by Sarah Sundin
For the rest of the meal, she chatted about ideas for the First War Loan Drive. A rally, competitions between departments, prizes. What could she offer for prizes? She needed to be careful with her budget since she was just starting. And decorations! What would the commandant allow? Oh, she had so much to do, and she couldn’t wait to get started. She had the nicest, smartest girls in her department, and they were going to have so much fun.
Dan didn’t have to say much. She was so animated, so enthusiastic. She looked the same, and yet different. Not just the shorter hair and the military uniform, but something more.
She was absolutely dazzling.
Why, why, why, God? For the past decade, he’d successfully avoided feminine distractions off duty. But now he had a feminine distraction smack-dab in the middle of his sanctuary, his duty station.
She continued to chat while they walked back to the office, ideas and joy spilling out. He worked hard to keep his eyes off her, to rein in the smile that threatened to conquer his face.
He opened the door of the ASWU office for her.
“Thank you,” she said. “And thanks for everything you said. You helped me.”
Dan shrugged. “You just needed to see the truth. You used to get excited about decorating a show window at Filene’s. Now you have a gigantic show window.”
“I do, don’t I?” She giggled. “I’m going to say good-bye to the yeomen, then I’ll head to the war bond office.”
“I wish you all the best. You’ll do well.”
Back in his office, Dan hung his overcoat and cover on the coatrack.
“Hi, Mr. Avery.” Bill Bentley stepped in right after him, but he leaned out into the hallway, shaking his head and grinning. Then he came inside and hung up his coat. “How come you get to date the WAVES and we don’t?”
“Not a date. Remember, lunch was your idea.” Dan sat and pulled a stack of reports out of his portfolio. “She’s a family friend.”
“A family friend, huh?” Bentley leaned against the wall facing the door, too close to Dan’s chair. “Wish my family had friends like her.”
Dan explained how Tess was Mary Stirling’s best friend from way back. When Jim was in high school—when Dan was away at the Academy—Jim’s friend Hugh dated Tess. Dan left out the bit about Hugh cheating on Tess, but he was careful to explain he had barely known her until she moved to Boston, thanks to a good five years between them.
He also left out his opinion of high-school Tess as silly and self-centered, because she’d changed and matured.
Bentley’s grin didn’t diminish. “Here’s to friendship becoming something more. You could use someone like that in your life. Soften you up a bit.”
Soften him up too much. Dan groaned and sorted the reports. “You know the rules, and so do I. Besides, you know I follow Admiral Howard’s advice to avoid women and dating.”
“But—”
“It’s good advice. I dated a girl just like Miss Beaumont in Annapolis. The beautiful girls, they’re used to attention, lots of it, and you can never give them enough. They’re never satisfied, always want more of your time and energy. If that isn’t bad enough, all you hear is, ‘Tell me I’m beautiful. Buy me pretty things.’ A girl like that almost cost me my career. Never again.”
“Um . . . Mr. Avery . . .” His ensign’s face stretched long.
His shoulders tensed. Tess was in the doorway, wasn’t she?
Yes, she was, her face white, her eyes chilly. She thumped a pile of papers onto his desk. “The yeomen finished these reports, sir. I’m dropping them off on my way out.”
His stomach scrunched into a ball. “Yes . . . thank you . . . thanks.”
She strolled to the office door and stopped. “By the way, Mr. Avery, don’t ever tell me I’m beautiful. Don’t ever buy me pretty things. Tell me I have a purpose. Buy me useful things.” She turned on her heel and marched down the hall.
Ah, for heaven’s sake. Why’d he always have to be so brusque? Why did he always have to hurt people? Dan lurched out of his chair and followed her. “Tess—”
“Miss Beaumont.” She snatched her overcoat from a hook by the door.
“Miss Beaumont. Of course. I apologize. I didn’t mean it that way. What you heard.”
She worked on her overcoat, her shoulders angled so he couldn’t help her. “What did you mean, Mr. Avery?”
Dan rubbed the sore spot on the back of his neck. “I meant—Mr. Bentley was teasing me about our lunch. I wanted to make it clear to him that we aren’t dating.”
Tess opened the front door and let out a dry laugh. “Dating? Oh, Mr. Avery. You’ll never have to worry about that.”
Dan grimaced. No, he wouldn’t, and that was for the best.
16
Saturday, November 28, 1942
“I can’t believe Lt. Daniel Avery lowered himself to a night on the town.” Tess sent him a teasing smile across the table at the Cocoanut Grove. The friendlier she was, the more he squirmed. Extremely satisfying.
“Tess, I decided what to call Dan.” Lillian leaned forward to see around Bill Bentley. “He’s a ship-monk.”
Laughter flowed around the table, and Dan was good-natured enough to lift a partial smile. “On the cruise to North Africa, I decided to schedule more rest and recreation. If I require it of my men, I should require it of myself.”
Tess laid her napkin on the table next to her empty plate. Dan made rest sound as appealing as swabbing the decks.
She’d hoped to discover an annoying trait, but she’d never dreamed to find so many, so quickly. Yesterday showed her the truth. He saw her as a vain, demanding, career-destroying vixen.
Well, fine. He was a hard-nosed, rigid, woman-hating killjoy.
And she planned to be excruciatingly pleasant to him.
The busboy cleared the table, pushing his way past a fake palm tree with lightbulbs shielded in coconut shells. The dining room was packed and stuffy. This hadn’t been Tess’s best idea, but she couldn’t resist following Jean-Auguste and Solange and seeking clues.
Tess scanned the room through a haze of cigarette smoke. Where were they?
After the table was cleared, Jim and Arch asked Mary and Lillian to dance. Tess turned to Bill Bentley on her left. The blond ensign was too eager and earnest for her taste, but she could find Jean-Auguste and Solange more easily on the dance floor.
Bill, however, grinned at Nora. “Would you care to dance?”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Tess gripped her hands in her lap. How selfish could she be, wishing Nora to be stuck with Dan?
Now she was stuck with him. That was her punishment.
Dan pushed back his chair. “Shall we dance?”
Tess’s jaw dangled. When she’d wanted to dance with him, he’d declined. And now that she didn’t want to dance with him, he asked. “No, thank you. I’d rather not.”
He winced, the same expression he’d worn when she’d told him he’d never have to worry about dating her. Good.
However, she didn’t want to look as vindictive as she felt. “Since we’ll be working together, it’s important to keep our interactions purely professional. Wouldn’t you agree?”
His shoulders relaxed, and he scooted his chair back in. “I agree.”
Two busboys wrestled another table down onto the edge of the dance floor, crowding out more couples. They’d be better off turning people away at the door than shoehorning them in.
Dan cleared his throat.
Oh no. She wouldn’t let him direct this conversation. “Mr. Bentley seems nice. Do you enjoy serving with him?”
“I do.” Dan held up his coffee cup for the waiter to fill. “He works hard.”
The only trait Mr. Avery valued. “Mr. Randolph on the other hand . . . I don’t remember you mentioning problems with your commanding officer.”
“First, it isn’t proper to gripe about your CO. Second, he’s only been my CO for one day. He reported to ASWU while I was at sea.”
“But—”
“We have a history.” Dan leaned back in his chair and looked out over the dance floor.
He wasn’t getting off the hook. Not after making her open her heart, then insulting her. “I don’t report to Mr. Randolph, but my WAVES have to work with him. If there’s a problem, I should know.”
Dan sat forward and cradled the coffee cup in his hands. “Encourage the yeomen to talk freely. Take complaints seriously. Be prepared to intervene.”
“Why? What do you know about him?”
“This is only for your ears. I served under him in ’35. He was an engineering officer on the USS Texas, and I was an assistant engineer. He was . . . harsh with the men. He insulted them, made them work harder and longer than necessary, put them in dangerous situations, neglected their needs. When the junior officers spoke to him, he saddled us with unnecessary paperwork.”
“Like weekly reports in triplicate detailing daily activities?”
“Yes.” His dark gaze stretched across the table, serious as ever. “So we kept our mouths shut. After a few months, Admiral Howard came on board as the battleship division commander. The admiral and I were well acquainted from Annapolis.”
“I’ve heard you mention him.”
“A fine man. I only wanted his advice. I didn’t mean to start disciplinary action against Mr. Randolph, but that’s what happened. The admiral spoke to the ship’s captain, who interviewed the sailors. Mr. Randolph hadn’t done anything severe enough to lose his commission, but he was assigned to shore duty. His reputation must have followed him. He hasn’t been promoted since.”
Tess fiddled with her gilt buttons, resisting the temptation to remove her uniform jacket and cool down. “Mr. Randolph knows you started it?”
“Yes. You can see why he dislikes me.”
The WAVES didn’t deserve to work with a tyrant. “What should I do if—”
“Talk directly to Commander Lewis, and in private. Don’t relate what I just told you, only what the WAVES report to you, what you observe. Mr. Randolph should be judged on the present, not on the past.”
“I’ll do that.” Tess sipped her coffee. Why did he have to be so fair and high-minded, standing up for the defenseless? Just when she was starting to dislike him.
“It’s too crowded.” Arch Vandenberg returned, his forehead glistening. “Can’t dance.”
Lillian sat beside him. “It’s the strangest thing. I saw Yvette’s friend Solange.”
“Strange? She’s the one who recommended this place.” Tess smiled at Jim and Mary as they joined the party.
“That isn’t the strange part. I saw Yvette.”
“Yvette? I thought she was going to Cape Cod for the weekend.” With Henri.
“That’s what she said.” Mary’s brow puckered. “Do you see Solange? Close to the stage by the palm tree.”
Finally. There she was, dancing with Jean-Auguste. “Yes.”
“Do you see the blonde about five feet behind her in the lavender dress?”
“It’s Yvette,” Lillian said, eyes huge. “She’s wearing a wig, but Mary and I recognized her.”
“She won’t look us in the eye though,” Mary said. “What on earth is she doing?”
Tess stood to get a better look. The blonde had Yvette’s build and movements. But her partner was taller and bulkier than Henri. “That man. He isn’t Henri.”
Who was he? Why would Yvette come in disguise? And why did she lie about going away?
Jean-Auguste and Solange drifted through the crowd, and Yvette and her mystery date shadowed them, keeping Yvette’s back to the couple. Was Yvette spying on her friend?
Who was Tess to judge? She’d come to watch Solange too.
Jim groaned. “Please don’t tell me you ladies are ferreting out another mystery.”
“We don’t have to find them, big brother.” Lillian grinned. “They find us.”
Solange caught Tess’s eye and waved.
“Hush, everyone. Solange and Jean-Auguste are coming over.” Tess squeezed past the chairs and kissed Solange on both cheeks. Then she introduced everyone.
Solange pulled at the satin bodice of her dress. “It’s too hot. Jean-Auguste said we should go to the Melody Lounge in the basement. Why don’t you come with us?”
Jean-Auguste’s smile thinned. “Please do.”
“Is there dancing?” Jim asked.
“No, but it’s quieter.” Solange clung to Jean-Auguste’s arm. “More intimate.”
“Oh. We wanted to dance.”
“No chance of that.” Bill returned to the table with Nora. “Can barely breathe in here.”
Someone bumped Tess from behind, and she caught herself on a chair covered with zebra-print upholstery. A rivulet of sweat ran down her breastbone. This was a horrible idea.
At the far end of the table, Dan sneaked a glance at his watch.
“What time is it, Mr. Avery?” she asked.
“Hmm?” He looked up, startled. “The time? It’s 2204.”
Perfect military precision. “Maybe we should call it a night.”
No one disagreed.
While the party pushed in chairs and gathered purses, Solange and Jean-Auguste headed to the foyer. On the opposite side of the dance floor, the blonde in lavender and the big mystery man followed, skirting far from Tess’s table.
“Come on. Let’s go.” Tess led the way, eager to follow the spies as far as possible.
The foyer formed a long broad hallway leading from the revolving door at the main entrance. Ahead of Tess, the two couples strolled under the high-arched ceiling, past walls covered with leather and rattan. The entrance to the Melody Lounge must be at the far end.
At the coat check room near the main door, the men went inside to claim the coats while the ladies waited in the foyer.
Mary pulled on Tess’s arm. “Yvette is following Solange. In disguise. Do you know what’s going on?”
“No.” Tess frowned as the last couple disappeared through the doorway. “Solange was jealous when Yvette and Henri began dating, and now Solange is dating Jean-Auguste.”
“Yvette thinks there’s a spy in their group.” Mary leaned closer. “She must suspect Solange or Jean-Auguste.”
“But who’s Yvette’s date? I’ve never seen him before.” However, another man approaching down the foyer looked very familiar. A middle-aged man, walking quickly with his head down. Alone.
Professor Arnaud ducked past the ladies without noticing Tess, and he handed tickets to the coat check girl. “Two coats, and hurry.”
“We’re hurrying as fast as we can. It’s busy tonight.” The girl sifted through coats piled on the floor, of all places.
“Professor Arnaud?” Dan stepped forward from where the men waited, and he held out his hand.
The professor startled.
How did Dan know the professor?
“Lt. Dan Avery from—”
“Oui, oui. I remember you.” He shook Dan’s hand, but he glanced down the foyer, eyebrows tented.
“Here you go, sirs.” The coat check girl passed a pile of coats to Tess’s friends.
Tess claimed hers, but she didn’t plan to put it on until she was outside. It was too warm to breathe.
“And yours, sir.”
“Finally.” Professor Arnaud grabbed two coats and strode out the revolving door.
Two coats. One man. Where was he going, and what was he hiding?
“Let’s go.” Tess edged toward the entrance, longing for cool air and answers.
“Just a minute.” Lillian pulled on her bottle-green overcoat. “It’s below freezing tonight.”
Hundreds of people inside, milling around, packed together. So hot. So stuffy. A strange sensation pressed on Tess’s lungs. She wanted out, and she wanted out now.
“Are you all right, Miss Beaumont?”
Her vision swam and fixed on Dan’s dark eyes filled with concern. She pulled in a breath. “I want to leave now.”
“You look pale. Let�
��s get you some fresh air.” He took her arm and guided her toward the door. “Come on, everyone. Put on your coats outside. Let’s go.”
Tess let him lead, her ankles wobbling. She never got claustrophobic. What was wrong with her?
A shout rang from the far end of the foyer.
Then a woman’s scream.
“Fire!”
“Out. Everyone, out.” Dan spoke calmly but firmly, his grip tightening on Tess’s arm.
She ached for fresh air. Her vision darkened, and she stumbled.
Dan stopped and caught her about the waist. He motioned the rest of the group toward the door. “Everyone out. Stay calm. One at a time. Don’t rush.”
“We need to get out.” Tess’s words sounded disconnected from her body.
“Yes, we do.” His voice was deep and soothing, and he pulled her into the confines of the revolving door with him and pushed his way through.
Cold, fresh, sweet air. She drank it in.
“Lillian.” Dan pressed Tess’s hand into his sister’s. “Take her across the street. Sit her down, head between her knees.”
“I—I’m fine now.” The air’s stinging slap had done its work.
“Across the street.” Dan ran back to the main entrance, Jim and Arch and Bill on his heels. “One at a time. Don’t push.”
A lady with bright red hair stood in the doorway, shivering without a coat. “Louis? Louis!”
“Step aside.” Jim urged her away from the doorway.
Louis? That was the professor’s first name.
From a cab at the curb, someone waved. The redhead burst into a smile, darted for the cab, and embraced the man inside—the professor.
Tess shuddered. She’d met Mrs. Arnaud, and that wasn’t her.
“Sweetie, put on your coat.” Mary tugged on the navy-blue overcoat draped over Tess’s arm. “Let’s cross the street, get out of the way.”
She obeyed, her gaze riveted on the entrance. People stumbled out the revolving door, crying, calling for people. Dan and Jim and Arch and Bill directed people away, pulled them out of the doorway, shouted for calm and order.
A bright flash shone through the glass doors, yellow and blue and angry.
Tess gasped.
Flames roared, mixed with screams, horrible screams. Tess joined them. Hundreds of people were inside. “Lord, get them out!”