by Lynn Ames
Jessie frowned. It amazed her how often Claudia knew exactly what she was thinking. “He’s not ‘just a boy.’ He’s the boy who wants to take my girl away.”
“Well, there’s no chance of that.”
“He wanted to kiss you, for goodness sake. If Shirley and Rebecca hadn’t come along when they did, he probably would have.”
“But he didn’t.”
“What about next time?”
Claudia scooted back even further into Jessie. “Anyone ever tell you you worry too much?”
Jessie chuckled. “Yeah. You.”
“I must be one smart girl.” Claudia took Jessie’s hand and placed it on her breast. “Mmm. That feels good.” Claudia squeezed Jessie’s hand, silently urging her to use more pressure. “Jordan seemed like a decent fella.”
“Don’t try changing the subject.”
Turning her head, Claudia brushed her lips against Jessie’s jaw. “Even if he did kiss me, it wouldn’t mean anything.”
Jessie dropped her hand and tried to find her voice. Her throat suddenly seemed dry as parchment. “It would mean something to me.”
“I know, sugar. I know.” Claudia took Jessie’s hand again. “You’re the only one for me, now and always. Nothing changes that. Not Matt, not Hutchins—nothing and nobody. Got that?”
Jessie didn’t respond for several heartbeats. She wanted so badly to believe Claudia.
“Got that, sugar?”
Jessie sighed heavily. “Yeah, I got that.”
Claudia turned fully and kissed her deeply. “Say it like you mean it,” she said, against Jessie’s lips.
“I’m the only one for you, Claude.” Jessie knew her voice was trembling. “I’ll always be the only one for you.”
“Don’t forget that,” Claudia said, kissing Jessie one last time before she slipped out of bed and back into her own.
Claudia, Jessie, Janie, and Annabelle were on their way to shower and change after calisthenics when Jessie spotted Hutchins heading directly toward them.
“Witch at two o’clock,” she whispered under her breath to Claudia.
“Yep, I spotted her too. Just keep your cool—she’s got no beef with us.”
“Hello, girls,” Hutchins said as she effectively blocked their path. “Sherwood, Keaton, I’d like a quick word.”
“We’ll catch up with you gals in a bit,” Claudia said to Janie and Annabelle. “Don’t use up all the cold water.”
It was a running joke in the bay that there was never any hot water with which to shower.
When the girls had moved on, Hutchins said, “I had an interesting visit today.” She paused for effect. “An officer in the AAF. He says he’s a friend of yours, Sherwood.”
“Matt,” Jessie said, trying hard to keep the misery out of her tone.
“As a matter of fact, his name was Matthew. Matthew Dunphy, I believe he said. He fed me some nonsense about you being afraid to fly after your accident, Sherwood. Said he was coming over to volunteer to take you up.”
Jessie stuffed her hands in her pockets to hide her balled-up fists. Matt was going to be the one to help Claudia over her fears, not her. It was all she could do not to stomp away. Claudia must have sensed this, because she surreptitiously nudged Jessie.
“What did you tell him, Miss Hutchins?”
“Why, I told him the truth—our gals don’t need help from any flyboys to do our jobs. I thanked him for the offer and told him he’d have to find another way to spend time with you.” Hutchins looked from Claudia to Jessie and back again. “This doesn’t mean you two are off the hook, but for now, it looks as if you’ve taken my warning seriously. A very wise choice.”
Hutchins turned on her heel and walked away, and Claudia burst out laughing.
“What are you laughing about?”
“Hutchins. Did you see how disappointed she looked that she couldn’t pin anything on us?”
“Aren’t you skipping over the part where that ‘harmless’ boy marched over here and tried to talk his way into a flying date with you?”
Claudia patted Jessie’s arm. “It didn’t happen. You heard Hutchins. She told him to go fly a kite.”
“He’s not going to let it rest there, Claude.”
“Didn’t we go through this last night, sugar? He’s no competition for you.”
“I should be the one to take you up for your first time back in the cockpit.” Jessie knew she sounded petulant, but she didn’t care.
“I’m pretty sure they’ll make me go with one of the instructors.”
“Probably.” Jessie rubbed her toe in the dirt. “Still, I wish it could be me.”
“I wish that too, sugar.”
“Have they told you when you’re scheduled next?”
“Tomorrow night.”
“A night flight?” Jessie’s eyes flashed angrily. The idea of sending Claudia back up in the dark instead of letting her get her confidence back in the daylight was outrageous. “Whose bright idea was that?”
“Cochran, apparently. Said it would show my character.”
“That’s poppycock.”
“It’s okay, Jess. I’ll have to go up at night again sometime. It might as well be sooner rather than later. Less time for me to worry about it.”
“Who’s the instructor?”
“Don’t know yet. I’ll find out tomorrow. Hey, I was thinking I would go into town later and get my hair done to take my mind off things. Come with me?”
“You’re kidding. You want me to come with you to get your hair done?” Jessie thought she would rather be tortured by the Germans.
“It’s a way for us to spend time together, silly.”
“I guess.”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to stand in front of a firing squad, or get your own hair done, heaven forbid.”
“True. Okay, I’ll do it.”
“That’s more like it,” Claudia said, as she opened the door to the bay.
Jessie couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen so many elderly ladies in one place at one time. The incessant chatter was enough to drive her crazy. She waited while Claudia gave her name to the receptionist, then sat down with her in the waiting area, where she picked up a copy of the latest Life magazine.
“Oh, goodness,” Claudia said, looking up from her crossword puzzle.
“What is it?”
“Mrs. Dunphy. She must’ve just finished getting her hair done.”
Jessie followed Claudia’s line of sight to a slight, white-haired woman with an oversized purse walking in their direction. She wore a look of determination that told Jessie she was used to getting what she wanted.
“Claudia Sherwood,” Mrs. Dunphy said in a tremulous voice. “Just the girl I wanted to see.”
“Hello, Mrs. Dunphy. What a lovely surprise.” Claudia stood up and beckoned Jessie to stand along with her. “Might I introduce my best friend, Jessie Keaton?”
“Oh, yes dear.” Mrs. Dunphy shook Jessie’s hand. “How nice to meet you. Any friend of Claudia’s is a-okay in my book. And my, aren’t you a tall one.”
Jessie had no idea how to answer that, so she simply said, “Very nice to meet you, ma’am.”
“What’s this I hear about you and my boy Matt hitting it off? He told me he met you at the Blue Bonnet the other night. He was quite taken with you, you know.” Mrs. Dunphy winked at Jessie. “Well, of course he was, she’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Pretty as a picture,” Jessie agreed. And mine.
“Matt tells me you were in a very serious accident, my dear. Why I had to hear such dreadful news from him is a mystery. You should have come and told me. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine, Mrs. Dunphy, really.”
“Say, I’ve got a splendid idea,” Mrs. Dunphy said, her face lighting up. “Why don’t you girls come over for dinner tonight? It’d be wonderful to cook for a gathering, and I’m sure what they’re feeding you over at the base is worse than what I’d feed a cat, if I had one.
Matt can rustle up a friend for Jessie here, and we’ll have a grand old time. What do you say?”
Jessie wanted to say no, wanted to scream it, in fact, but before she could get a word in, Claudia said, “Gee, I’m so sorry. I’m sure it would be delicious, but we have to be on base tonight.”
“How presumptuous of me. Of course you can’t come on such short notice. How about day after tomorrow? I warn you, I won’t take no for an answer.”
Jessie couldn’t see a way out of it, and apparently neither could Claudia, who agreed that they would have dinner at Mrs. Dunphy’s house on Thursday night.
The prospect obviously made Mrs. Dunphy very happy, since she was whistling as she walked out of the beauty parlor.
Jessie remained mum, her head buried in the magazine, as Claudia got her hair done. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was to share a meal with Matt Dunphy and make polite conversation.
“You’re brooding,” Claudia said, as they left the shop.
Jessie didn’t answer.
“It’s only a dinner, and Mrs. Dunphy will be there.”
“Mrs. Dunphy seems only too happy to play matchmaker between you and her son.”
“That’s only because Mrs. Dunphy doesn’t know that I’m madly in love with you.”
Claudia’s voice had taken on that sexy timbre that made Jessie wild, but she was currently too single-minded to succumb.
“Are you planning to declare your love for me to Mrs. Dunphy, or to Matt, for that matter? No. So it isn’t really of any consequence, is it?”
“It is to me, Jess. I’ve promised you that you are my one-and-only true love. Why can’t that be enough for you?”
“Because some cocky, hot-shot flyboy wants to make a meal of you, and there’s not a thing I can do about it, that’s why.”
“You don’t have to do a thing about it, sugar. I can handle Matt, and I will.” They walked in silence for a short distance. “Do you trust me, Jess?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course I do. Claude,” Jessie said, bringing them both to a stop and looking directly into Claudia’s eyes. “This isn’t about you. It’s about him—I don’t trust him. I can’t explain it. There’s just something about him that makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up.”
Claudia seemed to consider this. “Are you sure it’s him, in particular, you have a problem with? Or would it be any boy who was interested in me?”
Jessie had been wondering the same thing. She owed it to Claudia to be honest. “I don’t know. There hasn’t been any other boy to come in between us, so I can’t really say, now can I?”
“Matt isn’t going to come in between us, sugar. Remember? Nobody can come between us. We won’t let that happen.”
A thought suddenly occurred to Jessie. “What if Jordan wanted to kiss me? How would you feel about that?”
Claudia chuckled. “That’s not realistic.”
“No? How come?” Jessie felt her temper start to boil. “Aren’t I attractive enough or good enough to be kissed by a boy?”
“I didn’t mean that,” Claudia said quietly. “It’s not realistic because you’d probably punch his lights out if he tried.”
Jessie felt the blush creep up her neck. What Claudia said was true. Still… “Okay, you might be right about that, but if I did let him make out with me, how would you feel?”
“It’d make me a green-eyed monster—”
“Exactly.”
“Let me finish. It’d make me really, really jealous, but I’d know in my heart that it didn’t mean anything to you.”
“And that would make it all right?”
“No! That would make it tolerable. It would never be all right. Now, can we stop talking about this? We have so little time alone together these days, I don’t want to spend it talking about boys.” Claudia looped her arm through Jessie’s, something she hadn’t done since Jessie’s meeting with Hutchins. “I love you, Jess.”
“I love you too, Claude.”
“We need to think about where we want to put in for when training is over.”
“What if Hutchins refuses to let us go together?”
“She wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t put it past that witch.”
“You’re too right about that. I guess I’d just go over her head to Cochran.”
“What makes you think Cochran would give us a better shake?”
“She’s smart and she likes to take care of her girls. She wants us to be happy, not miserable. You’re the best, so she’s going to go out of her way to give you what you want.”
“I disagree. I think that means she’ll put me wherever she thinks there’s the greatest challenge.”
“You’ll have some bargaining power, I’d be willing to bet. You could say we’re a package deal.”
Jessie pursed her lips. “I don’t know how that would go over.”
“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Claudia said, waving her hand dismissively. “Nobody’s going to give us a hard time. We’re going to go wherever we want—together—and we’ll live happily ever after.”
Jessie laughed. “I hope the real world mirrors your fairy tale, princess.”
“It will, for I decree it so,” Claudia said, imperially.
“Since you’re feeling so royal, where’s our carriage?”
“In the shop, I’m afraid. We’ll just have to travel the rest of the way on foot.”
“Pity.”
“Uh-huh. Anyway, when you’re done being silly, we still have to figure out what posting we want. We could tow targets, or test-fly repaired birds, or move planes from base to base, or fly VIPs around, or instruct newbie flyboys…”
“Do you want to pick our spot by the location, or by the function?”
“Oh. Good question. Very practical. Hmm… Which do you want?”
Jessie considered. “We need someplace where we can live off base and be inconspicuous, so I’m guessing that means we should stay away from isolated or small bases.”
“Makes sense.”
“How about if we look at the list and narrow it down that way, and then look at what’s left and pick a function that suits both of us?”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.”
They were getting close to Avenger Field. “Claudia, I…”
“You sound serious. What is it, sugar?”
“I want you to know how much it means to me that we’re looking at a future together, that’s all.”
Tears sprang to Claudia’s eyes as she turned to face Jessie. “You’re everything to me. You’re my heart. My home. There’s no future for me without you, Jess.”
“I know what you mean.” Boy, do I.
Jessie could see that Claudia was nervous. She donned her gear, checked and re-checked her parachute, and fiddled with her bootlaces.
“You’re going to be fine. You’re a great pilot, Claude. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“Right.” Her voice was tight.
Jessie placed a hand on either arm and made Claudia look at her. “I believe in you, Claude. I wish I were the one going up there with you. I trust you with my life. You brought that plane in when no one else could’ve.”
“That’s not true. You could’ve, and it probably wouldn’t have broken in two or caught fire. Your instructor wouldn’t have died because you—”
“Stop right there, missy. Achison didn’t die because of anything you did. He died because he was a jerk. If he’d followed your advice to bail out, he’d most likely still be alive. Not only that, but the crash didn’t kill him. It was a malfunctioning canopy release latch. So stop blaming yourself.”
Claudia blew out an explosive breath and waggled her shoulders to loosen them.
“I need you to be confident and focused on the here and now. You’ve got to have your head on right, Claude. You hear me?”
“Loud and clear.”
“Okay, then. Cochran will be here any second.”
“I know. I can’t bel
ieve she wanted to go up with me, herself.”
“Obviously, she trusts you. I’m sure she’s also sending a message to the mechanics that that bird better be in tip-top shape.”
“Or it could be that she’s planning to save my bacon up there.”
“You ought to listen to Keaton, Sherwood, she’s sharp.” Jackie Cochran stood in the doorway, one hand on her hip, the other holding her cap and goggles.
“Yes, ma’am,” Claudia said.
“Let’s go. We don’t have all night.” Cochran disappeared into the darkness.
“You heard her, Claude. She believes in you as much as I do. You can do this. I promise you, I’ll be watching and waiting for you.”
“In that case, I’ll be right back.” Claudia smiled brightly, winked, and walked out the door.
Jessie climbed up to the tower and borrowed a pair of binoculars to watch. She really did have complete faith in Claudia—it was the war-weary AT-6 she was flying that worried her.
CHAPTER TEN
“Claudia went up in the AT-6 last night. She was amazing.” Jessie looked directly at Matt, who was sitting next to Claudia, across the dinner table from her. Jessie hoped he understood her unspoken message—she doesn’t need you.
Matt glared at Jessie.
“I’m sure she was splendid,” Mrs. Dunphy said, oblivious to the tension between Matt and Jessie. “Good for you, dear.” She patted Claudia on the hand. “Goodness, the thought of a little thing like you operating that big machine. I never thought to see the likes of it in my lifetime.”
Claudia chuckled. “Planes don’t care about gender, Mrs. Dunphy. As long as I can see out the windshield, that’s all that matters.”
“Claudia is an excellent pilot,” Jessie said.
“Not as good as you.”
Jessie was acutely aware of Matt watching the interaction between her and Claudia with more than a little interest.
“No woman can hold a candle to me and my crew,” Matt said.
“You don’t know that,” Jessie countered.
“Men have better, quicker reflexes, make better decisions, and are more fearless.”
“Where are you getting your information?” Claudia challenged. “There’s no data to prove that.”