It would have been so easy to say yes and go, but she’d already made up her mind. She’d never forgive herself if she turned her back on France now.

“I can’t,” she said, as the boat rocked, putting more distance between them. “I have to stay and fight for my country.”

Tears ran freely down her face, the pain inside her building to an almost unbearable crescendo. She’d lost so much, and now she was saying goodbye to Cate, too. She pushed through the water then, reaching for Cate as the men on the boat pushed their oars down, the splash of their paddles the only sound other than her moving through the water.

“I’m going to miss you so much,” she said as Cate reached down for her. They embraced. Elise held her tight, tried to convey in her hug how much she loved the nurse who’d come unexpectedly into her life and ended up being like a second sister to her.

“I’m going to miss you, too.”

“Last call,” one of the men muttered. “You coming or not?”

Elise pulled away and reached into her bag, lifting out the little dog. She pressed him to her chest, kissing his scruffy head.

“Take him,” she cried to Cate. “Keep him safe and love him, for Addy. I need to know he’s safe.”

She thrust the whimpering little dog toward her friend, eyes straining until she could see his white fur nestled in Cate’s arms, listening as Cate comforted him. Elise helped to push the boat out further, crying so hard she couldn’t see anything through the blur of her eyes, resisting the urge to reach out to one of the men and beg them to pull her over the side.

“We can’t take a dog with us!” a male voice objected.

“Just you try and stop me,” Cate shot back.

Elise stood, the water up to her waist, as the last person in the world she loved disappeared into the night. Thank you. She wanted to thank Cate for taking Oscar, to call out to her one last time, but when she opened her mouth, the only thing that escaped was a cry.

Eventually she waded back to shore, soaking wet and starting to shiver as she ran low up the beach and crouched down in the dunes, wiping at her eyes as she caught her breath.

She sank her fingers into the sand then, balling them and focusing on the soft granules sticking to her skin and sliding in her grip.

Adelaide has gone, Harry has gone, Cate has gone. I’m all alone now.

But she refused to shed any more tears, refused to think about Adelaide and what it must have been like at the end, with the cold nose of a pistol pressed to her head.

The Nazis had taken everything from her.