Page 49 of The Harvey Girls

Thirty-Seven

Everyone was there: Robert and Henny and Will and some of the other girls. They all crowded around her, all talking at once: “Did you know?” and “You look beautiful!” and “Your last year of being a teenager!”

Billie had to take a moment to catch her breath, but then she smiled and answered as many questions as she could while trying not to gape at Gertrude Turner.

Gertrude Turner! What was she even doing here?

Charlotte was standing with Winnie, and Billie knew they must have had a talk and cleared things up.

She turned to Henny. “I absolutely love my new dress!”

“Oh, honey, I’m so glad,” said Henny. “It feels okay?”

“It feels dreamy.” She turned to the others. “Henny made this!”

Suddenly the lights went out again, and a faint glow came from a little side room. Mae walked in carrying a cake, and they all began to sing “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…”

Billie was so overwhelmed, she almost cried.

“Make a wish!” someone insisted. Billie closed her eyes. Leif sprang to mind, but she wouldn’t waste a wish on him. She thought of her family, but they had each other.

Keep Charlotte safe.

She inhaled all the air she could and blew out what she knew were three more candles than she had a right to. Maybe those extra little flames would help carry her wish to the stars.

Charlotte was quite pleased. She’d never thrown a party before.

Robert had borrowed a phonograph from one of the other rangers, and everyone was eating cake and dancing.

Billie and Gertrude Turner were leading the other women in the Charleston, and Billie looked happier than Charlotte had ever seen her.

And to think, less than three months ago, all she could do was cry.

“What a wonderful party,” said Winnie. “She’s lucky to have a friend like you.”

“I’m just as lucky,” said Charlotte. “She really is a remarkable girl.”

Winnie studied her a moment. “I know this isn’t the life you would have chosen, but it seems to suit you.”

Charlotte smirked. “You mean I’m not the snobby rich girl I once was?”

“Well, yes, but it’s more than that. You never quite fit in with the society crowd. I imagine that marrying Professor Lister seemed like a solution to that problem. But here you are, in a place you never meant be, making the most of it. It’s impressive!”

Charlotte felt her cheeks go warm at the compliment. “I borrowed your last name for my alias because I so admired your perseverance in the face of adversity.”

“Charlotte, I’m honored. But you should know that I have my self-doubts and setbacks, too. I’ve made my share of bad decisions.”

“Well, you’ve certainly made far more good ones than bad. Your family must be so proud of you. And Joe must be bursting his buttons.” Joe Cole was the young piano player she’d met on the vaudeville circuit, and he was far more devoted than any of the other girls’ boyfriends at Wellesley.

Winnie looked away. “Actually, Joe is engaged to someone else.”

Charlotte gasped. “No!”

“He’d waited four years to settle down and have children with me. He didn’t want to wait anymore.”

“You must have been devastated.”

“I was. Am, really. But in my heart, I’m a doctor, and I knew if I gave that up, I’d regret it for the rest of my life. And I’d resent him. What kind of marriage would that be?”

Charlotte knew very well what kind of marriage comes from one person giving up too much for the other. She was impressed that Winnie had somehow understood that before making a terrible mistake.

The song ended and Billie and Gertrude collapsed into each other, laughing and gasping for breath, their pale blond hair sticking to their damp cheeks. “Look at those two,” said Winnie. “They could be sisters.”

Charlotte was not by nature or upbringing an overly affectionate person, but she found herself hooking her arm in Winnie’s. “I’m coming to understand the importance of honorary sisters. I truly don’t know where I’d be without them.”

It was late, the cake was gone, and people were starting to trickle away, bidding Billie final happy birthday s and telling Charlotte what a lovely night they’d had.

The Turner sisters headed back to their suite at El Tovar; Mae and the other Harvey Girls made their way to the dorm.

Will and Charlotte were collecting sticky plates, crumpled napkins, and empty soda bottles.

“Billie,” said Robert. “Can I walk you home?”

Billie glanced at Charlotte. Charlotte glanced at Will. “We can finish up here,” he said.

As they made their way down the path, past the mule barn and the train depot, Robert reached for her hand and clasped it warmly in his.

“Have you ever had a beau?” he asked.

“No, I never have.”

“Would… would you like to?”

Billie stopped. “Are you asking me to go steady?”

“Yes, I believe I am.”

She looked into his handsome, expectant face and realized she’d never really thought they would be romantic. She’d been secretly holding out hope that she could someday be reunited with Leif.

Clearly her time with Leif was in the past. Her time with Robert was now.

“Then my answer is yes.”

He grinned his biggest grin. “May I kiss you?”

“Yes, you may.”

He leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against hers, and it was very nice.

Will shut off the lights and locked the door behind them. “That was some soiree you just pulled off.”

Charlotte smiled as they walked through the cool night.

“I never knew throwing a party could be so satisfying! Back home it always seemed like such a bother. But this was fun, and everyone helped.” She rested her hand on his forearm for a brief moment.

“Especially you, convincing Mr. Patrillo to let us use the community hall and setting everything up.”

“It was my pleasure. Besides, there wasn’t much convincing needed. As soon as I told him it was for you, he said yes. Apparently your tours are a real hit with the clientele.”

“ Our tours.”

“I just drive. You’re the star attraction.”

Charlotte laughed. “I wouldn’t be doing them at all if you hadn’t tricked me into it! And I wouldn’t want to do them with anyone else.”

In the silence she could hear the breeze tickling the tops of the ponderosa pines, their wide limbs brushing gently against one another, and she wondered if she’d said the wrong thing. Finally he responded.

“Nor would I.”

Charlotte was surprised to find Billie still awake when she reached the room.

The girl had had quite a day, emotions flying from fury to bliss, dancing for hours with her movie idol, not to mention ten long hours of hauling tray-loads of food to hungry tourists.

But the girl was bright-eyed as she sat perched on the side of her bed, knees tucked up under her nightdress.

“This was the best day I ever had!” she said before Charlotte had even completely closed the door.

“I’m so glad you were able to enjoy it, Billie. I was a little worried when you were so upset this afternoon.”

Billie’s grin faded. “I was very disappointed. People should keep their promises.”

“You’re absolutely right. They should. And yet, sometimes they don’t. I’m just happy you were able to recover so quickly.”

“It’s pretty hard to be a sourpuss when you get to dance with a movie star! She told me to call her Gert!”

“She seems to like you quite a bit.”

Billie grabbed her pillow, held it up to her face, and squealed into it. Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh.

When they were finally both in bed and Charlotte reached up to pull the chain on the light, Billie said, “Oh, and Robert asked me to go steady!”

“Go steadily where?”

“You know, be my sheik.”

“Your…?”

“My beau!”

Silence grew until Charlotte said finally, “I see.”

“You don’t like him.”

“It’s not a matter of my liking him, Billie. It’s just that he’s much older than you.”

“I’m sixteen now! My mother was sixteen when she met my father.”

“And how old was your father?”

Billie didn’t respond, which meant he was sixteen, too, or nearly so.

“I know you don’t want to hear this, but a man his age will want more from you—if not now, then eventually.”

“He’s Catholic! He knows I won’t do any of that business before marriage.”

“Yes, but that very thing might make him more eager to wed. He thinks you’re nineteen.”

“Robert is sweet and patient. He won’t press me to do anything I don’t want to do.”

Charlotte sighed. In some ways the girl was so wise; in others she was as naive as a toddler.

“Billie, if you had an older sister, maybe someone like Gert Turner, who’d known and loved you all your life and wanted only what’s best for you, what do you think she’d say?”

“I guess she’d say ‘Be careful,’?” Billie grudgingly conceded.

“That’s all I’m saying. Please be careful.”

The next day, after a long, hot lunch shift at El Tovar, Billie came back to the dorm and started to trudge upstairs to her room, untying her apron as she went. Before she could reach the second floor, however, she heard Mae Parnell call out to her.

“Billie? There’s someone here to see you.”

Maybe Robert had come by to ask her for a date. Or maybe he wanted to give his new steady girlfriend a little kiss! Billie smiled to herself and came back down the stairs, pulling off the apron, dropping it on the banister, and smoothing her white dress as she walked.

Mae was standing in the kitchen doorway. She had a funny look on her face, as if she were trying to decide whether to smile or frown. “He’s waiting in the parlor.”

Winnie went down the hallway and stepped into the parlor to find a man who was definitely not Robert sitting on the couch. When he saw her, he stood quickly and held out an envelope.

“I wanted to deliver this in person. Sorry I’m a day late.”