A long low whistle sounded in the distance. Joe stood tall, searched the horizon. Nothing yet. He checked his watch. It wouldn’t be long now.
Ten minutes later the train pulled into the station amid steamy soot that fell in clouds of white. Mrs. Banks inched forward, but Joe stayed back, allowing her the time with her daughter and husband. “Be careful, ma’am.”
“Oh, fiddlesticks. I’m downright talented with these things.” She grinned and held one of the crutches aloft like a trophy.
Like every month since the war had ended, the train was full of servicemen returning home. It would be months until everyone was home. Khaki-green and hopeful faces rushed through the mist, grabbed duffels and headed toward open arms.
Mrs. Banks burst into tears as Art did his best to support both women. Joe noticed Victoria’s wobbly steps. “Joe, if you’ll take my two girls, I’ll get the suitcases.”
Mrs. Banks sniffled and dabbed at her eyes. “I’m staying right next to you, dear. You’ve been gone too long. Grab on tighter so I can go with you.” She clutched at Art’s arm.
“You,” Art said, “will climb into the auto and get off that leg.” He pecked her cheek and left to retrieve the suitcases. He held up a hand. “No arguments, my dear. I want you safe first and foremost.”
“Here, Joseph.” She pushed Victoria toward Joe. “I think you two have things to discuss.”
Joe cupped Victoria’s elbows, steadying her. “Seemed like you couldn’t get here fast enough for me. We’ve been waiting over an hour.”
Her nose tilted. Classic slugger pose. “And why would you care when I got home?”
“What?” His fingers tightened on her arms. “Victoria. I’ve been going crazy when I couldn’t be with you. I hated leaving. Art had to practically shove me on the train. But he—”
“He what, Joe? Don’t bring my poor father into this. I was given medication to knock me out and you were gone. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers through gloves and it didn’t make much of a point. But he knew better than to laugh. “No goodbye, no calls, no notes. What did that mean? I can tell you. It meant you didn’t care one bit.” Her attitude only doubled and he could almost picture her on the mound.
“I—uh. You see…”
“Uh-huh. You told me what you thought I wanted to hear so that I’d do well with the operation. Didn’t want the poor girl facing life and death without something to look forward to. After that, no need to continue leading me on. I get it, Joe. No one has to beat me over the head. I appreciate the kindness. Now let’s go on about our business. You to your home and me to mine.”
“Hmm. Beat you over the head. Like a caveman?”
“What does that mean?”
“You are so impossible.” Without a thought to what anyone else might think, Joe pulled his hands off her arms, then reached around and wrapped her securely in his grasp. He held tight, leaving no chance for her to escape, then leaned toward her, their breath a dance of fog before his eyes. “It means I love you, Victoria Banks. I didn’t call, didn’t write, because if I had, I would have given in and told you what I was doing.”
She bit her lip the way that said she was unsure what to say next. Then Joe’s gaze narrowed on her lips until she stopped, looked away. “Wh-what do you mean…what you were doing? Just what have you been doing?”
“I have a surprise for you later this week. Not today. Today you need to go home and rest. Have the meal Mrs. Evans cooked for everyone. And I have to talk with your father.”
She twirled a piece of hair and tucked it behind her ear in a hesitant manner. “I thought you talked with him almost every day…about business. That’s what he said. Questions about the restaurant roof and the contract.”
Joe kissed the tip of her nose. Chilly response. “I did fill him in on those details. But not only that. I was checking on you. Making sure you were all right. It was killing me not to talk with you, but you see, I’m not good at keeping secrets.”
“Secrets, oh, sure.” She struggled against his hold, the moment of uncertainty long gone.
“Yes. Secrets. Why are you fighting me so hard?”
She let out a rush of air. “I’m not good at this he loves me, he loves me not business.”
“He loves you.”
Victoria stopped struggling. Her eyes widened and some of the attitude withered. “He does?”
“More than anything…more than anyone…ever.”
“Really?” Her face tilted up. If it had been anyone other than Victoria, he would have sworn she was almost begging him to kiss her.
“That’s right. I love you enough to have secrets.”
“Then I guess I can’t wait to find out what you’ve done, Joe.” Without warning, she snuggled into his embrace. “How about a hint what this is all about?” She licked her lips.
No more wasting time. He’d give her a hint, all right. With that, Joe bent down and captured her lips. The time in Lansing when he had returned home to no arms, no lips…well, he made up for it this time. This meeting in a train station had “welcome” spelled out in huge letters, and he, by everything he loved, wouldn’t miss the chance.
This time when Victoria’s heart galloped like a mare, she didn’t worry, well, not much. At first that old feeling returned, and then she realized this only meant her heart appreciated what her lips were doing.
She grinned up at him. “I think I’m all wobbly again.”
Joe immediately pulled back, a worried expression on his face. “Are you all right?”
“I’m just fine. For some reason, my legs feel like Grandma’s jelly. You’d better hold me tighter.”
“I aim to please, ma’am.” He slipped his hands under her open coat and around her waist so close it was hard for her to breathe. But she didn’t complain; rather, she snuggled into the warmth of his hold.
Locked in to his gaze, she put gloved hands on either side of his face and pulled him down into her embrace. And this time, she didn’t wait for Joe to initiate the kissing. He likes my independent spirit? Well, here goes.
That kiss sealed everything Victoria had ever wanted. Baseball, dance, nothing lived up to the touch of Joe’s gentle lips on hers, a kiss that promised a future, a life filled with his tender love. Once they finally came back up for air, she nodded. “I’ve actually never been better, Joe. Dr. Gross even said so.” Was that her eyes she saw reflected in his? They looked like thousands of little diamonds…stars in a brilliant sky. “And now that I’ve plied you with kisses, how about those surprises?”
“Oh, no, you don’t, missy.” He nipped the edge of her lip. “I think we’d better bargain some more.”
Epilogue
Eighteen months later
Joe, sweaty from the summer sun and hours of work with Art, ambled into the house…their house. The house he had completely remodeled top to bottom as a surprise for Victoria before they were married.
Victoria’s handiwork showed in every corner of the property. Roses in big washtubs filled the front porch. Orange-blossom bushes edged the drive, and irises filled the yard. Maybe most men didn’t notice such things, but Joe did. She had taken such pride in the house.
He stopped daydreaming and dashed for the front door.
He stopped at the threshold, and stared as his gorgeous wife, with four-month-old Lindy wrapped to her mother’s back papoose-style, danced around the front room. Victoria’s arms in the air, she stretched and bobbed, her feet delicate and sure with each step. Her voice shouted out the words to “Doin’ What Comes Natur’lly.”
And she was. Dancing was as natural to Victoria as breathing was to Joe. He respected that. He also respected the fact that Victoria had already bought a softball and tiny toy baseball mitt for their little princess. Ah, yes. Life would never be boring married to the most beautiful girl who ever lived. And, oh, Victoria did know how to live life.
He slipped in behind her and dropped a peck on Lindy’s pudgy pink cheek. “Glabba, gibbe, gooby.” Her little arms wa
ved in the air, a conductor to her mother’s symphony of song.
Victoria spun around on her toes. “How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to fall in love with the two sweetest girls in the world.” He leaned down and pecked Victoria on the lips, then drew her into his arms and waltzed the two of them around the room. Lindy giggled and cooed.
“Oh, no, mister. You don’t get off so easily as that.” She drew on her attitude once again. “A peck on the lips? Can’t you do better than that when I have such a fabulous surprise for you?”
Pie. Apple pie, he was sure.
“But I’m all dirty and sweaty.”
“And handsome and wonderful and—”
“Oh, yeah.” Joe crushed her to him, doing a better job of capturing her lips. “And I am so blessed, Mrs. Huntington, to have you in my life.” He leaned over her shoulder and tweaked Lindy’s little nose. “With the next pitcher for the Walnut Sluggers there, I don’t know how our lives could get any better.”
She lifted her hand, the dainty ring sparkling like fire on her finger. Then Joe noticed her face sparkled, as well.
“What would you say to a boy?”
“Really?”
She nodded. “Hopefully it will be a boy.”
His heart soared. Kissing her…hard this time. “I’d say this go-round, we’d better get a bat…and maybe some bandages for his eye.”
*
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ISBN-13: 9781460341308
The Soldier’s Homecoming
Copyright © 2014 by Linda S. Glaz
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
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