THE WAR BRIDE CLUB (10 page)

      “Would you like to dance?”

      Betty’s face burnt hot. She didn’t like to be made fun of.
 

      “You can tell your friends that I’m not interested in, in being the butt of some joke!”

      Now it was his turn to look embarrassed. He turned his flushed cheeks to her, eyes pleading, and shook his head fervently.
 

      “Oh, please, no. You aren’t a joke, it’s just…”

      She glared at him. She’d heard these Yanks’ sweet talk was a dime a dozen, but she wasn’t going to be fooled. She crossed her legs delicately and turned her shoulders away.
 

      Betty saw him slump back in the chair. She was still curious, but she wasn’t going to be swayed.
 

      “I’ve been watching you since you arrived with your friend, and they’ve been trying to get me to come over to you, that’s all. Honest.”

      That made her turn slightly. Maybe she’d over reacted. Still, she wasn’t going to let down her guard just yet. Betty kept herself angled away from him.
 

      To her surprise he got up and walked away. Walked away! If that didn’t make a girl feel dejected then… Betty fumed inside. If she hadn’t promised Lucy she would have walked straight out the door. She stood up and looked for her again, wanting to beckon with her head that she wanted to go.
 

      “Huh-hmm.”

      Betty turned. What the…

      “Hi, I’m Charlie Olliver.” He held out a drink to her.
 

      She didn’t know what to say.
What was he doing?

      “I’m sorry about before, can we start over?” he asked.
 

      Betty searched the crowd for Lucy again and couldn’t locate her, so she reached for the drink he was holding out and gingerly extended her right for him to shake.
 

      “Betty Sanders,” she said. She sighed as he looked rather pleadingly at her. “And yes, we can start over if you’d like.”

      Charlie grinned at her, and she knew that she’d been wrong to judge him. He might be cheeky, but he had an honest face. That’s what her mother would have said, if she were still alive.

      “So Betty, what on earth are you doing sitting at a dance alone?”

      She laughed and shrugged. She wasn’t going to point out that she had hardly ever danced before, let alone been faced with men desperate to ask her.

      “The other guys are just too scared to ask you. Pretty girl like you should be dancing ‘till her shoes wear out.”

      Now she knew what Lucy’s mother had been on about, warning them about the charm of an American.
 

      
They have silver tongues
, she’d said, waving her finger at them before they’d left.
They don’t call a spade a spade like our local boys, and it doesn’t mean you should believe what they say.
 

      
Betty and Lucy had giggled on their walk here, taking turns to mimic her mother, but she suddenly understood. American boys
were
different, and she knew exactly why so many girls were falling in love with them.
 

      Betty sipped on the punch and felt a brief rush to her head. The last thing she wanted was to meet a dashing young man then swoon at his feet. Or worse, be taken advantage of. She put the cup down.

      “So how about that dance?” he asked.

      Charlie grinned at her before standing and extending a hand to her. She took it.
 

      “I’m not much of a dancer…”

      “Nonsense,” he insisted, keeping hold of her hand and walking closer to her than she’d expected. “A girl that looks as good as you has got to be good on the dance floor.”

      Betty tried not to laugh.
 

      
Oh yes
, she understood how easy it would be to fall for an American’s charm.

      The band burst into a rendition of the Glenn Miller orchestra as the singers belted out The Andrews Sisters, and Charlie tugged at her wrist so insistently she thought it might actually fall off.
 

      “Come on girl, let’s get dancing!”

      Betty thought of resisting, of digging her heels into the floor and not trying something new. But Charlie was so persuasive. He didn’t even need to say anything. The flash of his eyes, his smile, the pull of his body as he stood waiting for her.
 

      She sucked in a deep breath of air, filled her lungs with enough oxygen to make herself light-headed, and swallowed her fears. She had wished for her very own prince charming for years;
imagine if this was him and she let fear stop her from finding him?
      

      Once her arms were pressed against his, she felt a burst of excitement. She straightened her shoulders, followed his lead and felt as if her feet were moving so fast they weren’t even touching the ground.
 

      Charlie had a smile on his face like she’d never seen before. Perhaps it was the war making the good times seem happier than ever. Maybe it was the heat in the room, the swill of the crowd, the thrum of adrenalin caused by the band, but Betty found herself lost to Charlie.
 

      Only moments earlier she’d thought of ignoring his advances.
 

      Only moments earlier, she hadn’t even known he existed.
 

      And now here she was, twirling, swirling and falling into his embrace, acting as if they’d been sweethearts for months.
 

      As the band wound down, belting out the last tunes of a song, Charlie spun her out then pulled her in tight against him. She was cocooned between his arms and his chest. Like an insect in a web with no chance of escape.
 

      If he’d let her, she would have looked away. But his eyes weren’t letting her off that easily.

      “You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said.

      She listened to his drawl and tried to push the words away. She wasn’t used to compliments.
 

      “You are, Betty.” He paused and looked at her, ignoring the fact the band had started another tune. A slow tune. It felt as if the room was spinning away from them, the other couples a blur in the far distance. “You’re the most beautiful girl here.”

      He kept his eyes on hers, his arms looped around her body. She’d never in her life been this close to a man, never before felt the excitement of being held in a man’s arms.
 

      Charlie brought his lips slowly toward hers. She raised her chin, fighting a tremble as he moved even closer. It felt like an age before his lips actually touched hers; before their skin met. Her mouth parted ever so slightly as they kissed. A soft press that lasted forever yet was over too quickly.
 

      As Charlie pulled away, a whoop made her turn. Charlie tugged her back against him, glaring at his friends. They were all clapping and catcalling. He hadn’t just kissed her to show-off to them, had he?
 

      “Charlie…”
 

      “Ignore them, sweetheart,” he said, drawing her close. They swayed together to the soft, slow lull of music. “They’re just jealous.”

      She believed him. Not the jealousy part, but the fact that he wanted her in his arms.
 

      The spicy scent of his aftershave filled her nostrils, the breadth of his shoulders felt endless beneath her palms. And the feel of his hands as they skimmed her waist made her forget that there was anyone else in the room.
 

      “I am going to see you again, Betty, aren’t I?”

      He held her away from him for a heartbeat and she gazed into his eyes. Her voice felt as if it had been stolen away from her, so she just nodded in response.

      Charlie let her nestle back against him.
 

      “You know what I said to my friends when you walked in tonight?”

      She shook her head against his chest, her forehead tucking under his collarbone.
 

      “I said,
that’s the girl I’m gonna marry
, and you know what they said?”

      She fought a laugh and swallowed her worries. He might be exaggerating, but she didn’t mind.
 

      “They said you haven’t got a chance in heck of getting that girl to fall in love with you, Charlie. She’s way out of your league.”

      Betty was pleased the music was still playing and she had an excuse to stay tucked into his arms.
 

      She had a feeling that falling in love with Charlie Olliver wouldn’t be so very hard at all.
 

* * *

      “I think we should just leave her be.”

      Betty awoke to the whisper of voices in the room. She sat up in the near-darkness and blinked, trying to clear her sleepy eyes. Where was she?
 

      A pain in her lower regions made her shut her eyes tight again. William. Her baby.
 

      
Charlie.
 

      The dream echoed in her memory still and she fought to hold on to it. Being in Charlie’s arms, feeling him, tasting him.
 

      “Honey, are you okay?”

      “I think she needs something to drink. And some food.”

      A light flicked on and Betty was forced to open her eyes. She recognized the faces of her friends surrounding her, crowded around her. The dull cream color of the room, the other hammocks.

      
But not William
. “Where is he?” She could hear the panic in her own voice.
 

      Madeline pushed her back down with a firm hand and soothed stray hairs from her face.
 

      “He’s fine. June swaddled him and took him for a little walk.”

      Alice handed her a glass of water and she took it gratefully.
 

      “And you’ll be needing something to eat, too,” said Madeline, moving away from the bed. “The little blighter will have a big appetite, so you’ll need your strength.”

      Betty nodded and reached beneath the bed clothes to rearrange herself. She was aching, but it was bearable. Especially given the gift she’d just been blessed with.
 

      “He is all right, isn’t he?” She still couldn’t believe that he’d come so early.
 

      “He’s just fine,” whispered Alice, settling herself down beside the hammock with a bowl of soup. “Now eat this and you’ll be ready to feed him again.”

      Betty took the spoon and sat up, happy to comply. She was hungry and she needed to regain some strength.
 

      She still ached for her husband. For Charlie. She would do anything to have him here right now. To have his arms wrapped protectively around her, holding their baby. To know that he was safe and that they could finally be together.
 

      Ever since her parents had died, she’d had no one. It was why she’d taken a risk by getting on the ship pregnant.
 

      Charlie and William were her life now. All that she had. There was no going back and she didn’t want to.
 

      Unlike the other girls, she had no fear. Charlie would be waiting for her, waving his cap at her as the ship pulled in to dock. Running toward her to fold her in his arms. Not to mention their baby.
 

      “Come on Betty, you’re away with the fairies, you are.”

      Betty popped her eyes open and re-focused on Alice.
 

      She could do this. They were almost there.
She was almost with Charlie.
 

P A R T
 
T W O

CHAPTER SEVEN

ALICE wrapped her jacket tighter around her body. She tilted her chin and squared her shoulders.
 

      The others looked scared, worried, but she was fine. She didn’t have anything to be concerned about.
 

      The siren echoed, loud and clear, just like the officials had said it would. She couldn’t help smiling – this was it. She’d made it.
 

      They were finally in America.
 

      She was finally going to be with Ralph again. In his arms. Part of his family.
As his wife.
 

      “Alice! Quick, come and see it.”

      She smiled as June called out and ran by excitedly, with Madeline holding her skirts and running alongside. But Alice didn’t move.
 

      
America was close
. So close she could almost smell it on the air. New York was within view, the captain could see it himself.
 

      She didn’t need to push up against the other women for the view. Alice just closed her eyes and saw Ralph. Watched him in her mind as he smiled, so dapper in his uniform.