Page 11 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
April had found a nice spot up ahead under a cluster of palm trees, and they all sat, leaning against the trunks, their legs stretched out in the sunshine. She stared out at the ocean, loving the twinkling glare it created, watching the waves as they gently lapped in and out.
‘What’s it like being at sea?’ Grace asked. ‘Is it nice to be back on land today? I think I’d be sick with all that bobbing around all the time!’
‘It’s not like that,’ she said with a laugh. ‘Honestly, the ship’s so big and we’re anchored so close in, so it doesn’t make you seasick. But I do find it weird not being able to walk outside. Wandering the decks isn’t quite the same as feeling land beneath your feet.’
‘Are you in cabins?’ April asked.
‘It’s a huge ship—honestly, you could get lost in it trying to find your way around,’ she told them. ‘Our quarters are nice enough—we’re in bunks, with about eight of us to a room—and we all get along just fine.’
‘Everyone seems so happy to be part of the excitement, don’t you think?’ Poppy said. ‘I’ve never had so much freedom. I mean, Teddy and I were always with a group or escorted by someone, and now we’re here and we can sneak off whenever we’re not working!’
‘We don’t need to hear about what you and Teddy get up to,’ April said. ‘Perhaps you twodoneed a chaperone!’
Eva noticed the way Grace turned away from the conversation, her arms wrapped around herself as she gazed at the ocean. She shuffled closer, wondering if everything was okay with her.
‘Are you missing home? Plenty of the girls get upset at night whenever we’re talking about our families,’ she said gently.
‘Oh, no, it’s not that,’ Grace said, her smile warm when she glanced sideways. ‘I’m fine, just admiring the water. Want to go for a splash?’
Eva stood and held a hand out, tugging Grace up with her. She wasn’t going to ask her more—she could sense that her new friend had been deep in thought, but it was up to her if she wanted to share or not. She had her own secrets, her own triggers that pulled her down and made her wish things could be different, but that wasn’t something she had any interest in talking to anyone about. Except maybe to Charlie.
‘So how long have you been with your man?’ Grace asked as they walked down to the water’s edge, leaving April and Poppy chatting beneath the tree.
‘I’m twenty-two now, and we’ve been best friends since we were about fourteen, I think,’ she confessed. ‘We were going to get married before he was posted here, but we decided to wait.’
‘I can’t believe you’ve been together so long,’ Grace said, walking deeper, her skirt held up high to stop it from getting wet.
‘We were friends for a long time; he was so kind to me, and we used to talk for hours. I think I fell in love with him at first sight, but it took him a year to kiss me!’ Eva clamped her hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry—that was more than you wanted to know.’
Grace laughed. ‘No, it’s nice. I love hearing stories like that. He must be a nice man.’
‘He is. And I like that he’s so gentle with me; he’s so ...’ She paused, wondering how to explain what she was thinking.So different from my father;that was what she wanted to say. ‘So caring, I suppose. I know he’d protect me from anything, if that makes sense.’
‘It does.’ Grace hurried back as a shallow wave rushed in, holding her skirt higher. ‘If you meet another one like him, can you introduce me? I need someone like that, someone who can look after me and just be kind, I suppose.’
Eva smiled, studying Grace as she held up her hand, staring out at the ocean again. She seemed to be deep in thought, quieter than she’d been the first time they’d met.
‘It must have been so hard for you, losing your mom,’ she said.
Grace’s eyes were filled with unshed tears when she turned, and Eva reached for her hand, squeezing it tight. She could see clearly now that Grace wasn’t just juvenile; she actually wasn’t as confident as she tried to portray herself to be around her adventurous friend and grown-up sister.
‘I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have brought that up.’
‘No, it’s fine. I’ve just been thinking about her a lot lately.’ Grace sighed and brushed at her cheeks as Poppy and April came running up behind them. ‘I suppose I’ve been wondering whether she’d have let us come here, whether we’d be doing any of this if she’d still been alive.’
Grace’s voice had dropped lower as the others approached, and Eva nodded, not saying anything more.
‘What are you two gossiping about?’ Poppy asked.
‘Nothing much,’ Eva said. ‘I was just telling Grace about a nasty boil I had to lance the other day. I’m lucky I have a strong stomach!’
‘Ewww, that sounds revolting. It wasn’t on his bottom, was it?’ Poppy asked.
Grace gave her a wink, and Eva took it as a thank-you for keeping their conversation quiet. But when she glanced at April, she saw that Grace’s older sister was watching, no doubt aware they’d closed a conversation as soon as she’d come near.
A shimmer of water flicked across Eva’s face, and she turned to find Poppy bent over, scooping up water and splashing it at them.
‘Poppy!’ April scolded.
