Incredible Dreams

by Sandra Edwards

  “Izzy was a singer long before she met Harry.” Jeannie surrendered only a second’s worth of attention to glimpse up at Jack. She licked her thumb and forefinger, glanced down at the magazine and turned the page. “She’d already built a career as Izzy Miller. Trying to promote Izzy Walker would’ve put her right back where she started...in the shoes of a nobody.” Jeannie’s news could’ve been taken as a well-meaning disclosure but Jack knew better, seeing the arrogance in her demeanor.

  “And he’s where again, you said?” Jack didn’t let up. He knew something was off with Isabelle’s mysteriously absent husband. He wanted Jeannie to know he knew it. He wanted her to feel the pressure of him breathing down her back, day and night, until she told him what it was, too.

  “Last I heard, he was in Japan. Of course, I got that info from Izzy. I’m sure you know more about him than I do.” She didn’t try to hide her smugness, and that bothered Jack.

  “And when he comes back, he’s coming where—?” He left the inquiry open, hoping the location was somewhere far away from here. It would be better that way. He had a nasty feeling that Isabelle’s husband was going to be stationed right here though, just so the happy couple could be rubbed in his face on a daily basis.

  For a split-second, he saw sheer and utter emptiness in Jeannie’s green eyes, which reminded him of lime pulp, before she said, “Here.” The void didn’t last long. In fact, if he’d blinked he would’ve missed it.

  “So when he returns, will you be accompanying Isabelle to meet him...in light of her current situation?” he asked in a cool, sober tone. Jeannie didn’t seem to care about her sister, but he hoped she’d at least do the right thing.

  “Sure.” Jeannie blew her response out with a heavy sigh and flipped another page in the magazine. She pointed to a slinky blue dress taking up most of the page. “Ooh, I like that,” she said to no one in particular, and Jack realized he’d milked this situation for all its worth today.

  “Well, I won’t keep you any longer.” He stood, preparing to leave. Jeannie made no objection or move to stop him.

  He saw himself out, not really caring that he’d annoyed her. Good. That might help her memory, but he doubted it. The girl seemed bent on remaining detached from the situation, and that didn’t bother Jack. He’d gotten what he’d come for. A name. He may not know much about Harry Walker right now, but give him time.

  Want something done..., crossed his mind as he strode toward his car. He surveyed the sky. No clouds. Good. He had dropped the top on the convertible earlier, and he’d learned the hard way to watch out for inclement weather. Luckily, there wasn’t a hint of a cloud in the sky.

  Jack loved cruising with the top down. The wind was an effective tool when he needed to clear his thoughts. Perhaps he’d go for a drive down by the ocean and take advantage of the Pacific trade winds.

  Jeannie’s cavalier attitude troubled him. What kind of sister separates herself so wholly from her sibling’s worst nightmare? Jack couldn’t think of anything worse than not being able to recall the particulars of your life—except maybe watching another man live the life he desired.

  He should just walk away. Izzy’s missing husband wasn’t any of his business. Considering Jeannie’s attitude, Jack understood why Izzy had chosen to forget her, even if it was an involuntary action. But it was Jeannie’s lackadaisical attitude that told Jack he had to get involved since it didn’t appear that Jeannie had any intention of helping Izzy.

  If Jack was going to help Izzy, he knew exactly what he had to do. He whipped his car around in the middle of the Pacific Coast Highway and headed back to the Airfield.

  Jack rested an elbow on the desk and leaned in closer to the clerk. Corporal Larry Thompson was not happy to see him. Apprehension flashed in the guy’s eyes.

  “Are you still fretting over that thing with Margaret?” Jack waved a hand at Thompson, who flinched as if he thought Jack might hit him.

  “Fretting?” His eyebrows shot up in surprise and a muscle quivered high on his cheekbone. “You hit me.”

  “I said I was sorry.” Jack huffed. To placate his overly-protective brotherly ego, he’d told himself several times over the last few months that someday something good would come from Margaret dating a soldier. That day had come.

  His little sister had come out to California with dreams of becoming a star. She’d gotten side-tracked somewhere along the way, instead, setting her sights on Corporal Larry Thompson.

  Secretly, Jack was thankful. Given the choice between Thompson and Hollywood, he’d take the lesser of two evils any day. He didn’t like the thought of any man pawing his little sister, but it could be worse. George Hadley could’ve gotten to her first.

  “If you’re not here to hit me again, what do you want, Baker?” he asked over the scraping sounds of his chair scooting farther back against the wall, away from Jack.

  “I want you to do me a favor, see,” Jack said in a mellow, composed tone.

  “A favor.” Thompson’s voice cracked.

  “I need some information on a flyer.” Jack reclined against the back of his chair, resting his hands on his knees. “Where he is. When he’s due back. Stuff like that. Whatever you can find on him.” He kept his tone smooth and constant. Thompson had started to loosen up. Jack didn’t want to ruin that.

  “Why do you want to know all that for?” Thompson asked just above a whisper.

  “Let’s just say I’m doing it for a friend,” he said with quiet emphasis. Thompson didn’t need to know more than that. For Isabelle’s sake it was best to let out as little information as possible.

  Thompson seemed to be thinking about it. He licked his lips and tapped his fingers on the desktop and then started shaking his head. “It’s not a good idea.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s illegal to initiate an unauthorized background check.” Thompson forced the words out, barely audible, as if they carried some top-secret information.

  “Nobody has to know.”

  “It’s dishonest.”

  “I’m glad to see you’ve got a conscience, dating my little sister and all.” Jack flashed him a menacing glare. “Good thing I had a conscience and carried your sorry hide away from Monte Cassino, see.” The full impact of that statement, while not verbalized, carried a lot of weight from where Jack was sitting.

  Surely Thompson hadn’t forgotten that Jack had saved his life? He could’ve followed protocol and simply left him in a secured location, which would’ve been a death warrant for Thompson. It took nearly a week for the Allies to remove the wounded from Monte Cassino. Many soldiers bled to death before help arrived, Thompson would’ve been one of those had he been left behind.

  The clerk backed up in his chair and poked a finger at Jack. The look of a broker with his back to the wall washed over Thompson’s face. “Maybe we can strike up a deal,” he said, nodding. “You do me a favor, and I’ll do something for you.”

  “What do you have in mind?” Jack folded his arms over his chest. He’d be willing to make a deal, so long as the price wasn’t too high.

  “Well, it’s about Margaret.” Thompson squirmed in his seat.

  “Careful now,” Jack warned.

  “S-she wants to go to the Company’s picnic this weekend.”

  Jack chuckled. “Are you asking my permission?”

  “No.” Thompson stiffened and remained still, as if waiting for Jack to blow his top. He swallowed hard and seemed to gulp down his fear. “I’m asking you to accompany her.”

  Jack squinted, instantly rebuffed. “What?”

  “I can’t take her. I’m on duty.” He drew a deep breath and held it for a second.

  “I wasn’t planning on going.” Jack had already decided against it. He’d had an invitation sent to Isabelle before he realized she was married. It was better that he stayed away, in case she showed up.

  “I don’t want her to go alone,” Thompson said of Margaret. “You know how the guys are.”

  Jack had
n’t thought of that. A dark cloud drifted over his determination to stay away. Nothing good could come from going to that picnic. It would only serve as a painful reminder that he wanted a woman he could not have.

  But what kind of asshole leaves his sister to fend for herself just to save himself a little heartache?

  CHAPTER 16

  SITTING ON THE edge of the bed, Izzy breathed a sigh of relief when the apartment door opened. That meant Jeannie had finally returned home. Maybe now she’d get some answers.

  Hesitation washed over her and she stood. Her respite instantly altered into apprehension. She wasn’t necessarily afraid to ask the question, but she was fearful of the answer. If Jeannie presented her wedding ring, that would somehow make it real.

  “Look what I found.” Jeannie smiled, waving a plain white envelope in the air.

  Both their names had been inscribed, handwritten across the front, but Izzy didn’t care. “What’s that?” she asked, feigning interest.

  “It’s an invitation to a picnic sponsored by Parker Field.” She giggled, overcome with excitement. “Do you realize how many soldiers are going to be there?”

  She found Jeannie’s declaration vaguely disturbing. “What difference should that make to me?” Izzy asked dismissively. “After all, I’m supposed to be married, right?”

  Jeannie didn’t answer right away.

  “Right?” Izzy’s tone surged with urgency.

  “Yes, of course you’re married.” She judged Izzy with a cool, appraising look. “But I’m not.”

  “Do you know where my wedding ring is?” She threw it out there, and a momentary look of discomfort crossed Jeannie’s face. “I do have one, right?”

  “Of course you have a wedding ring, Izzy.” Jeannie threw her head back and perched her hands on her hips. “Maybe you lost it again. Why is it always my responsibility to keep up with your things?”

  Where the hell did that come from? Izzy was too startled by Jeannie’s ranting to issue a comeback other than inside her thoughts. Take a pill, why don’t you.

  Outwardly, Izzy appeared to smooth her sister’s animosity with a calmer, more apologetic tone. “Look, I’m sorry if I can’t remember where I put something two weeks ago, but in light of my current situation...I just thought you might know.”

  Jeannie’s face changed, softening, and Izzy relaxed a little. “I’m sorry to snap at you.” Jeannie smiled and moved toward Izzy, grabbing her hand. “But I’ve already been accosted because of your missing wedding ring.” The chill in Jeannie’s tone was confirmation that she was not amused.

  “By whom?” She didn’t remember anyone, but still somebody thought they had a right to ask about her wedding ring, or lack thereof.

  “Jack.” Jeannie’s revelation and her tone, less than friendly, prickled Izzy’s skin with goose bumps. Her sister didn’t like Jack and it showed.

  “Jack?” Izzy’s voice shook with uncertainty and shock. Then she recalled him saying something on the bus about her ring. “What did he say to you?” she added with some bitterness. Jack’s concern was noble, but it wouldn’t cancel out the husband she couldn’t remember.

  She shrugged dismissively, suggesting that she didn’t give Jack or his curiosity much thought. “Oh, hell, he just wanted to know if you had one.”

  A wedding ring would make her marriage all too real. Izzy didn’t want to have one. Why was he trying so desperately to prove she did?

  Izzy stalked across the room toward her bed. “Why doesn’t he mind his own damn business?” Her voice took on a chilly tone.

  “It’d be so much easier if he would.” Jeannie’s icy remark snuck up on Izzy, jabbing her from behind.

  Izzy swung her head around and glared at Jeannie. “Why would that be easier?” And why would she care?

  “For you.” She tilted her head slightly. “It’d be easier for you.”

  “No matter how you look at it, this can never be easy for me.” Izzy snatched her purse off the bed, gave Jeannie a brief nod and walked briskly toward the door.

  Damn it! Jeannie managed to contain the rant to just a thought. Izzy and Jack were worse than a couple of would-be angels trying to snoop their way into heaven. But that was just a minor annoyance. They both could pry and poke around all they wanted, but neither of them would get the better of Jeannie. Mainly because there wasn’t time. By the time either of them learned the truth, Jeannie, as well as both their souls, would be long gone. But just in case, she had a plan to put a wedge between the would-be lovers.

  George Hadley. Unless Jeannie had lost her touch, highly unlikely, sparks would soon ignite between her dear, sweet married sister and George. The picnic on Saturday was the perfect time for their attraction to come to life.

  Maybe that would put a damper in this stinking, budding romance between Jack and Izzy. Jeannie meant to nip that in the butt, right away. She needed those two as far apart as possible, the closer it got to his birthday—also his death-day. In the end, it was worth it because they’d end up as a two-fer. Two souls for the price of one. What a bargain!

  She knew from their conversation that Jack was suspicious about Harry. But she didn’t care. By the time he found out Harry didn’t exist, she’d have both their souls.

  Exiting the parked car in the lot at Parker Field, Izzy strolled a step or two behind Jeannie and Paul, her sister’s latest conquest. Jeannie went through men as often as she changed underwear—daily. And she had the nerve to question Izzy’s morality.

  As they walked, Izzy let the space between herself and the couple widen, finding Jeannie’s revolving door of men embarrassing. She scanned the crowded picnic festivities. Who was she looking for? She laughed and glanced down just in time to see her foot twisting into the hole.

  “Ouch—” Izzy swallowed hard and bit back the pain. What had induced her to wear heels to an outdoor activity? Shit. She cursed silently, rocking her ankle back and forth, hoping to work out the soreness.

  Her only comfort was her dress—if felt like silk, but she doubted it was. Still, it clung to her body like a custom made glove and she thought she looked good in it even though she preferred the attire of blue jeans and a casual blouse. And God, what she wouldn’t give for a pair of Reeboks right now.

  Izzy had come to learn that many things she yearned for—Starbucks, cell phones, certain music—no one else had heard of. It bothered her at first, but not anymore. Now, she simply didn’t care. The one thing in this world that she wanted, she couldn’t have. She’d wrapped herself in such remorse over Jack, she didn’t care that she’d been yearning for things that didn’t seem to exist anywhere outside her imagination.

  Her ankle throbbed, the pain sneaking down into her foot. The nearest table seemed a long way away, but she hobbled toward it anyway and eased into an empty chair. She slipped her shoe off and tried to rub the soreness out, which wasn’t working. Ever since she woke up in 1946, luck had hit the road and didn’t look like it was coming back anytime soon.

  Hanging onto the shoe with one hand, she massaged her ankle and glanced around. Flyers, soldiers and various other personnel from Parker Field, their families, and guests enjoyed and mingled at the annual festivities. Picnic tables dotted the meadow perched beside a small pond. Elongated tables, topped with a variety of foods, separated the picnic and the amusement areas. The carnival had been brought in and the attendants worked diligently to prep the rides and games for later that evening.

  Izzy’s gaze landed on Jack who was sitting across the way. The pretty blonde at his side ignited her jealousy.

  Her first instinct was to go over and slide her way in between them, claiming him as her own. But she couldn’t do that. He wasn’t hers because she couldn’t be his. She belonged to someone else. Izzy had to keep telling herself that. If she said it enough times, maybe she’d start to believe it.

  She scanned the crowd again and saw Jeannie, Paul and George sitting a couple of tables away from Jack. That was a little too close for comfort, but it was probab
ly better than staying where she was. Lord knows who might end up sitting next to her. At that moment, visions of some smelly, overweight, balding guy who, for some reason, had decided he was God’s gift, would decide he was going to present himself to her today.

  She worked her shoe on, harder to do now that her foot had swollen, and hobbled over to Jeannie’s table. Taking a seat beside her sister, Izzy wished she could sit on the opposite side of the table, with her back to Jack. She wanted to avoid him and his date.

  The pain lingering around her ankle was a good distraction. It provoked the removal of her shoe and gave her something else to focus on besides Jack.

  Another distraction, bright sunlight shining blindingly into her face aggravated Izzy’s already annoyed demeanor. She slipped Jack’s sunglasses from her purse and secured them over her eyes. What a great idea. Now she could spy on him and he’d never know.

  The girl leaned toward Jack, and Izzy envied her. She had no idea what they were saying, but she could tell when the laughter came. And then, Jack cupped the girl’s head in his hands and kissed her forehead. Odd, but still, it burned a hole in Izzy’s ego.

  Watching their stupid display of affection was turning her stomach, and she quickly decided she was done. She pushed herself up from the table and hopped on one leg, burrowing her sore foot back into her shoe that now seemed about two sizes too small.

  Pain shot through her foot and she limped toward the carnival midway, set up nearby specifically for the picnic attendees.

  Her gaze traveled to a booth with red, blue, green, yellow and orange balloons pinned to its walls. Darts. That’s just what she needed to blow off a little steam. She quickened her pace, hobbling faster.

  The attendant, a scruffy guy with slicked-back hair and the beginnings of a beard, grinned at her. “Care to give her a try, sweetheart?” His teeth were disgusting, most were missing. What he did have was covered in dental plaque and yellow stains from years of neglect.

  Gross. Distaste shuddered through her. She opened her purse and began rummaging through it. “How much?”