Life Will Have Its Way Read Online Free PDF Page A

she moved toward the entryway. She slipped back into her dusty shoes and disappeared out the door, returning moments later with a small piece of scratch paper, several numbers scribbled across it. She went straight to the phone.
    “Peter, this is Anja,” she spoke quietly, directly into the receiver, which was pressed hard against her face. “Are you free this evening?”
    I couldn’t hear his response, but it must have been yes.
    “Wonderful, wonderful, we’re having a delicious…” she looked anxiously toward me, fanning her hand in front of her as she searched for the right word.
    “Cobbler?” I offered, holding up the can of peaches she’d brought when she first came.
    “Peach cobbler! Yes, peach cobbler,” she shrugged and made a face. “I’ve had the good fortune of getting hold of a can of peaches today and we would love to have you join us for dessert.” She made sure he had the right address and finished up the call before placing the handset carefully in its cradle.
    “What was that about?” I asked with curiosity.
    “Well, I thought we might be able to get some help from an old friend of my father’s. But once I had him on the line I realized I couldn’t just blurt out what I really needed him for.”
    Anja paced the floor by the windows, frequently checking outside. Each time the sound of a car could be heard she would rush to the window and draw back the curtain. When the car in question didn’t stop she would sigh audibly and resume the long rectangular pattern she was making across the edge of room. It had only been a matter of minutes since she’d hung up the phone, I couldn’t understand her impatience. When I suggested we start on the cobbler, hoping it might distract her until Peter arrived, she informed me that he would be well aware of the fact that he hadn’t really been given an invitation for desert. Then she laughed out loud at the thought of him trying to decipher the meaning of the phrase “peach cobbler” while he wondered what he was getting himself into.

Chapter 5
    Even though she had never so much as mentioned his name before, Anja and Peter greeted one another warmly. He was an imposing figure wrapped heavily with winter clothing, much too heavily for the weather. He set to work right away removing his many layers, once he’d stripped himself down to street clothes, he tossed his things in an enormous pile on the back of the chair. Anja introduced us and explained to Peter that I was the one that had found the girl in the garden. He looked at me suspiciously and produced a cold, weak handshake. I couldn’t help but feel there was something amiss. For one thing, he couldn’t have been more than a few years older than Anja, which made the claim that he’d been one of her father’s friends a bit suspect.
    She began to give Peter details of the things we knew about the girl. His eyes wandered in my direction, then he quickly pulled her into the kitchen. They spoke in whispers and I watched as Anja interspersed her comments with gestures that brought Peter’s attention to the girl, her little blue coat, her bag. Anja left him at the counter while she retrieved one of the girl’s boots. He took it from her and held it in front of him, his hands cupped the sole as he moved it into the air, holding it delicately in front of him as if he were appraising a priceless piece of art. His enormous eyes grew even larger, his lips became flat and wide. He shook his head up and down earnestly, and as if knowing exactly what he was thinking, Anja nodded in agreement. I wasn’t sure why they’d decided to exclude me from the conversation. I tried to listen to what they were saying but could only pick up fragments and couldn’t properly piece them together in a way that made any sense. I was quite offended at having been left to feel like a child that had suddenly, without cause, been sent out of the room.
    Anja sat the boot down, she made motions out to the garden, she pointed