He takes my hand and pulls me into his chest. “I’m not going anywhere right now, but—” Everett’s gaze drops to our connected hands.
“But what, Everett?”
He peers back up at me with a look of pain swimming through the murky greens of his eyes. “I’m just so proud of you for completing your nurse training, but I don’t want you to think of me as an anchor here. It is what we’ve always said to one another, right?”
Sure, I said all of that when we first met, but it’s been three incredible months. Who knew summer love was something that could happen in real life? The memories we made, in quiet, will stay with me for always.
I haven’t mentioned a word about completing my classes because it means I must decide on what comes next, and I only have two options. Either I fly clear across the country to the East Coast or I remain here on base at the hospital where I have spent countless hours for the last three years. I promised myself no one would be a factor in this decision, but my heart aches at the thought of walking away from Everett. Plus, going to the East Coast would require me to leave Dad, James, and Lewis. I don’t know if any of us are prepared for that.
“Of course. It means the world to me, knowing you support my dreams, Everett. Honest.”
With a small kiss on the cheek, Everett takes my hand and progresses down the open corridor, leading the way. “There’s a paratrooper training mission in about fifteen minutes. Do you want to watch?”
“I would love nothing more. I’ve never seen such a thing.” We had little air training on this base until the last couple of months, so while I’ve seen every other training exercise performed here, I haven’t witnessed a man jumping out of a plane.
“This is my dream, you know. I’m going to be a paratrooper if it’s the last thing I do.”
I hate the thought. Flying planes for the Army is scary enough to think about, never mind jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft. “You may have mentioned this a few times,” I say, nudging my shoulder into his arm.
“We can walk, if that’s okay with you? It’s just a couple of blocks down the road and I’m not sure there will be a good place to park my car.”
I stop at the bottom step of his barracks building and slip my shoes on. “Of course.”
“It’s quite a spectacular sight, you know. I can’t wait for you to see this.”
I hope I never have to nurse a broken paratrooper back to life. Nurses like to err on the side of caution, but these men—they are always looking for trouble.
* * *
There are soldiers and sailors scattered along the water’s edge where we’ll be watching a man drop out of a plane. Everett checks his wristwatch and presses up on his toes to search down the shoreline. “Can you see anything?” I ask.
“It looks like the plane is getting ready to take off.” I love when Everett lights up with excitement. For someone who has experienced so much luxury in life, he doesn’t seem to skip by the insignificant details. He lives to smile, and I might just want to live to see him smile for the rest of my life.
“I hear an engine,” I say, trying to see over the rocky barrier between this inlet and the next.
“It’s taking off right now,” he says, rubbing his hands together.
“Elizabeth Hope Salzberg, I was not expecting to see my daughter at the paratroop testing event this morning.”
Dad’s voice forces my eyes open wide and my throat to close with apprehension. My head is leaning on Everett’s arm. There’s no way to cover this up. I twist on my heels to face Dad, afraid to look him in the eyes. “Dad, I—” I should have expected to see him here. I’m the one who doesn’t belong.
“Lieutenant Anderson, I’ve heard so much about you. Of course, none of those wonderful statements had anything to do with you spending time with my daughter.”
Everett is going to miss the jump. “Oh, yes, Sir, I’ve heard many good things about you, as well,” Everett says, saluting Dad at attention. I’m not sure how many good things I’ve shared about Dad other than the issues that shadow over everything else.
“Elizabeth, may I have a word with you please?”
“Dad, I’m sure this can wait just a few moments for us to all see what we came here for, couldn’t it?” Dad stretches his neck as if needing air between his skin and the inside of his collar, then clears his throat. He’s staring at me with so much anger, and the hurt in his eyes makes little sense to me. I’m a grown woman. He’s forced me to hide my life from him. I wish he could see what he’s done and understand why I am the way I am. This isn’t an act of rebellion; I’m living my life because it’s mine to live.
It’s hard to hold my focus on the man jumping from the plane. I’m glad to see Everett is enjoying the display, but I know we’re both minutes from an interrogation for ridiculous reasons and I would do anything to prevent Everett from having to endure what’s next.
The crowd of soldiers and sailors are cheering at the sight of a parachute which I feel could have opened a couple seconds sooner, but I have other things to worry about right now.
“Elizabeth, a word,” Dad repeats.
“I’ll be right back,” I whisper to Everett.
I follow Dad several feet away from where we were standing, to a quiet area where no one else will hear our conversation. “What in the world is going through your head? Have you lost your mind?”
