Hope at Dawn (27 page)

Livy offered him a radiant smile. “Is that a promise?”

“It’s a proposal.” He lifted her hand and locked his fingers with hers. “Will you permit me to be your beau, Livy Campbell? To visit you and take you dancing? And one day soon to marry you, so I can show you every day how much this German-American loves you?”

She squeezed his hand tightly, her face aglow with love and joy. “Yes, Friedrick. I will.”

July 1918

L
ivy peered into the mirror above her mother’s vanity table. The blue and cream satin wedding dress highlighted the green of her eyes and the light brown tones of her hair, which Mary had expertly curled.

“You look beautiful,” Greta announced from the bed where she, Mary, and Nora had gathered to watch Livy get ready. The open window behind them let in a nice morning breeze that ruffled the edges of Livy’s cream-colored veil.

Her mother straightened the gauzy fabric, her eyes swimming with happy tears. “She does look breathtaking, doesn’t she?”

“Wait until you see Friedrick in his suit.” Mary grinned at Livy through the mirror. “If I were six years older…” she teased.

Livy pivoted on the seat and wagged a finger at her sister. “Then it’s a good thing you aren’t. Because Friedrick is mine.” The words sent a happy thrill swirling through her.

Since her return home a month earlier, at the close of the school year, her siblings had finally welcomed Friedrick into their lives. He had won Allen and the younger boys over once he proved to them he was a worthy addition to their baseball games. Mary had taken longer to warm up to him, but Friedrick had been diligent in showing her the same sweet attention Livy had seen him give his own sister. Before long, Mary had nothing but glowing praise to say about her future brother-in-law.

Livy turned back to the vanity to apply a bit of powder. She met Elsa’s gaze in the mirror and smiled. Ever since the night Livy had come to Friedrick’s rescue, Elsa had been much friendlier to her. Still, the woman had remained on the edge of the group this morning, not quite joining in the happy chatter. As Livy watched, Elsa stepped forward, as if wanting to speak with her alone.

“Nora, why don’t you come help me with the flowers?” Livy’s mother suggested, throwing Livy a knowing look. “Girls, you can join us. It’s almost time to leave for the church.”

Livy smiled her gratitude. When the door closed behind them, she stood and smoothed the front of her wedding gown. “Do you think Friedrick will be pleased?”

Elsa nodded as she withdrew a box from behind her back. “You need something borrowed?”

“Yes.” Livy’s high-heeled shoes qualified as something old, her veil and dress were new, and the sapphire color of the gown fit the need for blue, but she didn’t have something borrowed.

Opening the box, Elsa lifted out a string of bisque-colored pearls. “I wore these when Heinrich and I marry. They were my mother’s. You wear them, if you like?”

“I would be honored.” Livy sensed the gesture went beyond helping fulfill a wedding tradition. The pearls meant she’d met with Elsa’s full approval at last. Livy accepted the necklace and fastened it around her neck. She fingered the smooth pearls. “I wish Heinrich could be here today.”

Elsa gave Livy a watery smile. “I think he is. Before he die, he say he never see Friedrick so happy. It was comfort to him…and to me.”

A knock sounded at the door. “Sugar?” Livy’s father called. “It’s time to head to the church.”

“Ready?” Elsa asked.

Sudden nerves bundled up in her stomach, but Livy nodded. She followed Elsa into the hallway and down the stairs. She moved slowly past the family pictures lining the wall and stopped beside the ones of Tom and Joel in their army uniforms. How handsome and confident they both looked.

She had written Joel about Friedrick right after her jail incident, but she’d known his reply would be weeks in coming. As she’d waited, she couldn’t keep from wondering if her oldest brother would be angry at her for marrying a German-American.

Joel’s letter had finally arrived the day before. To Livy’s great relief, he’d expressed sincere wishes for her happiness and a desire to meet Friedrick one day soon.

Livy smiled at the two faces behind the panes of glass. While she wished her brothers might have been here on this important day, she felt at peace with both their absences.

“Wish me luck, boys,” she whispered.

The drive to the church felt as long as a drive across the entire state. Livy bounced on the seat in her impatience to see Friedrick. At last, they arrived. Her mother and Nora each gave her a kiss on the cheek and told her how lovely she looked before taking their seats inside.

Livy linked her arm with her father’s. The organist began to play as she and Josiah entered the chapel.

Livy’s gaze went straight to Friedrick, standing in front of the pastor. Her breath caught in her throat as she drank in the sight of him, tall and handsome in his dark suit—just as Mary had described. His eyes lit up at seeing her, and a slow grin spread over his face, changing Livy’s nervous flutters to ones of excitement.

Moving past the seated throng of their loved ones and friends, Livy walked to the front of the room and slipped her hand into Friedrick’s. He squeezed her fingers, his look full of admiration and tenderness.

“I love you, Livy,” he said, his voice for her ears alone, as the pastor began the ceremony.

“And I love you,” she murmured back.

In that moment, she knew exactly where she belonged. At Friedrick’s side, forever.

Stacy Henrie has always had an avid appetite for history, fiction, and chocolate. She earned her B.A. in public relations and worked in communications before turning her attentions to raising a family and writing inspirational historical romances. Wife of an entrepreneur husband and a stay-at-home mom to three, Stacy loves the chance to live out history through her fictional characters, while enjoying the modern conveniences of life in the twenty-first century. In addition to author, she is a reader, a road trip enthusiast, and a novice interior decorator. Her first novel,
Lady Outlaw
, was released by Harlequin Love Inspired Historical in 2012.

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France, May 1918

E
velyn Gray breathed in the briny smell of the sea as she fingered the five shells in her gloved palm. One for each year without her father. From beneath her velour hat, she peered up at the gray sky overhead. The cool temperature and the possibility of rain made her grateful for the warmth of her dark blue jacket, shirtwaist and skirt that comprised her Army Nurse Corp outdoor uniform.

“Nurse Gray, come on.” One of the girls down the beach waved for her to join the other three nurses in their walk along the shoreline toward the white cliffs in the distance.

Emitting a sigh, Evelyn turned in their direction, but she wasn’t in any hurry to rejoin their conversation. The other girls on leave with her were full of talk about home and families and sweethearts, while she had only her aging grandparents waiting for her back in Michigan. As for a beau? Her lips turned up into a bitter smile. She’d been too busy, for some time, with nurse’s training to worry about any of that. Besides, if she had gotten married, she wouldn’t have been able to come overseas and prove her grandparents’ financial backing of her career hadn’t been in vain.

She lifted the first shell—a smooth, white one—and tossed it into the sea. “I still miss you, Father,” she said as the seashell slipped beneath the surface of the water.

Five years today, since you left us
. She could easily picture how he’d trudged up the porch steps that afternoon after tending to a patient—he’d never established a doctor’s office in town, preferring instead to make house calls or take visits in their home. He hadn’t looked well, but Evelyn’s medical knowledge at seventeen wasn’t what it was today at twenty-two. She still wasn’t sure if he knew he was going to have a heart attack.

Tossing the second shell into the water, she swallowed hard against the flood of memories. She’d gone upstairs to make sure he was lying down and found him on the floor next to the bed, already gone.

She rid her hand of the third, fourth and fifth shells in quick succession, then brushed the granules of sand from her gloves. Blinking back tears, she straightened her shoulders. No one else needed to know what day it was or how much the loneliness tore at her heart.

“Afternoon, miss.”

Evelyn whirled around to find an American soldier staring at her from a few feet away. He wasn’t overly tall, less than six feet, but his handsome face, broad shoulders and dark eyes were an impressive combination.

“I didn’t mean to disturb you.” He smiled, looking anything but apologetic. “Beautiful view.”

The way he said it she knew he wasn’t talking about the ocean. Evelyn didn’t blush, though. She was used to lingering looks and flirtations from the wounded soldiers at the hospital where she worked.

Time to catch up with the others.
She turned her face in the direction of the cliffs and started after the girls, who’d managed to cover quite a bit of distance in her absence. To her dismay, the soldier fell into step beside her.

“I’m Private First Class Ralph Kelley.” He held out his hand for her to shake. “And you are?”

“Not supposed to talk to you,” Evelyn said in her firmest nurse’s tone. “You know the rules, soldier.” Fraternizing was forbidden between nurses and enlisted soldiers. She tried to maintain a brisk pace across the beach, but the stones and sand underfoot made it difficult.

He chuckled as he lowered his hand to his side. “You on leave? With those other nurses?”

Evelyn responded with a nod—it wasn’t talking after all.

“Do you collect pebbles?”

The question caught her off guard and she threw him a perplexed look.

“I saw you picking some up earlier.”

How long had he been watching her? Heat rose into her cheeks at his intrusion upon her private mourning. “I need to go.” She attempted to outdistance him again, but his feet kept tempo with hers. “The others will be wondering where I am.”

“Have lunch with me.”

The request, spoken in an almost pleading tone, halted Evelyn’s retreat in a way his earlier charisma hadn’t. She circled to face him, ready to reject his offer—gently.

Before she could voice her refusal though, he spoke again. “I can’t say I don’t make it a habit of talking to nurses.” He gave her a sheepish smile as he removed his hat and fingered the brown wool. “But you looked like you could use a friend back there. Like something was weighing heavily on your mind.”

Evelyn managed to keep her mouth from falling open at his perceptive observation. Maybe there was more to him than his lady’s man demeanor. Her earlier feeling of isolation welled up inside her, nearly choking her with its hold. Against her better judgment, she found herself admitting the truth to him. “It’s the anniversary of my father’s death—five years ago today. I’ve been thinking a lot about him lately.”

“Do your friends know?” He nodded in the direction the other girls had gone.

Evelyn shook her head. “I didn’t want to spoil their time away from the hospital.”

“Will you tell me your name?”

She could feel her defenses crumbling beneath the sincerity in his black eyes. “It’s . . . um . . . Evelyn. Evelyn Gray.”

“Evelyn.”

Hearing him speak her name brought butterflies to her stomach and the smile he offered afterward made her pulse run faster. When was the last time she’d felt this way? Probably not since she and Sam had kissed after high school graduation. Sam Harper had been her first beau, until he went away to college, and Evelyn had put all her time and energy into becoming a nurse.

“I discovered a place yesterday that serves excellent fish. If you like that.”

Despite her best efforts to stop it, a smile lifted the corner of her lips. “Hospital food isn’t much better than army fare, I’m afraid.”

Private Kelley laughed; it was a pleasantly deep sound. “I owe it to you then, to at least provide you a decent meal while you’re on leave.” His expression sobered as he added, “Especially on a day as important as this.”

Evelyn glanced over her shoulder at the three nurses far down the beach. She wanted to refuse—she’d never been one to break the rules. But he made her feel valued and important—something she hadn’t felt in a long time. His notice eased her aching heart and soothed her loneliness.

She studied the sand below her feet, her lips pursed in thought. No harm should come from simply sharing a meal in a public place; that wasn’t really fraternizing. At least she’d be spared listening to the other girls prattle on for the next few hours about their big families and parents who were still alive. She would only be trading one conversation for another.

“Let me tell them I’ll meet up with them later,” she said, before she changed her mind.

He grinned and replaced his hat on his head. “I’ll wait right here for you.”

Evelyn walked with new purpose toward the retreating group. She called to the girls from a distance. The three of them turned as one. “I’ll meet up with you before supper, at the place we’re staying.”

They glanced at each other, then one of them shrugged and waved her hand in acknowledgement. Grateful they hadn’t asked questions, Evelyn retraced her steps back to where Private Kelley stood waiting.

“All set?” He extended his hand to her.

Evelyn stared at it a long moment, then taking a deep breath, she placed her fingers in his palm. With a smile, he tucked her hand over his arm and led her away from the beach.