kitchen table.
“I don’t have anybody to tipple with once in a while,” she said, sitting down across from Evelyn and unscrewing the cap.
“Aren’t they waiting for us?”
“Let ’em be. Let them have their man-to-man talk. Eberhard is a stickler for fairness—which means anybody who works less than he does should earn less. He measures people by the work they turn out. Not even I could change that, it’s a family trait. They all worked themselves to death—grouches with their noses to the grindstone, every single one.”
“Adam has never been able to really enjoy a vacation either.”
“Prosit, Eva, here’s to you, to you both, and to your being here and to your new life.”
They touched glasses and drank.
“Well, is that something or not?”
“Oh yes.”
“Well then, down the hatch.”
“Goes down easy,” Evelyn said. “Wouldn’t take much to get hooked on it.”
Gisela poured another round.
“A woman needs two legs to stand on. You need to enjoy life while you’re young.”
“That’s why I left. I knew there had to be something else to life.”
“Yes, something else always comes along in life. Prosit, Eva, here’s to the future.”
“And to you, Aunt Gisela.”
“Call me anything but aunt.”
“I’m sorry, but since Adam—”
“Prosit, Eva.”
“Prosit, Gisela.”
They heard laughter coming from the living room.
“We’re going hiking tomorrow, to the upland moors, you’d like it there. Hiking is a must in Bavaria. You’re going to join us, aren’t you? And once you’ve got the rest of the red tape behind you, it all starts up—I’ll introduce Adam to the women in my sewing course. With a little luck he can take charge in no time—the woman who runs it isn’t even a tailor. Gets jittery hands whenever she has to cut fabric.”
“Adam’s great with the shears. Is he ever! Clients tore each other limb from limb to get him.”
“I’m not worried about you either. Anyone with looks like yours, my girl, as long as you don’t head down the primrose path …” Gisela wagged a warning finger. “You’ll see, they’ll be tearing each other limb from limb for you, too, no matter where you go. Where did you get that hair?”
“From my father—my mother’s a blonde, in fact.”
“And then blue eyes to go with it—the men must fall at your feet by the thousands.”
“Well, I do all right. I want to study no matter what, I want to study.”
“Adam’s going to have to start from scratch, but if he rolls up his sleeves … Prosit.”
“Yep, we’ll start from scratch,” Evelyn said and finished her second glass.
“Another sip?”
“I’m way out of practice, I can’t handle any more.”
“Oh come on, three legs and a woman stands even better.”
Evelyn let loose with a snort and pressed the back of her hand to her mouth. “Sorry.”
“You’re something else. And don’t look so shocked.” Gisela began to giggle. The mouth of the bottle slipped from the edge of her glass—she stared at the little puddle of Baileys. For a moment she looked completely sober, but then began to giggle again and pretended she needed to hold the bottle with both hands.
“You know, all this seems like a dream to me,” Evelyn said. “When I think that next week I’ll go into Munich and can pick whatever subject I want to study—it’s totally incredible, you know? I can’t even begin to imagine it.” Evelyn gave a start. “What was that?”
“That’s the dishwasher, the dispenser just opened, does it with a pop.” Gisela giggled some more. “What a shame you couldn’t see your face. We have to toast your little scare. And don’t make a fuss, we can handle this.”
Evelyn had laid her hand over her glass. “Better not,” she said. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“From that little bit? What’s wrong? Damn, Eva, that can’t be. You’re white as a sheet.” Gisela held her hand to Eva’s forehead. “Sweetheart, are you okay?”
Those were the last words that Evelyn could recall later. And that she had wanted to say yes.