They waited on the deck that faced north. Mountains cut black against the last blue of twilight, and stars punched through the sky one by one. The cold bit her cheeks and made every breath visible.
Lily had wrapped herself in three blankets and insisted on all of them. Leo had the blue one and sat pressed against Franz's side with his tablet glowing on his lap. Arianne held the thermos of hot chocolate while Franz kept his arm around her shoulders.
"How do we know when they'll come?"
"We don't." His voice was quiet. "We wait."
Lily sighed loudly. "I'm not good at waiting."
"Neither am I."
Arianne said it before she thought. Lily looked at her with that expression she used when she was figuring someone out, assembling evidence in her head.
"But you waited for Uncle Franz. That's what he said. He waited years and you waited too. You just didn't know it."
