Besides, Mama and Daddy didn’t even know what was going to happen on December 7. They knew we would have another war, because Mama’s marked mother had told her, but they didn’t know how it would start or what it would entail. I had never told them. If they knew, would they advise us to go? Or would they tell us to stay in Washington?
“Maybe we should talk to Mama and Daddy about the opportunity,” I suggested. “They might have good advice.”
“What advice do you need?” Anna asked as she accepted a plate of mashed potatoes and meatloaf from the cook. “We’d be fools not to go. Can you imagine? A big ocean liner docked in Honolulu?”
Her green eyes lit up at the possibility, and it gave me hope. I’d thought about not telling her we’d been asked to go, butthat hadn’t felt justifiable. Anna had every right to make up her own mind—especially since I couldn’t tell her the future. She needed her own freedom to choose, just as I did. But since I had foreknowledge, my options were different.
“I already know what I will choose,” Anna said as she took a glass of milk and grabbed a dinner roll. “I want to go.”
I accepted my own plate of mashed potatoes and meatloaf and followed her to one of the tables near a window. It was still raining.
“Unless,” Anna said, moving her carrot cake off her tray and onto the table, “the offer only stands if you go.”
I shrugged. “I think they’d want you either way.”
“You know why Dr. Philips asked for you.”
I tried to pretend I was oblivious. “No. Why?”
“Maggie, the man is falling in love with you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I couldn’t meet her gaze. She’d see right through me.
“Everyone’s talking about it. It’s so obvious when you’re in a room together. You’ve captivated him, and you’re probably the only woman who’s ever had that effect on him before. No wonder he wants you in Hawaii with him. Can you imagine being romanced on Waikiki Beach?”
“He didn’t ask me to go there to romance me. I know that for certain. He respects my opinions and has come to rely on my help in the operating room. Nothing more.”
“You’re either lying to yourself or lying to me.” She cut into her meatloaf with her fork, shaking her head. “Even though he has a tough exterior, most of the nurses in this hospital would love to have his undivided attention.”
“I’m not most nurses.”
She kept cutting her meatloaf and muttered, “You’re most definitely not.”
My meal sat on my tray, unappetizing. Even if I had likedmeatloaf, it wouldn’t have appealed to me today. Everything felt off, and my stomach was in knots.
“I think Mama and Daddy will encourage us to go,” Anna said after a few bites of her food. “We could both use a change of scenery.”
But what we couldn’t use was the horrors of Pearl Harbor. She didn’t know what was coming, but I did. And I needed to decide whether it was up to me to prevent her from more death and devastation. She’d already had more than her fair share.
Yet I recalled what she’d told me before. It wasn’t my job to play God or to fix things for her. She was able to make her own decisions.
Perhaps going home to Williamsburg would help me find the answer.
15
JULY 21, 2001
WASHINGTON, DC
P Street was quiet as I walked toward home from my parking spot. My shift in the emergency room had been busy, for which I was thankful. But the thought of 1861 had always been there, like a splinter under my fingernail, irritating and worrying me. I was tired and my feet were sore, but I had several hours of studying ahead of me before I could go to sleep and face my fate.
It was Saturday evening, so I wasn’t sure if Delilah would be home. She was often out on the weekends. Sometimes, she’d invite me to go along with her, but since I usually said no, she didn’t always extend the invitation. It didn’t matter, since I would have said no tonight.
Dusk had fallen over DC, bringing cooler temperatures after the heat of the day. I took out my ponytail, since it was giving me a headache, and shook my hair. All I wanted to do was soak in a hot bath, but I needed to get a paper finished before Monday, and with church tomorrow, that only left tonight to finish researching before I’d start to write tomorrow afternoon.
My cell phone rang, so I pulled it out of my bag. “Hello?”
“Hey, kiddo. It’s Dad.”
