Her Mother’s Hope

one of them.

“Hildie.” Elizabeth spoke softly. “I’m so glad you’re home.” They embraced.

When Hildie searched Elizabeth’s eyes, her friend blushed and looked away. Hildie wanted to weep.

Bernie took Hildie back to the train station in Mama’s Model T to collect her luggage. He had to muscle the trunk into the backseat. “You have more stuff than the last time you came home!”

“Mrs. Henderson, my landlady, had a sale before I left Tacoma. She’s putting the house up for sale and moving in with her daughter. I helped her bring boxes down from her attic and price everything. You wouldn’t believe how much stuff she’d accumulated over the years. She had things left behind by boarders, and her husband had a store. He sold all kinds of things, including china. Her attic was packed! She gave me twelve different place settings from his store displays: Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, Spode, and Villeroy and Boch. She gave me some linen tablecloths, too. We can use everything if you and Elizabeth would like.”

“We’ll store your trunk in the barn. Keep all those nice things for when you and Trip set up housekeeping. Elizabeth packed all of the Musashis’ dishes and kitchenwares. We’re using our own.”

Bernie seemed to have less security than she did. “What are you going to do when the Musashis come back?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

With the Martins living in the big house and sharecropping the farm, it seemed Bernie had been done out of a home and a job. “Whose idea was it to move over to the Musashis’?”

“Mama and I both had a brainstorm at the same time. It hit me the day I saw the Musashis walking to town with one suitcase apiece. Didn’t seem right.”

“Thanks for taking me in, Bernie.”

Bernie gave her a droll look. “You think I’d leave my pregnant sister without a roof over her head?”

“Mama would.”

He gave her an irritated glance. “What a thing to say.”

She felt ashamed and defensive. “I didn’t know anything about the Martins. Last I heard, you were running the place.”

“Things change.” He gave a mirthless laugh. “I cried when I saw the Musashis leave. Mama got mad as all get-out. She said it wasn’t right. She wrote letters and called anyone who’d listen. She drove all the way to Sacramento to talk to someone in government. They wanted to know where she came from. We decided to keep the Musashi farm running. If the taxes don’t get paid, they’ll lose the place. Me and Mama and Elizabeth decided this was the best way to handle things right now. The Martins are good people, Hildie. They’ll take care of the place like it’s their own, and Mama’s comfortable in the cottage.”

While Bernie carried her trunk into the barn, Hildemara took her suitcase inside the house. Elizabeth had set the table. She glanced over her shoulder at Hildie and turned back to the stove.

“Something smells wonderful.”

“Stew.” Elizabeth’s voice sounded choked.

Elizabeth hardly said anything through dinner. Bernie talked about the work that needed doing. Hildie talked about moving from place to place, following Trip. “No place at the inn for OCS.” She shrugged, trying not to think about how many months it might be before she saw Trip again.

“I tried to enlist.” Bernie tossed his napkin on the table. “I’m strong as a horse, but they wouldn’t take me. I had two strikes against me before I walked in the door. I’m an only son and a farmer. Then again, maybe there’s another reason they don’t want me. Bernhard Waltert isn’t exactly an American name, is it?” He got up. “I’ve got work to do.”

Hildie looked from the closing door to Elizabeth with her hangdog expression. “Are things really that bad?”

“Someone called him a coward the last time he went to town.”

Hildie stacked Bernie’s dish on top of hers and began to clear the table. “Idiots!”

“I can do the dishes, Hildie.”

“I want to do my part while I’m living here. You cooked. I’ll do the dishes.”

Elizabeth sat with her head down. “You know, don’t you?”

Hildie stood at the sink and closed her eyes. She wanted to pretend she didn’t understand. Drying her hands, she came back and sat at the table. Elizabeth couldn’t look her in the face. “Who’s the father?”

Elizabeth’s shoulders jerked as though she’d been struck. “I love him, you know.”

Hildie’s heart sank. She wanted to grab Elizabeth and shake her. “Who?”

Elizabeth looked up, eyes wide, mouth trembling. “Bernie. I love Bernie!” Her voice broke. She covered her face.

“Does he know?”

“How did you?”

Hildie lied. “The look on your face when I came in the door, the way you couldn’t look me in the eyes. Does Bernie know?”

Elizabeth shook her head. “He knows something’s wrong.” She wiped tears away. “He doesn’t understand why I cry all the time. The doctor told him it had to do with hormones.” She looked up, afraid. “Are you going to tell him?”

“I’m not going to be the one to tell my brother something that will rip the heart right out of him. It’s your secret, Elizabeth, not mine.” Still, she had to know. “You didn’t say who the father is.”

“Eddie Rinckel.”

Bernie’s best friend? “Oh, Elizabeth.” Hildie stood up and moved away from her. “How could you?” She felt sick. She wanted to slap Elizabeth, scream at her.

“Do you hate me?”

Hildie closed her eyes. “Yes. I think I do.” Trembling, she went back to the sink to do the dishes. Elizabeth got up quietly and went into the bedroom she shared with Bernie.

Later, lying in bed, listening to the night sounds, Hildemara cried.

Suddenly Bernie threw open her door. “Fire! Come on. I need help!”

Hildie grabbed her robe and ran. Elizabeth worked beside Bernie. The Martins, all six of them, and Mama in her nightgown, came with shovels. It took an hour, but they managed to beat out and smother the blaze that had started in the alfalfa field.

Mama tossed her long braid back over her shoulder and wiped soot on the front of her nightgown. “We need another dog.” Dash had died while Hildemara was in nursing school.

Bernie gave a cynical laugh. “Make that two, Mama.”

39

Trip called late one evening. Hildemara rejoiced at the sound of his voice. “I got your letter. I’ve only got a few minutes to talk. So listen. I want you safe. Go back to Colorado and live with my parents. They’d love to have you.”

She shouldn’t have told him about the fire or Jap lover painted in red on the barn wall. “I’m not turning my back on my friends. The Musashis are as American as you and I. They’ve been our neighbors for years. Mr. Musashi taught Papa how to prune the almond trees and vines. Papa fixed his well and his truck. I went to school with the Musashi girls. Bernie played football and basketball and-”

“Hildie…”

“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

Bernie laughed while sitting at the kitchen table with Elizabeth. “She’s beginning to sound like Mama.”

“Rocks through windows? A field on fire?” Trip sounded angry. “Sounds like you’re in a war zone.”

“Maybe we are, but it’s a different war than you’ll be fighting.” Tears sprang to her eyes. She tried to calm down. “Things will settle down. People have known us around here for years, Trip. Papa was well loved, even if he was German.” She couldn’t help the edge in her tone. “We’re sitting tight and keeping this place going. You take care of yourself.” She wiped tears away at the thought of what Trip would soon face. Fear had become a constant companion, robbing her of sleep, stealing her appetite. Other sorrows came to bear, as well. Elizabeth, for one.