A Woman's Place by Lynn Austin

Author:Lynn Austin
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2006-04-29T12:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

February 1943

“Allied forces capture Guadalcanal, in the Solomon Islands,

after heavy fighting.”

* Jean *

Jean’s boyfriend hadn’t exaggerated when he’d described the grueling trip between his farm and Stockton. Jean found out firsthand when she left town on the early morning bus one Saturday in February and spent a long, cramped day trying to get home to Indiana. Three times she changed buses, waiting in dirty, overcrowded stations, but she would have changed a dozen times for the chance to see her twin brother, Johnny, again, home on furlough before the air force shipped him overseas. She could hardly wait.

As the familiar scenes of her hometown came into view at last, Jean found it hard to believe that more than a year had passed since John left home for boot camp and she had moved to Stockton. Before the war they’d never been separated for more than a day and had never celebrated their birthday apart. She sat on the edge of her seat as the bus pulled into town, eager for her first glimpse of him. She spotted Russ instead, looking tall and handsome, and realized how very much she had missed him. And there beside him was Johnny! He looked so different in his air force uniform that she might not have recognized him among all the other soldiers if Russ hadn’t been standing alongside him. Johnny’s girlfriend, Sue, clung to his arm.

Jean grabbed her belongings and bolted off the bus. Russ ran to greet her first, lifting her into his arms. He kissed her in the parking lot in the frigid February air, not caring who saw them, and every mile of the weary journey had been worth it.

“Oh, Russ! It’s so good to see you!”

“I’m never letting you out of my arms again.”

They kissed once more as the bus roared off to its next destination, enveloping them in diesel fumes. Jean barely noticed the cold or the smell. She finally held Russ in her arms.

“Hey, save a hug for me,” her brother said as he sauntered up to them. Russ released her, and Johnny pulled her into his arms, whirling her in a circle.

“You look wonderful, Johnny,” she laughed. “You’ve grown up!”

“Yeah, you too. Is that what happens when you leave home? Look at you all dolled up. You look like a city girl, not a farm girl.”

“I’m still the same underneath.” She turned to Johnny’s girlfriend, who had hurried forward to reclaim him again. “Hi, Sue. How are you?”

“Great, now that Johnny’s home.”

Sue wrapped her arms around him, as if determined to hold on to him every moment that she possibly could, and some of Jean’s happiness turned to worry. Johnny had written to say that Sue wanted to get married while he was home on furlough. Jean had mailed a quick letter back to her brother on the same day.

We’re going to college after the war, remember? she had written. You’ll have plenty of time to get married after we graduate and get jobs. She hoped he had heeded her advice.

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