THE WAR BRIDE CLUB (38 page)

      Madeline pulled back, her eyes red, skin blotchy.
 

      “I’m going to miss you so much, Betty. You’re a true friend.”

      Betty pulled her back in for another hug.
 

      “I was a frightened, young pregnant woman once, and I met three friends who saw me through the hard times and helped to deliver my baby.” She wiped away her own tears with one hand, but hers weren’t tears of sadness, they were just a reflection, a memory she would never forget. “I know what a true friend is and you’ve already been one to me.”

      “Does that make it okay that I’m leaving you then?” asked Madeline.
 

      “We’ve all got to leave one another to lead our own lives, but a friend understands that.”

      Madeline’s brave little smile told her she understood.
 

      “Now you get a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow you’re off and you need all the strength you have to travel with a little one.”

      “Thank you, Betty. Thank you so much.”

      “Goodnight, Madeline. Sweet dreams.”

      Betty pulled the door shut and stood in the hallway, back to the wall, eyes shut. Madeline was going to be okay, and so was she.
 

      If Luke wanted to be part of her future, wanted her as a man wanted a woman, then she’d say yes. She would tell him she felt the same. Because she did deserve happiness. She still loved Charlie, but there was room enough in her heart for Luke too.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

SHE was prepared for the worst, but it wasn’t helping her nerves any.
 

      June sat, cross-legged, waiting for the doctor to return to the room. She’d told Eddie that he had no reason to come, that it was women’s business, but maybe she shouldn’t have been so proud. Maybe she should have asked Betty to come with her. Just for support. She would have been the person to ask.
 

      “Mrs. West?”

      She looked up. Her stomach was in knots, if that were even possible.
 

      “Yes, that’s me.”

      The doctor smiled at her, but it did little to ease her nerves. He was middle-aged, wore glasses, and he hardly had a speck of hair on his head.
Not exactly the type of person she wanted inspecting her private parts, if that’s what he had to do.
 

      She shuddered. Maybe she shouldn’t have come. She should have kept it to herself and just kept on trying. Hadn’t Eddie told her she was being too impatient?

      “What can I help you with today?” he asked.
 

      June squirmed in her seat.
 

      “This is a rather, ah, delicate matter.” She looked up and saw that his expression hadn’t changed. “It’s, well, my husband and I would like a family, and we have not had any success.”

      June could feel the burn in her cheeks. They must be flaming red.
 

      “We can run a blood test and check your general health, Mrs. West, but sometimes these things just take time.”

      She nodded.
 

      “I understand. It’s just, I wasn’t sure if…”

      The doctor smiled and shuffled his chair closer.
 

      “You seem like a fit, healthy young woman, and I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. How long have you been hoping for a baby?”

      “I’ve been here ten months now. We were married in England, during the war.”

      He nodded. “Give it time, my dear. If you are still without a child in another year or so, then we’ll look into what can be done.”

      
Another year
. A whole year or more? She wanted a family now. Wanted children filling the bedrooms and playing in the home, spilling out into the fields and waiting eagerly in the kitchen for baking to come out of the oven.
 

      She wanted a baby now!

      “Thank you for your time, doctor. I’ll take your advice and come back if we’re still having trouble.”

      “The blood tests, Mrs. West? We can at least conduct those now.”

      “No.” She shook her head and gathered up her things. “I feel very healthy. I probably shouldn’t have come.”

      He looked confused, but saw her to the door anyway.
 

      June knew what she had to do.
 

      If she wanted a family, she needed to act now. Being a mother was the most important thing to her in all the world, and she wasn’t going to sit around and wait for it to happen. Not when, deep down, she had a feeling that something was wrong. That she wasn’t going to be pregnant any time soon.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

IT had become a routine. Betty came downstairs while Luke was partway through his breakfast. He passed her a section of the paper, gave her the same small flicker of a smile as he looked at her. Ivy brought her two slices of toast and a cup of coffee. She sat, pretended to read the paper, and instead secretly studied Luke.
 

      That first time she met him, he’d come across as cold.
His gaze had seemed to judge her, question her
. Now, there was something there. Something neither of them had even come close to admitting.
 

      Well, she’d admitted it to herself, to June too, but since her friend had left nothing had happened between them. Nothing at all.
 

      They always sat in silence, but it was a comfortable lack of noise that didn’t bother her. If William was awake, she usually had him in the playpen in the morning room. Luke would look over at his nephew, who always smiled and flapped his arms up at him, and he’d say goodbye. Sometimes he’d scoop him up or ruffle his hair, or comment on how close he was to walking, but that was it.
 

      Today when he rose, he stopped to drop a kiss to William’s forehead as he sat playing with blocks. It made Betty happy, seeing William loved like that.
Especially by his father’s brother
. There was a connection between them that she hoped would only grow stronger.
 

      “Why don’t you meet me for lunch today, Betty?”

      She recovered before her cup fell to the table.
 

      “Oh, of course. That would be lovely.”

      He slung his jacket over one shoulder. His eyes scanned her, seemed to smile at her, before he turned away.
 

      “Meet me at twelve?”

      Betty nodded. Her tongue felt swollen, like a bee had stung it over and over.
 

      He wanted to take her for lunch? Was there something he wanted to tell her? There was something about the way he’d looked at, at how relaxed he’d been. Like something had changed or was about to change.
 

      He wasn’t getting married, was he? Did he have a secret sweetheart that he’d kept quiet? Was that the reason he’d never made his feelings known for her? Maybe he’d had a promotion? She chastised herself.
If he was getting a promotion the entire country would know about it.
He was already a State Senator.
 

      She heard a shuffle and turned to find Ivy leaning against the open door to the kitchen.
 

      “Anyone would think that boy was sweet on you.”

      “Ivy!”

      The other woman just shrugged. “All I know is that before you arrived, he’d eat his breakfast in a flash and be out the door.” She paused and threw Betty a knowing look. “Now he takes his time, waits ‘till you’re downstairs, then takes even longer finishing his coffee than he’d usually take on finishing an entire meal.”

      Betty went to pick William up. He was heavy now but she still loved lifting him. “Hello, my darling. Don’t you listen to that silly Aunt Ivy.”

      William smiled and reached out to pull her hair. “Mama. Mama.”

      “Would it be so bad?” Ivy asked.
 

      She held William tight, inhaled the sweet smell of his hair before putting him back down and looking over her shoulder at Ivy.
 

      “I’m not ready for that, Ivy. I still love Charlie.” She said it, but she was lying to herself. She did still love Charlie, but she
was
ready. Ready for something to happen with Luke.
 

      “Charlie’s gone, love, and Luke’s here. What you two can’t see I can, and you’re perfect for each other.”

      Betty went to interrupt her but was stopped by a raised hand.
 

      “I lost my husband thirty years ago. My daughter was older than your William at the time, but I know what it’s like to be alone. To mourn.”

      Betty turned around to face her. Why had Ivy never told her this before?

      “How long were you married?”

      “Six years. But let me tell you, there were men I could have fancied at the time, men who would have been proud to have me, but I let my grief stop me from being happy.”

      Betty gulped. She didn’t want to hear this, and yet she did. She needed to.
 

      “By the time I realized I’d rather not be alone, I was too old. Past my prime.”

      They stood there, watching one another.
 

      “All I’m saying is that if Luke has taken a fancy to you, and you like him back, don’t let memories of Charlie stop you from being happy. Don’t let yourself care a hoot what others might say, because you’re both good people. You would make a lovely family.”

      Betty walked across the room and put her arms around Ivy.
 
She hugged her back, her deep bosom pressed against her, just like she remembered her mother doing.
Comforting her
. All those years ago before her parents had passed away, hugs like this had meant the world to her.
 

      She only pulled away because William started calling her.      

      “Mama! Mama!”
 

      “Come on, little one, time for your nap.”

      William was reaching his arms up, ready for a cuddle.
 

      “Just enjoy yourself, Betty. That’s all you need to do. And if something happens, let it. You are allowed to want happiness, you know?”

      She nodded but didn’t look back. She didn’t want Ivy to see the confusion in her eyes.
 

      She did love Luke. She’d been ready to admit it when something had almost happened between them, that night in his office, but now she was scared.
 

      Could she love both of them? Could she still love Charlie and give Luke her heart too?

      Her eyes fell on her son, looking back up at her so innocently.
 

      William deserved to have a father, and Luke adored him.
 

      She wasn’t sure she could love anyone like she’d loved Charlie, much less his own brother. Or maybe that’s what scared her…
that she’d already fallen into that same kind of love with Luke.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

MADELINE sat on the deck with Charlotte in her arms and let the breeze brush past her bare skin. It was cool, but the fresh air was divine.
 

      “We’re almost there, darling. We’re almost home.”

      Charlotte gazed up at her. She hardly ever made a noise, besides the odd gurgle or half-hearted cry. An angel of a child, even at sea.
 

      Madeline came up here every day, sitting on the deck so long as it wasn’t raining, but it wasn’t the same as last time. On her way here she’d always had someone to talk to, a friend to lean on.

      There were plenty of people aboard this ship, but she wasn’t interested in talking or making friends. She didn’t want to explain why she was travelling home, or be truthful about what she had thought of America, or discuss why she was without a husband accompanying her. Madeline was content to hold her baby and sing her lullabies, close her eyes and dream of her family, and think about what Betty had done for her. How she’d helped her.
 

      But it was the picture of her family home with its tiny lounge and roaring fire, the mantle piece covered in her mother’s little figurines and the hustle and bustle of her nieces, that really made her smile.

      “We are really going home, Charlotte. To your grandma and your aunties and a home where you will be loved and prodded and squeezed every day by a family who will love you.”

      Charlotte just kept gazing back up at her. Madeline thought her heart might actually break from watching her.
 

      Her marriage had been a complete failure. But she was a great mother.
 

      And she finally knew what true love was.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT