“Come inside,” she said, her eyes hooded.
Ozzie could barely control himself from panting out loud as he followed her through the dark kitchen. Rita held his uninjured hand as she led him down the creaky steps to the basement. He had been down here only once, to relight the pilot on the hot-water heater. Tonight the cellar was cool and smelled like freshly laundered sheets and damp cement. A sliver of moonlight pooled through the jalousie window. Against the far wall was a green satiny sofa.
Rita sat him down but didn’t look at him as she spoke. “Listen, Ozzie. We haven’t talked much about what’s coming next.”
“What do you mean?” He reached for her hand, but she pushed his away.
“I mean, four years is a long time to be apart. It would be naive of me to expect you to be faithful.”
Caught off guard, he shook his head. “What do you mean? I don’t want no one else but you.”
“Men go away, and they don’t come back. Especially in the military.”
“Baby, I’m not going to war. My job is to help a country in ruins get back on its feet.”
Rita finally looked up at him. “You’re embarking on one of the greatest adventures of your life. Most of the dudes around here haven’t even been to Atlantic City. This means something, and I want you to be at liberty to live it to the fullest without worrying about me.”
The meaning of her words registered, and Ozzie’s jaw tightened. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“My mama always said if you love something, set it free. I’m just giving you permission to fly, Oz.”
But Ozzie didn’t want to live without Rita; she was his axis. When he opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off. “We’ll still be friends, and we can write.”
“I don’t want you to be with anyone else,” he hissed.
“Staying together across the globe is an unrealistic expectation on both our parts,” she said in a tone that conveyed finality. Rita had never been a woman who minced words, and for every way Ozzie tried to convince her that it could work, she had two counterpoints on why they would fail.
Defeated, he asked, “Why won’t you try with me?”
“If we are truly meant to be, we’ll find our way back to each other.” Her eyes looked sad but decisive. “It’s for the best. The last thing I want is to end up resenting you.” She leaned in to kiss him.
Ozzie wanted to resist her touch, but he could not. Even as she crushed his heart, she remained his weakness. Their time together was running out.
Rita placed her forehead against his and whispered, “Before you go, I want to give you a goodbye present.”
“What’s that?” He couldn’t think of anything that he wanted more than her.
She gazed into his eyes. “All of me.”
Ozzie’s stomach quaked. “You sure about this?” His voice came out husky and sounded so needy that he was almost embarrassed.
Rita took his face in her loving hands. “Come on here. Let’s have a night that neither one of us will forget.”
Ozzie gently lowered her against the sofa. Goose bumps prickled her skin as he peeled away her dress. Then he painstakingly savored every inch of her body, slow and deliberate.
CHAPTER 5Prince Frederick, MD, September 1965
SOPHIA
Sophia lugged the red plaid Olney train case, stolen from Ma Deary’s closet, up the steps from her dugout. For once, she was pleased to hear the rhythmic snores and snorts of Ma Deary and the Old Man. It confirmed that they were dead asleep and made it easier for her to tiptoe out the back door undetected.
She hadn’t told the twins she was going away. But she’d squeezed them extra hard before they’d gone to bed last night, reminding them not to skip out on their homework. It was breaking her heart to leave them behind.
The dewy scent of morning greeted her as she crept onto the back porch, and the air was foggy. Careful not to step on anything that would crackle, she trod onto the overgrown path that led to the main road.
“What happened to your hair?” Walter leaned against the white oak tree.
“I dyed it.” She fingered the nape of her neck. “You don’t like it?”
