Read Online Home for a Soldier by Tatiana March - Free Book Online

Grace looked tonight she’d need to be
bundled into a blanket to keep men from staring.
    He hauled her into the store where a
slim clerk with blond hair glanced at their clothing and directed them to the
display of wedding rings. “You choose,” Rory said to Grace.
    She surveyed the trays of rings, her
face furrowed in concentration. “Plain. No pattern. Not too wide.” Grace rattled
out her requirements with the same firmness she’d delivered her instructions for
a cheeseburger. She selected three pairs of rings and tried them on in turn.
Rather than ask Rory for his opinion, she reached for his hand and slipped one
of the larger rings on his finger. She held his hand in both of hers and
inspected the effect, rubbing his skin, twisting the ring around.
    The feel of the gold circle digging
into his flesh sent a wave of panic through Rory, like a virus multiplying in
his veins. Marriage . He’d never before been buffeted by such contrary
emotions—exhilaration and terror at the same time.
    “This one, I think.” Grace glanced up
at him, and Rory felt himself drowning.
    “Your eyes,” he mumbled. “What color
are they?”
    “My eyes?” She removed the ring from
his finger. “That’s a strange question, considering you’re looking at me.”
    “Every time I look, they’re
different. First, I thought they were blue. Then I thought they were green. Now
they look grey.”
    “They’re somewhere in between. They
pick up the shade from what I’m wearing.” Grace examined the price tag,
whispered the amount to him under her breath. “Is that all right?” she asked.
“You’ll have to pay for both. I’m broke. Or course, I’ll give it back to you
when we get divorced.”
    Suppressing his irritation at her
comment about the temporary nature of their marriage, Rory nodded to the blond
youth who measured their fingers and replaced the display trays under the glass
counter. After locking the cabinet, the clerk strolled away to fetch the rings
in the right size.
    “What color do you think your
eyes are?” Rory asked Grace.
    “It says blue on my passport, so they
must be blue.”
    “Blue.” He nodded slowly.
    When the young man returned, they
tried on the rings again to make sure of the size.
    “Can you go ahead and see if they
boys are waiting at the entrance?” Rory suggested. “We’re late. Tell them I’ll
be along as soon as I’ve settled up here.”
    “We’re late ?” Grace gasped in
horror. “I hate being late,” she muttered as she whirled about and rushed out in
her high heels, her teetering steps almost like the graceful gait of a giraffe.
    Rory smiled after her, his amusement
mixing with doubt over the sanity of allowing her to traverse the mall by
herself in that flimsy gown. He turned back to the clerk. Before he handed over
his credit card, he selected a pair of sapphire and diamond earrings. They cost
every penny he’d made selling his car, but he didn’t care. He might die in Iraq,
and what good would savings do if he never returned?
    * * * *
    Grace stood opposite the fountain,
craning her neck to survey the cars pulling in and out of the circular drive. A
pair of jeeps filled with a band of rowdy soldiers would be impossible to miss,
but she inspected each passing vehicle anyway. She shuddered at the possibility
of being late to her own wedding.
    Unreliability was not an
attractive quality, and if they missed their seven o’clock appointment at the
Little White Wedding Chapel, they might have to make another reservation and
return later. The possibility of not ending the day as Mrs. Rory Sullivan caused
a hollow dip in her stomach.
    Something warm touched her bare back.
With a cry of fright, Grace leaped around, crashing into Rory’s arms.
    “The boys not here yet?” he asked,
steadying her.
    His hands were empty, but the dent in
the line of his jacket over his chest reassured Grace that the wedding rings
were in his breast