A young seaman first class came up to his desk. He didn’t salute or come to attention. There were far too many officers around for that kind of military formality. As Spruance had said with a smile, “Making an enlisted man salute every time he spoke to an officer in this place would mean the poor man would have no time for his work.”
“Commander, I don’t know how they got on post,” the sailor said, “but there are some civilian-type people outside the building asking for you.”
Dane was puzzled. Just about everyone he knew was within a few feet of him. “Any idea who?”
“No, sir, I was just asked to come and get you.”
Dane got up, told Merchant where he was going, and followed the sailor to the lobby of the building that had once belonged to a civilian contractor.
When he entered the lobby, two women approached him. One was a short-haired blonde in her mid-thirties with the kind of full figure that Captain Merchant always said he loved. The second was a short young brunette with equally short hair. He wondered if this was a new style. Both of them had terrible sunburns.
“Lieutenant Tim Dane?” asked the blonde.
“It’s lieutenant commander, but that’s not important, and yes, I am Tim Dane.”
“Well, I am Grace and this is Sandy, and we just wanted to check you out and make sure you were worth the trip. What do you think, Sandy?”
Sandy shrugged and walked around him, examining him quizzically. “He looks reasonably human, but I don’t know if he’s really the right person. Tell me, Lieutenant Commander But-that’s-not-important, are you a good guy?”
Dane had to laugh, even though he was puzzled. “I hope so.”
“You got yourself a girlfriend here?” asked Grace, who was clearly enjoying herself.
“Maybe. I got a letter from her a few days ago, but nothing since. I’m not even sure she’s my girlfriend although I’d sure as hell like her to be, and why am I telling you all of this since I don’t even know you?”
Then it hit him. Sandy and Grace were the women Amanda had mentioned in her letter. “Oh, Jesus, where’s Amanda?”
Grace smiled warmly and Sandy giggled. “Right outside that door,” Grace said.
Tim nearly knocked over two startled ensigns as he raced outside. She was standing a few feet away, just by the curb. She was wearing a short-sleeved white blouse and a flowered skirt that came to her knees. Her hair was as short as that of her friends and she was thinner than he remembered, but she was even lovelier. She smiled and he saw the two crooked teeth. Her skin was red and blotched, just like the other two women. They paused for a second and embraced. They didn’t kiss, just held each other tightly and swayed gently.
Grace and Sandy followed him outside. “I really think they do remember each other,” said Grace. Sandy, who was crying softly, silently agreed.
CHAPTER 13
TIM AND AMANDA SAT AS CLOSE TO EACH OTHER AS THEY COULD on a park bench across the street from where they’d reunited. Their hips and thighs were pressed against each other and their hands were grasped tightly. Neither knew quite what to say and neither wanted to spoil the moment.
Finally, Tim took a deep breath and spoke. “I was so worried. I had no idea if you were still in Hawaii, or out in that sailboat you spoke about, or even on one of those ships that had been sunk by Japanese planes.”
She squeezed his hand even tighter and told him of their voyage across the Pacific in Mack’s catamaran. She told him of Mack’s death from the rogue wave, her own fears that they’d made the wrong decision and that they would die lonely and painful deaths. She then added that she wasn’t supposed to tell anyone lest people in Hawaii find out and try the same thing. Tim said his lips were sealed.
“It was almost a miracle when we washed up near San Francisco. Another day or two at the most and we’d all have been too weak to sail the cat. I had scurvy, a touch of dysentery, and had managed to lose twenty pounds that I didn’t know I had in the first place. We would have come down here sooner, but we had to gather our strength, learn how to eat again, get some clothes, and, of course, identification and ration cards.”
She held out her bare arms. For the first time, he noticed that they were red and raw, and that dry skin was flaking off them. Her thin legs were in the same condition.
“It took a couple of days and a gallon of salves to get the sunburn down to where we could even stand the feel of cloth against our skins.”
A few people walking by glanced at them and a couple of enlisted men grinned. None of them saluted. Amanda touched Tim’s cheek. “We’ve been out of touch for so long and I was worried that you hadn’t made it yourself.”
“One of the subs didn’t. We were attacked but got away.”
“At least you were safe here in San Diego after that.”
Dane laughed. “Did you hear about the bomber raid on the Japs at Anchorage and the battleships hitting them a while later?”
“Of course. While we were convalescing, we spent a lot of time reading old newspapers and magazines and, oh God, you weren’t involved in them, were you?”
Tim told her he was and she shook her head. “I don’t believe it. Here I was so happy thinking you were safe and sound in San Diego, assuming you’d made it, of course. Please promise me you won’t do anything foolish like that again.”
“Sometimes it’s not my call. By the way, you made the right move in leaving Hawaii. The Japs have landed on the big island and set up a base by Hilo where they’re out of reach of the army garrison on Oahu. Much worse is the fact that the population of the islands are on near-starvation rations. They’re subsisting on fish and whatever they can grow, which isn’t much. Someday we’ll send in a relief fleet, but not for a while. If you have any friends there, and I’m sure you do, they are having a pretty rough time and it’s not going to get better.”
She wiped away a tear. “There aren’t any right decisions, are there? If we hadn’t sailed, Mack might still be alive although we’d probably be just as hungry as we were the last week or so on the boat, and we’d be terrified that the Japs would invade and take even that away.”
They were silent for a moment. Tim took a deep breath. “Amanda, where do we go from here?”
She smiled, “Just what I was thinking, too. Where would you wish to go, and don’t suggest an apartment? First of all, I don’t know you that well and, second, the three of us are bunking in a Quonset hut with a dozen other nurses. Seriously, my Great Dane, I would like for us to move slowly, get to know each other a whole lot better, and see where the world takes us.”
Tim took a deep breath. He was thrilled and happy beyond words that she was safe and by his side, but were they ready to make a commitment based on a couple of hours together? Wartime romances had a tendency to be intense and quickly consummated and often just as suddenly dissolved. No. However much he liked her and desired her, they would take it slowly.
“Sounds great to me. Just so you know how luxuriously I have it, I live in a two-man room in a miserable barracks that’s been designated as Bachelor Officers’ Quarters. The walls are so thin maybe a hundred men can hear each other snore.”
Amanda nodded and smiled warmly. “That’s probably just as well. When the time for privacy arrives, I’m sure we’ll work it out. Now, who is that navy captain talking to Grace and is he trying to pick her up?”
Tim laughed. “That’s my boss, Bill Merchant. He’s an Annapolis guy and pretty decent.”
“Is he married? I wouldn’t want Gracie to meet up with the wrong sort, even though I kind of think she can take care of herself.”
“Bill was married, but he got a Dear John letter a few weeks ago. His wife left him for a guy who works as a supervisor in the post office. He got her pregnant, so she’s divorcing Bill and going to marry the guy. He took it pretty hard for a bit, but looking at the way he’s staring at your friend, he may be recovering.”
Amanda stood and straightened her skirt. “Do you have any money?”
“Uh, a little. What do you have in mind?”
