Max was quite sure he hadn’t tasted anything as delicious as his mother’s love knots. He’d loved the sweet pastries smothered in icing since he was a boy, but now they were flavored with homecoming and the relief of having survived the war. He stretched out his long legs and took another bite. 

“This is the best thing I’ve eaten in three years,” he sighed happily.

His mother’s eyes filled with tears for the sixth time since he’d opened the door and surprised his parents. “I don’t know what possessed me to make them this morning. I suppose I was missing you. It’s positively providential, I tell you.”

Max grinned at his mother’s favorite phrase. “How’s business, Pop?” he asked the older, balding version of himself who sat across from him after having closed the store downstairs. “Pastor Braun told us about Munro. Has he affected the shop?”
“No, business is as it ever was.” Mr. Schmidt rubbed the back of his neck wearily.
Max caught the look his mother sent his father and sat up straighter. “You don’t sound as if that’s good news.”

Mrs. Schmidt rose to her feet, shot her husband a pointed look, and made herself scarce.
“What’s going on?” Max asked his father as his mother disappeared around the corner.
“Munro sent some of his goons in back when he first started showing his true colors. They broke some of our merchandise and told us that we would have to pay Munro a fee to keep that sort of thing from happening again.” 

Max’s eyes grew wide. His father had always seemed as immovable as a rock. Now the man sitting before Max was tired and defeated. “It’s not too late, Pop. You can refuse to make the payments and I’ll help you stand up to Munro. Six of us returned from war. We’ll help turn the tide against him.”

Mr. Schmidt shook his head. “I’m too old to fight. This town used to be a place worth working for. But not anymore. Your mother and I want to pack up and move to California.”

“California? No, Pop, don’t give up now!” Max pushed to his feet, too agitated to sit still. “I’ve waited to be back here for three years. The only thing I want is to be home in Hoffnung.”