Small Town Girl (38 page)

An officer directed them to a desk inside a large building where a young man wearing thick glasses was shuffling through a stack of papers. Without putting down his papers, he asked, “Visitors? Yes, miss. This is the right desk. What’s the name and do you know the unit?”

“Jay Tanner.” Kate moistened her lips. “Paratroopers. 505th Unit.”

The man looked directly up at Kate and then shifted his eyes to Kate’s father as he put down the papers and stood up. “Sir, did your soldier know you were coming to visit him?”

“No, we were hoping to surprise him,” Kate’s father said. “But we got a letter from here not long ago.” The two men locked eyes.

“Letters can be in transit for a while, sir, as I’m sure you know.” The man slipped his eyes over to Kate, then back to her father. “I regret to inform you that the paratrooper unit completed their training here and received orders last week.” He glanced over at a clock on the wall. “By now they should be on a troopship headed overseas. Exact destination classified.”

Kate stared toward the man, but she wasn’t seeing him or
his desk anymore. She was back in her nightmare of the weeks past, standing on the dock watching Jay’s ship disappear.

The soldier’s voice sounded far away and a little panicked. “Your daughter’s not going to faint, is she, sir?”

Kate wanted to tell the man she wasn’t the kind of girl who got light-headed over things no matter how bad they were. She could handle whatever had to be handled, but at the same time, she had the awful feeling that if she opened her mouth, nothing would come out but a sob.

“No, no.” Her father slipped his arm around her waist. “She’ll be fine if we can find a place to rest a minute while we decide what to do next. We’ve been on the road all day and we’re both tired. And naturally disappointed to hear your news.”

“I am sorry.” His voice lowered with sympathy. “Tell you what, sir. The chaplain’s office is right down the hall and I think he’s in right now. Why don’t you go talk to him? He knew the men in the 505th.” The man came around his desk to lead the way down a hall to another office.

Kate concentrated on the man’s shoes clicking off the steps on the tiled floor as she pulled in a couple of deep breaths and pushed away the image from her nightmare. A nightmare that had come too true. Jay was gone with absolutely nothing she could do about it. She’d simply have to wait for him to write Lorena again. When he did, she’d write him back and pray that the letter would find him wherever he was sent in the war zone. She would picture him reading the letter and smiling. She’d know he would write back to her. She’d believe he’d forgive her and would someday come back to Rosey Corner. If that happened, she’d be there waiting. However long the war lasted.

T
he young soldier introduced them to Chaplain Wilson, briefly explained about them coming to see one of the men in the 505th, and then hurried back to his desk, obviously glad to be shed of them.

The chaplain looked to be about her father’s age, with kindness imbedded in the wrinkles on his face. He shook her father’s hand and touched Kate’s arm with sympathy. “So, how far have the two of you come?”

“From Kentucky,” Kate’s father answered. “I guess we should have called to see if the unit was still here, but we didn’t think ahead.”

“As it turned out for you, that would have been wise, but it’s too late to worry about that now.” He smiled at them. “Come sit down and maybe I can tell you something about the man you came to see. Those boys who jump out of airplanes are a different breed, but it’s soldiers like them who are going to win this war for us.”

Kate perched on the wooden chair and waited for whatever he was going to tell them. It wouldn’t change anything, but she’d have to listen. Then they’d have to climb back in Jay’s car and make the sad drive back to Rosey Corner. “The orders came in rather quickly. Maybe your young man didn’t have time to send you the news that he was shipping
out. Or you could have been already on the road.” The chaplain settled his eyes on Kate.

Kate found her voice. “He didn’t know we were coming.”

“Oh,” the chaplain said. “I see.” And he did sound as if he understood way more than Kate said. “And who was it you came to see? Several men in the unit were from Kentucky.”

“Jay Tanner,” Kate said. “Did you know him?”

Looking at her as though he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right, the chaplain leaned toward Kate. He stared straight into her face. “Let me ask you something, Miss Merritt. Have you been praying for this young man?”

When he let out a laugh before she could say a word, Kate edged back in her chair. She peeked over at her father, who looked as surprised by the man’s laughter as she was.

“Don’t worry.” The chaplain’s smile reached clear across his face. “I haven’t lost my mind, but the two of you may find it hard to believe what I have to tell you. Because it is certainly true that our Lord can work in mysterious ways his wonders to perform.” He stood up. “Come on. Let’s head over to the infirmary while I explain.”

The chaplain was right. She could hardly believe her ears as he told them about Jay’s bad landing and broken ankle that had kept him from leaving with his unit. By the time they reached the infirmary, she was almost floating on air. Jay’s bed was empty, but a nurse said they’d probably find him under some shade trees outside.

When they came around the corner of the building, they spotted Jay on a bench in the shade with his back toward them, his eyes on the pages of a paperback book.

Her father touched her arm to stop her. After a quick glance at the chaplain, he said, “Why don’t Chaplain Wilson and I wait here? Give you a little privacy.”

“Great idea, Mr. Merritt.” The chaplain smiled at Kate. “I like your young man.”

“Everybody likes Jay.” Kate’s voice was little more than a whisper. It was like she was afraid to speak loud enough for Jay to notice.

Her father tightened his hand on her arm briefly. Then he and Chaplain Wilson turned and went back around the building.

She wanted to run to Jay, but instead her steps were hesitant as she crossed the space between them. Her heart was beating a mile a minute. What if he slammed the door in her face this time?

He was so deep in the story he was reading, he didn’t notice her walking up behind him. She had to try twice before she could find her voice. “Mr. Tanner,” she said, moving around in front of him.

He looked up from his book and stared at her as though he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Kate?”

Her lips trembled as she smiled and said, “How about we elope?” It wasn’t what she’d practiced saying on the drive down, but it seemed right when she looked into his eyes.

“Elope?” Jay echoed her last word as he let his book fall to the ground. Kate couldn’t really be there right in front of him, close enough to touch. He had to have gone to sleep while reading and now he was dreaming. But never, even in his dreams, had she appeared before him talking about eloping.

She didn’t say anything then, but she was really there. So beautiful that it took his breath. He managed to push out some words. “That’s my line, isn’t it?”

“I know. I borrowed it.” She clasped her hands in front of her as her smile wavered a little. “Do you wish I hadn’t?”

Jay grabbed one of his crutches to clamber to his feet. If she was really there and not a hallucination brought on by that pain pill they’d given him earlier, he didn’t intend to mess up
his chance for love again. “Just worried a little that I won’t be able to climb the ladder up to your window.”

“I’m right here. No ladder needed.” She moistened her lips and reached toward him but let her hand hang in the air without touching him.

He wanted to grab her hand. He wanted to grab her and hold on forever, but something more than the cast on his leg and the awkward crutch seemed to be holding them apart. He searched for the right words to make the space between them disappear.

Before he found them, she said, “And no door between.”

In his mind, he saw her closing the door on him when he had opened up his heart to her. Not trusting him. Could he trust her now not to do it again? “I wasn’t the one who shut the door.” His voice sounded harsh even to his own ears, but he couldn’t take his words back.

Every trace of smile disappeared from her face as she dropped her hand back to her side. “No, you weren’t. I was. But I want to push it back open. So I can say I’m sorry.”

“I wasn’t drunk, Kate. Scared, but not drunk.” He looked straight into her eyes. “I’m scared now.”

“So am I.” Her words were barely a whisper of breath. “Scared, I mean.”

That surprised him. “I didn’t think Kate Merritt was ever afraid of anything.”

“Oh, but she is. She’s scared senseless right now that you might not forgive her.” She moistened her lips. “Not her, me. I’m afraid you won’t forgive me. That I might have driven all this way and now you might want to shut the door on me.” Her hand came up in the air between them once more.

This time he leaned on his crutch and captured her hand. Pure joy shot through him at her touch. He pulled her gently toward him and she didn’t resist. “Listen.”

A smile appeared in her eyes and spread across her face. “For what?”

“The Fern lady’s music.”

“It’s not Fern’s music. It’s ours and I’ve never stopped hearing it.” She stepped into his free arm.

He held her close and hated the crutch that kept him from wrapping both arms around her. Then again, without the cast on his foot, he’d be on a ship out on the ocean. Maybe that rock he’d landed on hadn’t been so bad after all. It was giving him a second chance at love. A second chance at home.

He balanced on his good leg and the crutch and pulled her closer. Her head rested in the hollow of his shoulder, and she fit against him perfectly, the very way he’d remembered and imagined these last few months—like a piece of himself he hadn’t realized was missing until he met her. Without moving their feet, they swayed back and forth.

After a moment, he whispered into her hair, “Can I have this dance forever, Kate Merritt?”

“Forever and a day.” She raised her head to look at him. “I love you, Jay Tanner, with all my heart.”

“So how about we elope?”

“I like that idea.” Her eyes were bright with the most beautiful smile he’d ever seen. “But can a soldier elope? I mean, without getting in trouble.”

“I’ve heard Georgia’s a great place for eloping.” He grinned down at her. “I know this chaplain at Fort Benning, Georgia.”

“I don’t think he’ll be too hard to find,” Kate said. “He’s waiting around the corner with my father.”

“Your father?” Jay frowned down at her and then laughed. “That might make this eloping idea a little harder.”

“You mean girls don’t take their fathers along when they elope?” Now she was laughing too.

“Not usually. I like your dad, but three on a honeymoon is a little crowded.”

“Don’t worry. Daddy says he’s been wanting to ride a train again.” The smile slipped off her face. “But can you even take a honeymoon?”

“I’m not much use to the Army right now. They said I could have some leave time while my leg heals.” Jay stared down at her and forced out the next words. “But I will have to report back. I’ll have to go to war.”

She looked worried, but then her lips straightened out in a resolute line. “But not today.”

“Or tomorrow,” he said.

“Will you still be jumping out of airplanes?”

“Maybe. I hope so.”

“What’s it like?” She got a wondering look on her face. “To simply thrust yourself out into the sky to fall through the air.”

“It grabs your breath and squeezes your heart tight inside your chest.” He stared down into her beautiful eyes. “Actually, it feels a lot like loving you. Scary, but at the same time, a jump I’d do anything to take. No matter the landing.”

He kissed her then. A kiss that might never have happened except for a rock. If he could find that field where he’d made that last jump, he’d dig up that rock and keep it forever. But then what did he need with any kind of lucky piece? He had Kate. And the Lord.

When he lifted his lips from hers, she leaned close to him and murmured, “Is Georgia a good place for a honeymoon?”

“No, I don’t think so.” He kissed the top of her head. His leg was aching, but he paid it little notice. “I know this little town. A place called Rosey Corner. You think you’d like to honeymoon there?”

“I think some of the people there will be so happy to see you they’ll have a parade right through the middle of town.”

“As long as it’s a moonlight parade.”

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“You can’t beat moonlight music.” He laughed and dropped his crutch to wrap both arms around her. It wasn’t a good idea as he toppled back down on the bench with Kate falling on top of him. Another rocky landing that turned out fine.