Shadowed by Grace (11 page)

He swung her lithe frame away from him and then tugged her back. She floated with a grace that made him think she’d had lots of lessons or opportunities to perfect her dancing.

As he maneuvered through the couples on the floor, he noticed several soldiers looking at Rachel rather than enjoying the gals they swung around the floor. “Is your dance card full?”

She startled and looked up at him.

He leaned closer to her ear. “Dance card full?”

“No. It never is.” Her eyes twinkled. “I came for the refreshments.”

“I doubt the guys give you a chance to sit down.”

She shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. This is the first one I’ve attended. A girl can only hide so long.”

“Why?”

“Dottie can be persuasive. And I couldn’t tell her no since I leave tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

She nodded, her hair brushing his chin in a whisper-soft motion.

He swallowed. “Think you’ll miss her?”

“Absolutely. She doesn’t get in my things, and she’s so kind.” Rachel faltered a step and her eyes filled. “She’s almost like I imagine a sister.”

“Bet you left a couple of those behind.”

“No. Only my mom.” Tears collected in the corners of her eyes. What had he said now?

The song ended, and Rachel turned toward the band to applaud with the rest. Before the band started another song, she edged from Scott and the dance floor. She didn’t make it far before a couple of officers surrounded her, acting like high school kids. If her tight posture was any clue, she didn’t relish the attention. Still, he wasn’t sure she wanted him to intervene. Maybe he should watch from a distance for a few minutes. Get a better read on how she liked the attention. Then he could come to her assistance the moment she looked like she’d welcome help.

The music made it impossible to listen to the conversation around Rachel. Though her face looked relaxed, the skin around her mouth was tight, and it wasn’t from the smile she’d painted on.

Scott elbowed his way through the crowd. “Excuse me, gents.” He turned to Rachel. “I believe you saved me this dance.”

Her eyes widened and then her smile broadened. “There you are. I wondered where you’d disappeared. I was about to head out with one of these fine men. No sense wasting the night.”

“I’m here now.” He extended his hand, wondering if she’d accept.

“Yes, you are.” She turned toward those assembled around her, looking a bit like Scarlett O’Hara in that movie Elaine had dragged him to while they dated. “I’m sorry to disappoint, gentlemen.” Then she accepted his hand, and he led her toward the floor.

The music swept around them as they danced, and he would swear she snuggled close as the music wrapped around them. The others faded into an impressionist surrounding, details washed out by the moment of holding her. Of feeling how well she fit next to him. The music eased to an end, but Rachel remained where she was, so he continued to sway from side to side. What song did she hear? The bandleader announced a fifteen-minute break, and Scott tipped her chin up.

“Rachel, we should get off the floor.”

“Hmmm?” She kept her eyes closed, and the longing to lean an inch closer and kiss her overwhelmed him.

“Rachel, honey?”

“Yes?” Her chocolate eyes opened and she startled. “I’m so sorry.”

With a swirl of her peacock-blue skirt, she tugged her hand from his and slipped out a side door.

Her heart pounded as Rachel slipped outside. She needed air and distance. Thanks to the Fifth Division, she’d have plenty of space inserted between Lieutenant Lindstrom and herself starting in the morning. Right now, though, he edged perilously close. As they danced, she’d longed to have him hold her forever. She felt like she’d found her home, and she never imagined that would be with a person. The way he’d marched into the middle of the flood of uniforms and swept her away spoke to her. She’d felt alone and trapped in an unwelcome sea of admiration. Then he freed her.

He’d seen her. And he cared enough to step into the fray.

She liked to stand on the side, camera poised to snap pictures, but never of her. Always of what she saw, the way she experienced the world.

She closed her eyes, then tilted her chin toward the sky. The world around her was dark, but an array of stars filled the sky, almost as vast as those she’d seen from the road that fate-filled day she toured with the lieutenant.

The uncountable nature of the stars made her feel so small, so insignificant.

A tear threatened to escape as she tilted her face further to the sky.

“There you are.” Lieutenant Lindstrom’s voice sounded tense.

She swiped under her eye, then lowered her face, still not looking at him.

“It’s the middle of the night in Naples. You don’t want to be out here alone.”

He was right. Rachel knew it was foolish to leave the building. Yet had he sensed she didn’t want to remain alone? How much her heart cried for someone to see her?

“Can you take me home?” She turned toward him and forced a small smile. “I have so much to do before morning.”

Scott studied her a moment, his gray eyes laced with concern and awareness.

Please don’t say it.
She couldn’t bear to hear him acknowledge her pathetic excuse.

“Should you say something to your roommate? Dottie, right?”

“Yes, we can go back long enough to find her. Then I’m ready to leave.” If they could find Dottie. Was it even possible in that crush?

“You’ll be all right.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, staring into her face through the shadows.

What did he see? What kept him looking at her, an ordinary girl far from home? For just a moment she wanted to see the world from his perspective. See herself the way he did.

His hands slid down her arms until he caught her hands, a trail of goose bumps following his touch. He tugged her a step closer, until they were standing with mere inches between them. Her breath hitched in her lungs, and she felt time still. She tried to read his eyes, but the shadows made it impossible.

His hands found her waist and pulled her closer still. “I wish you could see the woman I see, Rachel.”

“I do too.”

A slow grin spread on his face, and she felt it to her core. “Let me show you.”

His head tipped down until their lips were a breath apart. He paused as if giving her the opportunity to back away. When she didn’t, he closed the distance, and she felt as if the stars exploded around them.

In that moment she knew how her mother could give her all to another, and it terrified Rachel even as she wanted to prolong the moment. Scott must have sensed her moment of panic because he eased back and touched his forehead to hers. She felt emptied yet honored by that small whisper of distance. She leaned toward him and he groaned.

“Let’s get you home.” The words were ragged as if it took everything in him to say them.

They found Dottie, and her eyes widened as she glanced at Rachel, but in a moment they were walking the streets of Naples. Rachel’s thoughts spiraled. She could not get attached to Scott. She’d leave in the morning and he’d stay here. The chance they’d see each other again diminished to miniscule odds the moment she left Naples.

Where would he be when she left? She’d be on her own and couldn’t imagine finding him again. And in that moment all she wanted to do was beg him to follow her. He saw her and didn’t press. He seemed to cherish her as he would a friend yet with a spark of more. The potential for something much more.

Scott held tight to Rachel’s hand as they wove their way through the city back to her hotel. His senses still buzzed from their kiss. He hadn’t planned his next step yet knew they could never go back and didn’t want to. No, he wanted to beg her to stay in Naples with him. To chuck her plans to travel with the Fifth when they left the next day. Here it was safe and he could watch over her.

As soon as she left, he’d have no way of knowing if she was all right.

Yet he couldn’t push the words out.

She had a job to do just as he did. And the army called the shots for both of them. She couldn’t stay any more than he could leave.

When they reached the hotel, she paused, and he tugged her against the wall. She fell into his arms and he tightened his hold. What was he doing? Had the war heightened the way he felt about Rachel? Elaine had never felt so much a part of him.

“What?” Her gaze collided with his, sending a jolt through him.

He studied her, wishing they had more time. “You’re sure you ship out tomorrow?”

She shrugged, and still he didn’t let go. “As sure as I can be with the army.”

“Remember me?”

“What a crazy thing to say.”

If there was even a chance they could reconnect, explore what could happen after the war, then he had to take it. “Look for me in Rome.”

“Rome?”

“You’ll be there next. And I’ll be behind you.” He tipped her chin up, memorizing every feature on her perfect face. “I will find you.”

Chapter 11

June 3

DEWALD AND THE OTHER
Venus Fixers sat grumbling as Scott entered the office. Here he belonged and shared a purpose with men of learning and drive. It should be enough. The drumbeat to do more filled him, and the grumbling only stirred that urge. He’d come with orders to save Western civilization. The longer he sat in Naples, the less likely he’d fulfill that mission.

He bit back words that would add to the cacophony of discontent.

Rumor had it the army would enter Rome in the next day or two. The knowledge left Scott ready to abandon Naples with or without orders. If Rachel was in Rome, then he wanted to be there.

These days without her had threatened to drive him to distraction. He’d done his job, but his mind kept wondering where she was and if she was okay. The idea of a woman running around in an army on the move seemed worse with each passing day. It wasn’t like she was a nurse surrounded by other women. No, she was on her own when he wanted her with him.

Keller looked up and nodded at Scott. “Morning.”

“Morning, Dean.”

“You’ve got orders, Lindstrom. General Marshall wants someone liaising with the Vatican posthaste.” DeWald shoved an envelope at him. “This time it’s you. Next time I might send Keller. Or Anthony. Maybe even Blake. Take that jeep of yours and get to Rome. You might make it ahead of some troops. Get a place established. The rest of us will follow as soon as we can talk our way out of Naples.”

“Why aren’t you going first, sir?” It made sense to send the man who headed up the Italian effort rather than Scott. He’d enjoy returning to the city, more if it stood undamaged if the tales and reports were accurate.

“I get to figure out who stays here and what the priorities are in Rome. So you go first. Figure out what’s damaged. Connect with the local art superintendents. You’ve got a decent jeep and a driver. Make use of it. Besides, you’ve spent time in Rome. I want you to hit the ground fast. Make sure things are as good as they sound.” He glanced at the others. “We’ve accomplished a lot here, but Naples still has work.”

Keller sat back, his hands clasped across his stomach. “Give us a week and we’ll be there. Then you can chase the Fifth up to Tuscany while I chase the Eighth.”

All right. He wouldn’t turn down the chance to check the status of the great city. And if things opened up now that the armies were moving, the rush to Tuscany and then Germany would be rapid. He should figure out the best approach for those future advances. When he’d arrived in Naples, things had been a mess, but the occupation government had been in place. In Rome he’d be there as the Allies arrived. Adrenaline pressed through him followed by the sense he could succeed or fail.

Failure wasn’t an option.

It might have been eight years since he’d seen Rome, but some of his art friends and mentors should remain. “When do I leave?”

“With the next convoy. Grab your bag. Anything else you need. Don’t assume Rome will have everything. It’s unknown what we’ll find there.”

“We’re good at improvisation.”

DeWald grinned. “Yes. That’ll serve you well.”

He hoped so. Because Scott was ready to dig in and locate missing art. “Thank you, sir.”