THE WAR BRIDE CLUB (3 page)

      “I don’t usually drink,” he said, his dark eyes wide with honesty. “It’s just my friends got me drunk, we were out all night, then they left me.”

      June nodded. For some reason she thought she could trust him, but it was her parents he was going to have to convince.
 

      “Either way, just drink that tea then I’ll show you where you can wash up.”

      Eddie gulped down the last of the hot tea, the cup lost to his big paw of a hand, and stood to his feet. Still slightly unbalanced, she noted, but getting better.
 

      “Come on, quick,” she said, eyes on her mother as she followed the path back in, dry laundry in her arms.

      June led him to the washroom, passed him a towel and face cloth and closed the door.
 

      “Is that you home, dear?”

      June leaned against the timber frame and counted to ten. Her mother might frown upon her spending time alone with a young man, but she’d never turn him away. Her father would have done the same thing in June’s place. The Americans were going to help them win the war, and that meant showing gratitude and kindness in their direction whenever possible. So why was she so worried about facing her mother?

      “June?”

      “Coming Ma,” she called back.

      A bang in the room behind her made June’s heart jump, but she ignored it. He could make all the noise he wanted so long as he came out smelling of soap with his hair combed.
 

      “You okay, love?” her mother asked as she joined her in the kitchen. “Look like you’ve seen a ghost, you do.”

      Another bang echoed, louder this time.
 

      “Is that your father home early?”

      June felt her face flush hot. “Ah, no, it’s not Father,” she said.
 

      Her mother pressed her lips together, her eyebrows knotting in the middle. “Well what’s all that noise, then?”

      “Make me a cuppa and I’ll tell you all about it.”

To say her mother had been taken by surprise would have been an understatement. But being the type of woman she was, she’d simply dealt with having a strange American in her home, and gone about making dinner. Although she still wasn’t convinced about how they’d met.
 

      “You sure you’ve never seen him before?”

      June glared at her mother. “I’ve told you, I have never set eyes upon him before.
Ever
.”

      Her mother raised an eyebrow again, gave her
the
look.
 

      “Ma! I’ve never even met an American before.”

      A door down the hall banged shut. June gulped. Her mother put down the wooden spoon she’d been using to stir the stew and wiped her hands over her apron.
 

      Eddie appeared in the kitchen, and June nearly lost her balance. She gripped the old wooden chair. She’d expected him to come back out looking no better than when she’d left him.
 

      
How wrong she’d been
.
 

      Eddie had combed his hair back off his face, scrubbed his skin clean, and his cheeks were soft from being freshly razored. She guessed he’d found her father’s blade. His eyes were still bloodshot, but he was quite possibly the most handsome man she had ever encountered.
 

      “Well, I take it you’re our soldier?”

      Her mother asked as if he was a pet her daughter had just brought home rather than a man serving his country.
 

      “Yes Ma’am,” he replied, his voice lacking the slur it had had earlier.
 

      June guessed he had been splashing a lot of cold water on his face.
 

      “I’m Edward West.” He held out his hand.
 

      June’s mother nodded and, looking all flustered, took Eddie’s hand and gave it an awkward shake.
 

      “Well, Edward West, you’re sure lucky our June here found you.” She turned back to stirring. “I’m hoping you like stew, I’ll be serving dinner soon.”

      June glanced up at Eddie and he gave her a wink in reply. She felt a blush start at her toes and work its way up every square inch of her body, making her flush hot.
 

      “Is there anything I can do, Mrs…”

      “Mrs. Smith,” she replied.

      “Mrs. Smith,” he said, smiling at June as her mother kept herself busy. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

      Madge Smith turned around and waved her spoon at him.
 

      “Now why would I let a guest help me in the kitchen, and a man at that?”

      He shrugged. “My mother always told me to keep myself useful. She’d give me a clip around the ears for taking liberties.”

      June stifled her laugh as her mother muttered away to herself about men in the kitchen, before catching Eddie’s eyes again.

      “Why don’t you show me around?” suggested Eddie.
 

      She glanced at her mother, who didn’t respond, and picked up her shawl that was resting on the table.
 

      “All right.”

      “So where is it you come from, Eddie?”

      He stretched back on the seat outside, his long legs crossed at the ankle. June was trying hard not to stare at him, but it wasn’t easy. The olive skin on the planes of his cheeks, the dark lashes that framed those hazel eyes, even the way his hands moved in expression as he talked. She was fascinated by him.
 

      “Home is a long, long way away,” he said, his face turned up toward the sky. “I come from a place called New York. We’ve got a farm there, with fields planted in crops, cows milling around, even a few horses. A wooden stable block beside the house.”

      He looked at her, his eyes searching hers, as if worried she wasn’t interested. She tried to stop the pull of her lips as they ignited in a smile.
 

      “We’ve lived there all my life,” he said, taking her smile as an invitation to continue. “It’s two storey, built from wood with my father and grandfather’s own hands. We have a big porch where we eat in summer, there are trail rides nearby for taking the horses out, and a lake where I fish with my dad. Just me and my sister, our parents, and a whole lot of animals.”

      “It sounds incredible,” she said, almost seeing the picture in her imagination. He spoke with such enthusiasm, such love, that it was hard not to imagine it along with him.
 

      “It is,” he said, turning back to face her. “I really miss it, and my family. My sister would like you.”

      She wondered how he knew that, when they hadn’t even known each other more than a couple of hours, but she believed him. Her worry was that her own sister might like him too, and that was not a thought she wanted to entertain.
 

      He watched her then, his eyes locked on hers. She hadn’t been attracted to a man before, not like this. She was only nineteen. There had been no romances in her life before the war, and for the last couple of years all the young men she might have met had been away fighting. And now here was Eddie, this dashing soldier in an American uniform, looking at her as she imagined a sweetheart would. His eyes on hers, his body a little too close, and her breath catching in her throat as if she’d just run a mile.
 

      “Dinner’s ready!”

      Her mother’s voice jolted her from the little fantasy she was lost in.

      Eddie stood and held out a hand.
 

      “I’m starved,” he said with a grin. “Been a long time since I’ve had a home cooked meal.”

      June took his hand to rise then walked ahead of him, conscious of his presence behind her. She knew it was silly, but she wondered if it was possible to fall in love with someone so quickly. She may have led a sheltered life, but she’d never felt like this.
Ever
.
 

      Eddie reached in front of her to open the door and she walked through. But not before the side of her body brushed past his arm. She didn’t dare look up at him.
 

      Her illusion abruptly ended when she saw her father already seated at the table. She cleared her throat and composed herself. Moved another step away from Eddie.

      “I’m told we’re in the presence of a soldier,” her father said, smiling as he stood.

      She glided the few steps between them and kissed her father’s cheek.
 

      “We are, Daddy. This is Edward. Eddie West.”

      “How do you do, Sir,” said Eddie, gripping her father’s hand as he offered it. “It’s an honor to be in your home.”

      Her father shook his head. “It’s nice to have a soldier for dinner. Especially an ally.”

      Eddie moved to assist her mother as she clutched a large pot of heavy stew, taking it from her hands and ferrying it safely to the table.
 

      “You’re not a deserter though, are you son?”

      June could have laughed at her father. He must have been beside himself, worried they could be harboring a coward.
 

      “No Sir,” said Eddie, looking unfazed by the question. “I’m on four days leave, then back with my unit.”

      “Very well.” Her father sat back down.
 

      June grinned at Eddie as he watched her from across the table, then tried to concentrate on her dinner. She’d gone from feeling unfortunate for stumbling across him in the street to feeling very, very lucky. Not for the first time since the war had started, she thought about how being in the right place at the right time sometimes meant everything in life.
 

      Thank goodness her sister was at a nurses’ meeting. She wouldn’t have stood a chance otherwise.
 

      Eddie grinned at her and she tried to avoid his gaze.
 

      Or maybe she would have stood a chance still.
Maybe.
 

      “How about I take you to a dance tomorrow night?”

      June tried not to smile too brightly, instead wrapping her hands one over the other and squeezing hard.
 

      “That would be lovely.”

      Eddie grinned at her, looking wolfish in the almost darkness. A ray of light illuminated only part of his face and it made his mouth look lopsided, white teeth glinting.
 

      “And then the night after that the pictures?”

      June couldn’t stop her smile that time. He wasn’t still drunk, was he? Could he really be as attracted to her as she was to him?
 

      “What do you say?”

      She swallowed her fears and looked up at him.
 

      “I say that sounds like a nice idea.”

      He took one of her hands in his, his skin rough against the softness of her own. Manly, like hands that had known real work.
 

      “You English girls are so restrained.”

      She almost pulled her hand away. Fought not to. What did he mean by that?
 

      He responded by dropping a kiss filled with laughter to her palm.

      “Nice?” he repeated. “I was hoping you would say that a night or two with me sounded smashing, but you just think it would be
nice
.”

      She giggled and swatted at him.
 

      “Eddie…”

      “What?” His eyes were glinting with what she could only think might be excitement.
 

      A noise nearby made June leap away from him.

      “Is that your mother?” he whispered.
 

      June nodded. “Uh-huh.”

      “It’s been a lovely evening, but I really must be off now.” His loud voice belied the humor in his face.
 

      All she could do was nod. She knew her mother would be listening. It seemed Eddie did too.

      “I’ll just thank your mother for tea and ask your father’s permission to escort you to the dance tomorrow evening, then I’d best be off.”

      The soft bang of a door closing signalled her mother disappearing back inside, probably to sit down with her feet up and pretend that she’d been there all along.
 

      Eddie stood first, then pulled her up to her feet. He leaned in and stole a kiss to her cheek – a wet, cheeky press of his lips that had blood pumping so fast through her body that she almost keeled over right there on the spot.
 

      It wasn’t even on the lips, but it still felt like her first real kiss.
 

June waited, her breath crowding her face as she lay with the blankets tucked up to her forehead. It seemed like she’d been lying there forever, listening to her sister bang about as she came in, talk to their mother as she ate leftover stew, and finally traipse down the hall to the room they shared.