“Yes—well, at least to your first question. She must have eaten something rancid. She hasn’t been able to keep anything down.”

Margaret winced at the untruth, but Dottie had begged her not to tell anyone about the baby yet. Not even Gladys, whom she wanted to tell in her own time. Not until she could think things through. If her mother got wind of her pregnancy before they made a plan, she’d be sent away to a home for unwed girls, where the child would be taken away as soon as it was born.

It had happened to Dottie’s older sister, and the poor girl had never been the same from the grief of it. She walked as if she were broken inside, and Margaret would give her life to prevent that for her best friend.

Gladys offered her usual advice. “Nothing a cup of brandy wouldn’t fix, but Dottie isn’t one to imbibe, is she?”

“She’s never had a liking for it.”

“Too bad. Brandy for Belly Aches. Vodka for Viruses. Whiskey for Woman Troubles. Dr. Gladys’s prescription for a long life.”

Margaret grinned and held up an imaginary cocktail glass. “Here’s to that.”

“Cheers, doll.”

They joined the long line of women who were reporting for the first shift at the Navy Yard. They were bright-eyed and chatty, incongruous given the early hour. But they were used to being awake before the light of the morning blanketed the city, and Margaret wondered if she would ever consider the soft-lit dawn as routine.

This shift paid an extra dollar per week, though, and Margaret was glad to have the opportunity to contribute to the family coffers in exchange for a few hours of sleep. She was hoping for a promotion out of the flag-sewing wing and was counting on her punctuality and her ability to adapt to be among her assets when an opening in the new mechanic section became available. The other would be her vocabulary. They accepted only the smartest girls—replacing the engineers and hard-hat workers who had been sent overseas—and though she’d been an average student, she read the Word of the Day every morning and maneuvered it into conversations to help her stand out.

Gladys had already made it into the ranks that most of the women just dreamed about and relished the chance to show the men that she was every bit as capable as they were.

So far, nothing had materialized for Margaret, but the foreman over there promised to put in a good word for her. George was John’s best friend and would do anything for the Beck family. And a promotion like that would mean an additional two dollars per week.