"This looks delicious!" Sybil remarked as she dug into her meal.

"I have always found the food in this restaurant to exceed my expectations," Fritz observed.

"You sound German." Sybil took her first bite.

Fritz chuckled as he sliced his meat.

"I am indeed German. I was born in Berlin and lived the first several decades of my life there. It was the deaths of my sister Minna and her husband that brought me to the United States. Her two sons needed me."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Sybil took another bite. "How did they die?"

"They were killed in a car crash."

"Hey, Sybil, do you like to dance?" asked Teddy.

Sybil's face lit up.

"I love to dance!"

"How about if I take you to Shambala after dinner?"

"That would be great!"

What an idiot, Jo thought to herself as she ate her salad. Couldn't he see an important conversation was going on? Although she realized that, a couple of years ago, she herself would have been more interested in going dancing than in discussing family history.

"Sybil told me her grandmother was born in Germany," she remarked in an attempt to get the conversation back on track.

"Was she?" Fritz speared a piece of meat and brought it toward his mouth.

Sybil nodded. "So was my grandfather. He was a lot older than her. They had to get married in a hurry because of the war, and later, they moved to England. That's where my Dad and his younger sister grew up."

So the Bohmkes had a daughter born after Little Dieter.

"Are your grandparents still alive?" Jo asked Sybil.

"Oh, no. My grandfather died in 1991, and my grandmother died in 2009."

"Is your aunt still alive?"

Sybil wiped her face with a napkin.

"She is. She and my Uncle Howard still live in London."

"Do you have any brothers or sisters?" asked Teddy.

"I have four brothers, all older than me." Sybil took a sip of iced tea. "What about you?"

"I'm an only child." Teddy bit into a roll.

"It must have been lonely for you growing up," Sybil remarked.

"I got really good at entertaining myself, out of necessity."

"I'll bet." They both laughed.

"Where are your brothers now?" asked Jo.

"Ben's a missionary optometrist, Victor's a Lutheran pastor like our father and grandfather, Simon's in the army stationed in Japan, and Oliver's a high school teacher, right here in Concord."

"Wow, a missionary and a pastor!" Jo's heart ached for Dieter. Was he still alive? Sybil's grandfather was long dead, so it was doubtful. How did he die? Did he suffer a lot, or was it relatively peaceful?

And what in the world happened to Martina and their children?

"Yeah, I guess they tend to run in my family." Sybil chuckled. "Dad said my grandfather had a good friend who was also a Lutheran pastor. The Nazis captured him and put him in prison. They were going to hang him, but he escaped somehow."

Jo choked on her food. Fritz had to slap her on the back several times, hard. Then he made her take a few swallows of tea.

"Thanks," she said, when she could talk again.

"You gave me quite a fright there, Josephine. Are you all right now?"

Jo gave a shaky smile.

"I think so."

"Enough with talk about Nazis," said Teddy. "Let's talk about something more cheerful. What kinds of hobbies do you have, Sybil?"

"I've always loved to draw and paint," said Sybil. "What kinds of things do you like to do?"

"I play piano," said Teddy. "Jo writes stories."

"Oh, you do?" Sybil gave Jo a quizzical look. "What kinds of stories do you write?"

"I write quirky stories," Jo replied. Unusual. Off the beaten path."

"Hmm." Sybil looked thoughtful. "I'd love to read your work sometime."

"Josephine is a talented authoress," Fritz stated.

Jo smiled and leaned toward him, relishing the familiar warmth he tended to bring out in her.

"Oh, you're so sweet!"

"I am only speaking the truth."

The two couples finished their meal, Fritz left a generous tip, and they walked outside, first Teddy and Sybil, then Jo and Fritz.

"Well, shall we join the young people at the dance?" asked Fritz.

Jo was taken aback.

"You really mean it?"

Fritz's eyes were twinkling. Just like Dieter's used to, Jo thought to herself.

"I would not have said it if I did not mean it."

Arriving at Shambala, Jo saw that the strobe lights were flashing and Teddy and Sybil were already on the dance floor, getting down to the funky beat.

"Want to?" Jo asked Fritz.

"It is what we are here for, is it not?"

The two of them joined their friends and the other dancers, and Fritz immediately began to move in time to the music. Jo was surprised to find that it was a challenge to keep up with him. She began to work up a sweat, and she was relieved with a ballad for a slow dance began to play.

Fritz's arms encircled her, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"We should do this more often," she murmured.

"Mm hm."

They ended up staying almost as long as Teddy and Sybil.

"You're hard to keep up with!" Jo said to Fritz on the way home.

He only laughed in response.

Jo knew she would sleep well that night.