“Do you think she knows what she’s doing?” Grace asked.

Viv sipped her tea, her gaze fixed on Mrs. Weatherford who was now making holes in a circular pattern. “She does not.”

Grace tilted her head imploringly at Viv.

Her friend settled back in her seat, teacup stubbornly locked in her hands. “I’m not helping.”

Outside, Mrs. Weatherford inspected three pouches of seeds before putting a little of each into the poked earth.

“Is she planting them all together?” Grace leaned on the thin-cushioned seat for a better view.

“I’m not going out there.” Viv crossed her legs and sipped her tea.

Mrs. Weatherford brushed the dirt back over the holes where the seeds had been deposited and scooted over two feet. She punched her finger into the soil and began with a second spiral.

Grace frowned. “She didn’t even mark the plants.”

Viv set the cup on the table with such a firm hand, a few droplets sloshed over the rim. “I can’t take it. I’m going upstairs to put on old clothes to help her.”

Grace hid her smile and gathered up the tea. “I’ll clean up here then put on a set of trousers to join you.”

It took them the better part of the morning to section off an area of the garden for planting, ensuring to leave space for future seeds that could be sown in warmer months.

“I think you may be even better at this than Colin,” Mrs. Weatherford said to Viv when they’d finished. “I know you’re eager to join the ATS, but I dare say I believe you would make a fine Land Girl.”

Viv simply offered a tight smile to the compliment.

While the work had been hard and terribly messy, it had been enjoyable with the three of them chatting as they toiled. Little did they know it was the last time such joy would be had together, for that afternoon, Viv’s orders came with the post and she was to leave the following day for a training facility in Devon.

For the first time in her life, Grace would be without her dearest friend to face the wild unknown of London at war.

TEN

Life without Viv was lonely. Not only had Grace lost the companionship of her best friend, but she felt as though she’d missed out on something larger than herself by declining to join the ATS.

Rather than sign on as an ARP warden, Grace allowed Mrs. Weatherford to convince her to attend several WVS meetings.