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After they clinked glasses, Abby felt the flush in her cheeks slowly fade, replaced by numbness She tried for a sly frozen into a frown As they ate, she studied her grandfather in silence She watched the way he brought his fork to his mouth, the way he chewed and interjected occasionally in her parents’ conversation but ns he was the rown to love and not the ns that he wasn’t She watched hile birthday candle on his cake and wondered what he wished for

To start over? Absolution? For Abby’s silence?

By the time her mother cleared the dinner dishes, Abby excused herself to do her ho the stairs, she continued down the hall to the guest roorandfather

Several minutes later, he stepped inside and closed the door behind him, his expression placid, and she wondered if he had known this had been where she’d really co

She said nothing as he back chair in the corner of the rooe four-poster bed

“I figured the other night was probably not the last you’d want to discuss this How did you find out?” he asked

Abby’s eyes widened She had prepared herself to ask the questions, not the other way around Unsure of how ive away, Abby surprised herself by telling him a half-truth “Grandma After she died, she left me her jewelry box, and inside was a letter where she told ”

He nodded, saying nothing

“Based on your lack of reaction, I take it you knew she had found out?” Abby asked

“I suspected aso”

Sighing, Abby could i to bet he put on such a display, he practically forced her to drop it

She ran a hand over her face Despite having soht was about denial and confiruy watching her at the coffee shop? Who was responsible for Lawson and McBride’s , her grandfather’s whole story Because if she was being honest with herself, a part of her hoped and prayed there was an explanation for this thatthere could be no such thing

“How” Abby paused, pressing her palms to her eyes “I can’t even believe I’m about to ask this” She dropped her hands and continued “I need to know everything Fro side of the war? How did you become, not just a Nazi officer but a renowned one? You were coined” She couldn’t say it The words stuck in her throat and on her tongue, but she ground her teeth and pushed through “The Butcher of Auschwitz” She nearly gagged saying it out loud

“I was seventeen when my parents were killed by a drunk driver The driver of the car was a Jewish shop owner in town I was left to provide for my three sisters by myself Me No one else By the time Hitler came into power, several years later, I was thirsty for someone to blame for the life I’d been unfairly dealt I was thirsty for a role model because mine were taken fro I don’t knohy At the ti several others, to align himself with, to confide in, to lean on”

Her grandfather pointed at hi with the words “He anda on the Jews—his war against them, s