Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie

pressed between her teeth. Friedrick took a moment to admire the way her lips pursed around the object before he spoke. “You still working?”
    She blinked and pulled the pen from her mouth. “No. Just writing a letter.”
    He set the wood inside the box. “To your beau?” he threw over his shoulder.
    “No,” she repeated, her tone curt. Was she no longer with the boyfriend she’d been waiting for on her birthday? A ripple of triumph ran through Friedrick at the idea, though he couldn’t see the point. Livy didn’t see him as anything more than the man she’d danced with once or the German-American who cared for the school.
    “I’m writing my good friend Nora. She’s promised to my brother Tom. He and my other brother Joel are fighting the…” Her quick intake of breath sounded unusually loud in the schoolroom. Friedrick knew exactly what word she’d been about to say. “They’re both in France,” she finished.
    Friedrick stood to face her. “May I speak plainly?”
    “That shouldn’t be a problem.” Livy clapped her hand over her mouth, her cheeks turning pink. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why—”
    “You can’t seem to keep a civil tongue? Why the first thing you think comes right out of your mouth?”
    She laughed softly. “Yes.”
    He walked slowly to her desk, remembering the last time he’d done this and how angry he’d been. No frustration filled him now, only a desire to improve things. And an irrational need to be closer to this beautiful woman seated at the front of the room.
    “I need this job, and from the few things you’ve said, it sounds like you want to keep yours, too.” He placed a hand on the top of the desk and bent slightly toward her. “So what do you say to throwing out the white flag? Calling a truce?”
    She lifted an eyebrow in question.
    “I’m asking if you’d be willing to get along, for the sake of our jobs.”
    Livy glanced down at her letter, her long fingers drumming the desk. Would she refuse his offer for peace? Had he jumped to the wrong conclusion one too many times to salvage things now?
    “All right,” she said, lifting her head. “I agree to the terms of your peace treaty.”
    “Shall we shake on it?” he half teased, though the idea of holding her hand again wasn’t an unpleasant one.
    “Of course.” She stood and walked around the desk. Her head came only to his chin, as it had when they’d danced. She stuck out her hand and he clasped it in his own. Similar to the last time they’d shaken hands, her touch felt decidedly feminine but also firm. Much like the woman herself, Friedrick mused. Soft but full of pluck, kind but capable of standing her ground.
    Friedrick released her hand and smiled, relieved to have struck a truce. Livy offered him a smile in return, though it looked a bit more reluctant than the one he’d seen on her face at the dance hall. Still, her large, green eyes shone with warmth and sincerity. As he stared into them, he suddenly couldn’t remember why he’d been irritated at her in the first place. If he could keep himself from making unfounded assumptions, a cease-fire with Livy would surely prove to be as satisfying as sparring with her had been.
    *  *  *
    Livy kept a hand on her best hat as the wind pushed her down the sidewalk toward the church up ahead. Of all the Sabbaths to be running late, it would be Easter Sunday. If she hadn’t fallen asleep in the large bathing pot she’d dragged in from outside, she would have been able to pick which of Hilden’s two churches to attend. As it was, she had to settle for the closest.
    She raced up the steps of the white building and slipped inside the double doors. Organ music greeted her ears, but no singing. They hadn’t started yet. She paused to smooth her blue silk dress. The heady scent of flowers, from the arrangements on either side of the chapel entrance, filled her nose. The smell reminded her at once of Easter the year before. She’d come home from