“When did you get to be so smart?”

“When I had to be in order to survive on my own.”

“That’s only until Emmett comes back from the war, right?”

“I promised I’d wait for him.”

Something about the way Louise said it gave Mary pause. “You haven’t changed your mind, have you?”

Louise shrugged and glanced away.

“Cousin? Have you changed your mind?”

“There are a lot of single men on the Reservation.”

“What’s the Reservation?”

“It’s one of the things we call the place I’m taking you. It’s also known as Clinton Engineer Works, or CEW, and recently they’ve started calling the town Oak Ridge.”

Mary thought she was speaking a foreign language. What was this place?

“Anyway, there are lots of nice-looking, single men, and they’re all on the hunt for us girls, because we outnumber them by so much.”

“And?”

Louise’s face lit up. “And there’s this one particular fella. Oh, you’d love him, Mare. He’s kind and considerate. He’s a Yankee—you can tell that as soon as he opens his mouth. He’s seen so much of the world already, and he wants to show it all to me when the war’s over.”

“Sounds like you’re really sweet on him.”

Louise nodded and tears formed on her lashes. “But, I made a promise to Emmett. His letters are all full of longing and dreams about buying a farm out here in the rolling hills and living off the land. I don’t have the heart to send him a ‘Dear John’ letter. He’s fighting for our country. I have no right…”

“You have a right to love, Louise, same as I do.”

“What am I going to do?” She buried her head in her hands.

Mary crossed the room, sat next to her, and rocked her in her arms. “Shh. Shh. We’ll figure something out. We’ll figure out something for both of us. We’re going to get our happily ever after. You’ll see. Everything’s going to work out just fine.”

CHAPTER TEN

“Are you ready?” Rosalie asked.

“I guess,” Nora replied. “It’s bad enough you got me to go skating. But going to Knoxville in a cattle car disguised as a bus? I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” She wasn’t really miffed. It was her day off, she was much in need of some supplies, and everyone touted Knoxville as the place to go. Also, she was happy she’d be accompanied by friends for her first trip to Knoxville. Rosalie and Betty, another girl from the dorm, both had been to Knoxville several times before and knew the ropes.

They hit Miller’s Department Store first. Miller’s had a store on the Reservation, but the one in Knoxville dwarfed the local store in size and was better stocked.