Chapter 13
1921-ish
SAM GOT OFF WORK A few minutes earlier than usual, and it only put an extra spring in his step as he headed to the café for something to eat. He wasn’t fooling himself that he hoped Norma would be there. They’d become good friends, he surmised. He’d told her about Susan, and she told him a little about David.
A couple of weeks earlier, he’d received a letter from Susan saying that she was engaged to her fellow. Sam knew she’d been going steady with a guy for a few months. But he was taken aback when her letter came. It seemed that things had moved very fast between them...And now they were going to get married?
He’d shown up at the café carrying a whirlwind of emotions. Norma had let him blow off his steam, and when he’d calmed, she helped him see that the Susan of today was probably not the Susan of high school. Years had passed, and although they’d kept up their letter writing, neither of them had made the huge effort to travel across several states to see each other.
“That’s because every time I make a plan, something happens to derail it,” Sam had defended. Then he’d gone quiet. He’d let the canceled plans put him into a funk until he came up with another way to visit Susan. A few times she’d had hopes that she might be able to return to Seattle too, but money always stood in her way. Even when Sam had offered to send her a ticket, she’d told him to keep it for tuition. Which he really did need to pay, but had continuing his crush on Susan been unrealistic?
Talking to Norma had helped him see things in a different way. So when news of Susan’s engagement came, she was the one he confided in. Because it meant that any hope he’d had as a teenager of spending the rest of his life with Susan had died once and for all.
Tonight though, he had good news to share with her. He’d passed his check ride for a monoplane, which meant he’d be starting the next phase of the aviation program. He entered the café to find Norma at her usual table. She had a drink in front of her, absently stirring it with a straw, but her expression told him she was upset about something. So instead of ordering right away, he headed toward the table in the corner.
She glanced up at him as he slid into the booth across from her, then lowered her eyes again.
“Hey,” he said gently.
“Hey,” she whispered.
He waited a moment, but when she didn’t say anything more, he continued. “What’s wrong, Norma?”
She blinked and tears fell on her cheeks, then her face crumpled.
Sam rose from his spot and sat on her bench. “What’s going on?” he asked, setting his arm about her shoulders.
She leaned against him, her shoulders shaking with her mostly silent crying. “I . . . it’s . . .”
“David?” he guessed.
She nodded against his chest.
“Did he break up with you?”
Another nod.
“He’s a piece of work,” Sam said on an angry exhale. “Don’t give him a second thought. You can do way better than the likes of him.”
Norma wrapped her arms about his torso, and he tightened his hold on her. He’d never touched her before, never hugged her, but this felt nice—comforting. She smelled faintly of roses—maybe it was her shampoo or perfume she’d put on that morning.
“Seriously, Norma,” he said, rubbing her arm. “You get one night to cry over him, but after tonight, no more. Do I need to cut him off at the knees?”
“No,” she said with a soft laugh.
Laughing was much better than crying, Sam decided.
“He’s gone.” Her voice was muffled by his shirt.
“What do you mean, gone?”
“He took off to California. Going to work at his cousin’s auto shop.”
“He works at the auto shop here,” Sam said with a frown. “Didn’t invite you? Or you didn’t want to go?”
Norma finally lifted her head and drew away from him. He handed over a napkin and she mopped her face. Even though her eyes were reddened, they were still a pretty brown. Her cheeks had flushed a deep pink, matching the color of her lovely lips. Sam blinked, pushing those thoughts away. This was a woman in mourning, and he didn’t need to be thinking about how pretty and kissable she looked.
“I don’t know anything anymore,” Norma said in a pained voice. “Last night I found out some news, and when I told him, he put together a plan to get away from me.”
None of this made any sense. David had been so possessive of her, and she seemed content enough with him. So why the change of heart? “What was the news?”
She looked down at her twisting hands. “I’m pregnant.”
Sam felt as if all the air had been sucked from his lungs. It took him a moment to understand the enormity of what she was saying. “And David doesn’t want the baby?”
“No,” she whispered. “He told me it wasn’t his, and that I better not come after him for any money or support.” The tears were back, and her voice trembled at the next words. “He called me awful things. All lies. I’ve never been with anyone...except him.” She used the napkin again.
Sam didn’t know what to say. This was a tangle, that was for sure. Maybe David was in shock? Maybe he’d come around? Not that he wanted Norma to forgive the jerk, but wasn’t it better for a kid to have a dad around?
“I’m sorry.” He grasped her hand and held on. What else could he say? “What do your parents think?”
She gave a half-laugh that had no joy in it. “They want me to move to Portland to stay with my aunt until the baby is born, then place it for adoption.”
It sounded gut-wrenching to Sam. “What do you want?”
Norma threw up her hands. “It’s all so new, all so much...I don’t know what I want. I thought that David would—” She covered her mouth with her hand and closed her eyes.
“Want to marry you,” Sam finished.
She nodded, the pain etching lines about her eyes. “I want the baby, I do. Even with David’s rejection, I still can’t imagine giving my baby up. But I don’t have a choice.” She folded her arms against her chest. “It’s not fair for me to bring this child into the world with only one parent—and a parent who’d have to be dependent on her own parents.”
These things happened sometimes. It could all work out, although right now it felt heavy.
“You have nine months to decide, right?” Sam said, hoping to ease the situation. “You don’t have to decide everything right now. Everyone is reeling and making rush judgments.”
“More like seven months,” Norma said. “Besides, my parents already bought me a train ticket for Friday.”
Friday was two days away.
“My aunt is preparing a room for me,” she continued. “I’m not going to be called her niece when I’m there. I’ll be a friend’s daughter.” Her eyes watered again. “I’m a shame to everyone, yet David gets to start a new carefree life.”
It wasn’t fair, none of it was fair. Norma was paying all the consequences of a two-partner relationship. “Maybe your parents will change their minds.”
She didn’t look hopeful, though. “My mother’s been shut in her room all day, and my father stayed home from work to make all the arrangements. They’re not going to change their minds.”
Sam gazed at the tabletop, his eyes following the path of a couple scratches in the scrubbed wood. “I’ll track down David and talk to him. He needs to take responsibility.”
She set her hand on his arm. “No. I...the last month things have been off between us. He was calling me moody—and maybe I was. At least I know I had an excuse. But I caught him lying to me more than once about his whereabouts.”
He furrowed his brows, looking at the hand on his arm, then meeting her gaze.
She drew in a breath. “I think he was stepping out on me. In fact, I know it. Not that he confessed, but my gut is telling me not to ignore the warning signs.”
Hot anger raced through him, and his jaw tensed. “I’m tracking him down anyway. He needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Sam,” she said, her voice pleading. “He’s already left for California. I guess he didn’t want my father banging down his door. Besides, I’m finished with him. You were right all along.”
For once, he didn’t want to be right. Not about this. Or at least not with Norma ending up pregnant and alone. He wanted to be right two months ago and have her dump the idiot. “He shouldn’t be able to get away with this,” Sam ground out. “I’ll track him down in California and—”
“No,” Norma said, her voice stronger now. “You’re my best friend, Sam. I need you here, with me. I need you to be my friend for the next two days before I’m shipped off to my aunt’s. Then I need you to continue with your own life. Live your dreams for me while I’m gone. And then maybe, someday, when I’m back, we can have our late-night talks at this café again. It will give me something to look forward to.”
She was crying again, and Sam rubbed at his jaw, his own tears starting.
With Norma going away, he’d be losing his best friend too. Again. How had it all come to this?
“Now, listen to me,” she said with a steadying breath. “I’m starving. Can you order some food? I don’t want to waste our last couple of days together with sad stuff. Let’s eat and talk about you for a change.”
Sam decided that Norma was the strongest woman he knew. He moved out of the booth, put in a giant order of food, then did just as she asked. They talked for the next couple of hours about his schooling, his flight training, what she’d pack for Oregon, how she hoped to take a leave of absence from clerical school and return in eight months.
By the end of the night, a plan had formed in his mind. He left Norma’s side with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Walking home in the opposite direction of her place, he slipped his hands into his pockets, hunching his shoulders forward. They were meeting again tomorrow night at the café. And before that happened, he had several things to do.
The following morning, Sam made his inquiries, then he visited Norma’s father. The man was surprised to hear about his plan, but he didn’t protest. Sam considered that a sign he was doing the right thing. Now, all he had to do was convince Norma.
The day passed quickly, and when night fell, he headed to the café. But Norma wasn’t there. Sam told himself not to panic. He was earlier than usual since he’d taken most of the day off to get his errands done. His stomach was too knotted up to eat any of the food that he’d ordered in good faith, hoping Norma would indeed be showing up.
As the minutes ticked by, he began to imagine all sorts of scenarios. Her father had changed his mind, or Norma had fallen ill with her pregnancy, or David had turned back around and swept her off her feet...
“Sam?”
He snapped his head up. There stood Norma, her brow puckered in concern.
“I wondered if you’d fallen asleep sitting up,” she said with a smile—a smile that struck him in the chest. How had he not noticed how pretty and sweet she was? Well, he’d noticed, but he’d never internalized it before.
“No.” Sam pushed to his feet. “I was, uh, thinking.”
Her brows lifted, and she slid into the booth seat across from him. “You were waiting for me?”
A spread of untouched food sat on the table. He’d barely sipped his drink. And the drink he’d bought for her had its ice mostly melted.
“Yeah, are you hungry?” Suddenly he didn’t know what to say, or how to begin.
“Definitely hungry.” She took a long sip of the Coca-Cola, then stabbed a fork into the garden salad.
Sam reached for his drink as well and gulped half of it down.
Her forehead creased. “Something’s off about you. What’s going on? Are you sick?”
“No.” He pushed the drink aside. “I’m not sick. I’m...I need to talk to you, Norma, and I want you to know that I’m in earnest. And you need to know this has nothing to do with Susan being engaged.” Or at least he didn’t think it did. He’d decided not to let that thought go deeper. “I visited your father this afternoon.”
“What? Why?” Her eyes widened. “Did you try to talk him out of sending me to Portland? He was probably furious.”
“Not exactly,” Sam said. “I mean, I did talk him out of sending you to Portland, but it’s not what you think.”
Her mouth opened, then shut.
Sam reached for her hand. “Norma, I’m sorry for all that’s been happening in your life. You must know that you’re my best friend too, and the best part of my week is sitting with you at this café. You make me laugh. You encourage me. You give me hope for a good future. You’re a bright, talented woman, and you’re drop-dead beautiful.”
Her cheeks went from pink to red.
“I know that you cared for David, and you know that I cared for Susan,” he said. “Both of them have moved on, and here we are.”
She tilted her head, watching him carefully.
“You’re going to be a mother in a few months, and everything’s going to change for you,” he continued. “I...I’ve been thinking about all of it, considering all the angles, and only one thing makes sense.” He drew in a breath. “I don’t want to lose you, and I don’t want to see you lose something precious to you. So I spoke to your father to get his blessing to ask you to marry me.”
Norma stared at him for a second, then she tugged her hand from his and covered her mouth. Tears filled her eyes, and his heart sank. She was angry, hurt, or shocked...whatever she was, it wasn’t pleased. It wasn’t happy or relieved. She didn’t love him, and that was okay. He didn’t love her in the way that he’d loved Susan. There was potential, though, right? Or at least he thought there was. Yet, Norma had started to cry.
“Look,” Sam said, his voice trembling. “I know I’m still in school. I talked to the housing department, and we can get on the waiting list for married housing. It would be small, but it would be ours. Or we could live with your parents if you’d like. It’s up to you—whatever you want.”
Tears coursed down her cheeks. Would she say something? Had he just decimated their friendship?
“I know I’m not David, and you’ll probably never feel for me what you did for him.” Sam offered up his last line of reasoning. “But we’re compatible and I think that’s a good start. Maybe down the road, we’ll fall in love with each other. I don’t think it would be too hard on my part.”
Norma lowered her hand and swiped at her cheeks. “Are you serious, Sam? You’d marry me? I don’t need you to feel sorry for me.”
“I’d only be sorry if you left for Portland tomorrow,” he said, the truth vibrating through him. “If you stayed, then I’d honestly be the luckiest man in Seattle.”
She blinked several times, gazing at him, as if waiting for him to laugh and say he was joking about all of it. But he wasn’t joking. He’d never been so serious in all his life.
“I don’t want you to throw away your future on a mistake I made with another man,” she said in a stilted voice.
Sam felt those words right in his gut. The circumstances weren’t ideal, that he knew. “We all make mistakes,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we have to keep making them. Marry me, Norma. Love me or not. But don’t leave me.”
He had one more card to play. Sliding off the bench, he knelt on the floor, facing her. Then he pulled out the ring he’d stored in his pocket. It had been his grandmother’s ring, and he thought he’d be giving it to Susan one day. It symbolized family, love, devotion, and he wanted Norma to be the woman who wore it. Holding up the ring, he said, “Let’s share our future.”
Her gaze focused on the ring, then moved to his face. “I don’t want to let you down,” she whispered.
“You could never let me down,” he whispered back.
She leaned forward and took his face in her hands. “I already care about you, Sam Davis. I just didn’t want you to regret anything.”
He kissed her then. It was a tentative kiss, but it sent his heart galloping. Somewhere in the middle of their kissing, she agreed to marry him. And Sam felt the rightness of her words all the way to his soul.