“I’m not married,” she blurted out. “That is, I know the files say I am, but the truth is my husband isn’t missing in action. He left five years ago after our daughter, Tess, was born.”
She studied his face in the semidarkness to see if he was angry at the lie. “You’ve raised her alone all of this time?” he asked. She nodded. “Then this mission should be a piece of cake.” For the first time since she’d met him, she heard humor in his voice.
Then he reached over and touched her hand. “Your daughter will be very proud when she is old enough to understand.” His fingers curled around hers, stayed. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. His breathing grew longer and even. Watching him rest, his face calm and peaceful, a tenderness rose in her. She stopped, surprised. She could not have feelings for him. She had buried that part of herself away long ago, when Richard left. And she had spent years keeping to herself, so that such a thing could not happen again. But as she lay close to Julian, his hand warm on hers in the darkness, she knew what she felt was undeniably real.
She remembered then the way he had gazed fondly at her on the train. Was it possible that the attraction she felt to Julian was mutual? It was just loneliness, she told herself, the weeks and months he had spent on the move by himself. There couldn’t be more. Josie had joked about “things happening out in the field.” She could not have meant Julian, though. His only focus was the mission. He wouldn’t let anything interfere with that.
Nor would she, Marie thought, sleepily now. She was here to do the job and get back to Tess. She couldn’t afford to let anything get in the way of that. She considered pulling her hand from Julian’s, then decided against it. Instead, lulled by the warm comfort of his touch, she let herself drift off to sleep.
Sometime later her eyes fluttered open. Through the window the sky was turning from gray to pink. Marie sat up, cursing herself for oversleeping when Julian said he needed to go before dawn. She wondered if he had slept too long as well. But when she looked up, he was awake, watching her. Her eyes met his and held as they had on the train. But it was daylight now, their feelings unmasked and out of the shadows.
She forced her gaze away. “What time is it?”
“Nearly dawn,” he said, reading the hour by the color of the sky.
“I should never have fallen asleep,” Marie said, jumping up.
He stood. “It’s all right.” He had been awake and could have gone sooner. But he had not. “That’s the first real sleep I’ve had in weeks.”
There was a rustling sound from the door. When Marie opened it, Will stood there, shifting uncomfortably, staring hard into the space between them. He sensed it, too, she could tell, the growing attraction between his cousin and Marie. “You didn’t come to the airfield,” he said to Julian. “I was worried. We have to go now.”
She turned to Julian. “Go where?”
“I’ve been recalled to England.”
She gasped involuntarily. “When?”
“I leave this morning. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said quickly, seeming to recall his promise the previous evening not to keep secrets from her anymore. “Only no one is meant to know. It’s only for a few days,” he added hastily. “A week at most.” There was a note of wistfulness in his voice...
“But what about the bridge?”
“Detonation isn’t scheduled for two weeks. I’ll be back by then.” His voice sounded uncertain and she wasn’t sure whether he believed it.
Knowing he was leaving, the feelings she had tried to ignore the night before threatened to burst forth. “Must you go?” she asked in a low voice, already knowing the answer.
“We’re going to have to attempt a daylight takeoff at this point,” Will interrupted before Julian could answer. “We have to hurry.”
“Shall I come with you to the airfield?” she asked, trying to find a reason she might be needed.
But Julian shook his head. “The fewer the better,” he said. “Especially when it isn’t dark.” It was just as well. She couldn’t bear to see the Lysander swoop in and pluck him from their world. “Be safe until I return.”
He turned to his cousin. “Take care of her.” Will nodded solemnly. Marie wanted to protest that