“Wish me luck.”
Natalie smiled. “Good luck.”
Charlotte was only five minutes late when she met Will in front of the Occidental Restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C. They weren’t at a stage in their relationship where an embrace would’ve been an appropriate greeting, and yet a handshake felt too impersonal. Instead, they swapped hellos and entered the restaurant.
The maître d’ led them to a table near the front windows, and a waiter took their drink orders.
“Have you been here before?” Will asked.
Nick had brought her to the restaurant for dinner a few times, though she wasn’t about to mention that detail to Will. “I have. It’s very good.”
Will nodded and perused the menu. “How was the ride over?”
“Fine and dandy. I’m so accustomed to taking the bus these days, I’m sure the drivers know me by name. The driver on the Number Six bus certainly does. He drives me from Trinity College to the AMC in the afternoons.”
Will set down the menu and folded his hands on the table. “You did volunteer almost every day.”
Her smile broadened. “And I’m sure you kept track.”
He laughed. “I did.”
The waiter returned with their drinks. While Will asked him about the menu, Charlotte took a sip of her rum and Coca-Cola. Given her level of anxiety on the bus ride over, she was surprised how comfortable she felt now that their initial greetings were over and they’d fallen into an easy conversation.
The waiter answered Will’s questions, and Charlotte ordered her favorite dish, Chicken à la King. Will decided to try the same. After the waiter left, Will sipped his martini.
Charlotte recrossed her ankles beneath her chair. “So, Will, what have you been doing since last week? I returned to the hospital on Friday and heard you were discharged. I was sure you’d be long gone from here.”
“It’s been a whirlwind of a week.” He leaned back in his chair. “I’d been expecting to be discharged for a couple weeks. After all, they couldn’t continue boarding and feeding me forever. But I didn’t expect the medical board to deem me permanently unfit for service. That was a surprise.”
Charlotte nodded. “I know you wanted to return.”
Will shrugged. “I’ve done my part over there. Now I can do it here. So I spent the week getting my affairs settled with the Veterans Administration, finding somewhere to live, and looking for a job.”
“You’re going to stay in D.C.?”
Will took another drink. “Well, I have no other place to go. There’s nothing left for me in Stamford. I lived in New Haven for a couple years but only during college. My father lives in Manhattan now so I can’t go back there. This is my fresh start.”
“And you found somewhere to live?”
“I’m renting a room on the top floor of a row house in Georgetown. The family has a couple sons who are in the Navy, so they’re letting out their rooms while they’re deployed for some extra income. The couple is nice and the rent is inexpensive.”
“You’ll like that area of town,” Charlotte replied. “And what about a job? I don’t even know what you did before you joined the war. Did you tell me once?”
“I don’t remember. I waited tables for a time at one of the clubs in Manhattan. I wore a fancy tux and learned a few words in French.” Will folded a napkin over his arm and held it parallel to the table. “Champagne, mademoiselle?”
Charlotte covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed. “With that accent?”
Will replaced the napkin in his lap. “It wasn’t my strong suit. The job didn’t pan out for long, so then I worked as a photographer at Gimbels, posing couples and kids for portraits and processing the images. I worked there for over a year. That was my last job before I went overseas.”
“So, you’re a man of all trades.”
“I’d rather I weren’t. What I love is flying.”
“What if you became a commercial pilot? You could fly around the world for Pan Am Airways. I can picture you now, standing in front of a clipper plane in your pilot’s uniform and hat. Very handsome.” Charlotte giggled. The rum had loosened her up and she felt even more comfortable in his presence.
Will laughed. “I’ve given some thought to commercial flying. There are some licenses I’d need to work toward first, though. I also don’t know how my leg will affect my chances. If I’m unfit for military service, maybe I’m unfit to be a commercial pilot, too.
“Actually, I have a meeting next week at the air base. They’re looking for a P-40 Warhawk mechanic. I flew the Warhawk in the RAF, so I think I’m well qualified. Then I can familiarize myself with the workings of other aircraft and start working toward those licenses. Plus, the war needs mechanics, too.”
“I’m sure they do. It sounds like you have it all together.”
Will shrugged. “I’m figuring it out one step at a time. What about you?”
Her eyebrows lifted. “What about me? That’s a very open-ended question.”
“Fair enough. To be more specific, you have one more year until you finish school, right? What are you going to do after that?”
Charlotte’s ease disappeared. She took another sip of her drink and gazed out the windows to the streetscape. “I don’t know.”
“After all your work with the Red Cross, you don’t want to become a nurse? You’re compassionate, clever, and committed to those you’re caring for. You have a good bedside manner, better than many who are already nurses. I would know.”
“I’m sure you would.” Charlotte set her glass on the table and wiped her palms on the napkin in her lap.
“I love what I’m doing. When I started, though, I never thought it would turn into anything more than a volunteer opportunity. I was supposed to get married and start a family. I guess that’s changed, though.” She shook her head. “I’ve tried not to think about it, honestly.”
He nodded thoughtfully. “You’ll figure it out.”
Charlotte smiled faintly. “Thanks.”
“And if nursing doesn’t work out, you could join me as an aircraft mechanic, now that they’re opening those jobs to women. We’d make quite a team.” Will chuckled.
The waiter brought out their dishes, and as they finished their meal, Charlotte was grateful they’d switched to less personal conversation topics. Will shared a few stories about his time in England, all of them lighthearted and humorous. Then Charlotte described some of the places of interest in Washington, D.C. for Will to visit. After their table was cleared and the bill settled, they left the restaurant for the balmy evening air.
Charlotte faced Will, unsure of what to say. She enjoyed their time together, which made her even more confused. It wasn’t fair to Will that she couldn’t decipher her own feelings when his were so clear.
“I had a good time,” she said, gripping her pocketbook.
Will grinned. “I did, too. We should do this again.”
“I like you, Will.” Charlotte gulped. “But I’m not sure I’m ready for this. Not yet.”
Will nodded. “I know and I understand.”
“You do?”
“Charlotte, you’ve had a hell of a year. This can be whatever you want it to be. I’d still like to stay in touch. You’re the only person I know here, and I like you, too.”
Charlotte exhaled in relief. She took a slip of paper and a pen from her pocketbook and wrote down her contact information. “These are my telephone numbers. The first is my dormitory and the second is my parents’ home.” She pressed the paper into his hand, stood onto her tiptoes, and lightly kissed him on the cheek. “Please call me. I’ll show you some of my favorite spots in D.C.”
Part Three
July 1943
Twenty-Six
Two blocks away from the Macy’s in downtown Washington, D.C., the Sunday lunch rush ended at a popular pharmacy. Charlotte took a seat at the counter and ordered a Coca-Cola. The young soda jerk slid a bottle toward her. “Hot outside?”
; She nodded. “Sure is. It feels much better in here.”
“Yeah. We try to keep the fans going,” the kid replied.
Rachel plopped onto the stool next to Charlotte and placed her pocketbook and a folded newspaper on the counter. “Sorry I’m late.” She looked at the soda jerk. “Hi, may I have a glass of lemonade?”
As Rachel waited for her drink, Charlotte studied her. She was dolled up more than she’d ever been at the hospital. Her lips were painted a dark pink, she wore high heels, and her hair was perfectly styled. Charlotte hadn’t seen her since Rachel quit volunteering at the Army Medical Center in April. Then on Saturday morning, Rachel called Charlotte out of the blue and suggested they meet at the pharmacy before her shift at Macy’s.
Rachel took a sip of her lemonade. “How are you? You look good. Are you still volunteering at the AMC?”
“I’m doing pretty well,” Charlotte replied. “I’m still volunteering at the AMC. I was there yesterday afternoon. It’s gotten busy. All the beds are full.”
“I bet . . . Any gossip I’ve missed out on?”
“I know nothing.”
“You were always bad at that,” Rachel teased. “What about Will Kendrick? Did he ever get out of there?”
Charlotte nodded. “He was discharged in May.”
“That’s good. I wonder what he’s up to now.”
“I don’t know.” Her cheeks reddened. “Now tell me, how’s your new job?”
Rachel sighed. “Working at Macy’s is not as glamorous as it seems. I have to deal with snooty shoppers, and standing near the perfume counter gives me a permanent headache. Gosh, I’d rather change bed pans.” She laughed. “Anyway, I can’t do it for much longer, which brings me to why I asked you here.”
Rachel unfolded her newspaper, flipped to an advertisement, and laid it in front of Charlotte.
“I’m going to do this, and I think you should join me.”
Charlotte perused the ad. “What’s this?”
“I’ve seen it in the newspaper for the past week or so. It’s for the Cadet Nurse Corps. Charlotte, they’ll pay you to go to nursing school now! Plus, you get a monthly allowance. It says they urgently need sixty-five thousand student nurses this year. Because we qualified for the Red Cross, we’ll easily meet the age and education requirements. If we sign up this summer, we’ll start in September.”
“I have another year of school left.” Charlotte shook her head. “My tuition is already paid, and I can’t leave my roommate in a lurch.”
“You could do it next year then.” Rachel shifted in her seat. “Listen, I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you into doing this with me. I’m joining regardless. But I know you love working as a nurses’ aide, and I think this is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You should at least give it some thought.”
“Thanks, I will.”
Rachel pulled two nickels from her pocketbook and placed them on the counter. “I need to skedaddle. I don’t want to get fired before I quit. We should meet up again, maybe when I’m not in such a hurry.”
“It was nice seeing you.” Charlotte offered Rachel her newspaper.
She waved it away. “You keep it. I’ve read through it already. See you later!” The door chimed as she left the pharmacy.
Charlotte remained at the counter and read through the Cadet Nurse Corps advertisement while she finished her soda. Rachel was right about it being an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The government offered to pay for the tuition, fees, lodging, and uniforms associated with nursing school, as well as offering a living stipend of fifteen dollars a month. In return, the cadets would be nurses in training and allow registered nurses to fulfill their services domestically and abroad. The advertisement promised there’d be time for dates, dancing, and even marriage within the program.
Charlotte couldn’t think of a good reason not to join the Corps.
She finished her soda and left the pharmacy with the newspaper tucked under her arm. On the bus ride home, she scanned the front page. The bolded headline read, ALLIES INVADE SICILY. She glanced at the date—July 11, 1943. Only yesterday, Allied troops invaded the southern coast of Sicily, and according to the Washington Post, John Cartwright’s division partook in the invasion.
As soon as she arrived home, Charlotte said a quick hello to her mother and escaped to her father’s office to use the telephone. She laid the newspaper on the desk. The operator connected her to the Armstrongs’ number. After Natalie answered, they exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes before Natalie asked about the reason for Charlotte’s call.
“Have you read your local paper today?”
“No. Why? Should I? Did something happen?” Natalie’s voice became muffled. “Joey, get me the paper.” She groaned into the phone. “My brother moves at the pace of a sloth. Tell me what happened.”
“We invaded Sicily. The article in the Post said John’s regiment participated in the invasion. I figured you’d want to know, and if you already knew, I wanted to let you know you can talk to me if you’re feeling blue.”
“What does it say?”
“During the early morning hours of July tenth, armed forces from the United States, Canada, and Britain invaded the Mediterranean island of Sicily. Airborne troops in parachutes and gliders were dropped over the island between Gela and Syracuse just after midnight. Hundreds of ships carrying troops, weapons, artillery, and armored vehicles landed on a one hundred and five mile stretch of the southern coast only hours later. There were heavy Axis defenses from the coast, but Allied forces made significant progress inland. Last month, Sicilian air bases were bombed to weaken Axis air forces and prevent the arrival of reinforcements.”
Natalie sniffled. “That’s it?”
“Well, it goes on to list the U.S. involvement, and the Ninth Division was on the list. Did you not hear anything from John? I suppose he couldn’t tell you they were leaving Africa in case the letter was intercepted.”
“No, he didn’t say anything.” Natalie’s voice cracked.
“I’m sure he’s fine. He’s smart and they’ve been trained for this.”
“So was Nick and look what happened. Oh God, Charlotte, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” Natalie cried into the phone.
Charlotte was proud of her ability to remain calm over a statement that would’ve sunk her into a depression only months ago. “It’s fine, Natalie. Take a deep breath and try to relax. You’re right, but worrying isn’t going to help him. I wish I’d done less of it last year.”
When their conversation resumed, Natalie sounded more upbeat. “Tell me about your summer so far. Are you still seeing Will?”
Charlotte folded the newspaper and pushed it away. If Natalie didn’t want to discuss the invasion, she wouldn’t press the subject. In fact, she welcomed the opportunity to discuss her relationship with Will. Since their first date in May, it had been her secret. Only Natalie knew of their connection.
“Yes, I’m still seeing Will.”
“Did he find a job?”
“He did. He works Monday through Saturday as an aircraft mechanic. On Sundays, I’ve been showing him around the city. We’ve visited most of the monuments and parks already. Today we’re going to the National Museum of Natural History.”
“You sound happy.”
Charlotte smiled. “I am happy. I like him, and it’s been great, except . . .”
“Except? You have to tell me.”
Charlotte lowered her voice to a whisper. She didn’t want to risk her mother overhearing their conversation. “Will is a gentleman, which is wonderful, except he won’t initiate any affection. I guess it’s my fault for being conflicted about a relationship with him in the beginning. But I’m not conflicted anymore. He’s a good guy, and I find myself really attracted to him. Anyway, I think he’s waiting for me to let him know it’s all right.”
“And you haven’t let him know that yet?”
“No, because what if there’s a reason he hasn’t done anything?”
“He wouldn’t keep seeing you if he didn’t like you. Have you been alone with him at all? He’s not likely to kiss you if you’ve only been spending time together at monuments, museums, and other public places. See, this is when a car comes in handy,” Natalie said.
“There hasn’t been an opportunity.”
“You’ll have to be more forward with him. You need to flirt. I’ve seen you do it before with Nick, so I’m not sure why you’re so hesitant to do it now.”
“I was less afraid of getting my heart broken at that point.” Charlotte’s response sounded defensive. She cleared her throat. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. This is exciting, actually!” Natalie sighed. “New love . . .”
“Don’t get any ideas, Natalie.”
“I wouldn’t. But while John is gone, I’m living vicariously though you, romantically at least. You need to keep me updated.”
Charlotte chuckled. “I will.”
“Well, I guess you should get ready for your date. Have fun, tell Will I said hello, and remember what I said about flirting.”
“I’ll try. I hope you hear from John soon. I’ll call you next week.”
Charlotte reentered the living room. While she was on the telephone, her mother had amassed a pile of clothes in the middle of the floor and sat on the rug, hemming and stitching the old, worn clothes so they could be recycled and donated. “Are you going to be home this afternoon? I need a model to make some of these alterations,” her mother said.
Charlotte shook her head. “Sorry. I’m meeting a friend in about an hour.”
Her mother threw the sweater back onto the mound. “Who are you meeting?”
“Evelyn.” Charlotte retreated into the hall so her mother couldn’t read her guilty expression. “I’ll tell her you said hello.”
***
Charlotte arrived at the Smithsonian museum and spotted Will sitting on a bench outside the entrance, his gaze locked on a distant distraction. She waved to him as she climbed the wide, granite steps. It wasn’t until she stood in front of him and called his name that he jumped in his seat and noticed her presence.
Battle Hymns Page 15