Until We Meet by Camille Di Maio

Author:Camille Di Maio
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: None
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2022-01-03T00:00:00+00:00

“It was simply the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen,” Margaret waxed to her parents at dinnertime. “Gosh, I wish you had both been there.”

Her father shrugged in the humble way she’d always loved. Her mother had a summer cold and he hadn’t wanted to leave her side in case she needed anything. While she laid down and listened to Guiding Light, he made a dinner of his own creation. A tough piece of pork cutlet and some undercooked green beans. But the love he put into them made them delicious. And besides, the food was far less important than the company.

“It’s enough that you were there and can tell us all about it,” her mother added. Her face looked tired, but her eyes glistened. “We’re so proud of you.”

Her words meant a great deal to Margaret, though they also inadvertently placed some anxiety in her heart. Without John, the burden of honoring her parents, of taking care of them, and of helping at the cobbler shop fell entirely on her shoulders.

And her father was noticeably slowing down. He didn’t want to give up the business, but the pace of the city was wearing on him and he would need her help if he was going to keep it up.

How would she even do that? Would she have to give up her job at the Navy Yard? She had no particular love for the engraving section, but she liked being a part of something that mattered as much as it did.

She’d hoped that working in the Navy Yard would help her decide what she wanted her future to look like. Gladys’s ambitions had opened her eyes to possibilities for women that she’d never dreamed about. And yet—when she held little Joanna in her arms, a love bloomed that lay deeper than anything she could have expected, inspiring a desire for one of her own one day.

Could a woman not find a way to have both?

Margaret would have thought the events of the day would have made her eager to nestle into the softness of her feather mattress, but she found herself unable to sleep. She got up well before the sun to pen her thoughts into a letter to William. She had been given the day off, despite it being a Monday, along with most of the women who had exhausted themselves with the festivities of the day before. Still, she found herself unable to sleep in late, as it had never been her habit.

She put on a light sweater and walked the letter out to the nearest blue mailbox. She hesitated before sending it off.

Increasingly, her thoughts turned toward writing to William. At first, she’d written to give some cheer to a soldier who was not otherwise hearing from home. Then his presence as a friend to John had warmed her heart. But as the months ticked by, penning words to him had become as cathartic as a diary and as vital as oxygen.

Especially of late. There was something about the last couple she’d received.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.