Free Winter in June by Kathryn Miller Haines Page A

arrival for all eternity.
    â€œWelcome to Tulagi, ladies. I’ll be riding along with you to camp. I’m Ernie Dwyer, but you can call me—”
    â€œDotty,” said Kay.
    He removed his glasses and took her in. “Kay?”
    A smile trembled across her lips. “The one and only.”
    â€œOh my God. Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” They took a tentative step toward each other. Their heads bobbed with uncertainty.
    â€œWell, hug him already,” said Violet.
    Kay blushed before extending her arms. Dotty grabbed her and swung her around.
    â€œI had no idea you’d be here,” he said.
    â€œYou? I didn’t even know you were still in the army.”
    â€œI’m not. I’m a war correspondent now.”
    â€œYou always were a hell of a writer.”
    He flexed his scarred knee. “I’m lucky I had that to fall back on. After what happened to my leg, they decided my soldiering days were over.”
    â€œBut you couldn’t stay away, could you?” said Kay.
    â€œYou know me. But what about you? Did you change your mind and decide to re-up?”
    Kay forced a smile. “No. I’m with the USO now.”
    â€œNo, sir! You’re doing the tour?”
    Kay’s arm swept behind her to acknowledge the rest of us. “We all are. So I take it you’re writing about the Pacific campaign.”
    â€œPartly, sure. But when we got wind Gilda DeVane was coming here, we decided to make a feature of it.”
    â€œThat’s great,” said Kay. “Just great.”
    We all stared at the two of them, trying to make what we could of this reunion. With the forced smiles and reluctant hug, it was clear that Kay wasn’t overjoyed to see Dotty. One couldn’t say the same for him. I had a feeling that he’d like nothing more than for us to scram so that they could be alone together.
    Dotty fiddled with his camera. Kay made a show of rolling up her sleeves. It was getting to be too much for me. Someone had to save them.
    â€œI’m Rosie Winter.” I thrust my hand toward Dotty. He took it in his giant mitt and shook it like he’d been promised a five spot if he could wrestle my arm to the table.
    The other girls followed my lead. “Jayne Hamilton.”
    â€œViolet Lancaster.”
    Gilda put out her hand to make her own introduction, but before she could get her name out, he said it for her.
    â€œGilda DeVane,” he said. “I’m a huge fan. I can’t tell you how excited I was when I got word you were coming here. The fellows are going to flip when I tell them I got to meet you first. I think you’re on half the bulkheads in the Pacific.” Apparently, Gilda’s decision to tour wasn’t as last-minute as Violet claimed. She had done a pinup poster that was distributed in advance of her arrival. Dotty clapped his hands together. “Well, ladies, your Jeeps await.”
    While he led the pack with Violet and Gilda, Jayne and I hung back to talk to Kay.
    â€œYou all right?” I asked.
    â€œFine.” She could no longer sustain the grin. Her lips quivered and she dashed her fingers beneath her eyes. “I just never thought I’d see him again.”
    I hoped I got the chance to experience that kind of surprise. “How do you know him?” I asked.
    â€œHe dated a friend of mine for a long time.”
    I knew there was more to it than that, but I wasn’t going to pry. Not until Kay was ready.
    She fixed another smile on her face and immediately submerged the despair that had been bubbling to the surface. That was the nice thing about being a performer: you could fake whatever emotion you needed on a moment’s notice, even when the real feelings were struggling to be heard.
    As we reached the shore, natives wearing army-issue pants and shirts decorated with necklaces of woven grass watched us. Their skin was almost black, their hair frizzy, their features