“I know. I said I’m sorry. I lost my head. I didn’t know what to do. All I know is, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can’t eat, I can’t sleep. All I think about is you.”

“You have a funny way of showing it.” The queasiness had returned; Mary stuffed the remains of the sandwich in the bag.

“You said you needed time. So I’ve hung back and waited. But the wait is killing me, Mare. I know what I want. I want you and me to be together forever. I’ve given you room to breathe. What do you say? Please. I’m begging you here, and that’s not easy for me.”

Mary plucked a buttercup from the ground and twirled it in her fingers. To her mortification, tears sprang to her eyes.

“What is it? What is it, Mare?” Awkwardly, Sam reached out to comfort her.

“I don’t know.” She shook her head and shrugged off his touch. “I have to get back. Doc will be missing me.” Hurriedly, she wiped her eyes and rose.

Sam stood, as well. “Say you’ll at least meet me at the park tonight after dinner. We can just sit and talk. I promise, I won’t lay a finger on you.”

He looked so lost. “Okay.” She grabbed the lunch bag and ran across the street.

“Wait! You forgot the flowers and your blanket.”

She ignored him and kept running until she reached her locker. Her hands shook and her breathing was shallow. She rested her forehead against the cool metal of the locker. She couldn’t keep doing this. She simply…couldn’t.

Nora hid a yawn behind her hand. The air in the auditorium was stale and hot. Several of the women among the fifty or so new hires fanned themselves with paper fans. The speaker, an ominous-looking fellow, droned on about the enemy having eyes and ears everywhere.

“You must never say what it is we are doing here. If someone asks you, tell them you’re making donuts.”

At first, Nora thought he was kidding.

The woman sitting next to her whispered, “I heard one girl asked what the big magnet was for. The next day, she was gone. Poof. No one ever saw her again.”

Nora wanted to say she was sure no harm came to that girl, but the way the speaker was talking, she wasn’t so sure.

“The person sitting right next to you might be a spy. Ask no questions, offer no information, do your jobs, and we’ll win the war.”

He finished speaking and an older woman stepped to the podium. “Girls, come with me. Men, stay put. Mr. Chaucer will continue your orientation.”