Remember the Lilies Read online

  ACCLAIM FOR LIZ TOLSMA

  “I have always loved a good love story. When I read Remember the Lilies and the romance of two young people in the Philippines during WWII, I knew this was a book to awaken my senses … Tolsma has the uncanny ability to relate events in Santo Tomas as they were and to couple these facts with a good, romantic war story.”

  —SASCHA WEINZHEIMER JANSEN, INTERNED IN SANTO TOMAS PRISON CAMP, SR. VICE COMMANDER, BAY AREA CIVILIAN EX-POWS (BACEPOW), FEATURED IN THE WAR: A KEN BURNS FILM

  “Tolsma isn’t afraid to detail the horrors of war as she depicts how tragedies can be obstacles to one’s Christian beliefs. She also illustrates how Gisela and Mitch, though questioning if God has abandoned them, unite in their hope for the future and shared faith.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS, 4-STAR REVIEW OF DAISIES ARE FOREVER

  “Excellent storytelling, accurate historical reporting and gritty, preserving characters make this WWII-era novel a must read. In this moving, historically accurate portrayal of WWII Germany, the characters learn that, even with destruction all around them, some things last forever.”

  —CBA RETAILERS + RESOURCES (ON DAISIES ARE FOREVER)

  “[Daisies are Forever] is a compelling and fast-paced tale about the atrocities and tremendous losses endured by those marked forever by World War II. The theme of faith despite all odds will resonate with readers. Recommended for fans of Rosamunde and Robin Pilcher, Kate Morton, and historical romances.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL

  “In an adventurous tale that reads like a movie script, Liz Tolsma weaves faith in seamlessly, moving the reader with her characters’ convictions to create a captivating debut novel.”

  —BOOKPAGE (FOR SNOW ON THE TULIPS)

  “This book was a fascinating look at WWII from the Netherlands perspective, one I hadn’t heard before. It captured my interest and wouldn’t give it back until the last page!”

  —CBA RETAILERS + RESOURCES (FOR SNOW ON THE TULIPS)

  “Tolsma crafts strong characters and easy-to-visualize scenes. The inherent danger of Nazi occupation is apparent. Relevant biblical connections remind the reader that God is always in control, no matter how dire the situation may seem. Tolsma’s story is a way to remember the past and those who gave their lives for freedom.”

  —RT BOOK REVIEWS (FOR SNOW ON THE TULIPS)

  “Based on the author’s family history, this moving tale not only offers insight into the moral and physical struggles of those under the duress of war but also vividly captures the time and place. A good choice for readers who enjoyed Mary Doria Russell’s A Thread of Grace.”

  —LIBRARY JOURNAL (FOR SNOW ON THE TULIPS)

  ALSO BY LIZ TOLSMA

  Snow on the Tulips

  Daisies Are Forever

  © 2015 by Christine Cain

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc.

  Thomas Nelson titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].

  Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Scripture quotations are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

  ISBN 978-1-4016-8915-5 (eBook)

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Tolsma, Liz, 1966–

  Remember the lilies / Liz Tolsma.

  pages ; cm

  Summary: “Irene and Rand come from very different walks of life. Will they find common ground in their fight to survive? Irene has grown up in the jungle as a missionary with her Aunt Anita, but now she and countless others are imprisoned by Japanese soldiers at the Santo Tomas Internment Camp in the Philippines. Irene and her aunt are safe there, and she keeps busy with her duty of delivering censored messages to the camp’s prisoners, but like everyone else, she prays for the war to end and for her freedom. Rand is a wealthy, womanizing American, whose attempted escape from the internment camp has put himself and others in danger. When Rand and Irene’s Aunt Anita meet one another in the hospital, Irene learns more of his story and her heart is determined to save his family. But the danger outside the walls of the hospital worsens every day, and life in this exotic place is anything but luxurious. Can Irene find Rand’s family before they disappear forever? And can a humble missionary woman and an arrogant man find common ground in the face of their biggest fears?”— Provided by publisher.

  ISBN 978-1-4016-8914-8 (softcover)

  1. World War, 1939-1945—Philippines—Fiction. 2. World War, 1939-1945—Concentration camps—Philippines—Fiction. 3. World War, 1939-1945—Prisoners and prisons, American—Fiction. 4. Philippines—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3620.O329R46 2015

  813’.6—dc23

  2014032852

  15 16 17 18 19 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1

  To my son, Brian. This story was born from your suggestion that one of my books needed to take place in the Pacific theater. I am so proud of the young man you are and proud that you have chosen to serve our country in the Marines as thousands of brave men have in generations past. May the Lord richly bless your life.

  CONTENTS

  Glossary of Foreign Words

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  A Note from the Author

  Reading Group Guide

  Acknowledgments

  An Excerpt from the Butterfly and the Violin

  Chapter One

  About the Author

  “For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the LORD, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.”

  PSALM 37:9–11

  “I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.”

  HOSEA 14:5
>
  “The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.”

  SONG OF SOLOMON 2:12

  “I shall return.”

  GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR, SHORTLY AFTER HE ESCAPED FROM CORREGIDOR, PHILIPPINES, AND ARRIVED IN AUSTRALIA, 1942

  “Faith is not simply a patience that passively suffers until the storm is past. Rather, it is a spirit that bears things—with resignations, yes, but above all, with blazing, serene hope.”

  PHILIPPINE PRESIDENT CORAZON AQUINO

  GLOSSARY OF FOREIGN WORDS

  TAGALOG (FILIPINO LANGUAGE)

  Amah—nanny

  Bakya—traditional Filipino wooden-soled, open-toed clog

  Baryo—neighborhood or subdivision

  Byaya—grace

  Camote—sweet potato

  Carromatas—traditional horse-drawn buggy

  Dabakan—Filipino drums

  Kuliglig—cicada

  Lugao—a tasteless mixture of rice and ground corn

  Mestizo—a person of half-Filipino, half-Caucasian descent

  Sawali—coarse twilled matting made of flattened bamboo strips, most commonly used for walls

  Talinum—Philippine spinach

  JAPANESE

  Socho—Japanese Sergeant Major

  Prologue

  MANILA, PHILIPPINES

  December 8, 1941

  The cool breeze off Manila Bay swept around Rand Sterling as he maneuvered his red Mercedes Sports Roadster convertible down Dewey Boulevard, past large Italianate homes and Spanish-style mansions much like his own. They were all on his right. On his left, coconut trees waved their fronds in the wind, and they were accented by the blue of the bay. Salt scented the air, and he took a deep breath, unable to keep a wide smile from spreading across his face. The beautiful woman in the seat beside him, Peggy Brambly, laughed as a gust tugged at the brightly colored scarf on her head.

  “Can you go any faster?”

  Faster, yes, faster. Rand pressed down a bit on the accelerator, the needle on the speedometer inching up. “Better?”

  She sat back against the black leather seat, her cream-colored face lifted to the sun. “I’ve looked forward to this picnic all week. Then you had to break our date …”

  “Nightclubs don’t run themselves, you know. Something came up at the Azure.”

  “Or someone.”

  “Comes with being the boss.” He grinned at her.

  “No matter.” She waved a manicured hand. “We’re going now.”

  That’s the only reason he took Peggy places from time to time. She understood that he wasn’t a one-woman man. Not since Catherine. Peggy made no demands on him, and he appreciated that.

  He steered around a slow-moving carromatas and through the heavy traffic of Studebakers, Packards, and Nashes clogging the roads even at this early hour. Turning onto the side streets, they passed Filipina women in striped skirts and white blouses with full sleeves selling mangoes, camotes, or sweet potatoes, and other produce along with such Filipino treats as cassava cake and a steamed rice cake known as puto.

  “I was afraid you’d cancel again after I heard about Pearl Harbor. Nasty business, that. At least it’s far away from us.”

  A bit of Rand’s own lightness evaporated with Peggy’s words. The Japanese had launched a surprise attack on Hawaii just hours ago. Yes, for now it was far away. But for how long? What was in store for them? MacArthur had promised to protect them. Rand had to trust in that.

  “Oh, bother, Rand. Wipe that scowl from your face. Things won’t be that bad. You’ll see. We have the American forces to defend us.” She touched his knee, the warmth of her hand traveling through the fabric of his chino pants and up his leg. “Where are you taking us? This isn’t the way to the Taal volcano.”

  “All in good time. I have to stop at the Monarch first.”

  “Why do you have to own two clubs? All work and no play makes Jack a very dull boy.” She stuck out her painted lip in a most becoming pout.

  Now he laughed as he passed the Jai Alai Club with its glittering, turret-style, all-glass front. No one had ever insinuated that he was dull. Just the opposite. “If I wasn’t a bit dull, you would have no place to play.”

  “I could go to the Metropolitan Club. Peter Williams has quite the place.”

  “You wouldn’t.” He gripped the wheel as he continued down the bustling street, sidewalks filled with Filipinos, Americans, and Brits hurrying to their jobs at the banks, the import/export companies, and businesses of all sorts that lined the road. The stone and brick buildings towered over them.

  He glanced at Peggy brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. “You have me there. I haven’t been to that place since that awful deal with Bernice. Poor thing. Sent away to live with her aunt in Chicago, and we all know why. He’s a cad, and I’ll never darken his doorstep again. No one will. The scandal will ruin him, mark my words.”

  Rand didn’t doubt it. In their business, they were to flirt and dance with their patronesses but to stop the relationship at that. Everything kept light and aboveboard. No woman wanted to associate with a man who used her like yesterday’s Manila Times. A fine line, to be sure. A shiver raced through him. “Let’s not talk about Peter. He cooked his own goose. Today it’s you and me. No Japanese, no business …”

  “You mean after you stop at the Monarch.”

  “Right.” He slid his sports car into a spot in front of his club and jumped out. He tingled all over as he always did when he arrived here. His father, a mining executive who had come to Manila to live and work soon after the Great War, had given him the Monarch, telling him to make something of himself.

  And so he did.

  He and Peggy strode into the cool of the building with its high, curved ceilings, lavish chandeliers dripping with crystals, and polished wood floors. In twelve hours, the place would be packed, the liquor flowing freely, the cash filling his coffers.

  He liked being noticed. Rubbing elbows with all of Manila’s elite. So Rand opened the Azure, equally as popular, maybe even more. He had arrived. Perhaps it was time to expand the sphere of his influence.

  At the opposite end of the room, a curvy young Filipina, Bethel Ocampo, stood in front of a microphone, belting out “All of Me” while his club manager, Henry Lansdale, looked on with shining eyes.

  “You’re here early, Henry.”

  His associate turned and ran his hand through his curly brown hair. “I can see what got you out of bed at this hour, Rand.” Henry had the gall to wink. Peggy’s fair face flamed scarlet.

  Rand crossed the immense dance floor, tables with white cloths and miniature lamps lining each wall. “Just needed to check something in the books.”

  When he reached Henry, his friend clapped him on the shoulder and walked with him. “I’ve never met anyone more concerned with the books. Since that trouble with Walter What’s-his-name, you’re positively obsessed.”

  “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Henry.”

  “It’s just that you don’t trust me.”

  “Exactly. I knew you’d understand.”

  “Always.”

  Rand opened the heavy, carved mahogany door into his office, dominated by a large desk and a tufted leather chair. Peggy positioned herself on the matching couch under the bank of windows overlooking the Pasig River. This morning it shimmered in the sun. She crossed her ankles, her black-and-white striped shirt and black skirt hugging her body. She batted dark eyelashes at him. Tearing his gaze away, he opened the red-covered ledger and ran his finger down the column of numbers.

  The corners of his mouth hooked up. The Azure had passed the Monarch in revenue. And a hefty profit it was. He saw visions of clubs in Singapore and Hong Kong and Saigon. Rand would be known all over the Orient. He warmed even though the air conditioner cooled the room. Bruce Tarpin and John Mitchell would drool over the chance to invest in such a successful venture.

  “Ready
yet?”

  “Finished.” He shut the book. While he could spend all day examining the numbers, plotting how to grow the business, he needed to show Peggy a good time. As the popular daughter of a Pan Am executive, she had friends not only in Manila but throughout the Far East. He needed to stay in her good graces.

  She stood and patted her hair, rolled in the front, curls in the back. “I’m famished. Let’s get this show on the road.”

  She hooked her arm through his, and they strolled into the main room. He waved at his two employees. “See you later, Henry. Bethel, you sound swell. Billie Holiday suits your voice. I’ll be back before your performance tonight. We’re expecting a full house.”

  “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” Henry grinned a wicked grin.

  Rand wanted to slug him.

  Instead, he led Peggy to the car, and soon they were winding their way through the city once more. Sleek art deco buildings stood side by side with centuries-old Spanish-style stone churches and homes.

  Knowing the Azure continued to rake in the money, he relaxed against the back of the seat, driving with his right hand on the wheel, his left hanging out of the car. From time to time he stole a glance at Peggy. Not a flaw marred her perfect complexion set off by her dark hair. Just the kind of woman he liked.

  “Rand!” Peggy tightened her grip on the door handle.

  He stepped on the brake hard to avoid hitting a woman crossing the street from between two parked cars. Vehicles behind him honked. He leaned over the driver’s side door. A fabulous platinum blonde stood stock-still, her glassy blue eyes wide in her round face. “Are you hurt?”