“I guess I knew in my heart this was how things would be. I never had a chance, really.”

Verena opened her arms and let Susie cry. “I wish there was something I could do,” she said, her voice cracking.

“But what?” Susie whispered, wiping her eyes as she pulled back. “The boy I’ve always loved thinks of me as his sister . . . and always has.”

Verena reached for her again, and Susie realized they were weeping together.

Britta so wished she had been brave and asked again about her adoption during one of the times she’d read to Mamma while she was so sick with pneumonia. She guessed that, by now, both Mamma and Susie assumed she’d set aside her wonderings. In truth, she’d resigned herself to wait for answers when Mamma was ready to give them, but Mamma’s ongoing health issues made her fearful her mother might not live to tell her about her family origins. This worried Britta terribly. Several times, she had wanted to plead with dear Mamma to reveal what she might know earlier, just in case. But, realizing how selfish that might seem, she hadn’t gone ahead with it, and thankfully, her mother seemed to rally.

Now, though, the what-ifs crowded in again, and Britta found herself feeling anxious.

She kept herself occupied with working around the house and babysitting, especially enjoying time spent with Polly and the children. But she often realized she was holding her breath for Mamma’s health to fully recover from what had been a real scare.

The first Friday in April found Susie still pondering Obie’s news while scrubbing down the pantry shelves in preparation for the upcoming canning season. Has he told his girlfriend about our friendship?

Leaning down to rinse out her washrag in the bucket of warm water, she kept an ear tuned to upstairs, in case Mamma had another coughing fit or called for her.

Later that morning, Susie gently mixed chunks of canned tuna with some chopped hard-boiled eggs, minced celery, onion, and mayonnaise, placing the mixture on a bed of iceberg lettuce for the noon meal. Since Britta was over with the Ebersol children today, Susie headed upstairs and offered to serve Mamma in her room.

When she entered, Mamma was sitting in her chair, wheezing lightly. Concerned, Susie quickly settled on a different plan. “Would ya like to give Allen a call today? We haven’t talked to him in a while.”

“Well, I’m guessin’ he’s very busy outdoors this time of year.”

She doesn’t want him to know she’s suffering again, thought Susie. Then, changing the subject, she said, “I was wonderin’ if you’d like your meal brought up here. It’s no trouble.”

“Ach, I’ll go down and sit at the table with ya,” Mamma replied, getting up from her chair and pausing to cough.

“Are ya sure?” Susie asked, worried.