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Did you eat? He felt guilty, realizing how long he had left her alone, and he suddenly suspected, correctly, that she hadn't eaten. She had been too shy to approach any of the long tables surrounded by their neighbors. I am not very hungry, Boyd-san. It is warm.

I'll get you something right now. She was slowly growing accustomed to Western food, although most of what she cooked for them was the Japanese style he had come to love in Japan and that her mother had taught her. I'll be right back. He kissed her again and hurried toward the tables, still laden with the food Olivia and her mother had prepared, and then as he started back toward her with a plate, he stopped, unable to believe his eyes. Still carrying Hiroko's long-delayed lunch, Boyd hurried toward the tall, dark-haired man shaking hands with Tom Parker. He stood out from the rest of the guests in a dark blue blazer and white slacks, with a bright red tie, and an aura about him that bespoke a world of ease far, far from the valley. He was only five years older than Boyd, and he looked different now, but they had been close friends in the Pacific. Spencer Hill had been his commanding officer and Tom's, he had even come to Boyd and Hiroko's wedding in Kyoto. And as Boyd approached him with a broad grin, Spencer was shaking Tom's hand and congratulating him, looking suntanned and at ease, and as comfortable there as he had been in Japan in his uniform. He was a man who seemed at ease anywhere, his deep blue eyes seemed to take in the whole scene at a glance and a moment later he was laughing at Boyd Webster.

Well, I'll be damned ' you again! The freckle-faced kid! How's Hiroko? Boyd was touched that he remembered her name, and he smiled as he waved toward the trees where she was standing.

She's fine. Christ, it's been a long time, Captain' . Their eyes met in instant memory, of the pain they had shared, and the fears, but there had been more than that, there had been a closeness that would never come again. A closeness born of sorrow and excitement and terror, and victory too. But the victory had seemed a small moment compared to the rest, and it was the years before that they all remembered. Come and say hello to her. Spencer excused himself from the group and left Tom to his cohorts, in high spirits by then, and anxious to get back to the barn for more whiskey.

How've you been? I wondered if you'd be here. Or if the two of you would have moved to the city by now. He had often thought that it would be easier for them to live in a place like San Francisco or Honolulu, but Boyd had been determined to go home to the valley he had so often talked of.

Hiroko's eyes filled with surprise and she bowed when she saw him. As Spencer smiled down at her, she looked as tiny and delicate as she had a year before at her own wedding. But there was something more in her eyes now, a wisdom and sadness that hadn't been there before, and Spencer easily suspected that the past year had been neither kind nor easy.

You look beautiful, Hiroko. It's good to see you both again. He gently took her hand in his own, as she blushed, not daring to look up at him, as her husband watched them. The Captain had been so decent to both of them, he had done everything he could to discourage them from getting married, but in the end, he had stood by Boyd as he had all his men, in battle and out. He was the kind of man his men knew they could always turn to. He was strong and intelligent and kind, and relentless when they let him down, which they seldom did. There had been few men in his command who didn't want to live up to the example he set them. He worked hard, fought alongside them, and was seemingly tireless as they struggled to win the war, and now it was so strange ' it was over, and here they were, halfway around the world, safe again, yet none of it was forgotten. It's been a long time, hasn't it? Spencer's eyes met Boyd's, and he saw something older and wiser there, they had both seen pain together in the war. Yet, out of uniform the handsome captain seemed much younger than he had the last time they'd met, when Boyd left Japan for San Francisco.

I didn't know you'd be here today, Boyd said quietly, happier to see him than Spencer knew. He was the first person who had spoken kindly to Hiroko since she'd arrived in California in September. Tom didn't tell me.

He was probably too busy thinking about his bride. Spencer smiled a wide easy smile at them both. I wrote and told him I'd try to come, but I wasn't sure myself until a few days ago. I was supposed to be back in New York by now. But I never seem to want to leave California. He glanced around and Boyd handed Hiroko the plate and urged her to try it, but she was more interested in their friend than the food, and she set the plate down carefully on a tree stump just behind her.

Are you out here on vacation, sir? Boyd's eyes were filled with the affection and respect that had marked their relationship in Japan, and Spencer shook his head and laughed openly.

No, I'm not, and for chrissake, Webster, the name is Spencer, or have you forgotten?

Boyd Webster blushed bright red, as he had always done, even in the heat of battle. It had won him a lot of nicknames from his CO. and now the two men laughed again. I figured you might court-martial me if I said it. Hiroko smiled, watching them, it reminded her of a happier time far, far from here, when she was at home, and not an unwelcome stranger.

Believe it or not, I'm back in school again. I couldn't figure out what else to do after the war. I just finished a year of law school. He had managed to complete almost two years in one, and would be graduating from Stanford Law School the following summer.

In the East? Boyd figured that a man like Spencer Hill would go to a school like Yale or Harvard. He knew he had money, although he didn't know how much. Spencer never talked about that kind of thing, but he had always had an aura of education and background, and they'd all heard rumors that he was from an important family in the East, not that he ever said it. He'd gone to college, they all knew, and he was an officer, but the rest of it was a mystery, and crawling through a mine field none of it had seemed important.

But Spencer was shaking his head, looking at his young friend, thinking how far this place was from the world he knew. It seemed light years from the sophistication of San Francisco. It was a little pocket of a life he never even thought of, a world of ranches and farms, and people who worked the land. It was a hard life, and even at twenty-two, Boyd's face seemed to show it. No, I'm at Stanford. I stopped here on the way home, and I fell in love with it. I enrolled before I went back to New York. I figured that if I waited until after that, I'd never do it. I love it out here. It seemed remarkable that Stanford was only three hours away, it might as well have been in another country. I'll be back in the fall. I promised my folks I'd go back East this summer. I only had a few weeks with them after I got out of the service, and then I started law school. It seems a little crazy at my age, but a lot of guys seem to have gotten slowed down by the war. Some of them are even older than I am. And you, Boyd? What are you up to? Hiroko had sat down quietly and was listening to their conversation. She wondered how much Boyd would tell him about their hardships. He never complained, not to her, anyway, and these days she knew he hardly had anyone else to talk to. It had amazed them both when Tom had asked him to be best man at his wedding. No one else ever invited them, or even talked to them, and sometimes old Mr. Petersen even had to pump the gas himself, because someone would refuse to let Boyd help them.

Things are okay. It was hard finding work, with everyone coming home at the same time. But we're doing fine. Hiroko watched him, her eyes giving away nothing as Spencer nodded.

I'm glad. He had worried about them both, and had reproached himself more than once for not staying in touch. He had cared about Boyd a great deal when he was one of his men, and he had worried about his marriage to Hiroko. It was good to know that things had worked out for them. There were others, he knew, who hadn't fared as well, men who had become estranged from their families as a result of the war brides they brought home, who had turned to drink, and even suicide, abandoning the women they had brought home to an unforgiving country. But they both looked well, and they were still together, that was something. Do you ever come to San Francisco?

Boyd smiled and shook his head. Life was hard enough where they were, and they wouldn't have had the money for gas anyway, but he didn't tell Spencer that. He was young and proud, and he knew they were going to make it.

You ought to come and see me sometime. I've got one more year before I'm a lawyer. Hell of a thought, isn't it? They both laughed, but Boyd wasn't surprised. The Captain had had an aura of success about him even then, he was well liked by everyone, enlisted men and officers. Boyd had always suspected he would be an important man one day, and being a lawyer seemed like only the first step on the ladder. Spencer looked around him, as Boyd smiled at him, and then their eyes met again. What's Tom's bride like? She looks like a nice girl.

She's all right. She's a friend of my sister's. And with that, they both laughed. Spencer had heard a lot about Ginny Webster. She was always sending Boyd photographs of herself in bathing suits, and asking him to find her soldiers to write to. She was just a teenager then, with the same bright red hair as her brother, and the same freckles, but a rather amazing body. The Wyatts are good people. Tom's going to be working on the ranch with Becky's father. To Boyd, it sounded like a gift from God, but he was embarrassed suddenly, thinking that it was a lot less glamorous than studying law at Stanford. But Spencer felt only respect for them as he looked around him in open admiration. The ranch looked comfortable and clean and prosperous and the guests talking beneath the trees looked like decent, solid people. Tad Wyatt's a fine man. Tom is pretty lucky.

So are you. Spencer said the words very softly, glancing at Hiroko and then at Boyd with warmth in his eyes and a touch of envy. There was no one he cared about, no one he loved or who loved him as Hiroko did her husband. He almost envied them that, except that he was in no hurry. There were plenty of women in his life, and he was having a good time. At twenty-seven he was in no hurry to settle down. There were other things he wanted to do first, like finish law school and go back to New York afterward. His father was a judge and had told him that the smartest thing he could do was become a lawyer. With a law degree, and the connections he would make at a school like Stanford, there was a good life in store for him. And with his looks and easy ways, a lot of doors were going to open to Spencer Hill. They always had, he led a charmed life, and wherever he went, people liked him. He had integrity and style, and he was smart as hell. It had saved his life more than once in the Pacific, and the lives of his men. Whatever he lacked in experience, he made up for with ingenuity and courage. Should I be mingling with the guests?

Boyd laughed. Sure. Come on, I'll introduce you to my sister.

Finally, Spencer Hill teased. Will I recognize her without a bathing suit on? But as they walked slowly toward the rest of the guests, he saw instantly who she was, not only from the bright red hair so like Boyd's, but from the body poured into the tight pink dress and matching jacket. The laughing girl, more than a little tipsy on wine, and still clinging to the wilting bouquet she'd caught from Becky, could only be Boyd's sister, Ginny. Boyd introduced them, and Ginny blushed a bright pink that almost matched her dress, as Spencer shook her hand and told her how brave her brother had been in the Pacific.

He never told me how handsome you were, Captain. She giggled and pressed close to him, smelling of cheap perfume and wine, as Boyd then introduced him to their father, but it was obvious from the disapproving look of the older man who shook Spencer's hand that relations with his son were strained, and it was easy to figure out that it was because of Hiroko.

Spencer stood in their midst for a little while, reminiscing with Boyd and Tom, and then left them to help himself to a glass of the ranch wine. He chatted with a few of the guests, and then wandered off to stand alone beneath the trees for a time, feeling the peace of the countryside stir something in him that had long been forgotten. His life was so full of urban pursuits and his studies at Stanford that he seldom had time to drive out alone to a place like this. It was like a step back in time, the old people sitting beneath the trees at the tables with the white linen cloths fluttering gently in the breeze, and the children running and shouting in the distance. If he closed his eyes, he imagined that it could be in France, or almost in another century, the families and friends talking and laughing, and the hills stretching beyond them, as he stood beneath the enormous trees, and then suddenly he sensed that someone was watching him. He turned and saw a beautiful child staring at him, she was barefoot, and taller than most of the women there, but there was no doubt in his mind that she was still a little girl. A child with the body of a woman, and huge blue eyes that seemed to pierce to his very soul as she watched him. A long, graceful hand swept a mane of white-blond hair away from a face that startled him with its beauty. He stood without moving as their eyes met, and neither of them spoke as he looked at her, unable to tear his eyes away from her. He had never seen anyone as (beautiful, or as innocent, in her simple dress, her feet bare as she stood in the grass, and he longed to reach out and touch her.

Hello. He spoke first and she seemed afraid to answer. He wanted to smile at her, but he felt paralyzed by the effect of her eyes, they were a blue he couldn't remember ever having seen before, the color of a lavender summer sky in early morning. Are you having fun today? It seemed a stupid thing to say, but he couldn't tell her how lovely she was and it was all he wanted to do as she watched him. And then slowly, she smiled at him, walking carefully toward him like a young doe emerging from the forest. She was curious about who he was, he could see it in her eyes, and he was afraid he'd frighten her away if he moved any closer. He would have to let her come to him, and he wanted to hold out a hand to bring her nearer.