Free One Last Summer (2007) by Catrin Collier Page B

was over before I was born.’
    ‘Or the small part of both that was your family’s history?’
    ‘Like Aunt Greta, I think the past best forgotten.’
    ‘You’re going, Oma?’ Luke looked crestfallen when he walked out of the kitchen and saw she was ready to leave.
    ‘I am.’ She hugged him.
    ‘You’ll be back soon?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ Reluctant to let him go she clung to him.
    ‘But Laura and I can visit you again. What about this summer?’ he asked hopefully.
    ‘Come any time you want. And if I’m not there, Claus, Carolyn and the new baby would love to have you.’
    ‘Why wouldn’t you be there, Oma?’
    ‘Art,’ she replied. ‘There are always new places to see and paint.’ She kissed him for the last time, then the telephone rang and he went to answer it.
    ‘Have a good trip, Mother.’ Jeremy escorted her to the car. ‘Do telephone to let us know that you have arrived safely, and remind Laura that her parents would like to hear from her once in a while.’ ‘Marilyn.’ Charlotte hugged her daughter-in-law, shook her son’s hand again and climbed into the car.
    Hassan loaded her bag into the front. ‘Mr Samuel told me to tell you that you’re most welcome to join him for brandy and coffee in his dining room, but if you’d like to go straight to your room, there’s a bottle of white wine on ice and brandy on the drinks tray in the kitchen.’
    ‘Tell Mr Samuel he’s a very special man.’
    ‘I will, madam.’
    As they drove slowly down the street, Charlotte turned to catch a last glimpse of Jeremy. He was standing in the doorway of his house, Luke waving to her on one side of him, Marilyn waving less enthusiastically on the other. Charlotte brushed away a single tear and took consolation in the thought that, with Laura and Claus to watch out for him, Luke would be all right.
    However, the tear wasn’t for her grandson. She suspected that she had just seen Jeremy for the last time, but the sadness came from her indifference. She felt nothing. Absolutely no emotion – no pain, no joy, no sorrow – only relief that she wouldn’t have to make small talk in Jeremy’s presence or enter his cold, unwelcoming house ever again.

Chapter Four
    ‘You have everything you need, Ms Datski?’
    ‘More than everything. Thank you, Mrs Green. I am not used to such pampering.’
    Charlotte placed her diary on the bedside table, untied the belt on her robe, hung it in the wardrobe and slipped into bed.
    ‘Mr Goldberg thinks a lot of you, Ms Datski.’
    ‘As I do him,’ Charlotte smiled.
    Mrs Green, who had been born Melerski, had succeeded to her mother’s post as Samuel’s housekeeper after her mother’s death. Samuel had found her teenaged mother and uncle in a displaced persons’ camp at the end of the Second World War, while searching for his wife and children. He’d never found his own family so, in typical Samuel fashion, he’d adopted someone else’s.
    ‘Sleep well. Shall I turn off the lights?’
    ‘The main light, please, Mrs Green,’ Charlotte asked. ‘Leave the bedside light. I intend to read for a little while.’
    SUNDAY, 20 AUGUST 1939 (continued)
    Late afternoon, my bedroom, Grunwaldsee
    After Claus slipped the ring on to my finger he left me to look for Papa to ask his consent. I stayed on the terrace in an agony of suspense until Claus returned, bringing not only Papa but also Mama and his own parents. I could see at once how happy Papa was. The von Lettebergs are an even older family than ours. Mama was overcome with happiness, and she and Grafin von Letteberg couldn’t stop hugging and kissing one another and me. Claus had asked his parents for their blessing that afternoon, and his father told me they couldn’t be more delighted with their son’s choice of a bride. After they embraced me and welcomed me into the von Letteberg family, all that remained was formally to announce the engagement.
    Papa wanted to go to the dining room and tell everyone there