“You’re worse off than I am, then,” he said, staring at the sky. “I swore off it in Italy.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I was doing it to forget. But to lose yourself in someone so completely that you do actually forget is more intimate than any physical act. I didn’t want to be that intimate with any of the women I knew.”

“Yes,” Jess breathed as she felt her eyelids drop sleepily over her eyes. “That’s it exactly.”

She woke with a jolt some time later. Dan’s head was resting back, his eyes closed, face young and peaceful. She remembered their conversation and knew, without doubt, that falling asleep tucked into Dan’s side was the most intimate thing she’d ever done and that she should leave now before she ruined it.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Hallworth,” she whispered before she turned to walk away.

And she just heard the words, whispered faintly behind her, “My pleasure, Captain May,” as she left his room.

* * *

The next day she woke to the sound of a knock and a note slipped under her door. It was from Dan. You have the bathroom from 7:30 a.m. She checked her watch. It was 7:25. She jumped out of bed, uncaring that she was in her pajamas, gathered what she needed and raced down the stairs and along the hallway, passing Dan with a grin. At the bathroom, she discovered a sign on the door that read: Reserved for Captain May from 7:30 a.m. to 7:45 a.m. every day.

“Who the hell is Captain May and why does he get bathroom privileges,” she heard another officer say.

She turned on her model smile. “I’m Captain May,” she said. “I think I get bathroom privileges because Lieutenant Colonel Hallworth is worried that if I share the bathroom with you, I might set other parts of your anatomy aflutter than just your heart.”

The officer’s mouth dropped open and he blushed crimson from his hairline all the way down his neck, struck absolutely speechless. Jess heard Dan explode with laughter behind them before she pushed open the bathroom door, took her shower and made sure to use no more than her allotted fifteen minutes.

* * *

It might have seemed a frivolous thing to do in the middle of a war but as the Germans pushed back into the Ardennes, Jess decided that everyone needed a party. How else would anyone have the energy to move into 1945, still fighting, still far from home, still without really knowing when it might all come to an end? And over everyone hung the knowledge that Dan’s division would be called out of reserve very soon as the battle in the Ardennes pounded on.

The party would be held on Christmas Day, she decided, and she worked, huddled in front of the tiny camp heater she’d been carrying around since Italy, to make it happen. Jennings helped her; he’d sprained his wrist tripping over a guy rope and Dan had asked Jess to keep him as busy as she could so he’d at least make the year’s end without further injury.