Blue Skies Tomorrow by Sarah Sundin Read Free Book Online

laughter rang out. “I’m glad to see her happy for a change. Didn’t she look radiant?”
    Helen touched her cheek. Did she apply too much rouge?
    “My brother George says they’re sweet on each other,” Mary Jane said. “And Pop says Ray Novak’s a fine man. It’s so romantic.”
    People were talking about them? Already? Gossip made it more real somehow. The bubbles inside rose to her head, and she grasped the staircase handrail. She wanted this relationship, didn’t she?
    So why did her hands shake?

    “Good afternoon, Mrs. Jeffries.” Helen nodded and smiled to her next-door neighbor as she walked up G Street.
    Two posters hung in the window of Molander Repairs. One showed a pilot gazing skyward—“Keep ’Em Flying.” The second read “Vaudeville for Victory.” Young Donald Ferguson’s crayon writing started bold, shrunk, and the T-O-R-Y dripped down the right side of the poster. Darling.
    The next block boasted a neatly lettered sign for the pageant on the lawn of Holy Rosary, and a bit farther up, Antioch Tire and Electric displayed little Linda Jeffries’s sign proclaiming “Vauddeville for Victory” with a big X through the extra D . Helen smiled. The children’s errors made the signs more winsome, just the angle she wanted.
    “There you are, Helen.” Victor Llewellyn ran across G Street on scissor legs like a quail. “I’ve been looking all over for you. Boy, you look swell.”
    “Thank you.” She hoped Ray would agree. She loved her new caramel-colored suit with its asymmetric jacket and swingy box pleats in the skirt. One of the benefits of being a Carlisle.
    “I like your hair up like that,” Vic said. “It’s perfect for tonight.”
    “Tonight?”
    “We have reservations at Milan’s at seven.”
    “What?” Helen stopped in front of the Women’s Club, and a hard knot formed behind her sternum. “You can’t make plans without asking me.”
    “I couldn’t get hold of you. I decided to act first and ask later.”
    Typical Llewellyn arrogance. She strode down the street. “I’m sorry, but I have plans.”
    “What kind of plans?” His voice had an edge.
    Helen crossed Fifth Street with the careful footing an edge required. “Mrs. Novak invited me for dinner. The children’s pageant is two weeks from tomorrow.”
    “Will Ray be there?”
    Her left foot caught on the curb. “I suppose so,” she said in a light tone. “If he gets away from the Air Depot on time.”
    “You’ve been seeing a lot of each other, I’ve heard.”
    He’d heard? From his mother, no doubt. Why did the Carlisles buy Jim a house across the street from the town busybody? Too bad she never noticed anything that mattered.
    “I thought you weren’t ready to date.”
    “I’m not dating Ray. We’re just friends.” Helen shoved open the door to Della’s.
    “Good. Go out with me tonight. I know you like to dance.”
    “It’s about time you two went out.” Mr. Carlisle appeared from behind a dress rack.
    Helen froze, too close to Vic, her breath trapped beneath a heavy load of expectations. Everyone expected her to pay homage to her fallen warrior husband and kiss his portrait. Mr. Carlisle expected her to be thrilled at Vic’s overture. Ray would expect her to back away from Vic out of loyalty to him and the hope of a romance.
    Vic grinned. “We have reservations at Milan’s tonight.”
    “Very nice,” Mr. Carlisle said.
    Helen could play only one role with honesty. “I told you. I have plans.”
    “With the Novaks.”
    “Yes, for the pageant.” Helen escaped behind the cash register.
    Mr. Carlisle harrumphed and straightened the rack of spring blouses. “You spend too much time with them.”
    “I’m president of the Ladies’ Circle.”
    Vic crossed his arms over his blue uniform jacket. “Ray Novak has his eyes on her.”
    Helen gasped. How childish of him.
    Mr. Carlisle laughed and rearranged the blouses. “Don’t let him get any ideas. I’d never let a Novak raise my