Forgot about today's post, so an excerpt from an attempt at a historical romance with the iffy title of
Love in Uniform...not very telling I know. Here's the blurb:
In 1942, after a whirlwind romance and plans to elope, Caroline Kerr discovers that her fiancé, Navy fighter pilot Lucas Ellingsworth, is also a secret government operative and is in town to make contact with her mother regarding u-boat incursions on the Eastern seaboard.
Soul-searching and a heart-wrenching tragedy convince Caroline that love is worth fighting for and forgiving for.
And here's an excerpt...
~
Caroline glanced at the watch pinned to her jacket. She was late.
Please, Lord, let him be waiting for her. Don’t let him have left. She almost cried in relief when the bus finally rumbled to a stop. She climbed aboard and checked the time again. It was twenty minutes past the time they were supposed to meet. Fear clogged her throat, making it difficult to breathe. Ten minutes later, she hurried from the half-empty conveyance. It pulled away with a belch of black, foul-smelling smoke.
Caroline looked up and down the street, checked the other side. Nothing. No Lucas, no waiting car. Distress strangled her lungs. Anguish clouded her vision. She pressed a fist to her swirling stomach.
No, Lord, please no. What had she done?
She stumbled to a nearby bench and collapsed onto it. He was gone. He’d left without her. How long had he waited? Had even shown up?
Perhaps it had all been a cruel joke, even though he hadn’t taken her to bed. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t even packed any clothes for the journey. She just walked out of her home to run away and get married. To elope! She was such a fool. A silly, silly little girl. Led on by a man more interested in his mission than in her.
A horn tooted twice and she jumped. Whirling around, a sleek blue sedan pull over to the curb beside her.
He’s here. Oh, he’s here. A sob stuck in her throat, but the tears spilled over. The frigid air froze the moist path down her face.
Lucas hopped out of the car and came around to her. “What’s the matter, doll face?”
She clutched the lapels of his overcoat, his arms instantly circling around her. “I thought you weren’t coming. That you’d changed your mind. That it was all a cruel joke,” she said, weeping, burying her face in her hands on his chest.
“Caroline. I’m sorry. The car wouldn’t start. Come on.” He clasped her upper arm and led her to the car, opening the door and helping her into it.
She swiped her gloves across her cheeks as Lucas hurried around the vehicle. He eased into the car and slid across the bench seat and took her in his arms again. He pressed a kiss to her nose then to her mouth. Her lips softened and parted under the assault of his mouth. Her stomach somersaulted. And then he stopped. She felt bereft.
In one fluid motion, he stretched over the seat back and presented her with a half-dozen white roses tied with a pale blue satin ribbon. “The flower man was late, too.”
“Oh, Lucas, they’re beautiful.” She stuck her nose into the velvety blooms and sniffed, her heart full. “I doubted you--forgive me.”
“Done. Are you ready to do this?”
“Yes.”
~
Hope you enjoyed it!
