Changing Habits by Debbie Macomber Read Free Book Online Page B

to wait for Daddy?” Joanna asked her mother as they sat out on the patio in the bright June sunshine.
    â€œThe war seemed interminable,” her mother said, relaxing on a chaise longue. “Like you and Greg, we were engaged, I kissed him goodbye when he left for the South Pacific and then we didn’t see each other for twenty-two months.”
    â€œI could never wait that long,” Joanna said. She sipped her soda and tried to calm her anxieties. There hadn’t been a letter from Greg in four days. Lately he hadn’t been writing real letters, either. They were more like notes he dashed off early in the morning before he went on duty. But Joanna didn’t care; it didn’t matter how long his letters were. All she needed was the knowledge that she was in his thoughts.
    â€œYou do whatever is necessary,” her mother told her. “That’s what women have always done.”
    â€œTwenty-two months.” Joanna couldn’t bear to be apart from Greg for almost two years. Already it seemed far longer than that since she’d last seen him—and since they’d last made love.
    â€œI didn’t know from one day to the next if your father was alive or not,” her mother added.
    â€œI think I’d know if anything happened to Greg.” She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but Joanna felt certain her heart would tell her if he was injured…or worse. They were so closely linked, so deeply in love.
    â€œHow’s Penny?” her mother asked.
    Joanna sighed. “Back in the hospital. Sister Theresa called earlier to let me know. I’ll go up to see her first thing tomorrow.”
    The phone rang and Joanna raced into the kitchen. Twice now Greg had managed to reach her stateside and they’d talked, however briefly. Her emotional high had lasted for days afterward.
    â€œHello,” she answered cheerfully. The kitchen radio played the Beatles song “I Want to Hold Your Hand” and she made a mental note to take Penny her transistor radio.
    Ten minutes later, Joanna put down the receiver. “Mom, Mom,” she cried, so excited she could barely stand still. “That was the fabric store in Boston. The material’s in.” At fifty dollars a yard, the stuff was horrendously expensive, but her mother had ordered Belgian lace anyway. It was for Joanna’s wedding dress, after all, which the best seamstress in town was sewing.
    â€œDid you ask her to mail it?”
    â€œNo…I didn’t think of it.”
    â€œGood.” Her mother sat up and removed her sunglasses. “Because you and I will be personally picking it up.”
    â€œWe’re going to Boston?” Joanna shrieked.
    â€œWe are,” her mother said, sounding delighted, “and we’re going to shop. Every bride needs a trousseau.”
    â€œOh, Mom, really?” Joanna felt like crying with gratitude and excitement. The wedding had seemed so far away, but now that the lace had arrived it had suddenly become real.
    â€œI want everything to be perfect for you,” her mother said.
    â€œWhat will Dad say?”
    â€œLeave him to me.”
    They left the next morning and were away for three glorious days. This trip was exactly the restorative Joanna needed. Sure enough, a long letter from Greg awaited her when she returned. She immediately sat down and wrote him back, describing the shopping spree and the hotel and what a fabulous time she’d had.
    Because Joanna and her mother had left on the spur of the moment, she hadn’t been to the hospital to visit Penny yet.
    Packing up the lacy silk gown she intended to wear on her wedding night, plus her going-away suit and shoes, Joanna arrived at the hospital late on Tuesday afternoon. Penny would enjoy seeing everything, and Joanna was eager to show off her purchases.
    Sister Theresa was at the nurses’ station when Joanna walked off the elevator.
    â€œJoanna,” Sister said