She moved along the line, quietly helping Stan with the languages when needed. When she reached Dan, he smiled. ‘Hello, Grace.’
‘Good evening, Brigadier,’ was all she said and continued walking.
At that moment he knew he had made a mistake. He’d been so sure he was doing the right thing. He was a damned fool.
As soon as everyone had arrived and his job on the reception committee was finished, Dan found Bill. ‘I’ll have that drink now, and make it a strong one.’
‘Ah, someone isn’t happy. Doesn’t Grace look beautiful? She was like that in France and the German officers were tripping over themselves to meet her. She provided the distraction I needed to slip away unnoticed. I couldn’t have done it without her. Was she pleased to see you?’ Bill asked innocently.
‘Her greeting was as warm and welcoming as an arctic storm. Are you going to get me that drink?’ Dan snapped.
‘At once, sir!’
Bill soon returned with a large brandy and watched the tall man empty the glass in two swigs. ‘Feel better now?’
Dan gave a wry smile. ‘No, but I’d better not drink any more of that stuff. I need to keep a clear head.’
‘So, our Grace is mad at you. What are you going to do about it? I only ask because if you are going to give up—’
‘Don’t even think about it, Bill.’
‘Why the devil didn’t you step in when you had the chance, Dan?’
‘That’s just what I’m asking myself!’ Dan looked at his empty glass and grimaced as he put it down. ‘Ah, well, one more battle to fight.’
Dan strode across the room until he reached Grace, Stan and George.
‘Ah, Dan. Quite a crowd gathered here.’ Stan turned to Grace. ‘Meet your new boss.’
Just for a moment her eyes blazed, then her composure returned and she inclined her head in acknowledgement. Dan admired her self-control. She was clearly not at all happy about being assigned to him, but she was in the army and had to obey orders. ‘I’ll expect you in my office by eight o’clock tomorrow.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Chapter Thirty-Two
That night Grace tossed and turned, ashamed of the way she had acted towards Dan. There was no reason why he should have kept in touch with her. They had worked together for only a few weeks and then they had gone their separate ways. She had admired his determination to get fit enough to return to his regiment, and his kindness and understanding had helped her through those painful weeks after Brian had been killed. He had greeted her tonight with obvious pleasure and used her Christian name. And what had she done? She had insulted him. And now she knew why!
She thumped her pillow in exasperation. Over the years she had listened to George, Bill and Stan talking about him and what he was doing and she had pretended not to care. But the moment she had seen him tonight the truth had become clear. Gradually, bit by bit she had fallen in love with him. The first thing she had to do in the morning was apologise without letting him know about her feelings for him. That would be too embarrassing for both of them. If he’d wanted to take their friendship any further he would have contacted her. Four years of silence told her everything she needed to know.
The morning finally came and Grace followed the instructions she had been given to find his office. A young girl was already there, but before Grace could say anything, Dan came out of his office.
‘Punctual, as always,’ he said briskly. ‘There’s a desk in my office you can use.’
He held the door open for her and closed it behind them. She turned to face him. ‘Sir, I must apologise for my conduct towards you last night.’
He took a step towards her and then stopped, his gaze sweeping over her tired face. ‘Go ahead then.’
He was clearly angry and wasn’t going to make this easy for her. And why should he?
‘I’m sorry I spoke to you so sharply. It was rude of me and I am ashamed. I can offer no reasonable excuse for my lack of manners. I apologise, sir.’
‘Cut out the, “sir”, Grace, and tell me what the blazes that was all about.’
‘For some reason I was angry you hadn’t bothered to contact me even once over the last four years. That was absolutely ridiculous, for you had no reason to do so. I can see that now.’ He’d demanded an explanation and she hoped that was good enough because she really couldn’t say more without giving herself away.
He took another step forward. ‘I couldn’t. I didn’t dare see you again.’
‘That doesn’t make sense. George kept in touch, so did James and Bill. Did I do something wrong when we worked together?’
‘Of course not. I count those weeks as some of the best I have ever spent.’
Now Grace was completely at a loss to understand what he was saying. ‘Then why did you walk away? The last thing you said to me was that we were friends, and I felt as if we had indeed become friends.’
‘Then I had better explain, but you might not like what I am going to tell you. If it embarrasses you, tell me and I will never mention it again.’
Now Grace was worried. ‘Whatever it is, I think you had better tell me.’
‘When you came to work for me I was not happy. I had lost men in France, I was injured and stuck in a desk job, but you worked quietly, efficiently and never once complained. Your husband had only recently been killed, and when I saw how courageous you were in dealing with the pain, it helped me to sort my own feelings out. I very quickly realised something else. I had fallen in love with you.’
Grace gasped. This was the last thing she had expected.
He gave a wry smile at her reaction. ‘It shocked me as well, and I couldn’t do a damned thing about it because you were grieving for the loss of a husband you had loved. When I returned to my regiment I knew I would be off fighting again somewhere and there was always the chance I wouldn’t survive.’ He was right in front of her now. ‘That is the reason I stayed away, Grace. I loved you too much to inflict something like that on you again. This war has made it impossible for me to ask you out, take you to restaurants for intimate dinners or spend long days together. My love for you has not changed over the long years of separation and I want you in my life. Whether it is as a friend, lover or as my wife, is up to you. I hope it will be the latter, but the choice is yours.’
Her head was spinning. Now she understood why he had kept away. He’d only been thinking of her.
‘Which of the three is it to be, Grace?’ he asked when she didn’t answer.
She looked up at him, moisture filling her eyes. ‘It has taken me a long time to realise that I love you, but I do, and the third option sounds perfect.’
He immediately closed the remaining space between them and gathered her in his arms. When the long, passionate embrace came to an end, he whispered, ‘Thank heavens. I really thought I didn’t stand a chance after staying away for so long, but you had needed a couple of years to recover from your loss, and by then I was in the desert fighting. I had to wait.’
‘You took a chance. I might have married in that time.’
‘It was a risk I felt I had to take. I watched your progress through the war and I must admit you gave me some scary times, but you came through uninjured and still single. As soon as the fighting was over I knew I had to get us together again as quickly as possible.’
‘So you arranged for me to come here?’
Dan nodded. ‘We will be returning to England in two days’ time, and a month later I will be posted back to Berlin. It will be a rush I know, but would you agree to put in for demob so we can marry quickly? As a civilian and my wife I can arrange for us to have married quarters here.’
‘Can you do that?’
‘I’m an officer and good at giving orders.’
‘Ah, I know that only too well,’ she laughed.
He smiled down at her. ‘I’m not giving orders now. I’m asking. How do you feel about leaving the army?’
‘I did consider staying because I had no idea what to do
with my life now the war is over.’ She reached up and kissed him. ‘I didn’t know you were going to ask me to marry you. I’ll put in for demob as soon as we arrive home. We have wasted enough time.’
He gave a sigh of relief. ‘Thank you, my love. It’s been a long wait, and I thought this day would never come, but I endeavoured to take each day as it came, and that got me through.’
‘That was the only way to get through the long dreadful war,’ Grace agreed. ‘But, now, this day is ours.’
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About the Author
BERYL MATTHEWS was born in London but now lives in a small village in Hampshire. As a young girl her ambition was to become a professional singer, but the need to earn a wage drove her into an office, where she worked her way up from tea girl to credit controller. She grew up in a family who loved reading, and books have always been an important part of her life. She had always weaved stories in her head, but never written them down. After retiring she joined a Writers’ Circle in hopes of fulfilling her dream of becoming a published author. With her first book published at the age of seventy-one, she has since written sixteen novels.
By Beryl Matthews
Hold on to Your Dreams
The Forgotten Family
Battles Lost and Won
Diamonds in the Dust
A Flight of Golden Wings
The Uncertain Years
The Day Will Come
Copyright
Allison & Busby Limited
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First published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2015.
This ebook edition published in Great Britain by Allison & Busby in 2015.
Copyright © 2015 by BERYL MATTHEWS
The moral right of the author is hereby asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All characters and events in this publication other than those clearly in the public domain are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent buyer.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978–0–7490–1987–7
Day Will Come Page 26