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Boise, Idaho
May 1972
Ribbons of sunshine gliding through the leaves of the trees around her caressed Grace Marshall’s cheek. Eyes closed, she tipped her head back to accept the gift of warmth and breathed deeply of the fresh air.
Thankfully, no one else was currently in the place used by the Boise Veterans Administration Hospital nurses as a break area when the weather was pleasant. Without the scent of cigarette smoke filling the air and the peaceful quiet of a spring day surrounding her, it was easy for Grace to block from her mind the challenging morning she’d endured, assisting an egotistical doctor with two impossible patients.
Grace turned on the transistor radio on the table, where she sat and listened as Otis Redding sang about sitting on the dock of a bay. She could sure use a vacation. What would it be like to head south, somewhere that already felt like summer, and dangle her feet in the water? Maybe spend an entire afternoon doing nothing but bathing in the sun and indulging in fruity drinks.
Then again, she could always head home to Holiday and sit with her feet in the water of one of the lovely lakes in the area. Her mom had a great strawberry lemonade recipe, and there was the pineapple punch she’d made for a birthday party last August that everyone still talked about.
Just thinking about her family in the Eastern Oregon community where she’d grown up made her lonesome to see her parents and brothers. Only Micah remained at home, though, helping with their dairy farm. Jared was with the Marines in Vietnam, although Grace had no idea of his current location. Jason was off at college in Corvallis, finishing his third year of working toward a degree in agribusiness.
As Grace bit into the roast beef sandwich loaded with pickles and celery her roommate had made for her that morning, she thought about how much she missed her mom’s cheeseburger pie and chicken casserole. Grace had the recipes and could make them, but they never tasted quite the same.
She shook her head, attempting to dislodge her homesickness. She’d lived in Boise for three years, but there were still moments she longed to be back in Holiday, where the air smelled like Christmas and most everyone seemed like family.
In Boise, Grace often felt lost in the crowd, but she was finding her way and, she hoped, making life a little better for the patients she helped at the VA Hospital.
She glanced at the assortment of magazines on the table. Elizabeth Taylor and her grandson graced the cover ofLadies’ Home Journal, along with promises for sew-and-go fashions that could be made in a day, if one had time for sewing. She glanced at an article about an opportunity to win a free vacation.
“Not likely,” she muttered, took another bite of the sandwich, then picked up the latest copy ofMcCall’smagazine. It offered nostalgic needlework ideas and had one of her favorite features—a bonus historical romance story. Grace loved to read; she just didn’t get much time to enjoy it.
Quickly opening the magazine to the story, she was soon engrossed in the tale. It wasn’t until she heard a chair squeak that she realized she was no longer alone.
“Hey, Susie. How are things going for you today?” she asked as she dabbed her mouth with a paper napkin, then took a drink of the Coca-Cola she’d purchased from the vending machine inside. Little droplets of condensation slid along the neck of the glass bottle as she tilted it to her lips.
“As good as can be,” Susie said, reaching for theCosmopolitanmagazine and flipping it open before she folded back the waxed paper on her cheese sandwich and took a bite.
Grace returned to the story and her lunch, enjoying both before she glanced at the watch on her wrist and knew it was time to head back inside. How she wished she could yank off the white stockings she wore and bask in the sunshine this afternoon. Instead, she had plenty of patients to see and important work to do.
“See you later,” she said to Susie, then gathered her things and returned inside.
An hour into her afternoon shift, she wished she’d stayed outside. One cranky patient had yelled at her when she’d tried to check his pulse, and one downright nasty man had threatened her just as the doctor walked in. Thankfully, Dr. O’Brien had asked her to send in one of the older nurses to deal with the unpleasant patient.
By the time her work wrapped up for the day, Grace was exhausted and more than ready to head back to the apartment she shared with her best friend.
She and Cindy Milton had been friends since they were old enough to walk. They were in the same grade in school and even had crushes on the same boy in their junior year of high school. However, Caleb had returned Cindy’s affection. The two of them had been engaged to marry before he’d gotten himself killed in Vietnam.
Thoughts of the war always made Grace’s heart feel as heavy as one of the anvils Cindy’s grandfather kept in the old livery building in Holiday. She hated that so many young men had died. Almost as tragic was the way the returning soldiers were treated by so many, as though they had single-handedly caused the war. Political views aside, Grace thought anyone who fought for America deserved respect and gratitude.
She knew how hard it was on soldiers to go off to war, and not just from the men she treated at the hospital. Her father as well as her Uncle Thad had fought in World War II. While her father had survived his time spent in the Pacific battling the Japanese, Uncle Thad had been killed by a German bullet in France, leaving behind a wife and two children who missed him still. Although her father rarely talked about the war, Grace knew he still occasionally had nightmares that would wake them all in the stillness of the night.
The dark thoughts circling like vultures in her mind weren’t appropriate for such a lovely day. When her shift ended, Grace stepped out into the bright spring sunshine and shrugged them away.
“Do you and Cindy have plans this evening?” Susie asked, falling into step with Grace as they walked across the lot where the staff parked.
“No. At least none of which I’m aware,” Grace said with a grin. Cindy, who was full of fun, often talked her into spur-of-the-moment adventures.
“Well, after a busy day like today, on our feet at the beck and call of the doctors, I think we deserve a quiet evening to rest.” Susie sighed as she set her purse inside her car and unpinned the hat from her short hair. “However, I have no doubt my husband will expect dinner on the table as usual.”
“I hope you have a nice evening. See you tomorrow.” Grace waved at Susie, then continued walking to her car, a hand-me-down from her oldest brother. Micah had bought the sporty two-door Chevrolet Impala brand new out of a showroom six years ago, but last fall, he’d purchased a new pickup and asked Grace if she’d like to have the car, no strings attached. She’d practically screamed in his ear when he’d phoned to offer the car to her. She’d loved it the moment Micah had driven it home, and she loved it even more now that it was hers.
Although the weather hadn’t offered too many days warm enough to roll down the windows and let the wind blow through her hair, Grace looked forward to it this summer.
Like Susie, she unpinned the hat from her head and loosened the top two buttons of her uniform as she waited for Cindy.
Cindy didn’t like to drive or own a vehicle and preferred it that way. Typically, though, her friend beat her to the car. Rather than linger in concern over why Cindy was late, Grace reached behind the seat and retrieved a paper tablet, scrounged a pen out of her purse, then started writing a letter to send to Jared.
