Ruth stood. “I can help.” She gently placed a hand on his injured arm.
“No need.” He touched her hand, his fingers lingering against her palm.
Her heartbeat accelerated, and she intertwined her fingers with his. “It’s no trouble at all,” she said, her voice soft.
He moved close and looked into her eyes.
As if by reflex, she leaned into him and felt his arm wrap around her back. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She closed her eyes and raised her chin as his lips approached her own.
A knock came from the door.
Ruth eased back. She felt his arm drift down her spine and slip away.
“Are you expecting someone?” he asked.
Her eyes widened. “Oh, gosh. It’s Lucette. I didn’t want her to stay alone, so I told her to come here. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.”
Jimmie gently placed a hand to her cheek. “It’s all right. It’s good that you invited her.” He stepped away to open the door and returned with Lucette.
Lucette, wearing casual clothing, put down a piece of luggage and a bag with her dirty uniform. Her eyes gravitated to the table with plates, snifters, and a bottle of Armagnac. Her lips formed a smile. “I hope I didn’t interrupt.”
Ruth’s face flushed. “Non, we were—” She smoothed her blouse.
“We were having a bite to eat,” Jimmie said. “Would you like some?”
“Oui, merci,” Lucette said. “I’m famished, and I could use a drink.” She went to a cabinet, retrieved a glass, and poured Armagnac.
“Give me a minute to reheat the food,” Jimmie said.
“It’s not necessary.” Lucette sat at the table and took a gulp of brandy.
Ruth slid Jimmie’s untouched plate of food to Lucette, and then gave her a clean fork and napkin.
Lucette devoured a slice of zucchini and washed it down with brandy. She looked at Ruth. “It tastes incredible.”
“Jimmie bartered for the food,” Ruth said, “and he cooked it.”
Lucette turned to Jimmie. “Merci.”
He nodded.
Ruth’s eyes met Jimmie’s and a wave of contentment washed over her. She regretted that their time together was cut short, but she was glad that Lucette was not alone in her apartment, where she would worry about Paul and brood over the casualties at the bombed factory. Most of all, she was grateful for Jimmie’s kindness, for making her feel wanted, and helping her to forget about the war, if only for a little while. Perhaps we’ll have time for each other when all of this is over. Or maybe this is all there will ever be between us. She set aside her thoughts and chatted with Lucette as she ate.
As Lucette finished her food, Ruth looked at Jimmie and said, “Do you want to tell her, or would you like me to?”
Lucette put down her fork and wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Tell me what?”
CHAPTER 32
PARIS, FRANCE—JUNE 10, 1940
Ruth, wearing her clean uniform, opened a living-room window in her aunt and uncle’s apartment and leaned out her head. A faint odor of resin and burning trees penetrated her nose. On the street below, a dense throng of refugees was making its way out of Paris on a hot and cloudless summer day. Beyond a cacophony of crowd commotion and police whistles, a distant gunfire echoed over the city.
Ruth’s skin prickled. She turned to Aunt Colette and Uncle Julian, who were dressed in their hospital clothing and standing in the center of the living room. “They’re getting closer.”
The lines on Colette’s face deepened.
Julian placed his arm around his wife.
Ruth closed the window, shutting out the noise of the exodus and the advancing German Army.
Five days after Paris was bombed, the sound of German guns could be heard in the capital. Rumors grew rampant amongst Parisians that French Army battalions, fighting to hold the line in the north, had been overrun or captured. Soon after, French soldiers—unarmed and their uniforms tattered—began to arrive in the city, sending shock and fear through the masses.
In addition to French military deserters, the exodus of refugees continued to multiply. The streets of Paris were congested with people passing through the city, mostly on foot, bicycles, or in horse-drawn wagons. Huge numbers of people from Belgium and northern France had abandoned their homes in search of sanctuary. But today, the exodus had swelled to biblical proportions when it was announced that the French government had decided to leave the capital city of Paris. To Ruth—given the surge of people passing through Le Marais—it looked as if a million Parisians had fled their homes, joining the many millions already in turmoil.
For the past week, Ruth and Lucette volunteered at the hospital to help with victims of the bombing. The patients, who were not severely injured, were gradually released and she and Lucette were assigned less urgent duties of washing sheets, making beds, and cleaning bedpans. Jimmie had urged her, as well as Lucette, to join him, Pierre, and Aline on their journey to the coast, but she struggled to forsake the city and people she cherished, especially Colette and Julian, who were committed to remain at the hospital. Ruth had pleaded for Jimmie to leave without her, but he didn’t flee the city. Instead, he’d made excuses for delaying his departure, as if he were holding out hope that she would change her mind.
Each day the rumble of explosions grew closer, and Ruth and Lucette gradually came to terms that the city would be breached by Hitler’s army. The tipping point to leave occurred when the government announced its evacuation from the city. And soon after the radio broadcast, Julian and Colette rushed to the apartment, gave Ruth the keys to a truck, and implored her to save as many people as she could.
Ruth stepped away from the window and approached Colette and Julian. “I’ll go, but I want you to come with us. It’s not too late to change your mind.”
“We’re needed at the hospital,” Colette said. “There are many Parisians who are unwilling or are physically unable to leave. Doctors and nurses are required to care for the ill and injured.”
“It’s not safe,” Ruth said. “The German Army will be here within days, if not sooner.”
Julian shook his head. “We must stay.”
“Non,” Ruth pleaded. “The Nazis persecute Jews.”
