Flying Angels(67)

“I might remind you of the same thing,” he told her. “Try not to get shot down or go missing. My sister said you’re rubbish at reading maps, and you had her walking all over France, trying to find your way home.”

“That wasn’t my fault. And maps never make sense to me,” she said, embarrassed.

“Good, then keep your ass on the plane, and don’t screw up our dinner plans.” He sounded just like Pru when he said it, and Emma laughed at him.

   “Oh God, you’re going to turn out to be just like her, aren’t you? She was such a pain in the ass at times, and so stubborn.”

“And you’re not?” He was laughing again.

“I’m only stubborn when I’m right,” she corrected him.

“Which you are most of the time?”

“No, all the time!”

“I can see this isn’t going to be easy. You’re going to be an enormous headache.”

“Just do what I say, and everything will be fine,” she said, and he pulled her close then and kissed her on the cheek.

“Damn stubborn girl. Behave yourself, and don’t get shot out of any damn airplanes, do you hear me?” She nodded and kissed him on the cheek too.

“You too. Goddamn Luftwaffe. See you next week for dinner.” He watched her run up the stairs, and she waved at him and disappeared into the building. He was smiling as he walked back to where he had left the car he had borrowed. She was such an interesting girl, and he was looking forward to their dinner.



* * *



—

Alex had another letter from Dan in April. He was vague about his whereabouts again, as he had to be. She knew he was on a ship somewhere, but he said they would be coming into port soon. He reminded her of his earlier invitation to meet him in Paris, and said he might drop by to see her at the base if she couldn’t. But Paris still sounded good to her. The Germans had left it eight months before, but the war wasn’t over yet. The Allies were reclaiming most of Europe. There were constant rumors now that the fighting was almost over.

   And then suddenly, finally, two weeks later, it was.

On the eighth of May, five years and eight months after war was declared in Europe, almost to the day, the war was over. Sirens blared, church bells were rung, horns honked. They still transported the wounded for another three weeks, but no one was trying to shoot them down now. They didn’t need a fighter escort. The bodies could repair and the boys could go home. And the air evac crews could fly them back to the base safely.

The nurses of the air evac transport unit were waiting for their final orders and discharge papers. Their families wanted to know when they would see them again. They didn’t know yet.

Dan called Alex from a small hotel where he was staying in Paris. He had a two-week leave and wanted to know if she could join him. And if not, he was sailing back to the States in a few weeks and docking in New York at the end of June. He said she could have her own room if she came to Paris, which made it sound like a good idea to her. She got a weekend off, and Emma said she’d cover for her. They were finally doing fewer runs and flying fewer missions.

They got their orders the day before she left for Paris. There was going to be an award ceremony on the tenth of June to honor the nurses who had been killed in combat. And on the fifteenth they were flying home. Lizzie called her parents to tell them. They were so relieved. They were waiting to hear from Henry. He was still in Okinawa, but he said in his letters that he was sure he’d be home soon.

   Alex called her parents, and her mother cried when she told her, which surprised Alex. Louise’s parents were going to meet her in New York and fly home with her. Emma was going to start looking for an apartment in London and apply for a job as a midwife in a hospital. Max got his orders the day after she did, and he had decided to look for a job in London too, probably at a bank.

Alex told Dan the good news when she met him at his hotel on the Left Bank. He had taken a room for her, just as he promised, and filled it with flowers for her. They walked down the Champs-élysées to the Place de la Concorde, and agreed that they’d never seen anything as beautiful. Paris was already recovering from the Occupation, and the city was jubilant, as all of Europe was. The Japanese hadn’t surrendered yet, but the war wouldn’t last much longer in the Pacific either.

“I think I dock in New York about a week after you get home,” Dan told her as they walked to the Trocadero, with its breathtaking view of the Eiffel Tower, and sat down at an outdoor café. “And what happens after that?” he asked her, admiring how beautiful she was. She was still in uniform. They both were. There were American uniforms all over Paris.

“I get a job and an apartment.” Alex smiled at him. “I haven’t told my parents that yet. But I can’t go back to living with them. I’d rather live in an army barracks.”

“Am I going to meet them?” he asked her.

“Yes, you are.” She had thought about it. Coming to meet him in Paris was a big step for her. It was a promise of things to come if all went well between them. And what better place to begin than Paris? She wanted her parents to meet him. She was proud to be with him, no matter what they thought. She no longer needed their approval, but she wanted them to meet the man she was falling in love with. “It won’t be fun,” she warned him.