THE WAR BRIDE CLUB (13 page)

      
But she’d underestimated
.
 

      It was like her every dream, every wish had been answered.
 

      If her family could see her, could be here with her for even one moment, it would make her the happiest girl in the world.
 

CHAPTER NINE

BETTY pressed her head against the cool of the glass window. The car lurched forward, before coming to a crawl in the traffic again. She heard William cry, but her body ached so much that she couldn’t even muster the energy to turn to him. She wanted to ask about Charlie, but didn’t want to admit to the truth of it.
Couldn’t
.

      “I think Master William needs a feed.”

      She lifted her head and the thump of pain hit her between the ears all over again.
 

      
William
. Her baby’s name was like a wave of relief.
William
.
 

      Betty reached for him, taking him from the woman seated beside her. He gurgled as she cradled him.
 

      Ivy passed her a blanket and she draped it over herself for modesty and let her little boy drink. Tears stung at her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. Crying would be admitting that Charlie was gone. Crying would mean that it was real.
And she wasn’t ready for real.

      “Do you need something to eat? I brought a sandwich for you just in case.”

      She didn’t look at Ivy, just shook her head. Besides, the choke of emotion in her throat wouldn’t have let her answer back.
 

      “Oh love, I’m so sorry. I just, well, I think you’ll feel better once you’ve spoken to Luke.”

      Betty heard the kindness there, knew this woman was trying her best to comfort her, but she didn’t want to hear it. How could Charlie’s brother make things better?
 

      “He wants you here, Betty. Luke will care for you. He won’t let you or young William go without.”

      Betty turned her eyes back out to the landscape. To the whizzing farmland outside the window. She had hoped to enjoy the surroundings. To absorb the countryside of the place that was to be her home.
 

      She didn’t want Luke to look after her. She just wanted Charlie.
 

* * *

His hands encircled her waist. Betty laughed, she couldn’t help it. Being around Charlie was like having a comedian on hand, telling her jokes, making her laugh. She’d never felt so alive before.

      “Can’t we just pretend you’ve injured yourself?”

      Now it was Charlie who was laughing. “Oh, sergeant, I’ve got a broken heart. I can’t fly! Let me stay.”

      She shook her head at his drawl. They might be making fun, but the anxiety was real. She’d already waited for him while he did his last stint away, and he hadn’t exactly hidden the fact that less than half of his crew had made it back.
 

      They didn’t call them widow-makers for nothing.
 

      “But Charlie…”

      “Baby, let’s forget about the war. Come on, let’s get something to eat.”

      It wasn’t like he had a choice. She knew that. And he wanted to go. He didn’t even seem the least bit scared.
But she was, more than she’d ever like to admit.

      “They reckon it’ll be over soon enough, you know that, right?”

      Charlie hugged her tight again.
 

      “Who’s they?” she asked.
 

      “Come on baby, let’s catch up with the others.”

      She still didn’t know who
they
were, but she was going to take his word on it. Once this war was over, they had their whole lives ahead of them, so long as he made it back in one piece.
 

      She slipped away from him slightly and caught his hand. Betty surveyed the flop of his hair as it shook with each stride he took, the smile that never seemed to leave his face. She wanted to remember the way he looked for the rest of her life. Wanted to hold his face in her mind and think that he was right there beside her.
Always
.
 

      “What’re your family like, Charlie? You know all about mine but I know nothing about yours.”

      He stopped and pulled her in close, pressing a kiss to her lips.
 

      “Charlie!”

      “What?” He bent for another. She tried to pull away, but he didn’t let her go. “We’re married, who’s gonna care about us necking?”

      Betty swiped him across the shoulder with her handbag.
 

      “So?” she asked, wanting to hear about the family he’d left behind in America.

      He started walking again and swung her hand in the air, back and forth.

      “I’ve got an uptight brother who can be a pain in the neck, a mother who would be able to run this war if she set her mind to it, and a father who spends most of his day reading the paper and snoozing in his chair.”

      She pictured them all, hoping they’d be as kind as Charlie.
 

      “Oooh.” Suddenly heat flooded her body, making her go clammy all over.
 

      “You all right?”

      Charlie’s steady hand supported her.
 

      “I think I’m going to be sick.” She leaned against him and took a few deep breaths.
 

      Charlie guided her to rest against a little stonewall off the road. She sat down. Then up again.
 

      She was sick on the grass.
 

      “I’m sorry, oh Charlie, I’m sorry. I…”

      He held her hair off her face and rubbed her back. “You’ll be fine.” 
      Betty wiped at her mouth delicately with a handkerchief then tucked it back into her bag. Alarm bells rang in her head. It was the second morning in a row she’d been physically sick.
 

      She looked up at Charlie. His eyes said it all. She wasn’t stupid. She knew it wasn’t everyday you married a man who would hold your hair back while you vomited. Who would look at you with such concern.
 

      “Charlie?”

      He sat down and pulled her on to his lap.
 

      “Charlie, I…”

      “What is it, are you ill? I can take you home if you want to lie down.”

      She smiled and touched her open palm to his cheek.
 

      “I’m not sick, Charlie, I think I’m pregnant.”

      He stared at her. Then stood up, forcing her to her feet too. Then he turned, walked a few steps, then
 
turned back to her, grabbing her by the shoulders.
 

      “Are you sure?”

      “I think so, I was sick…” He interrupted her before she could tell him about the morning before.
 

      “Seriously? We’re actually having a baby?”

      She nodded. She’d missed her monthly already.
 

      “Woo-hoo!” Charlie took hold of her and flung her in the air, twirling around and around.
 

      “We’re having a baby!” He shouted.
 

      “Charlie, I’m not feeling that great.”

      He dropped her to the ground before wrapping her in the tightest hug she’d ever experienced.
 

      “We’re having a baby,” he whispered.
 

      
Yes
, she said silently.
So make sure you make it home safely. Because I can’t do this alone
.
 

* * *

The dream made her wake with a smile on her face, but the cold sting of reality hit her the moment she opened her eyes.
 

      William was still asleep in her arms, tucked into her body like he was part of her.
 

      “We’re almost there.”

      She blinked to help her eyes focus and looked up. Betty still felt numb. Her body was moving, but her brain was sluggish. She didn’t trust her voice to cooperate. Thank goodness for the comfortable leather seats in the car.

      “Luke will be at the house soon after we get there. He planned to finish work early.”

      Betty nodded. “And their parents?”

      Ivy smiled. “The boys never did see a lot of their family. Kept to themselves, mostly. Mrs Olliver can be, well, let’s just say I worked for the family for years and I was mighty pleased when Luke asked me to run his home instead.”

      Betty nodded again. Just saying those few words had left her throat dry and aching.
 

      “Shall I take the baby for you? I’m happy to hold him again.”

      Betty changed her position and rearranged William in the blanket. “I’ll be fine.”

      She was grateful for Ivy helping her, but she wasn’t going to give up William. He was all she had now, all she had to live for, and she wasn’t letting him out of her arms again.
 

She wondered what this Ivy though of her? What Charlie’s family would think? They’d expected a heavily pregnant British widow, not a girl with a baby in tow, not even aware that her husband had passed.
 

      William gurgled, but she didn’t feed him. She hadn’t even had anything to eat on the journey, her stomach flipping into a web of knots instead. She doubted there was anything there to give him.
 

      But she vowed to make herself drink and eat when they got to the house. She needed to feed him, needed to care for him.
Her life was William
. Without him, she had nobody.
 

      “Not far to go now.” Ivy patted her kindly on the leg.
 

      Betty looked up. She couldn’t help it. She had waited for this moment for so long, only she’d expected to be seated next to Charlie, gabbing away about her trip across the sea, snuggling into him, stealing kisses. Not seated beside the housekeeper, hoping her brother-in-law wouldn’t turn her out or insist she go back to London.
And certainly not a widow.
 

      The car turned. She listened as gravel crunched beneath the thick tires. The driveway was wide, flanked by trees that were yet to have their leaves returned to them for summer.
 

      A house loomed in the distance. In London, they would call it a mansion. She couldn’t remember what the Woman’s Guide would have called it. But it was impressive. A little too big, too cold looking for her liking, but beautiful.
 

      Another car was already outside, taking first place at the foot of the entrance.
 

      “Luke’s home already.”

      Betty took a deep breath. William let out a muffled cry.
 

      “Shoosh now, shoosh William.” She gave him a jiggle. “It’s time to meet your uncle.”

      He opened his eyes to watch her. Betty’s heart wanted to shatter into a million shards, but she stuck her chin up and sniffed back the tears.
 

      William was about to meet his uncle. If he couldn’t have his father, at least he had someone who might care about his well being, other than her.
Family
.
 

Luke wasn’t waiting at the door for them. Betty had hoped he would look like Charlie. That he would have the same happy enthusiasm as Charlie. She hadn’t seen him yet but she knew instinctively that he wasn’t like his younger brother. Charlie had been like an over-excited puppy.

      He would have been waiting at the front door.
 

      She told herself off.
Never judge a book by its cover
. Well, she wasn’t so much judging as summarizing. The big triple brick house, the servants in his employ, the fancy car. Betty gulped. She hadn’t hoped for a wealthy husband or cared about status – all she’d cared about was Charlie. Yet here she was in the fanciest house she’d ever seen..
 

      “Why don’t I show you to your quarters,” said Ivy, nudging her along.
 

      Betty looked back to see the driver taking her case from the trunk.
 

      “Your things will be brought in. Now let’s get you upstairs, then you can come down to meet Luke once you’re freshened up.”

      She could see the anxious look on Ivy’s face. Was she worried how Luke would react to the baby? Had he been hoping she had stayed behind in London? Her body shuddered. Tears burned against the back of her eyes again.
 

      Betty followed Ivy and kept her head down, her focus on holding William. But she couldn’t help but notice the expensive antiques and lavish rugs, the polished wood of the floor as she passed, the elegant swirl of the staircase as they ascended it.