The French War Bride by Robin Wells

later told me that it was when he first really noticed me. Before that, he’d thought I was just a junior high student who ran in a pack of girls and didn’t know my own mind. When I went down the aisle by myself, it showed him I had substance.”
    â€œBut you didn’t.” Amélie is nothing if not blunt. “You just said you only did it so you could go on a trip.”
    I swear, this woman is so tedious! I wave my hand. “What matters,in terms of our romance, is that Jack thought otherwise. And I wanted to live up to what he thought of me.” That had been a key part of my relationship with Jack, I thought. He made me want to be a better person, to become the person he thought I was.
    â€œWas Jack there when you were baptized?”
    â€œNo, thank heavens. He couldn’t attend every Sunday because of his farm. But the Sunday after that, he came up to me after church and said hello. I said hello back. He said he was interested in talking to my father about becoming a doctor, and wondered if I thought he’d mind answering some questions.
    â€œâ€˜Oh, no, I’m sure he’d love it,’ I said.
    â€œI took Jack right over to my father, and they shook hands. Daddy remembered Jack from an encounter a few years earlier when Jack had helped a sick friend.
    â€œâ€˜I’m interested in becoming a doctor, and I’d like to talk to you about it when you have time,’ Jack said.
    â€œJust like that”—I snap my fingers—“Daddy invited him to come home with us for Sunday lunch. Unfortunately, Jack couldn’t come; he had to take his sister home.
    â€œâ€˜Why can’t your mother take them?’” I’d asked him.
    â€œâ€˜She’s at the Methodist church with Mr. Brandon. They’re courting.’
    â€œâ€˜Your mother and the banker?’ It had boggled my mind that people so old would be interested in romance.
    â€œâ€˜Well, then, can you come back later this afternoon?’ Daddy asked. ‘You and I can talk, and then you can join us for supper.’
    â€œâ€˜Sure,’ Jack said. ‘I’d be delighted.’”
    1937
    Three of my friends came over to my house and helped me prepare for Jack’s arrival as if it were a date.
    â€œYou need to look older,” said Minxy. “Do something different to your hair.”
    â€œNo,” said Helen. “You don’t want to look like you’re trying to impress him.”
    â€œWhen he talks, you need to ask lots of questions,” Carol said. “You should act as if everything he says is absolutely fascinating.”
    â€œNo,” Helen protested. “You need to act bored. He’s probably sick of girls fawning all over him.”
    As it ended up, I stayed dressed in my Sunday best, my hair styled as it had been that morning. After all, that was my finest look.
    I sat at the dinner table across from him, my stomach too knotted to eat, while he and my father talked and talked. They talked colleges, they talked specialties, they talked about medical schools. My mother occasionally tried to introduce another topic.
    â€œSo, Jack—what is your favorite subject at school?” Mother asked.
    â€œI’d have to say biology,” Jack said. “Although I really enjoy chemistry, too.”
    That was the first—and maybe only—time I’d heard the words
enjoy
and
chemistry
used in a sentence together by a high school student.
    â€œThose were my favorites, too,” Daddy said. “Chemistry is the foundation of everything.”
    â€œI’m especially intrigued by electrochemistry,” Jack said.
    â€œOh, me, too!” Daddy said. “There’s some very exciting work being done with electrophoresis.” Then he was off and running on the topic.
    Mother ventured to break into the conversation a few minutes later. “Jack, have you seen any movies lately? Kat just saw
Topper
and thought