Page 6 of The Girls of Pearl Harbor
‘Grace! We’ve been looking everywhere for you!’
She turned, looked over her shoulder, and saw her sister standing there with Poppy trailing behind her.
‘I was just enjoying the fresh air,’ she said, standing and brushing the sand from her skirt. ‘April, this is Eva. Eva, this is my big sister, April.’
April came forward and shook hands, her smile wide and her warmth second to none, as always. Sometimes Grace felt it was like introducing people to her mother; April had an elegance and way of putting people at ease that made her seem so much older sometimes.
‘You’re stationed at Tripler with us?’ April asked.
‘No, I’m with the navy, on the USSSolace,’ Eva said. ‘It’s nice to have my feet on solid ground for the night.’
‘Want to join us inside? I met a charming officer who promises me his friends are desperate to meet us. I’m sure they won’t mind one more lady to bat their eyes at.’
Eva gave Grace a look, almost as if she was silently asking if it was okay to join them, and Grace smiled and nodded quickly.
‘Who’s this gorgeous girl?’ Poppy asked when she came closer, grabbing Grace’s hand and then walking backward to look at Eva.
‘This is Eva; she’s a navy nurse,’ Grace said. ‘Eva, meet Poppy.’
‘Well, the more the merrier, I say!’ Poppy said with a wink. ‘Come on, girls—let’s dance!’
‘You’re certain I’m not intruding?’ Eva asked.
Poppy tucked her arm into Eva’s as Grace watched. ‘Of course not. Just promise you’ll show us around this gorgeous island the second you have a day off.’
‘Done.’
They walked back in together, four of them in a row, and the wolf whistles didn’t take long to start.
‘I’m off to get more drinks! See you girls soon,’ Poppy called out.
Eva took a young man’s hand and twirled off onto the dance floor within seconds, and Grace felt a nudge at her elbow and turned.
‘Oh, hi, Teddy,’ she said.
‘You look like you need someone to dance with,’ he replied, his grin making her cheeks flush.
April grabbed her other arm then, smiling as she stepped away toward the dance floor.
‘Don’t go disappearing on me again, Grace. I want to be able to see you at all times, okay?’
Grace nodded, resisting the urge to make a face at her sister for treating her like a child yet again.
Teddy shuffled closer beside her, and she laughed at the expression on his face when she turned, his eyebrows drawn together as he frowned and wagged his finger. ‘Don’t you move, Grace Bellamy. I want to make sure you’re not up to mischief!’
She burst out laughing, play punching Teddy on the arm. ‘Stop it! She might hear you, and then you’ll wish you hadn’t mocked her.’
‘She’s only looking out for you,’ he said. ‘But I get it. She’s like a mother hen sometimes when it comes to her baby sister.’
‘Yeah, and I’m her precious little chick who has no idea how to think for herself.’
Poppy was coming back toward them then, but just as she was about to step away from Teddy to put some distance between them, he grabbed her fingers and gave them a squeeze.
‘I dare you to dance all the way over there.’ He nodded toward the other side of the room. ‘You don’t always have to do what she says.’
Poppy passed Teddy a drink and tucked against him, and Grace gave him a quick smile as she accepted an offer to dance from a nice-looking soldier. This time, she ended up in the arms of a well-behaved man who kept one step between them at all times, and she wished her first experience had been so pleasant. She glanced over at Eva and saw her being twirled, her smile wide, and she thought for the hundredth time that day how incredibly lucky they all were. The music became louder, and she laughed as her enthusiastic dance partner spun her around, and she grinned when she passed by Teddy again, who gave a little point to the far side of the room, daring her to defy April.
Teddy might be handsome as sin, but there were plenty of gorgeous men in uniform filling the room. And while it may have broken her heart once that he hadn’t chosen her, now she had her pick of eligible young men, and she wasn’t going to waste another second wishing she’d been faster to catch Teddy’s eye. Even if he was the only person who seemed to see how hard it was for her, struggling to emerge from her sister’s shadow. She couldn’t help the way she felt, that she’d fallen for the same man as Poppy, but her friend’s happiness meant the world to her. She needed to stop mooning over Teddy and just enjoy herself.
