Thirty-Three

“YOUR DISCHARGE WILL BE immediate, Palmer,” the officer behind the glossy desk said, looking across it unsmilingly at Lottie.

Beside her, Cunningham shifted in his seat, obviously about to burst.

Before he could, the officer raised his hand for silence. “But it will be honorable,” he added.

“The Navy should be giving this young lady a medal,” Cunningham growled.

But the officer’s face remained impassive.

“You’ll ship out tomorrow,” he told Lottie, and stood, signaling that the meeting was over. “Thank you for your service.”

Cunningham was on his feet instantly, and in a stance that showed he was ready to fight.

But Lottie rose slowly. It felt almost as if she were just in a dream, as if the officer and his giant, shiny desk weren’t quite real.

They hadn’t come for her while she was still recovering from the exhaustion and minor injuries of her rescue foray. But as soon as she’d been released from the sick bay, there had been an order waiting for her, to report on her activities.

As soon as she’d heard the tone the questions were asked in, she knew she wouldn’t be part of the WAVES much longer. But she didn’t plan to fight it. She’d already had her fight. She’d fought where it counted. And she’d left everything she had out there, on the field.

So now she simply nodded and turned to go.

She didn’t even give a second glance to the secretary at her desk just outside the office. All Lottie wanted now was some peace and quiet, and as soon as she got outside, she promised herself, she could have it.

But when she came through the door, squinting slightly against the blazing Hawaii sun, she was greeted with a roar.

A small crowd was gathered outside, with a running jeep behind them. Lottie recognized the men from the boat, grinning and cheering.

“Recruit!” Maggie called, pushing through the crowd toward her. “I’m here to take you to your next assignment.”

“Oh, really?” Lottie said. “And what’s that?”

“You’re ordered to report to a party at the club,” Maggie said, stifling a smile. “We’re all going. Double time.”

Suddenly the men from the boat rushed her, lifting her up on their shoulders with a round of cheers—and not just them but the guys from the shop, including Pickman, who cheered the loudest.

When they put her down, Eugene was waiting in a wheelchair, a massive bouquet of flowers across his lap.

“The florist thought this must be for a bridal bouquet,” Eugene said with a grin. “I told her it was something even better.”

Gratefully, Lottie hugged him, the flowers smashing and giving out their lovely fragrance between them.

The club on the beach, as it always was, was packed to the gills when they arrived. But now that the tide of the war had shifted, with the Allies racing across Europe and the balance of power in the Pacific Theater changed, the mood was different than it ever had been before. The faces were older, and maybe wiser. They bore traces of suffering and sorrow, but they no longer carried the shadows of worry and death. They were still alive, still young—and they’d been given the gift of knowing how lucky they were just to be those two things.

Lottie danced and laughed with the rest of them as people pressed around her with congratulations, eager to hear her tell the story one more time.

But after they’d all been there for hours, she caught sight of someone on the other side of the club, and for an instant, everything stopped.

There, among the laughing crowd, was Luke. She glanced around, wondering if anyone else—Pickman or any of the others—had seen him as well.

But when her eyes fastened on the spot again, it was only an ordinary seaman—and one who didn’t look particularly like Luke to begin with.

Lottie shook her head. While she’d been waiting for the Navy to determine her case, she’d gone to visit Luke when he was recovering with the other wounded in the hospital. But unlike Eugene, he hadn’t seemed thrilled to see her. At first she’d thought he was just too weak, but as he recovered, the distance in his eyes grew greater, until she finally got the message: he didn’t want to see her. She didn’t know the reason, even though she’d made a thousand guesses.

Maybe the things he’d said to her before he left weren’t from the heart, but just the kinds of things men say to girls as they’re going off to war. Maybe whatever he’d seen or been through in the last battle had been too much—and there wasn’t room left for anything else.

So eventually, she’d stopped going. Still, in this moment, she couldn’t help but think of him—and be grateful for everything he’d taught her. Thank you, she prayed silently, even as her friends laughed and celebrated around her. Whatever happened, I’m glad I had the chance to know him.

As the sun sank into the ocean, the celebration showed no sign of stopping, despite the official disapproval of the naval powers that be. But as the light drained from the sky, Lottie slipped out on her own, with something tugging her heart back to the cove.

She knew she wasn’t the only one there who was missing someone. All of them knew what it was like to lose now. And in some ways, that made life more sweet.

But she needed a minute, now that she knew she’d soon be gone for good, to say goodbye once more.

It didn’t take her long to reach the little cove, just down the beach and along the shore.

And when she got there, she stood in the wet sand, staring out at the ocean, until she heard a voice.

“Lottie.”

Lottie’s heart began beating in her chest, despite herself. She closed her eyes and willed it to stop. She could learn to be friends.

It was time to move on.

“Lottie,” Luke said again.

She turned around and saw Luke standing before her, in civilian clothes, a white collared shirt with khaki pants rolled up to his knees, his right arm in a sling. He looked so thin, though some of his color had returned. And somehow wiser—but also, exactly the same.

Lottie blinked away the tears that rose in her eyes, shook her head, and looked back.

“I heard you were having a going-away party,” Luke said with a small smile.

At the sight of it, Lottie’s heart quickened. She hadn’t seen a smile on his face in—she couldn’t even remember. But she knew she hadn’t seen one since she’d rescued him and the other men.

“Didn’t think I’d let you leave without seeing you off, did ya?”

Lottie just stared at him, biting her tongue to keep from telling him that he was the reason they hadn’t seen each other, despite what her heart truly wanted. But this was the first time he’d talked with her, really talked with her, in ages. And she didn’t want to scare him off.

“I wanted to come in,” Luke said. “But it was just so noisy.” His face clouded. “I haven’t been great with noises since…”

Lottie stepped closer. “What happened to you?” she asked. “Out there?”

“Our plane went down in enemy territory,” Luke said. “It made such a big crash, there was no escaping them. So they captured us, but their camp was a mess, and it only took us a few days to escape. But we still couldn’t get out of the battle zone, for weeks.”

“Oh, Luke,” Lottie said. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was hell,” Luke said matter-of-factly. “The fighting was going on all around us, but we had no comms, so we had no idea when it’d start and stop. Whose territory we were in. Who was shooting at us. We just knew they were always shooting. And if they weren’t, there were always bombs dropping out of that clear blue sky. And so many dead, everywhere we went. But they weren’t the worst part. The worst part was the wounded…” he said, his eyes taking on that distant look again.

Lottie blinked back her tears. She put a hand on his arm, then started to pull it away, not sure if she was overstepping. But before she could, his own hand closed over it, holding her hand there.

“There was only one thing that got me through,” he said.

Lottie looked into his eyes, a question in her own.

“You,” he said.

The wave of emotion that rolled over Lottie left her breathless. But as she swayed against Luke, he stepped away.

“When I saw you again, I just couldn’t stop thinking about all the people I’ve loved in this world that I’ve lost. The idea of losing you—” His breath hitched, and he swallowed hard, clenching his jaw. Luke looked back at her with an intensity that made her heart pound. “There’s nothing in this world that scares me more. I can’t lose you, Lottie Palmer. I’ve got to take the risk. And I promise I’ll walk through enemy lines a hundred more times to get back to you if that’s what it takes.”

It took her an instant to realize he was getting down on one knee.

“Lottie,” he said. “Will you marry me? I have to ask now. I’ve never met a woman with spirit like yours. Or your stubborn, crazy hope. I tried to talk you out of it once, but I need it now.”

Lottie just stared down at him, speechless.

Luke dropped his gaze. “I understand if you can’t say yes,” he said. “I wasn’t much of a prize to begin with, I guess, and now…” He made a helpless gesture toward his wounded arm.

But now Lottie knelt in the sand beside him, wrapping him in her embrace. “Yes,” she said through tears that now flowed freely. “Yes.”

Then she kissed him. Suddenly, everything that had come before was erased—the war, his wounds and hers, all the time they’d spent apart, all the things she had learned and lost.

For perhaps the first time, Lottie knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be. And what life she was meant to live. Not the life that anyone else had planned for her, but the one she hadn’t planned, and still couldn’t—the one right in front of her. And the one they would figure out together.

When their lips finally parted, Luke gazed into her eyes.

“I’m afraid the Navy supply depot was clear out of engagement rings,” he said, sheepish.

Lottie kissed him again. Then a thought sprang into her mind, and she scrambled to her feet.

Luke tried to hold her hand in protest. “No,” he said. “Don’t go.”

But she grinned and pulled away, running up the beach.

When she came back, she was brushing the sand off the O-ring she had buried by the big rock there months before.

She pressed it into Luke’s open hand.

“How’s this?” she asked.

Luke kissed her cheek, and her other cheek. Then he slipped it on her ring finger and stared into her eyes.

“I’ll get you a better one someday,” he said. “I promise.”

Lottie grinned and wrapped her arms around him, with no intention of ever letting go again.

“This one’s perfect,” she said.