“Ja,” she said. “Two.”
“Very precise.”
She chuckled. “I guess so. With me being an only child, I’d always wanted a sibling.”
“Me too,” he said. “You and Bruno will have a good life.”
She nodded, despite a faint foreboding in her gut. “What hopes do you have?”
“That you’ll train enough guide dogs for every blind person in Germany to have one.”
“I’ll do my best.” Anna nudged him with her elbow. “But I was referring to something you desire for yourself.”
He drew a breath. “Nothing else.”
“There must be something that you yearn for,” she said.
He turned toward her. “I’ve already received my wishes—you’ve helped me resurrect my passion to play the piano, and you’ve given me Nia.”
“That’s sweet of you to say,” Anna said. “What about having a person to share your life with?”
He shook his head.
“I know it might feel a bit soon to be considering this now, after what happened with Wilhelmina, but you have your future ahead of you.”
“I’d once hoped for that, but I’m not sure if that will be an option for me.”
“It still is,” she said. “You’re kind, handsome, and a brilliant pianist. Someday, you’ll perform at the Great Hall in Vienna, and loads of women will be seeking to gain your attention. You’ll have lots of opportunities to meet the right person.”
Max played with a button on his shirt.
“You’re blushing,” Anna said, noticing a slight redness in Max’s face.
“So I am,” Max said. He stretched his arms, and then positioned his hands on the keyboard. “How about we record a bit of music before we’re too tired to stay awake?”
“All right,” Anna said, feeling a bit disappointed to end their conversation.
For hours, Max played while Anna recorded notes onto staff paper. Like the previous movement, they worked in small increments, repeating each bar of music over and over, until they were both satisfied that the notes were accurately recorded. Consumed with transposing the piece to paper, they worked until a ruckus of clock chimes sounded in Norbie’s workshop.
Anna silently counted the tolls. “It’s midnight.”
Max stood and extended his hand. “Time for you to go to bed.”
Anna clasped his hand and rose from her seat. His hand slipped away, and then she placed the draft of the composition in a storage compartment in the piano bench.
“Come, Nia,” Max said. “I’ll take you outside.”
Nia stood and stretched, arching her back.
“Good night, Anna,” Max said, clasping Nia’s harness.
“Sleep well.”
Anna extinguished a lamp, turning the room black. As she felt her way along the wall, the sound of Max tumbling down wooden steps sent her heart rate soaring.Oh, no!
Nia barked.
Anna, her blood turned cold, shot to the stairwell. “Max!” She peered down into the blackness of Norbie’s workshop and waited for his reply. But all she heard was Nia’s whines.
