Oh, what she would give to have Dot here. Writing a letter was one thing, but feeling Dot’s hug and hearing her sister’s cautious encouragement was completely different.
There was a tap on the door. “I’ll wake you in an hour, all right? Aunt Lou and Uncle Bob are coming for dinner, and I know they’ll be happy to see you.”
“Thank you, Mom,” Dash called back, then she lay down, just as she’d said she would.
She and Ginny had gone to speak with their supervising Wren and explained everything. After some thought, she told the girls they could take some time off for Christmas, but they were expected to return to her office in January for a new posting. From there, they reluctantly said goodbye to Mary, then they’d gone their separate ways. Everything would be solved in the new year. For now, Dash needed her family. How strange that the very house she’d wanted to leave behind had been the one destination she’d run to when it all went wrong.
She awoke to her mother’s gentle knock, feeling woozy, as if she’d slept for days. Pulling her turtleneck back over her head, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and flinched. Melted snow, her pillow, and a deep sleep had left one side of her head flat and the other side wild. Heronly option was to tie it all back or wear a hat. Hats weren’t permitted inside, so she reached for a hairbrush.
“They’ll still love you,” she assured her reflection, tying a ribbon. She gave her cheeks a pinch for colour. “They’ll be disappointed, but they’ll still love you.”
She couldn’t remember too many times in the past when she’d been reluctant to leave her room to face the music. Maybe once, when she was twelve and had broken her mother’s vase by throwing a ball indoors with Gus. Oh, and once when she was seventeen. She and Gus had wanted to go to a dance without permission, and she’d gotten caught sneaking out the window with his help. Tonight felt even worse somehow, even though none of it was her fault.
“Well, well, well!” Uncle Bob was the first to spot Dash coming down the stairs, and his happiness boomed through the house. “Isn’t this a treat!”
“Margaret!” Aunt Lou said, holding out her arms for a hug. “A delightful surprise!”
Dash looked to her father for his gentle smile and it calmed her a little.
“Your mother said you were home. I’m glad.” He held her tight enough that she felt the outline of bones in his shoulders. “We missed you.”
Sharing supper with them felt wonderful. She was happy to tell them all about Ginny and Mary, and they laughed, hearing about Mrs. Pidgett and the Pigeon Coop. She described Eisen’s Garage but kept the description brief, not yet brave enough to say anything further.
“And what about Dorothy?” Aunt Lou asked. “What is her latest news?”
“Last I heard, she’s training at Saint-Hyacinthe. They specialize in wireless telegraphy, radar, and coding.”
A special sort of pride lit up Dash’s father’s expression, and she saw a little more colour in his cheeks. He knew better than any of them how much a placement in this field would mean to Dot.
Her mother beamed. “All the things she loves.”
The awkward quiet that followed told Dash she hadn’t fooled anyone. After she finished eating, she folded her napkin and set it on the table.
“You’ve all been very patient,” she said. “Now that we’ve celebrated Dot’s well-earned success, I think it’s time I tell you that I’m in the opposite position. I was fired.”
There was a momentary silence, then their shock melted to disbelief.No, not you, Margaret, they all insisted.They must have made a mistake.
“It wasn’t a good place for me,” she hedged. “The boss’s son, he, uh…” She dropped her gaze to her lap, trying to get past the swelling in her throat, then she raised her chin. Burning with shame, she rolled down her turtleneck to reveal the marks Jim had left behind. “He wanted… He tried to take something from me that I wasn’t willing to give.”
She’d thought that she was strong enough to handle what had happened, that she could just get past what he’d done as if someone had tossed an insult, but saying it out loud, she felt the force of his arm on her neck again, the push of his mouth against hers, and her desperate need to escape.
Everyone at the table exclaimed in horror, then her mother was at her side, holding her.
“N-nothing happened,” she whispered as her embrace tightened. “I’m all right.”
Over her shoulder she saw her father staring at her, shocked.
“I’m all right, Dad.” She let go of her mother so she could see them all. “When I wouldn’t… play along, he told his father lies about me. They called me a thief and a ‘gussied-up grifter,’ and told me to go. So I left.”
“?‘Gussied-up grifter,’?” Uncle Bob said with disgust. “Best mechanic he ever had is more like it.”
“I am so sorry, sweetheart,” her aunt said, her hands clenched under her chin.
Her father’s eyes shone. “Margaret.”
“You can’t always protect me, Dad,” she replied, reading his helplessness. “I’m all grown up. I have to take care of myself now.”
“What will you do next?” her uncle asked.
