One day earlier Thursday, June 4, 1942
“Well, well, Audra. I do believe you’re ready to take this matter to trial.”
Audra Schaeffer soaked in the atypical praise. While Roger Clarion was a good man and fair boss, he did not toss praise around for any and all to hear. Satisfaction pulsed through her. After seven years of school and two years where the only job she could find post law school graduation forced her to serve as a legal assistant, Mr. Clarion had given her a chance. If everything went well, in less than a month she’d litigate her first case in superior court. A simple case, but it was hers.
He pulled reading glasses low on his bulbous nose and examined her over the rims. “Don’t let me down, or we’ll both be the laughingstock of the Indianapolis legal community.”
“Yes, sir.” The image of her standing at the podium in front of the counsel table, a legal pad resting on it, filled her mind. She’d finally done it! She’d earned the right to try a case.
He smiled then shook his head. “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d have a woman working for me as an attorney, of all things.” After a twist to his bow tie and a tug on his sweater vest, he stood and grabbed the wool jacket hanging on the coat tree in the corner of his office behind the massive cherry desk. “Now get out of here. I understand you have an important call to take back home.”
Audra couldn’t hide the smile that tugged at her lips. “Fortunately, Rosemary’s usually a few minutes late.” Since the day she was born a week late, Rosemary couldn’t be hurried to join the rest of the world’s timetable. Audra stood and walked to the doorway. “You can’t believe how hard it is to wait for her calls. But it is a blessing her landlady allows Rosie to call us regularly from her phone. I don’t think Mother could handle it if we didn’t have our weekly report on all things Hollywood.”
Mr. Clarion chuckled. “Off with you. Can’t stand in the way of that.”
“See you in the morning, sir.” Audra hurried from the office and scooped her hat and purse from the seat of her desk chair. If she hurried, she’d make the bus that would get her home in time for Rosemary’s call. Being a little out of breath would be worth it if she could steal a few moments with Rosemary without her parents listening. Audra pushed through the front door into the bright sunshine of an early summer day. Squinting against the brightness, she merged into step with the other commuters headed to cars or buses. The sidewalks pulsed with energy as people hustled to get home to dinner and their families. The United States had been at war only a few months, but already women outnumbered men on the sidewalks.
Audra glanced at her watch and sped up. Her high heels clicked against the concrete as she all but ran toward the bus stop, one hand squishing her hat securely to her head. Ahead she could see the behemoth belching exhaust as it idled, waiting for passengers. She had to reach it, because she couldn’t miss Rosie’s call.
The last time Rosie called home, she’d been out of sorts. Short. Distracted. Yet no matter how Audra had tried, she couldn’t pull from Rosie what was bothering her. She imagined her sister doodling nonsense images on a piece of paper as she held close what disturbed her. If Rosie were home, Audra could eventually tease the problem from her and help her deal with the situation. But now, with so many miles separating them, Audra felt powerless to help. How she hated that. She was supposed to smooth out Rosie’s problems, as she had all through high school when the boys decided Rosie was the cat’s meow—her long legs and sweet face attracting them long before she was aware.
Audra reached the bus and relaxed. She’d made it. She climbed the steps, deposited her coin, and found a seat in the back by one of the lowered windows. Though tinged with the stench of diesel, the trickle of outside air seemed fresher than that in the bus.
“Is this seat taken?”
Audra looked up and smiled at an older woman. “Please.”
The woman, burdened with a couple of grocery bags, collapsed onto the seat next to her. She fanned her face and turned forward. “I didn’t think I’d make it in time. My kids would have been mighty disappointed if they had to wait for supper while I waited for the next bus.”
Audra smiled politely then turned back to the window. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger then tucked it behind her ear.
Tonight, Rosemary would have funny stories to weave about people she’d observed, stars she’d met, and roles she’d almost landed. The dinner table had been too quiet since she moved to California. She’d set her face toward the West and moved, determined to make her mark on the world.
Memories flowed through Audra’s mind of the many times before Rosie had stubbornly set her path. Time after time Audra had stepped in to either help the dream come true or thwart a pending disaster. She hid a chuckle behind her hand at the image of Rosemary’s determined attempt to make costumes for a neighborhood play one summer. She’d written a script, drafted neighbor kids for the various roles, and then decided nothing less than specially made costumes would work for her production. Only problem was, she’d never sewn a stitch in her life and Mother was visiting a sick relative. That had left Audra to fill the gaps, something she’d gladly done. The play had been a neighborhood smash, the parents overlooking the melodrama and applauding the kids’ efforts. And Audra stood in the background enjoying Rosie’s success.
Similar scenarios had played out through Rosemary’s in-between years. And Audra had loved stepping in to smooth the rough spots in Rosemary’s big plans. She wondered if Rosie had anyone to do that for her now.
Rosemary would call.
Then Mother would smile, and Daddy would lose the tight lines around his eyes.
Everything would return to normal.
For once, Audra had exciting news of her own to report to Rosemary. Her sister would understand how hard Audra had worked for this opportunity and what it meant to have her own case. Rosemary aspired to appear on the silver screen, but all Audra had ever wanted was to appear in court, weaving arguments that won the day. She had followed her grandpa around his one-man firm for a summer, and the legal bug had bitten hard.
A tremor of excitement coursed through Audra at the thought she would finally get to stand in front of a judge and present a case. Yes, she had news—her dreams were ready to come true.
The bus slowed, and Audra prepared to get off. She walked the several blocks home, darted up the sidewalk to the house, and opened the front door.
“Mother, I’m home.”
“In the kitchen.” Her mother’s alto voice sang from the room down the hallway.
Audra set her purse on the hall table and unpinned her hat. She stuck the pin through it and hung it on the banister. She shimmied out of her suit jacket and walked down the hallway. “How was your day?”
“Usual ladies’ luncheon.” Mother kissed Audra’s cheek, a frilly apron covering her pin-and-tuck, pale blue dress. “Ready for Rosemary’s call?”
“Um-hmm.” Lifting the lid on the pot, Audra inhaled deeply. The scent of tomato mixed with tangy spices swirled around her. “Smells wonderful.”
“We’ll eat after Rosie calls. Don’t want it to get cold while we talk to her.”
“Are you sure? A few bites sound perfect.”
Mother shook her head and pinched Audra’s cheek. “No, ma’am. No distractions. Besides, a few minutes’ wait never hurt anyone.”
Yet an hour later, as Daddy had joined them and they still waited for the call, Audra wondered. Her stomach tightened, but not from hunger. Rosie knew she couldn’t stay in Hollywood unless she faithfully called home on the prearranged schedule. Daddy had made that iron-clad stipulation when she begged to try her fortunes out West.
As they waited in the parlor, the lines around Daddy’s eyes tightened, even as he knocked tobacco from his pipe and refilled it. Even as he settled in his favorite chair with the sports pages. Even as he tried to show an unconcerned air.
“Daddy, did I tell you the good news?”
He looked up from his paper, a distracted expression covering his face. “Hmm?”
“Mr. Clarion says I’m ready to try my first case.” She bit her lower lip, wondering what his response would be.
“Darling, that’s wonderful.” Mother dropped her knitting long enough to clap. “I’m so proud of you.”
“So he’s given you a client?”
“Yes, sir. It’s a small case, unpaid rent.” Audra shrugged. “But it’s my case. Have to start somewhere, right?”
“Your grandfather would be very proud.”
Heat flushed her cheeks at the praise. She told them a bit about the case. “It goes before the judge in one month, if we don’t settle first.”
“Does that happen often?” Mother sat in her chair, feet propped on a stool, knitting needles clacking a steady rhythm. Only the dropped stitches showed her harried emotions.
“I’m not sure.” She tried to hide a grin. “Is it wrong to hope we actually go to court?”
“That might not be best for your client.” Daddy had pulled the paper back in front of his nose. “But I’m sure you’ll figure out how to represent them. Imagine that. You have your own case.”
“Thanks, Daddy.”
“You’ve worked hard for this, darling.” Mother shot a strained look at the phone. “Wait until Rosie hears.”
“I’m excited to tell her.”
Another few minutes passed, Audra staring at the phone, willing it to ring.
Only the clicking of Mother’s needles and the occasional rustle of the newspaper pushed against the phone’s silence. Finally, Audra couldn’t stand it.
“Do we have the landlady’s number?” Audra stood from her perch on the davenport and hurried to Mother’s small desk. “We can call her instead of waiting.”
Mother shook her head, needles flying. “Rosie’s never given us the number. Didn’t want us to bother the lady.”
“Maybe the lines are tied up. Everyone’s calling, and the operator can’t connect her.”
Her father arched an eyebrow at her over the top of his paper. “Settle down, Audra. There’s nothing to be concerned about.”
He was wrong. She knew it. Something had happened. Something Rosie couldn’t talk about but that disturbed her greatly. This time Audra wouldn’t wait too long. She couldn’t. Images of her brother Andrew’s body as he lay broken on the side of the road collided in her mind. All because she hadn’t picked him up on time as promised. Visions of his form still haunted her dreams in the middle of the night.
If Rosie didn’t call by tomorrow, Audra would go find her.
She’d do anything to make sure she wasn’t too late again.