“Oh, no. Peter and I have been getting along great.”
“It’s been awwwwesome,” Peter drawls. I have got to watch what I say around here. I’ve created a monster.
“You must be Lydia.” She glances down at Peter, then back at me. “I’m Elizabeth Bentley. Dean Bentley is my husband.”
“I know.” I smile tentatively, not sure what she must think of me.
“Do you?” Her voice is suspicious.
“Mary pointed you out earlier,” I say quickly.
She gives me an assessing look and clutches her pocketbook tightly under her arm. “Dean thinks the Bentleys are foolish to take you in.”
I look Elizabeth directly in the eyes, refusing to be intimidated. “What do you think?”
She smiles slightly. “I guess I’ll have to figure that out for myself.”
I can work with that.
“Let’s go, Peter.” He waves as they disappear into the crowd.
My grandfather is a seven-year-old, my great-grandparents think I’m a threat, and I don’t see Wes anywhere. I grab a towel and start folding again as neatly as I can. If I can’t keep any order in my own life, I might as well try to create it elsewhere.
When most of the clothes are packed into boxes, ready to be picked up by the Red Cross, Mary comes back over to the table, pulling a short, dirty-blond-haired girl along with her.
“This is my best friend, Susie, but I call her Suze!”
I smile. “Hi, Susie.”
“Hi.” Her voice is soft and shy.
“My two best friends finally meeting!” Mary says, as if I’ve been here longer than two days. “Suze has been just dying to meet you. Haven’t you, Suze?”
Susie makes a sound of agreement but doesn’t say anything. Her hair is fine and lies in wisps around her face. Next to the vibrant Mary, she looks pale and thin.
“Let’s all get ready for the USO dance together!” Mary chatters. “There’s a picnic earlier in the day for the little kids and families, but we can go back to my house before the actual dance starts. What are you wearing, Suze? I’ve been mending that red dress I have. You should wear your black, with the tight bodice and the beads!”
“It’s the only dress I have, Mary.” Susie looks down at the table. I notice that her shirt has a small hole in the sleeve.
“Well, then, aren’t you lucky you look like such a bombshell in it?”
Susie gives Mary a look that is both amused and grateful.
“Is Mick coming to the dance?”
Susie’s face falls. “He might have to work the boats.”
“Suze is engaged to Mick Moriglioni,” Mary tells me. “We went to grade school with him, but he left in eighth grade to go work in the family fishing business. His daddy’s overseas now, and he has to run the business along with his younger brothers. He spends all his time down by the docks, and he never has time to see Susie.”
Susie stares down at the table. “He’s busy. I understand.”
“Oh, phooey. He works too much, when he should be going out with you!” Mary flips her hair over her shoulder and huffs. “He’s going off to war in just a few months. Suze is going to be all alone then. You’d think he’d want to spend time with her now!”
“Hello, girls,” Lucas says from behind us. We all turn at the sound of his voice. He steps forward and catches my eye, smiling broadly. I can’t help but smile back.
“Lucas!” Mary immediately starts to glow in his presence. “I was just telling Suze how Mick should take her to the USO dance this Saturday. You’ll be there, won’t you?”
He pretends to consider the question and Mary squeals, pushing at his shoulder. They both laugh.
“I’ll be there if I can get leave. It shouldn’t be a problem.” He looks at me. “Are you going, Lydia?”
“Do you think Mary would let me miss it?”
“Then I’ll try to be there.” He grins a little, his eyes bright. I blink at him, surprised by how flirtatious he sounds. I think of the way he laughs and jokes with Mary. He’s probably just teasing me, too. Like an older brother or something.
Mrs. Bentley approaches the table. “You girls have done a wonderful job!”
“Thanks, Ma! We worked really hard,” Mary says. I give her a look, but she just winks at me. “It was mostly all my work. Lydia barely helped at all.”
I start to laugh. “You are such a liar!”
“Lydia!” She looks mock offended. “We’re in a church.”
Everyone laughs, including Mrs. Bentley. “Mary, I need to make sure the boxes are organized before they’re sent out. Will you come help me?”
Mary sighs and glances at Lucas out of the corner of her eye. He’s looking down at the table, drawing circles on the wood with his finger. He has a tiny smile on his face and I wonder what he’s thinking about.
“Sure thing, Ma.” Mary and Mrs. Bentley walk back into the crowd.
Susie, Lucas, and I stand around the table. Nobody says anything, and the silence quickly becomes awkward.
“I should go too.” Susie glances between the two of us. She seems uncomfortable now that Mary is gone.
“It was nice to meet you,” I tell her.
“You, too.” She walks away.
“Bye, Susie.” Lucas looks up, and his eyes find me instantly. “Alone again.” He grins widely. There’s something endearing about his crooked bottom teeth; I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen teeth that aren’t perfect. “It’s nice of you to help out today.”
“Of course. The Bentleys have been so wonderful, especially Mary. She’s the best.”
“She’s a great girl.” He says the words without any inflection and I can’t read anything behind them. I want to ask him more about her, want to know if he feels the same way she does, but I don’t.
“It’s been like having a sister.”
“Good luck to you then. I have three of ’em. They drive me up a creek.”
“Three sisters?” I picture Lucas surrounded by a bunch of nagging, teasing little girls. “That’s a lot of women.”
“It’s what makes me such a big
