The French War Bride (33 page)

“Doctor!” called an urgent voice.

I turned and craned my head. The conductor was coming down the railcar aisle. “Is there a doctor on board?”

Jack rose and stepped out into the aisle. “I'm a doctor. What's the problem?”

“A boy in car four is having a fit.”

Jack grabbed his bag from under his seat. “I'll follow you.” He rested his hand on my shoulder for a moment. “Excuse me.”

“Of course,” I said.

—

He returned about an hour later. Elise was awake and playing with a rag doll.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes.” He sat down heavily. “It was a young man having an epileptic seizure.”

“Is he all right?”

“He is now, but the people seated around him were really unnerved.” He shook his head. “One woman insisted he was demon-possessed.”

“Oh, la!”

“The conductor wanted to put him off the train.”

“Why? Is it likely to happen again?”

“Not anytime soon. He took some medicine that will prevent it. I spent more time calming down the conductor and his seatmates than I did actually treating him. Fortunately, his destination is the next stop.”

“What causes epilepsy?”

“There are lots of theories, but sometimes we see it begin after brain trauma. We'll have a lot more of that with the war veterans returning. But in about half the cases, it appears to be hereditary. There's a lot of good research going on right now, and in the next few years, we should have better answers and better treatments.” He looked at me. “I'm surprised you know what it is.”

“I've read about it.”

“For a farm girl, you're awfully well read.”

“Well, I'm interested in a lot of topics. But speaking of well read—as a small-town doctor, you will have to know about all sorts of different diseases and disorders.”

He nodded. “And one of the most important things to know is when I don't know enough and when to refer a patient to a specialist.”

The train started to slow. “Cleveland,” called the conductor. “Next station stop, Cleveland.”

Jack rose again. “I'm going to go help my patient and his mother get off the train.”

“That's very kind of you.”

“Well, he may be feeling a little weak. We'll get some supper after this stop, okay?”

“Yes.”

I watched him go, thinking he was one of the kindest, most considerate men I'd ever known. His fiancée was one lucky girl, indeed.

I also uncharitably wondered if she deserved him. Did she have any idea just how special he was?

2016

I
know I said I would keep quiet, but I just can't do it anymore. “Of course I knew he was special,” I huff.

“Yes,” Amélie replies. “I see that now.”

“You were falling in love with him.”

She nods. “I didn't realize it at the time, but I was. I didn't want to be, but I couldn't help it.”

“Jack always had that effect on women. He was so good-looking.”

“Yes, but his appeal was far more than his appearance. What was truly devastating was his kind heart.”

“Kind!” I glower at her. “You think it was kind of him to practically jilt me at the altar?”

“He felt terrible about that,” Amélie says. “If you knew him at all, you must realize how difficult that was for him.”

It couldn't have been more difficult than it was for me. I sniff. “So did you seduce him that night?”

“Non.” Amélie crosses her legs. “We slept in the bunk beds. He was a perfect gentleman. He took the top bunk. He gave me privacy to undress and ready myself for bed. Nothing happened. Nothing at all. It was on the second train that everything changed.”

Now we are getting somewhere. I lean forward.

“Are you sure you want to hear this?” Amélie asks. “Perhaps it will be too painful.”

“No, no, no! Don't you dare stop now!”

She dips her head in a graceful nod. “All right, I will continue. But you must be quiet and let me talk.”

“I will.”

“I realize this will not be easy for you to hear.”

“Please. I want to know.”

“Do you want to hear the things he said about you?”

“Oh, yes. I especially want to know that.”
Unless you are making it up to hurt me
.

“It might make you angry.”

“I have been angry for years.”

She lifts her brows and gives a little smile, as if I have said something amusing.

“I will become angry only if I think you are lying to me or not telling me everything,” I say.

“I have no reason to lie or withhold information—if you are sure you can bear to hear it.”

“You cannot tell me anything that will make me hurt worse than I have already,” I say.

“All right, then. Here goes.”

1946

W
e changed trains in Chicago the next morning. We handed our tickets to the conductor and he led us to a Pullman car, where the porter greeted us with a big smile and carried my bag through the doorway to a room immediately to the right. Jack carried Elise.

I paused at the door. “This can't be right.”

The porter looked at the ticket. “Oh, yes, ma'am. This is your room. Says right here.”

“But . . . it looks like there's just one bed.”

“That's right. A double.”

Or maybe a triple. The bed took up the entirety of the room. There was barely space to get in it or around it. There was certainly no space to put a cot, or even for a person to stretch out and sleep on the floor.

The porter showed off the room as if it were his pride and joy. “An' over here, you have a toilet an' a wash sink behind that li'l wall. An' that li'l space right here in front of it will work great as a spot for the baby to sleep in a suitcase.”

Jack cleared his throat. “This room—it isn't what I paid for. It's much too fine.”

“Sometimes the agent will upgrade a lucky client. The 'spensive rooms don' always sell out.”

An upgrade. This was what I had gotten for saying I was pregnant. I looked at Jack and knew he was thinking the same thing.

Jack cleared his throat. “Well, um, is there any way we can change to just two bunks in a sleeping car?”

“You don' like this room?” His eyes grew wide and round.

“Well, it's very nice,” Jack said, “but it doesn't seem right.”

“It don' cost you no more.”

“Still, could we just have two bunks?”

His forehead wrinkled like a prune. “Why you wanna change?”

“Well, we uh . . .” Jack paused, cleared his throat, ran his hand across his jaw, then jammed both hands in his pockets. “Can you do it or not?”

“No, suh, I can't. All the sleepin' accomm'dations are all full. An' I don' have no authority to go changin' accomm'dations. You'd have to get off and talk to the ticket agent, but I can tell you, you'll just end up havin' to wait a day or two for the next train.”

Jack looked so distraught that I almost laughed. “It's all right, dear,” I said. “I'm so tired, I'm sure I can sleep through all your tossing and turning and snoring. Even your teeth grinding and sleep kicking probably won't bother me.”

The porter's large teeth gleamed. “Well, goody, then! Y'all let me know if I can get you anything.” He pulled the door closed behind him.

Jack carefully laid the sleeping Elise on the bed, then looked at me, his right eyebrow cocked high. “Sleep kicking?”

I lifted my shoulders. “I thought you'd prefer that to me saying that you wet the bed.”

“You wouldn't have dared!”

“Oh, no?” I grinned. “I really can't resist a good dare, so if you're challenging me, I'll just call back the porter, and . . .” I turned as if I were going to the door.

He took a step toward me. “You wouldn't.”

“Oh, but I would. And I think I should. I think the porter would love a good bed-wetting tale to share with his coworkers.” I stepped closer to the door and put my hand on the doorknob. “He looked like he'd enjoy a laugh, didn't he?”

Jack picked me up and hauled me away from the door. Laughing, I kicked my feet in the air. He finally set me down.

“You're just pure trouble, aren't you?”

“Yes, pretty much.” Laughter bubbled out of me. “Oh, you should have seen your face! You looked so shocked and outraged!”

His lips curved in a rueful smile. “It took me a moment to realize you were kidding. I'm not used to being teased.”

“You need more of it.”

“Maybe I do.”

He still had his hands on my arms, and we were standing very close together, just smiling at each other, and suddenly the air changed. It crackled, like radio signals. His eyes darkened, becoming all pupil. I found it hard to breathe.

His gaze slid to my lips, and his fingers tightened on my arm. We moved closer. I wasn't sure who moved first. It seemed as if the very ground were moving.

And then I realized it was. The train was pulling away from the station.

Jack abruptly dropped his hands and stepped back, as if awakening from a trance. “Well. We seem to be under way.”

“Yes.”

But something else was under way, as well—something as powerful as a locomotive, and possibly just as hard to stop.

—

Jack moved toward the door. “I'll go find the porter and tell him that I'm a doctor. With a train this size, they're likely to need one at some point.”

He headed out of the cabin, closing the door behind him.

When he came back, we both tried to act as before, but we were too polite, too stiff, too oddly formal. We read, we talked, we played with Elise. We tried to ignore the enormous bed in the center of the room—the bed we would be sharing.

After about an hour, Jack finally addressed the elephant in the room.

“I would offer to sleep on the floor, but there's no room to stretch out.”

“Don't be ridiculous. It's a huge bed. We'll just each keep to our side.”

Jack sighed. “Kat won't like this.”

“Then don't tell her. There's no need for her to know everything.”

“If she asks, I'll be obligated to tell her.”

“If she loves you, I'm sure she trusts you. You're worrying about it too much.”

He was quiet for a moment. “I know what I'll do; I'll ask for extra pillows. We'll put them down the center of the bed.”

“Why don't you just ask for that prickly fence the cowboys use in the movies?”

“Barbed wire?”

“Yes. That's it.”

“Very funny.”

“I'd hoped you'd think so.” I stopped smiling when I saw that he was still frowning. “You're really worried about it, aren't you?”

“It seems improper.”

“It's not much more improper than sharing a room, which we've already done for two nights.” He was still frowning. “If Kat is as wonderful a girl as you deserve, she will be understanding. You are doing a very kind thing for me and the baby.”

“And Doug. And Doug's parents.”

I had completely forgotten about them. Guilt burned in my chest. “Bien sûr. Yes, for them, too.”

—

We got off the train and grabbed a sandwich at Glenview, then climbed back on.

“Y'all know there's a sittin' room you're free to use, don' you?” the porter said.

“Really?” Jack said.

He nodded. “This Pullman was 'specially outfitted for groups travelin' together. People often rent out the whole car, but no one did this time. So there's a room with a sofa and chairs in the center. You can sit out there instead of stayin' in that li'l room all the time.”

“Why, thank you,” I said.

It was our saving grace. We met up with our fellow passengers—all of whom seemed be very well-heeled. One older couple, Rose and Wilbur
Atkins, took to Elise immediately. Rose was a petite woman with immaculately styled silver hair and a British accent. Wilbur was a bulky man with a wide, friendly face.

“Oh, what a beautiful baby!” Rose said. “She looks like a perfect blend of her mommy and daddy.”

Jack opened his mouth to speak. I could tell he was about to correct her assumption, but what would that do but muddy the waters? I jumped in. “Doesn't she? And Jack is wonderful with her. She absolutely adores him.”

“A real daddy's girl,” Rose said. Elise cooed, then reached for Jack's ear. Jack was standing her on his lap, his hands on her waist, and Elise was doing knee bends.

“She looks like she's full of mischief,” Wilbur said.

“She gets that from her mother,” Jack said, giving me a sidelong look.

“Well, with that face, she could get away with anything.”

“Again, just like her mother,” Jack said.

I gave him a slight kick, but the flirtatiousness of the remark thrilled me.

We learned that the couple was from Chicago, going to California to celebrate their thirtieth wedding anniversary.

“Rose wants to see where the movie stars live,” Wilbur said.

“Oh, how exciting!” I exclaimed.

Rose and I talked about movies and movie stars, while Jack and Wilbur discussed business. When he learned Jack's background, Wilbur was extremely impressed.

“This young man is a doctor,” he told his wife. “He just got out of the army after serving overseas.”

“Oh, how marvelous! Is that how you two met?”

“Yes,” I said. “He was working in a hospital in Paris.”

“Oh, my! We had a wartime courtship, as well,” Rose said. “The first war, of course. I lived in England, and he was based there. We'd known each other only three days before he asked me to marry him.”

“Goodness!” I said.

“When it's right, you just know it,” Wilbur said. “I figured, why waste time?”

“How did you know it was right?” I asked. “Did you have a lot in common?”

“Oh, no. We were polar opposites,” Rose said. “We still are. He loves watching sports, I can't stand them. I love opera, he hates it. I think the house is always too cold, he thinks it's too warm. He's very conservative about politics, and I'm a progressive.”

“But you seem very happy all the same,” I said.

“Oh, we are. We've learned to appreciate our differences, rather than fight about them.”

Wilbur, it turned out, was a stockbroker who had managed to liquidate most of his holdings before the big crash.

“How did you know to do that?” Jack asked.

Wilbur lifted his shoulders. “I followed a hunch.”

The concept fascinated me. “Like a premonition?”

“Well, it wasn't a dream or vision or anything like that. It was more just a feeling, a sense that things were about to change. Investors were getting a little too reckless, and the economy had stopped growing. I'm sure a lot of people noticed the same things. The only difference is, I acted on it.”

Jack leaned forward. “Can you say why?”

Wilbur lifted his bulky shoulders. “Danged if I know! The good Lord was watching out for me, maybe. I always try to start my day talking to him. Anyway, I decided to liquidate just about everything and invest in real estate. As they say, no one can make more land. Before I could buy very much, though, the market crashed.”

“Good thing you followed your instincts.”

Wilbur nodded. “I've never regretted a decision I made with my gut. It was like that when I met Rose.”

“Where did you meet?” I asked.

“At a dance for servicemen put on by a women's auxiliary in London. I just knew, early on, that she was the one.” He smiled over at her, and took her hand.

“He told me he felt as though we'd already met,” Rose said. “And the funny thing is, I did, too.”

“Like déjà vu?” I asked.

“No, more just a sense that she was familiar.” He gave her an adoring look. “She was exactly what I'd been longing for all my life, and I recognized her when I met her.”

“That's so beautiful!” I said.

Rose nodded, her eyes a little misty.

Wilbur patted her hand, then glanced at us. “You two probably felt the same way.”

“I definitely felt like I'd been looking for Jack.” I shot him a mischievous glance.

It was his turn to kick me under the table.

“I think intuition plays a bigger role in life than most people realize.” Wilbur turned to Jack. “Do you ever get hunches in your line of work?”

To my surprise, Jack—logical, rational Jack!—nodded. “Actually, I have. I've had hunches to run a certain test or look for symptoms that didn't seem obvious. But I'm sure you're right. No doubt I was subconsciously picking up on little signals and signs.”

Elise chose that moment to set up a squall. “I think that's a sign she's tired,” I said with a smile. “It's time for her nap.”

“Why don't you two join us for dinner?” Wilbur asked. “As our guests, of course.”

“Oh, we don't want to impose,” Jack said.

“It wouldn't be an imposition. It would be our pleasure.”

“I think it sounds marvelous,” I piped up. Being around another couple helped defuse the tension between us.

“All right,” Jack conceded. “But we will pay our own way.”

“No, no, no. Listen, son.” The older man leaned forward and clapped Jack on the back. “I have the highest respect for doctors and servicemen, and I would be absolutely honored to have you as our guests at every meal for the rest of your time on this train.”

“Why, how wonderful!” I said. “That sounds delightful, doesn't it, Jack?”

“And furthermore, my maid Sue can watch little Elise so you two don't have to have her in your lap nonstop,” Rose said.

“Why thank you,” I said, touched at the generosity.

“In fact, anytime you'd like a break, Sue would be happy to watch her. She watched our two boys when they were young, and she's as reliable as the day is long. She can't wait to take care of the grandkids in California.”

—

Dinner with the Atkinses was filled with much joviality and laughter.

“When is your actual anniversary?” I asked Rose.

“Next week,” said Wilbur. “We'll celebrate in Los Angeles with our sons and their families.”

“Thirty years—that is so wonderful!” I said. “What is the secret to a long and happy marriage?”

“Putting little notes under each other's pillows.” Wilbur gave Rose a wink.

Rose blushed, and hit him on the arm. “Give them advice they can use,” she scolded.

“Well, I think our notes help keep things lively,” Wilbur said. “It's important to have a secret way to communicate with each other.”