The Room on Rue Amélie(45)

She looked up, startled. He was asking her a favor in the midst of a conversation like this? “All right.”

“I need you to forgive yourself.”

“Thomas—”

“Please, let me finish. You can carry the sadness with you, but not the guilt. Guilt will eat you alive, and in this case, there’s no reason for it. It’s not my business, Ruby, but if there’s one thing I hope for you, it’s that you’ll try to let go of the feeling that you failed, because you didn’t. I want the best for you. I want you to be happy. And I don’t think you will be, not entirely, until you lay this burden down.”

When he was done speaking, she stared at him for a long time. “I’ll try,” she whispered at last. “But why do you care? We’ll probably never see each other again.”

“The war will end someday, Ruby,” Thomas replied. “And Paris isn’t so far away from London.”

Ruby let herself imagine a future where they could have all the time in the world to get to know each other. But that simply wasn’t realistic. What were the chances that an RAF pilot and an American girl in Paris would find their way back to each other? She settled for saying, “It’s a nice thought, Thomas. A very nice thought.”

They talked long into the night, until Ruby’s eyelids grew heavy. Finally, she glanced at the clock on the mantel and stood up. “You have a long journey ahead of you tomorrow. You must get some sleep.”

He stood too, and she was struck anew by the sheer size of him, the way her head would fit perfectly against his solid chest. He took a step closer, and she held her breath. In a split second, his lips were on hers, soft and tender. He laced a large hand through her hair, cradling the back of her head as he pulled her toward him, and she kissed him back, although she knew it was foolish. But it felt perfect and right, and she didn’t want the moment to end.

When he finally backed away, he looked dazed. “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.”

Ruby looked into his eyes. “I’m very glad you did.”

“Well then.” He kissed her again, more intensely, and this time, it was Ruby who broke away.

“Thomas, we must get some sleep,” she said.

“Yes, yes, of course.”

Ruby hesitated. “Good night, then. And thank you for a lovely dinner.” She walked into her bedroom without looking back, but after she closed the door behind her, she stayed there, listening. She yearned to go to him, and she wondered if on the other side of the wall, he was feeling the same way. If he came to her door, she would let him in, even if it was against her better judgment.

But he didn’t. And after a while, her heart heavy with longing for something she knew she could never have, she crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling until dawn arrived.





CHAPTER TWENTY


October 1941

“Fleur?” The dark-haired woman standing outside Ruby’s door was early. Too early. She was also too beautiful. Ruby knew that was a ridiculous thing to think, especially since the woman’s voluptuous curves, bee-stung lips, and large green eyes probably made her an asset to the Resistance, keeping the German soldiers distracted. But Ruby hated the idea of handing Thomas off to her, especially after the kiss they’d shared last night.

“I’m sorry, you are Fleur?” the woman repeated more uncertainly. Ruby could tell from her accent that she was French, but her beauty seemed foreign somehow, exotic.

“Yes. And you must be . . . ?”

“Laure. I’m here for the package.” The woman smiled slightly, which unfortunately made her look even lovelier. “Philippe sent me,” she added when Ruby still hadn’t said anything.

“Oh yes, of course.” Ruby forced a smile. Aubert’s cover name.

“And you have the package?” Laure was regarding Ruby warily now.

“One moment, please.” Ruby shut the door on Laure, knowing it was rude, but not particularly caring. She wanted a few seconds alone with Thomas.

“That’s her?” His voice came from behind her, where he stood wearing Marcel’s clothes. “The woman who will take me to the next stop on the line?”

“That’s her,” Ruby confirmed flatly.

Thomas closed the distance between them in three long steps. He pulled Ruby into his arms and kissed her once more before pulling away. “I don’t want to leave you.”

The words made Ruby’s heart ache. “But you must.”

“I’ll be back one day,” Thomas said. “I swear it.”

Ruby doubted that the words could ever be true. But she wanted to believe.

There was a knock at the door again, and Ruby held Thomas’s gaze for one more long moment before opening it. Laure was standing with her hands on her hips, looking perturbed.

“We really must go,” she said. “May I come in?”

Ruby nodded, stepping aside and closing the door behind her. Laure introduced herself to Thomas; then, acting as if Ruby wasn’t there at all, she plunged into a rapid-fire set of instructions in English.

“You’re to walk behind me,” she said. “No contact. No acknowledgment. If someone stops me, you keep walking. If someone stops you, I keep walking. There’s no way we can be seen together. If all goes well, I’ll lead you to the train station, where I’ll board first and you’ll board a few minutes later in the same car. Again, we do not know each other. Here are your ticket and your identity papers, as well as your German travel document, all flawless forgeries.” She withdrew a few papers from her purse and handed them to Thomas. “You are a French farmworker who is deaf and mute. Do you understand?”