Chapter Thirty-six Ava

THIRTY-SIX : AVA

DELANEY HORSE FARM

OCTOBER 1945

It had been two months since the package bearing Gunther's Bible and his proposal of marriage arrived. I'd immediately written to him, declaring my love for him and my desire to become his wife. Yet day after day passed with no word from him. My greatest fear was that he'd been deported and hadn't been able to get word to me.

There was nothing to do but wait.

Colonel Foster resigned his post after his visit to the farm. I arrived at the office one morning to find a new man in charge. I was disappointed Hew hadn't said goodbye, but I understood. With his departure, I felt free to leave my position too. Bren cried on my last day, but she and the other girls had plans to move to Nashville and share an apartment as soon as the hospital closed. Everyone, it seems, was ready for a new beginning.

A cool October breeze met me as I exited the barn. Dark clouds and the smell of rain warned of an approaching storm. I'd spent the morning cleaning out stalls and preparing for the arrival of a dozen new horses from Camp Forrest. They'd been used for training purposes, but with the Army vacating the enormous cantonment, the animals required a new home. I still wasn't sure who gave my name to the sergeant in charge of the stables, but he said he had orders to contact me and offer the horses to us, free of charge. They'd even transport them out to the farm.

The first drops of rain smacked me as I ran for the house. When I reached the porch, I stopped to inhale the fresh scent. I peered out across the farm to see if the horses in the front pasture had taken shelter from the storm, but instead I found a lone figure walking up the drive in the deluge. We'd put an ad in the paper for a stable hand, and I wondered if it was someone coming to apply for the job. Many people couldn't afford fuel for their vehicles these days, so it wasn't unusual to see someone walking along the roads.

Rain fell harder as the stranger approached. I squinted through the downpour, wondering who would come out to the farm on such a dreary day. He wasn't even wearing a hat.

When he reached the middle of the yard, the man stopped. After a moment, he lifted his hand in the air.

I gasped.

It couldn't be.

"Gunther?"

I don't remember stepping off the porch, but suddenly I was drenched, running through the mud. I didn't stop until I was in his arms.

"Ava, Ava," he said over and over.

When we parted, he held my face between his hands, his eyes drinking me in as rain bathed us. "Did you get my letter? And the Bible?"

I cupped his face, laughing and crying at the same time. "Yes, my darling. I did. I will. I will marry you, Gunther. Today if you want."

He picked me up and swung me around. "I love you, Ava."

When my feet were once again on the ground, I gazed into his beloved face. A face I'd wondered if I would ever see again.

"I love you, Gunther Schneider. Welcome home."