Dancing in the Rain by Amanda Harte

Author:Amanda Harte
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: Fiction, General, Historical, Romance
ISBN: 9781410433190
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Published: 2011-01-19T20:12:32.819300+00:00

Chapter Eight

He didn’t mean anything by it. She knew that. The kiss was nothing more than a polite gesture, a type of greeting men used to employ. It had no more significance than his final words had. That had been a casual endearment, a phrase he would have used with any girl, especially on Christmas Day. When he called her “my dear,” Dwight meant nothing more than the soldiers did when they addressed Carolyn as “sweetie.”

Only a foolish woman would believe that there had been anything more, anything … romantic about Dwight’s words or his kiss. Carolyn wasn’t his dear any more than she was the patients’ sweetie. She was simply Nurse Wentworth, who assisted Dr. Hollins in surgery, who had taught him to dance, and who occasionally made him laugh. That was all, and she would do well to remember it.

Carolyn stood at the window, staring into the distance. The rain had turned to snow, and though one of the cooks was predicting that it would change back to rain by morning, Carolyn enjoyed the sparkle of moonlight on the newly fallen snow. It was part of the magic of this special day.

She touched the brooch Dwight had given her, her fingers tingling as they traced the outline of the delicate flowers. She hadn’t exaggerated when she had told Dwight that it was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she owned. Reluctantly she unpinned it and placed it back in the box. Though she felt a bit like Cinderella must have when the ball ended, the day was over, and it was time to put her finery away.

As she closed the jewelry box, Carolyn’s gaze fell on her left hand, and she felt her cheeks flush. How silly of her to think that the floral brooch was the most beautiful piece of jewelry she owned! Her engagement ring was the most wonderful gift she had ever received. Of course it was. How could she forget the pride and the love that she had seen on Ed’s face the day he had slipped it onto her hand? Ed was the most important man in her life; he was the reason she was here in France, and she would do well to remember that too.

But her dreams were troubled, and when she awakened, Carolyn’s head ached. If only the war were over. If she were home, surely she would not dream of a brown-haired man who kissed her hand and called her dear.

She was pulling on her stockings when the door opened. “Welcome back!” Carolyn jumped to her feet and hugged Helen as she entered the room. Carolyn was thankful Helen had returned. Maybe now she would be able to think rationally. Terms of endearment, kisses, and pieces of jewelry were subjects almost as dangerous as No Man’s Land. She needed to surround them with barbed wire as a reminder to keep her distance.

Helen tossed her valise on the floor and unpinned her hat. “How was your Christmas?” she asked, the satisfied smile on her face telling Carolyn Helen’s holiday had been everything she had hoped.

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