His words take a quick moment to resonate when I realize the humor within his response. I place the back of my hand against my mouth, trying to suppress a heavier laugh than a lady should offer this man. “You’re quite comical.”
“What can I say? I was sure I would have you in stitches with laughter by now.”
This time I feel caught off-guard and can’t control the laughter rumbling through me. “Well, you are something else, Lieutenant Anderson—Everett.”
“Say, could I persuade you to take a stroll to the park? I’d love to spend a little time with you.”
“I’d enjoy that very much.”
Everett slips his fingers beneath the strap of my satchel and takes it from my grip. “Allow me.”
He doesn’t place the straps over his shoulder. He couldn’t, not in his starched and pressed dress pinks. In this heat, he’d have a permanent crease where he shouldn’t have one.
As we’re walking side by side, I reach for his left hand to inspect the damage from last week, seeing the minor cuts have healed up well. “Your hand looks much better.”
“It is quite nice looking, isn’t it?” he says, inspecting the pink marks left behind.
“I didn’t realize you were such a jokester last week.”
“Life without humor is like a pie with no filling. What’s the use?”
I press my lips together into a stifled smile. “Goodness, you are on a roll.”
“Just buttering you up, I suppose.”
I flap my hand against his arm. “You are bad, you know that?”
“I do, but in all seriousness, miss Lizzie, I was hoping to see if you would like to join me for another evening on the town? Of course, I’m more than happy to speak to your father first, but I respect your feelings on the matter too.”
The small park full of greenery and wooden benches peeks over the hill. As usual, the area is quite empty except for a couple of mothers with baby carriages taking their afternoon walks. “I would love to go out again, but I’m afraid it still will not be following my father’s permission.”
“Understood. Could I take you somewhere outside the base?”
“I’d like that.” No watchful stares or brothers looming around the corner.
We stop between a cluster of thick nut trees bordering the grassy area of the park. The shade lowers the temperature a few degrees, offering a welcome relief from July’s unforgiving sun. “Is it my former status your friend Audrey doesn’t like?”
I didn’t realize he was still hanging onto Audrey’s words or attitude, but I might be too if one of his friends spoke to me the way she had. It’s unlike her to be so protective or concerned for my well-being. She has no problem telling me what’s what when I’m looking for an escape she might not agree with, but I merely run off for an afternoon trip to the beach. It’s hardly something to get in a tizzy about. In fact, sometimes I feel like she’s siding with Dad in a way. It’s maddening.
“Oh, no. Of course not. Audrey doesn’t condone lying or withholding information like I am with my father. She’s also mentioned the required status of an Army Nurse needing to be unwed. It’s all a bunch of horse feathers if you ask me.”
“Well, she has a good point, but why worry about marriage when you might despise me come a month from now?”
“That was my exact thought. It’s as if you can read my mind,” I jest with him. “My father won’t change his mind on the matter, and there’s no use in arguing my point to him. Therefore, I plan to live the way I see fit and if someone would like to join me on my path to wherever I’m going, it would be splendid.”
“If I’m being honest, I have been searching through crowds downtown every night for the past week. I needed to find you. I’m quite fond of the way your mind works. It’s alluring to see a woman seeking her desires without fearing obstacles.”
“Alluring?” I repeat, lifting my brows in response. Then, I peer down to my feet after hearing the word form on my tongue. Alluring. I don’t think anyone has ever said this to me.
Everett slips his finger beneath my chin and with a gentle nudge, redirects the view of my stare up into his eyes. “And beautiful. Stunning, without a doubt. But inside—you’re magnificent, like a hypnotic melody that blacks out the world around me from anything more than your existence.” As if instinctual, my hand draws into my chest, feeling the thundering beat beneath my palm.
“You know how to make a girl blush, don’t you?”
His fern green eyes pierce my soul and I’ve all but surrendered myself to him at this point.
“I just say what is on my mind,” he says. “Tomorrow night. Can I take you out then?”
“I’d like that very much.”
