Sgt. Billy's Bride. Bonnie Gardner

of dolls and stuffed animals watched her from the tops of both dressers and shelves on the wall. The toys were as dusty as the curling posters on the wall were worn.

      Bill had mentioned that he was the youngest, so these sisters must have preceded him by five or ten years. The posters were from the eighties. She recognized Kirk Cameron and a young John Travolta. She smiled with the realization that teenaged girls were pretty much the same no matter where or when they grew up.

      A light tapping on the door caused her to jerk the chenille cover up over her chest. She hadn’t packed a nightgown in her duffle bag and had slept in a T-shirt minus her bra. “Yes?” she managed, after her heart stopped beating a mile a minute.

      “I’ve got breakfast ready. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Bill asked from outside the door.

      “No, I was up. I’ll just be a minute.” Darcy threw off the covers and tumbled out of the bed. She found her duffle and rummaged through it until she located fresh underwear and a clean T-shirt. She wished they weren’t so wrinkled, but it couldn’t be helped. She hadn’t expected to be meeting her fiancé’s mother.

      She hadn’t expected to acquire another fiancé on the same day she’d dumped the last one.

      No, she reminded herself. In ten minutes or so, they’d straighten it out, and she wouldn’t have to pretend anymore.

      She pulled on the T-shirt, slipped on her shoes, then grabbed her toothbrush and headed toward the bathroom. She might as well put her best face forward when she faced the music. The best one she could, considering.

      She just hoped that Mrs. Hays wouldn’t be too upset about the truth.

      BILL POURED his mother a glass of orange juice and watched as she drank it. It saddened him to see her so weak, and he felt so helpless not to be able to do anything about it. She’d been so strong when he was growing up, and now she seemed so frail.

      “Happy Birthday, son,” Momma said. “In all the excitement last night I plumb forgot about it. We’ll have your party tonight. Along with your birthday, we’ll have something else to celebrate.”

      “Something else?”

      “Well, surely you want to announce your engagement,” she said. “I called Lougenia first thing this morning and told her all about it. She was so excited.”

      Damn, Bill thought. Now what do I do? Why in the hell did I think we could get away with it? We should’ve told her the truth last night. “Momma, I wish you hadn’t done that,” he said, tempering his anger. After all, he wasn’t mad at Momma. He was mad at himself.

      “Oh, did you want to save it till the party this evenin’?” She looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to steal your thunder by telling your sister.”

      “It’s all right, Momma. We’ll sort it out later.” The sooner it happened, the better it would be for everyone, Bill couldn’t help thinking. At least, Momma hadn’t told his sister Earline. If she had, everyone in Pitt County would know by now.

      “Why didn’t you tell us about your sweetheart, son?”

      Bill drew in a deep breath. Why didn’t he just get it over with now? He looked up and saw Darcy coming down the hallway toward the kitchen. Might as well wait until they could do it together. “We haven’t known each other very long. She’s been away in school.” It was the truth, as far as it went.

      “Why, good morning, Darcy. Did you sleep good?” Momma’s face lit up like a runway strobe light when Darcy entered the room.

      Darcy looked so fresh and beautiful in a well-scrubbed way, even after their late, late night and sleeping in a strange bed. Bill knew he couldn’t have her, but he sure wished he could. Listen to him. He sounded like he was talking about a stray puppy, not a person with real feelings and needs.

      “Yes, ma’am. Like a baby.” Darcy shot a questioning glance Bill’s way, and he shook his head slightly in answer to her unspoken question.

      “Bacon’s ready, and I’ll have eggs scrambled in a couple of minutes,” Bill said. Anything to change the subject.

      Darcy smiled at Momma, then hurried over to Bill. She spoke to him in a low whisper. “Should your mother be eating eggs and bacon, considering her condition?”

      Bill started to answer, but Momma answered for him. “Ain’t nothing wrong with my hearing. I know I can’t eat that high c’lesterol stuff, but I keep it on hand for Bill when he comes. Already had my oatmeal.”

      “Darcy just graduated from nursing school,” Bill volunteered, perhaps as a way of explaining her…what? Concern?

      “Well, that is so wonderful. Earline wanted to go to nursing school, but she married Edd instead. Did get her Licensed Practical Nurse Certificate at the vocational school. But she don’t use it since the kids come along.”

      “Yes, ma’am.” Darcy stood awkwardly between the table and the stove and hooked her thumbs in her belt loops while Bill scrambled the eggs. “Can I help with anything?”

      At least he could give her something to do. “Here, put the bacon on the table.” Bill didn’t wait for her to do it, but poured the beaten eggs into the skillet. The eggs sizzled as they hit the hot surface, and he quickly stirred them up. “Coffee and mugs are on the counter.”

      “Will you be staying here the whole time of Bill’s leave?”

      “No, ma’am,” Darcy said as she put the bacon down and reached for a mug and coffee.

      “Please, hon. You make me sound like an old school teacher or something. Call me Nettie if you can’t call me Momma.”

      “Yes, ma—I mean, Nettie. No, ma’am. I have to look for a place in Montgomery.” She stirred some powdered creamer into her coffee from a jar on the counter, then settled at the table across from Momma. “I thought there might be some hospitals in town with openings for nurses, so I thought I’d apply. I’m so ready to get a job and live on my own after all the rules and restrictions of school.”

      He had to hand it to her, Bill thought. She was covering herself well. So far, she hadn’t lied, but she hadn’t said anything that would get him in any serious trouble, either. He scraped the eggs onto two plates and carried them to the table.

      “Thank you,” Darcy said. “I could get used to being waited on.”

      “Well, you’d best get what you can now,” Momma said. “Once you start at a hospital, I reckon you’ll be waiting on everybody else.” She turned to Bill. “Son, get some silverware and set down before everything turns to rubber.”

      Darcy smiled. Bill had seemed so in command when she’d met him on the road. When they’d talked in the car and at the restaurant, even when he had allowed her that brief glimpse of his vulnerable side, she’d had the feeling that he was in charge. Now, she could see that his mother had him wrapped around her little finger.

      “What’s so funny?” Bill said as he plopped a fork down in front of her and took another chair.

      “Nothing. I was just enjoying watching your mother boss you around.”

      Bill grimaced, the wry expression softening the angular lines of his face and making him look briefly boyish. “Believe me, I have people telling me what to do every day.” He scooped up a forkful of eggs.

      “You know something, hon,” Nettie said abruptly, interrupting the pleasant banter. “Doctor Williamson in Pittsville is looking for a new nurse. I’d bet he’d hire you in a minute.”

      Darcy swallowed her eggs, almost choking on them. Every time she thought she was about to extricate herself from this mess, she found herself in deeper. “I was really looking forward to hospital work,” she said. “They pay better. I do have to support myself, you know.”

      “Don’t be silly. You can stay here with me. After all, you’re going to be part of the family.