Page 115 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
‘When you told me, that night in your tent, that I didn’t need to protect you from what I was going through, you were right.’
‘I couldn’t lose you too, Teddy,’ she whispered.
‘I know,’ he whispered as she fell back down, shoulders heaving again as his arms circled her once more. ‘I know.’
Hours later, she woke to the sensation of someone stroking her hair. Grace slowly lifted her head and licked her dry lips, surprised to find that the firm pillow beneath her head hadn’t been her bed but Teddy.
‘How long have I been asleep?’ she asked.
He chuckled and shrugged. ‘I didn’t have the heart to wake you, but when I started to lose feeling in my arm, I thought it was time.’
She quickly touched her hair and wiped her cheeks, old tears leaving her skin feeling dry.
‘I’m sorry—I don’t know what came over me.’
‘Perhaps the fact you’ve been sitting with me for over a week and you’re exhausted?’ he asked. ‘Because that’s what your sister told me.’
Grace groaned. ‘April saw me like that?’
He smiled. ‘Honey, everyone saw you like that, but no one had the heart to move you.’
‘What else did they say?’ she asked as Teddy’s fingers started to stroke against her arm.
‘That everyone’s moving on to a new hospital, and that I’ll be heading home soon to recover.’
Grace gulped. That was what she’d been afraid of.
‘I don’t want you to go,’ she whispered.
Teddy’s hand lifted, and she sighed when his palm touched her face, pushing her cheek against him as his eyes met hers. ‘I don’t want to leave you either.’
She smiled as she saw the way he was looking at her, truly looking at her, and knew from his gaze that his sight had improved yet again.
‘Teddy, I know you said you thought of me like a little sister; I know you were Poppy’s sweetheart, and that it’s inappropriate, but ...’ She frowned at the look on his face. ‘What?’ she asked. ‘What’s so funny?’
He leaned forward, his palm still against her cheek, his mouth warm as it closed over hers in a long, slow kiss that left every part of her tingling.
‘You’re as far from a little sister to me as remotely possible,’ he muttered.
She opened her mouth and laughed. ‘But you said ... in Hawaii, you said—’
‘That was before I’d had time to grieve the woman I loved, before I saw you like this,’ he said. ‘You’ve changed, Grace. You’re not the girl I used to know.’
She swallowed. ‘I’m not?’
‘No,’ he whispered as he cupped her head and gently pulled her down, his lips finding hers again and tracing back and forth against them. ‘No, you’re not.’
She sat up, hand to her mouth as she glanced over her shoulder and saw other soldiers watching them, some whistling at the kiss they’d just witnessed, and her cheeks burned.
‘What would you say if I told you we needed to pretend we were married? So I can come home and nurse you?’
He raised a brow at her. ‘Married?’
She nodded. ‘I’ll find rings, and we need to pretend like, ah, that I thought you were dead, but that we’ve just been reunited.’
He laughed. ‘Fine, I’ll pretend to be married to you, but you might find it easier to use your recovery as an excuse. April told me you were shot trying to drag me to safety? Is that what happened to your arm?’
Grace shrugged as if it were no big deal, even though the sound of the bullet whirring toward her and driving into her flesh was something she’d never forget for as long as she lived. And she still had her arm heavily bandaged, and it hurt to so much as wiggle her fingers. He was probably right; she’d most likely not be cleared to keep serving anyway.
