Chapter 1
THE MAPLE LEAVES SKITTERED across the sidewalk and crunched under Britta Klein’s black low-heeled shoes as she walked toward the Echo Ridge Library. She paused for a moment to watch a dark red leaf twirl in the slight wind coming from Parley’s Canyon. She narrowed her eyes—that leaf was carefree, no expectations, nothing to do but dance with the wind. She huffed. If only her life could be that simple.
It was never wise to give in to dramatics, but Britta had just gotten off the phone after talking to her mother for forty-five minutes and the message was loud and clear: Find a German man and marry him so I can have some enkelkinder. Her mother wanted grandchildren so she could spoil them with strudels and kuchen.
Britta put her hand on the cool metal handle of the door to the l
