became a big fan of schnitzel, salty and crispy on the outside and tender and moist on the inside. “I could eat this every day,” she declared after her first few bites. “Thank you for introducing me to schnitzel,” she said to Trevor.
“I have all kinds of things I can introduce you to,” he informed her, his voice smooth as milk chocolate.
She could already imagine. Was it suddenly hot in here? She needed another Spezi.
* * *
The more time Trevor spent with Sophie Miles, the more he liked her, he thought as they strolled the Christmas market after lunch. She looked so cute in her red knitted cap. Her parka covered her butt but not her legs. They were hugged by skintight leggings and they were a work of art. So was her smile.
Yeah, she was a little obsessed with germs and getting sick, but everybody had their flaws and he’d sure dated women with worse: everything from drama queens so insecure they drove him nuts constantly checking up on him, to self-centered divas who excelled at manipulation. Someone who was health obsessed beat those kinds of women any day.
Trevor also appreciated Sophie’s willingness to stop at whatever booths he and Kurt wanted to, offering to take pictures of them and buying them treats. That, in addition to seeing how she treated her sister, were all good indicators that she wasn’t selfish. And he got a kick out of her eagerness to learn the German language as they visited the different market booths.
“Just be sure you ask everyone, ‘Ist das in Deutschland gemacht?’” Kurt advised her.
“What does that mean? Something about Germany, right?” she asked.
“It means, ‘Was this made in Germany?’ Not everything you see was handcrafted, so if you want authentic German items it’s good to ask.”
“I definitely want the real thing,” she said, and was happy to try out her new sentence when they stopped at a booth selling candles.
She had a flair for language. Her pronunciation was flawless when she repeated the words to the woman selling the candles.
So flawless that the woman replied in German with far more than a simple, “Ja.”
“Um.” Sophie turned to Trevor. “What did she just say?”
“That she and her husband make these candles themselves.”
“Oh. What can I say back? Something easy.”
“Sehr gut.”
“Sehr gut,” Sophie said to the woman with an enthusiastic nod.
“How many do you want?” Kurt asked.
“One for my mother, my grandmother and my sister.”
“Okay, tell her, ‘Ich möchte drei, bitte.’”
Sophie parroted what he’d told her and the woman got busy wrapping them for her.
“That was fun,” she said when she’d finished conducting her business. “I may have to take your German class.”
“You don’t need to bother with him,” Trevor said. “I can teach you all the German you want to know.”
“If you don’t want to know much,” Kurt teased.
“Funny,” Trevor said back. “Who invited you along, anyway?”
“He’s very insecure,” Kurt said to Sophie.
Oh, yeah, big brother was in rare form.
Trevor didn’t mind, though. His brother was his best friend and he was pleased that Kurt and Sophie were hitting it off.
“I like her,” Kurt approved later, once they were all back on board the ship and the brothers were in their room, unloading the presents they’d bought. “She’s nice.”
“She is,” Trevor said. “Total hypochondriac, though. She’s convinced she needs to be with a doctor.”
“Doesn’t a first aid course count?” Kurt asked, shrugging out of his jacket.
Trevor tossed his coat on his bed. “It should.”
“It better. You don’t have time to go to med school.” He kicked off his boots and slipped into loafers. “You can thank me anytime for making you come on this cruise.”
“And you can thank God I didn’t kill you for sticking me with Harriet.”
“I didn’t do that. She stuck herself. Anyway, you’re free of her now.”
“For the moment.”
Kurt shrugged and started for the bathroom. “She’ll get tired of chasing an old man. Just don’t feed her any more chocolate. You should have known better than that. It only takes one to get hooked.”
“That’s for sure,” Trevor said. But he wasn’t thinking about candy bars. He was thinking about kisses, and that one he’d enjoyed with Sophie the night before sure had him hooked, possibly for life. Sadly, the moment had been cut short, but he intended to make up for it in the very near future.
13
The next day’s stop was the city of Freiburg, which Catherine quickly decided was her favorite so far. Although much of the city had been bombed during World War II,