by Lynn Ames
“Shh, it’s okay. Aw, c’mon baby, what’s so bad? I’m here, and I’m fine. Good as new.”
“It…it’s not th-that,” Jessie said between sobs.
“Then what is it? Honey, I’ve never seen you like this. Whatever it is, we’ll fix it.”
“I don’t think w-we c-can.”
“Of course we can. Together we can do anything. C’mon, sugar. Tell me what’s got you so bent out of shape.”
Jessie struggled to take a deep breath and regain control of her emotions. After several aborted attempts to speak, she finally said, “I got summoned by Hutchins.” She felt Claudia stiffen.
“What did that witch want with you?”
Jessie closed her eyes as Claudia ran her fingers through her hair. God, that felt good. “She wanted to warn me off.”
“Warn you off what?”
Jessie swallowed hard. “It wasn’t a ‘what,’ it was a ‘who.’”
“Sorry?”
Jessie reluctantly disentangled herself from Claudia’s warm embrace and straightened up to face her. “You.” She searched Claudia’s eyes. “She told me to stay away from you.”
“She what?” Claudia’s shout echoed off the walls.
“Shh. Keep it down. She raked me over the coals about our relationship—said she’d heard rumors of ‘unsavory’ behavior between us.”
“Nobody’s seen anything,” Claudia said, indignantly.
“She didn’t say they had, exactly. Just that there was talk, and that one of the guys at the scene of the accident overheard me use a term of endearment after we got you out of the cockpit.”
“Oh, come on. That’s what she’s got? She jerked your chain for that?”
Jessie shook her head. “That and the fact that I slept in a chair with my head on your hospital bed.”
“So what? I was a friend who’d been in a harrowing situation. You were concerned and offered support.”
“That’s what I told her. I asked her if she’d ever had a best friend.”
“Her only friends are probably crocodiles.”
Jessie laughed. “Nah. They’d probably reject her.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Anyway,” Jessie said, sobering up again, “she told me if she caught wind of anything else, she’d personally kick me out of the program and ship me home.”
“I see. I guess that explains why you didn’t come get me from the hospital. She tried to frighten you, and it worked.”
Jessie could sense Claudia’s rising ire. “Claude, she’s serious.”
“I’m sure she is.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Do?”
“We can’t keep going the way we’ve been—she’ll have me out of here before I can pack my bags.”
“She wouldn’t dare. You’re one of the best pilots here.”
“Doesn’t matter, Claude. She’s just itching for an excuse, I could tell.”
Claudia picked up one of Jessie’s hands and kissed it. Jessie rested her palm against Claudia’s smooth cheek.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, sugar. Hutchins can’t change that.”
“No, but she can make our lives hell. She can banish me and send me home. Then what?”
Claudia frowned. “We’re not going to let that happen. That’s all there is to it.”
Jessie felt herself tearing up again. “The only way to stop it is not to see each other anymore.”
Claudia recoiled as if she’d been slapped. “Perish the thought.”
“I don’t see any other way.”
“There has to be another way.” Claudia’s voice shook.
Jessie took Claudia’s hand in hers. Exhaustion was etched in her face, and Jessie silently cursed herself for being so insensitive. “You need to rest. Here you are barely out of the hospital, and I’ve dumped all this on you. I’m a clod.”
“You are no such thing. I’d have been really mad if you’d kept this from me.”
“I couldn’t. As it is, it didn’t take you two seconds to know something was wrong. I can’t keep anything from you.”
“I’m glad of that. I wouldn’t want you to.” Claudia leaned in and kissed Jessie sweetly on the mouth. “Mmm. There’s no way I’m going to live without that.”
“Which brings us back to the point. What are we going to do?”
Claudia yawned. “We’ll figure something out. Right now, I think I need to lie down.”
“Of course you do.” Jessie stood and pulled Claudia up with her. Holding her with one arm, she used the other to turn down Claudia’s bed. She helped her to sit down again and knelt to pull off Claudia’s boots.
“I ought to get into accidents more often if it gets me treatment like this.”
“Don’t even say that,” Jessie said, as she guided Claudia into a prone position. She itched to lie down alongside her and hold her.
As if reading her mind, Claudia said, “Gosh, I wish you could crawl in here with me.”
“Yeah. Me too.”
“Someday,” Claudia said, as her eyes began to close.
Jessie stood over her and watched her sleep for a long time, gently sweeping a lock of hair off her forehead and listening to the deep, even sounds of her breathing. It was a sight she wished she could witness every day for the rest of her life. Before emotion could overcome her again, she turned away and busied herself with sewing.
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Jessie asked Claudia for the fifth time as they approached the entrance to the Blue Bonnet Hotel.
“How many times are you going to ask me the same thing? Yes, I’m sure. Frankly, I’m less sure that you’re up to this.”
“What the heck does that mean?”
“As I recall, the last time we tried this, it didn’t go so well.”
Jessie thought back to that first outing and smiled. “No, but I sure enjoyed the walk home.”
Claudia smacked her playfully in the arm and laughed. “If someone makes a play for me in there, you’re going to have to trust me to handle it. You can’t go all King Kong on me.”
“You gals coming, or what?” Janie called, as she disappeared inside.
“I hate this,” Jessie muttered.
“Me too, darling, but we agreed that we can’t keep turning down invitations—it looks bad.”
“I want to be clear that I only said yes to this to get Hutchins off our backs.”
“No kidding. Well, here we go,” Claudia said as she guided them inside.
The music was loud, the booze was flowing, and the dance floor was jam-packed. Jessie fought her way to the bar and ordered two sarsaparillas. As she waited, she spied Annabelle on the dance floor with a boy in uniform. She was flirting shamelessly, and Jessie wondered if Annabelle knew the boy, or if this was the first time they were meeting. She realized with a start that she knew next to nothing about the personal lives of her bunkmates. She was willing to bet that Claudia knew everything.
“Here you go, Miss.” The bartender handed Jessie the drinks.
“Thanks.” Jessie had to concentrate hard to avoid spilling as she navigated through the crowd. Eventually, she found Claudia standing against the wall. She wasn’t alone. Jessie’s nostrils flared, but she clamped down on her temper.
“Ah, here’s my friend I was telling you about,” Claudia said to the boy, who looked vaguely familiar, although Jessie couldn’t quite place him.
Jessie handed Claudia her drink without comment.
“Jessie Keaton, this is Matt Dunphy. He’s just back from flying missions overseas.”
Reluctantly, Jessie shook his hand. He was wearing the uniform of the Army Air Forces. Jessie narrowed her eyes. Dunphy. Dunphy. Where had she heard that name before? And then it struck her—the picture on the piano.
“Are you sure you don’t want to dance?” Matt was asking Claudia when Jessie refocused on the conversation.
“Positive. I’m still recovering from my injuries. Jessie here saved
my life.”
“Then I should thank Jessie for making it possible for me to gaze upon such a pretty face.” Matt glanced dismissively at Jessie, then returned his full attention to Claudia. He shifted his body as if to shut Jessie out. “How about getting some air with me, then? Since you can’t dance.”
“No, thank you, Matt. Don’t be rude. Jessie is my friend. I’m not leaving her.”
Matt mumbled something Jessie couldn’t hear. Then again, she was pretty sure it wasn’t meant for her ears. “What if I find a friend for her too? Would I stand a better chance with you then?”
Claudia batted her eyelashes. “Maybe.”
“Be right back,” Matt said. “Don’t go anywhere.”
When he was gone, Claudia turned to Jessie. “I know what you’re thinking.”
“I bet you don’t,” Jessie said, under her breath.
“I heard that, sugar. You want me to tell him to get lost.”
“Something like that.”
“He’s harmless.”
“And you know that from five minutes of conversation?”
“C’mon, Jess. You promised to behave.”
Jessie pursed her lips. “He turned his back to me—practically told me to skedaddle.”
“Okay. I’ll admit that his manners could use a little work, but honestly, he could be the answer to our problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“If I feign interest in him, and you agree to spend time with one of his buddies so we can double date, we can throw off suspicion and still spend time together.”
Jessie felt as though she might throw up. Share Claudia with a boy? Sit by and watch him manhandle her? She couldn’t see how she could do it. She looked up from her shoes to see Claudia watching her, a knowing expression on her face.
“Please, Jess? It won’t have to be for long. We’ve only got a couple of weeks left. Then we can be together, just us. We’ll find a place to live off base wherever we end up. I promise.”
Before Jessie could answer, Matt was back, with a friend in tow. He was a few inches shorter than Jessie—a redhead with freckles.
“Claudia Sherwood, Jessie Keaton, may I introduce Jordan Escher. Jordan, this is Jessie.” Matt virtually shoved him in Jessie’s direction.
Jessie thought the boy looked frightened.
“Um, wanna dance?”
“No, thank you.”
“Oh. Okay.” Jordan stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet.
Where Jordan was bashful and deferential, Jessie noted that Matt was smooth and aggressive. He had positioned himself too close to Claudia, his hand resting against the wall just over her shoulder so that he easily could lower it and have his arm around her. Jessie thought that Claudia didn’t seem to mind in the least, which made her want to bodily drag her lover out of there.
“So, Matt, how is it you’re home? I thought it was all hands on deck over there,” Jessie said. If she couldn’t keep him away from Claudia, at least she could knock some of the cockiness out of him.
“Got strafed over Berlin. Barely made it back to safety. Took some shrapnel in my leg, so I’m on temporary leave. I’m itching to get back and kill me some more Nazis, though, so I’ll only be here long enough to let my mother see that I’m fine and get back to it.”
Jessie wasn’t convinced that his story was true, but she didn’t want to call him on it. The best news she heard was that he would be gone shortly. It couldn’t come soon enough for her.
“You’re not a little bit afraid to get back in the cockpit after that?” Claudia asked.
“Nah. No big deal.”
“Wish I felt the same. I have to admit, I’m a little nervous about going back up.”
“You are? You didn’t tell me that.” Jessie said.
Claudia shrugged. “After how brave you were on the way back from Palm Springs, I feel like a chicken. I didn’t want you to be disappointed in me.”
“I could never be disappointed in you, Claude. It’s natural to be gun shy after what you went through.”
“I could go up with you if it makes you feel better,” Matt offered.
Jessie clenched her fists at her sides to keep from hitting him. It was her job to protect Claudia. Her job to help Claudia get her confidence back. Who did this jerk think he was, anyway?
“I don’t know if the brass would approve that,” Claudia said, “but it’s a really sweet gesture.”
“Well, I mean it, so you just go back and ask whoever you need to get permission from. Tell them a real flyboy is ready and willing to help.”
Jessie wanted to stick her finger down her throat, but refrained. She was surprised that Claudia could keep a straight face. Surely Claudia could see through this idiot’s bluster. Couldn’t she?
“Speaking of the brass, we’d best be getting back. Don’t want to miss lights out,” Claudia said.
“Already? Aw, come on,” Matt countered, “we’re just getting to know each other. The night is young.”
“Sorry, fellas. Rules are rules,” Jessie added, happy that this lousy night was about to end.
“Let me walk you out.”
“That’s really not necessary, Matt.”
“Jordan will come with us to escort your friend. Won’t you, Escher?”
“Um, yeah. Sure.”
Jessie wanted to tell them both to stuff it, that she could get her and Claudia back to base just fine, but Claudia gave her a warning look.
The four of them walked out together.
“You really shouldn’t walk around in the dark without someone along to protect you,” Matt said when they were outside.
“We’re tougher than we look,” Claudia said. “We do just fine on our own.”
“Still, it’s not right, two women out wandering around by themselves, is it Escher?”
“N-no. I suppose not.”
“We could walk you back to the base.”
“No, thank you. We came with friends. One of them has a car, so we won’t be walking,” Claudia said.
“Really, where are they?” Matt made a show of looking around.
“They’ll be out any second. We agreed to meet out front.”
“We’ll wait with you in case they don’t show.”
Fortuitously, right then Rebecca and Shirley stumbled out, laughing and chatting.
“Here are our friends now. Well, see you fellas.”
“Wait,” Matt said. “Can I see you again?” he asked Claudia. “How about my offer to take you up?”
“We’ll see about that,” Claudia said, breezily.
“I warn you, I’m not going to take no for an answer.”
“Somehow, I believe you,” Jessie muttered.
“It was nice to meet you,” Jordan said, holding up his hand in a semi-wave.
“Yeah,” Jessie said, without conviction. She pulled on Claudia’s sleeve to get her to move, afraid that, at any moment, Matt would try to kiss her goodnight.
They caught up to Rebecca and Shirley, who were weaving a few feet ahead. “Where’s Annabelle? And what about Janie?” Claudia asked.
“Who?” Rebecca asked, overly loud.
“You know, our bunkmates,” Jessie said.
“Oh, them. Annabelle’s with some boy, and Janie was on the dance floor last I saw,” Shirley said.
“Shouldn’t we wait for them?”
“Nope.” Rebecca giggled.
“When I told her we were leaving, Janie said to go ahead without them—one of the guys has a car and will take them back to the base,” Shirley said. “Speaking of cars, where did I leave that thing?”
Jessie pointed to a row of cars. “It’s over there. But maybe you should let me or Claudia drive.”
“Okay, s’long as you don’t wreck it.” Shirley handed Jessie the keys.
“I think there’s far less chance of me wrecking it than you.”
“Probably right about that.”
They all climbed in, and Jessie drove them back to Avenger Fiel
d.
“Those seemed like nice fellas you two were with,” Rebecca said, as they walked back to the barracks after parking the car.
“Nice enough,” Claudia agreed.
“Gonna see them again?” Shirley asked.
Claudia squeezed Jessie’s hand to keep her from answering. “Maybe,” she said.
Jessie didn’t like the sound of that. She wished she could get Claudia alone so they could discuss it. She didn’t know which depressed her more—the thought of Claudia seeing Matt again, or the fact that she hadn’t had any private time with her lover in days.
CHAPTER NINE
It was the middle of the night and Jessie lay awake staring at the ceiling. She replayed the night over and over in her head—the way Matt immediately assumed that Claudia would return his interest, her feelings of impotence when she thought he might kiss her girl. Jessie groaned out loud and pulled the pillow over her head. The idea of someone else kissing Claudia made her want to scream.
True, it hadn’t happened…yet. But Jessie felt the ground shifting beneath her, and she had no idea what to do about it. Hutchins’s warning was clear as a bell. Any hint or whisper of anything inappropriate between her and Claudia would result in Jessie’s being sent home. But to sit idly by and watch…
Someone grabbed her hand, and Jessie nearly levitated off the bed. “Easy, sugar, it’s only me,” Claudia whispered. “Move over.”
“What? What are you doing?”
Claudia lifted the covers off Jessie and slid in next to her.
“Are you crazy?”
“I’m crazy about you.”
“Claude, if we get caught it’ll be lights out for us.” Jessie lifted her head to make sure the other girls were asleep.
“Shh. I just need to feel you next to me, to hear your heart beat in my ear. I won’t stay long, I promise. I love you, Jess.”
Jessie closed her eyes as a tear leaked out. “I love you too, baby.”
“God, I miss you even when I’m with you.”
“I know.” Jessie wrapped her arms around Claudia and spooned her.
“He’s just a boy, you know.”
“Hmm?”
“Don’t pretend you weren’t laying awake fretting about Matt Dunphy and what happened tonight.”