* * * * *
For the next two weeks, Tsura was the model young wife, burning everything she tried to cook, taking her turns on the couch at night, and using her newfound forgery skills to make ID after ID. At last came the night Mihai would bring Andrei home with him. Tsura sprung towards the door as soon as she heard the key in the lock. She threw it open, looking for her beloved.
Instead, there was only Mihai.
She pushed past him, thinking Andrei might be hidden by Mihai’s bulk. But no, the empty landing alone greeted her. She looked down the stairs. Maybe he was carrying his luggage and had fallen behind. She started to race down the stairs, but Mihai caught her arm.
“He’s not here.”
“Did he go straight to his new apartment?” She lowered her voice, eyes flicking to Elena’s door. “I didn’t think you and Radu had gotten it set up yet.”
Mihai shook his head, his stone face impassive. She wanted to slap him. Instead, she took the front of his shirt and dragged him back into their apartment. She didn’t deny her pleasure at his disgruntled look when she crumpled his shirt.
It took a substantial amount of self-control not to slam the door behind them. “Where is he then?”
“Bacău.”
She sank back against the door, feeling as if she’d been punched in the stomach. “I don’t understand.” It came out as a whisper. Really, it was a miracle she was able to speak at all through the lump forming in her throat. Looking forward to Andrei’s arrival was how she’d made it through the past two weeks. Yes, she might despise Mihai and yes, images of the old man bloodied in the streets, dying with no one to help him haunted her waking and dreaming hours, but Andrei was coming and he would make it all better.
She swallowed hard and glared at Mihai, determined not to cry in front of him or anyone. “Explain.”
Mihai sat down on the sofa, only after smoothing and re-tucking his shirt. “I arrived to grandfather’s house and gave Andrei and the Weinberg’s the new IDs you made for them. I explained your wishes to the boy and that I was there to take him back with me.” Mihai’s eyes shifted away from her. “He was less than pleased with the idea.”
Tsura narrowed her eyes and strode from where she was still standing by the door to sit on the couch in front of Mihai. “What does that mean? Less than pleased?”
“He was upset that you had sent your husband to fetch him, those were his words.”
“No,” Tsura exclaimed, “that’s not how it was at all! Didn’t you explain about Bogdan? How you thought it wasn’t safe for me to come with you? Did you give him my letter?”
“I did.” Mihai’s voice was clipped. “He calmed some after that.”
“So why isn’t he here?”
Mihai expelled a breath through his teeth. He was quiet another moment before finally speaking. “He said that the ID gave him ability to move freely and that he thought he could do more good in Bacău for his people than in Bucharest. Getting them food and other things…” He didn’t meet her eyes. “At least until the war was over and your marriage to me could be annulled.”
Tsura stared at the floor, the patterns in the rug blurring together. Not because there were tears in her eyes. She refused to cry. No, it was simply the shock of it. She was devastated that he wasn’t here.
But Andrei was being honorable. He was passionate about his people and she wouldn’t fault him for it. It was the same impetus that drew her to forgery in the first place—the recognition of injustice and the need to make a difference. She wouldn’t deny her beloved that. It only made her love him all the more.
“He was very grateful for the ID,” Mihai said. “As were the Weinberg’s. They’re going to travel to a town on the seaside as soon as it can be arranged where no one knows them and try to make a new life there.”
Tsura nodded. At least Andrei wasn’t native to Bacău so no one would know him there.Her voice was stronger when she looked back up at Mihai. “Did he send a letter?”
“No.” Mihai looked down. “I’m sure it was too difficult for him. Though, like I said, he was very appreciative of the ID. And he said how much he missed you,” he added after a beat.
Tsura nodded. Of course. Andrei had always been better at expressing his feelings through touch than with words. It was one of the reasons this separation was so difficult. But they were both doing good work in an evil era. That knowledge and the promise of their eventual reunion would have to be comfort enough on the cold nights to come. She turned away from Mihai. She had nothing else to say to him.