Dancing in the Rain by Amanda Harte Page A

her left hand. “Surely you and …” He paused, obviously searching for her fiancé’s name.
    “Ed.”
    “You and Ed must have planned the best time to become engaged.”
    “Actually, we didn’t. It just happened.”
    It had been late summer, one of those days when the sun shone from a sky so deeply blue that it almost hurt her eyes. Though the thermometer declared that it was close to a hundred, a light breeze and the shade of the live oak would have made it pleasant to sit on the swing, gliding ever so slowly, if the situation had not been so serious. Today was the day she and her sisters had dreaded. Not waiting to be drafted, Theo had enlisted in the Army.
    “What will I do if he’s killed?” Carolyn turned to the young man sitting next to her. When Martha and Emily had asked the same question, she had shook her head vehemently, denying that it could happen. Although Carolyn knew the realities of war and the heavy casualties the Allies had already endured, someone needed to be strong. Someone needed to hold out hope. But now that she was with Ed, there was no need for pretense. He would understand. “I can’t bear the thought of a world without Theo,” Carolyn said, her voice cracking with emotion.
    She had expected Ed to murmur soothing words. Instead, he took her hand between both of his and turned until he was facing her. “I wish someone cared whether or not I came back,” he said, his voice as bleak as her sisters’ had been when they spoke of Theo’s enlistment.
    “What do you mean?” Never before had Carolyn seen Ed so serious.
    “I enlisted this morning.”
    Carolyn felt the blood drain from her face. “Oh, Ed! Why did you do that?” Though everything else was changing around her, she had somehow believed that Ed would remain at home, that the draft would not take him. And now he had enlisted!
    The expression in his green eyes was almost reproachful as he said, “The same reason Theo did. I want to serve my country. Besides,” Ed lowered his eyes, as if he were ashamed of what he was about to say. “I figured I was expendable. No one would miss me.”
    Carolyn’s heart ached at the thought that Ed would believe that. “Don’t be ridiculous!” She squeezed his hand. “We’d all miss you. Your parents would miss you. I’d miss you.”
    Ed managed a weak smile. “Sure you’d miss your pal—for a couple weeks.” Beneath its thick coating of freckles, his face was pale, and Carolyn could feel his anguish. Poor Ed! He’d always been the odd one, tall, lanky, uncoordinated. When the other boys played sports, Ed was never asked to join them, for it was well known that he’d fumble the ball or trip over his feet. Though when he was with her, he could talk for hours, he was tongue-tied around other girls and—despite her coaxing—had never so much as asked one for a date. And now Ed, the boy who’d been her best friend, was going to war, thinking no one cared. She couldn’t let him believe that.
    “That’s not true!” Carolyn said, her voice thick with emotion. “I want you to be safe. I love you, Ed.” The words tumbled out, unplanned, but when she saw the spark of hope that lit Ed’s eyes, she couldn’t regret them.
    “You don’t really love me.” This was the Ed she knew, convinced that no one could love him. “You’re my friend.”
    “Of course I’m your friend.” The droop of his mouth told Carolyn those were not the words he wanted to hear. She couldn’t—she simply couldn’t—let him go to war, thinking he had no reason to return. In another of those impetuous acts that her mother had warned her about, Carolyn laid her free hand on Ed’s cheek, turning his face so that he was looking directly at her. She smiled, then lowered her eyes for a second. When she met his gaze again, she said softly, “I know it’s forward of me to say this, but … well …” She ducked her head again. “If you were to ask me a certain question …” Carolyn let her voice