WASHINGTON, DC
I had been dreading December 7 for months, ever since I agreed to go to Pearl Harbor. All I could think about was waking up tomorrow in 1941 to face the bombing in the early morning hours. Everyone else would wake up thinking they would have a nice, leisurely Sunday off, but it would turn into the most horrific day any of us would ever experience and would linger with us for the rest of our lives.
Those of us who lived.
But today I was in Washington, DC, and I tried to focus on the work God had put in front of me. Thankfully, there had been no other major battles since both the Union and the Confederacy had gone into their winter camps, though the need for supplies hadn’t ended. I kept busy helping Clara collect and distribute those supplies when I wasn’t working at the hospital.
“It will be a dreary Christmas for our troops,” Clara lamented as I put on my wrap to leave her apartment.
“Perhaps we can offer a special program,” I said as I buttoned up my thick jacket. “Music, dancing, and treats. We cansolicit Washington to rally around her soldiers and give them a Christmas they won’t soon forget.”
Clara’s eyes filled with excitement, and she nodded. “I know just who to ask. The Ladies Aid Society will get behind this idea without hesitation.”
“Good.” I picked up my muffler and glanced out Clara’s front window. It was raining again. I had told Joseph I would walk home, but now I wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
A carriage pulled up while I was assessing the weather, putting a smile on my face.
“Mr. Cooper?” Clara asked, looking out the window.
“I mentioned I was going to be here this afternoon,” I said. “I’m surprised he remembered.”
“He must have realized you’d need a ride home.” Clara smiled. “Has he asked you to marry him yet?”
If the question had come from anyone else, I might have told them it wasn’t their business. But Clara had become one of my dearest friends over the past eight months. “No, he hasn’t.”
“Oh, he will.” She said it with such certainty, I tore my gaze from the window, where Gray was just getting out of the carriage. “A man doesn’t look at a woman the way he looks at you andnotpropose marriage.” She chuckled. “Well, not if he’s a decent sort of fellow, anyway. And Gray is the most decent man I’ve ever met.”
I couldn’t deny her claim since I felt the same way. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said to Clara, not wanting to make Gray walk up all the steps to her apartment, and afraid I’d be embarrassed if he suspected what we’d been discussing.
“Good-bye, Maggie,” Clara said, a smile in her voice. “Say hello to Mr. Cooper for me.”
I left her apartment and almost bumped into Gray on the stairway. My heart did a little somersault, and the cares I had shouldered throughout the day seemed to melt away. ThoughI could not shake the heaviness of tomorrow, seeing Gray gave me something else to think about.
“Good afternoon, Miss Wakefield,” he said, looking at me the way Clara had just mentioned.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Cooper,” I responded with a smile. “I didn’t expect to see you today.”
“When I saw the rain, I decided to pick you up. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.”
He looked a little sheepish. “I also sent a note to your house to tell Goldie and Saphira that I’m taking you to supper at the Willard Hotel.”
I smiled again. “Thank you. They could use an evening off, and I could use the distraction.”
Gray led the way down the stairs and then opened the front door for me. He popped up his black umbrella to hold over my head and followed me to his waiting carriage. The mud was so thick, it sucked my feet down into the mire and lined my hem.
He helped me into the carriage and then climbed in behind me, closing his umbrella. After he shut the door, the carriage pulled away from Clara’s apartment building.
When he turned to me, he said, “What’s bothering you?”
Could he so easily see the burdens I carried? No one else had noticed.
I let out a long exhale and looked down at my gloved hands. I had told Gray a lot about my other paths, but I hadn’t told him everything. He didn’t know about Zechariah or about WWII. I hadn’t wanted to bother him with the knowledge of either. Just like Papa, I didn’t want to tell Gray too much about America beyond 1861.
But it would be difficult to spend the entire evening with him and not mention Pearl Harbor.
“Tomorrow is going to be one of the most difficult days ofmy life—and one of the most detrimental days in American history.”
