Page 49 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
April gestured at the empty tent, grinning at Eva. ‘I think you should get first pick. Grace would have had us nestled right up beside the toilets just to make her morning walk shorter.’
Grace rolled her eyes, but they all laughed, and April watched as Eva went to the far corner and set her things down. It had been nice seeing her smile today, almost like having a hint of the old Eva back. After what had happened, April had fought hard to find somewhere for Eva to stay in Hawaii, and a lovely family had welcomed her with open arms for almost a month. Whatever it was stopping her from going home, she’d never truly told her, but she had come back to nursing instead of leaving, so that was something.
‘You think the boys will stay on their side?’ Grace asked.
April poked her head out of the tent and stared across the field to where the men were stationed, barely able to see them. ‘Why, you hoping to find a handsome man knocking at the door tonight?’
Grace laughed. ‘More like you hoping to lay eyes onDr. Greyagain.’
April bit the inside of her mouth, not about to smile and give her sister even an inkling that she was right. She’d missed seeing him, and she was desperate to work beside him again and see if they couldn’t form a formidable team in the field.
‘It’d be nice to know where Teddy was sent,’ April said, reaching for Grace’s hand and giving it a quick squeeze.
She knew Grace was still in love with him and that she’d been eagerly waiting for a letter, but she’d never tease her about it again, not now that Poppy was gone, and she doubted Grace would even look at Teddy that way now no matter how she felt. It just wouldn’t be right.
Tears shone in Grace’s eyes, but she watched her quickly blink them away. ‘You know, when we pulled up beside that train, I was scanning every face looking for him. I just want to know where he is, whether he’s still alive.’
‘Me too,’ April said, setting down her things and unwrapping her bedroll. The ground was rock hard, and she put one of her blankets on top of the canvas and sat down to try it out. ‘I think about him a lot, actually.’ In her head, she kept seeing him holding Grace, his arms wrapped tight around her as the sky boomed with noise, carrying her as she cried and kicked, screaming out to Poppy. He’d kept her sister safe that day, and for that she would always be in his debt.
‘I’m dying to wash my undergarments,’ Eva said, her bed looking almost ready, one of her bags propped up to use as a pillow.
‘Did I hear you saywash?’ A familiar dark head poked through the entrance to their tent, and April smiled when she saw it was Cassie. ‘Apparently we use our helmets for any washing, so don’t get too excited about clean clothes.’
Grace and Eva groaned as April waved her in. ‘You looking for somewhere to bunk down still?’
Cassie nodded. ‘You girls want me?’
‘Make yourself comfortable,’ April said. ‘How about we go find water and then take a look at the toilet situation.’
Grace shrugged, but Eva finished placing some of her things and then followed her out into the hot, muggy air.
‘Is it anything like you thought it would be?’ April asked, looking around as nurses milled around everywhere, some still searching for tents and lugging their packs, and others, like them, walking about and taking the chance to explore.
‘I honestly don’t know what I was expecting,’ Eva replied. ‘But it’s hotter and more—I don’t know—raw, I suppose.’
‘Isn’t it strange that so many of our mothers have never left America, and yet here we are, first in Pearl Harbor, then here, and God only knows where they’ll keep sending us?’
So long as they were moving with the American army and not taken prisoners of war, April could handle whatever was thrown their way. She shivered despite the heat at the thought of being captured, and prayed that their boys fought hard enough to stop that from ever happening.
‘I’m so pleased you stayed with us,’ April said, linking her arm through Eva’s as they walked.
Eva’s arm was rigid, like she was uncomfortable being touched, but then she softened, and April tugged her a little closer.
‘It’s better than the alternative,’ Eva said. ‘Thanks for making me stick with it. If it hadn’t been for you, I don’t know what would have happened.’
‘You would have had to go home,’ April said, stating the obvious but wanting Eva to say something, to finally open up to her about why she’d been so scared. Or had she just been grieving and confused?
‘Well, that’s not an option anymore, so it doesn’t matter to me how long this war stretches on for. At least here I’ll have food to eat and a roof above my head.’
April stopped walking and looked at Eva. ‘What do you mean? And I’d hardly call that tent a decent roof.’
Eva looked down before finally meeting April’s gaze. ‘My father’s cut me off,’ she said. ‘He’s threatened it before, but when I left home to become a nurse, he told me I wasn’t welcome back, and he made good on his word. He’s told me not to come crawling back expecting him to support me, and I wouldn’t go near him even if he would let me. Charlie was my everything; we had a life planned together, and it involved never seeing my father ever again.’
April caught herself before her jaw hung open, clutching tight to Eva’s fingers. ‘Your own father just cast you aside like that? But what about now that Charlie’s gone? Surely your mother wouldn’t let him treat you like that!’
Eva shrugged as if it were nothing, but April could see the pain etched in her face, the glint in her eyes that told her how badly her friend needed to cry and let it all out.
She watched as Eva pulled a letter from her breast pocket, unfolding the carefully creased paper and passing it over.
