The Color of Secrets by Lindsay Ashford Read Free Book Online

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Chapter 5
     
    “It’s Curried Carrots or Spam Hash.” A woman in a hairnet bobbed up from nowhere, heaving a pile of plates onto the counter as Eva and Cathy arrived with their trays. “You’re lucky to get a choice on a Monday.”
    “What about the pudding?” Cathy looked hopefully at the board above the hatch.
    “Eggless Sponge with Mock Cream.”
    “I can hardly wait,” Cathy muttered as the woman receded into the steaming kitchen.
    “Never mind.” Eva pulled something from her pocket and slipped it under Cathy’s plate. “Have this—it’ll help take the taste away.”
    Cathy’s eyes widened as her fingers found it. “It’s not . . . ” She looked over her shoulder. “Eva,” she hissed, “where’d you get this?” Her head tilted as Eva busied herself collecting cutlery. “Was it that Yank at the dance? It was, wasn’t it?”
    “It might have been,” Eva bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. “Sorry it’s not very much, but I gave a bit to David and a bit to Mum. I’ve been trying to ration myself, but it’s not easy!”
    Halfway through the meal Cathy leaned forward and whispered, “I daren’t ask what you did to deserve a whole bar of chocolate!”
    This brought on a spasm of coughing from Eva, who had been about to swallow a mouthful of curry. The look on Cathy’s face reminded her of her old headmistress.
    “I only kissed him!” She hissed, reaching for water and gulping it down.
    “And?”
    “And what?”
    “What about next time?”
    “Who said anything about a next time?” Eva glanced over her shoulder. “I suppose the gossips are having a field day.”
    “It’s okay, you know,” Cathy said. “You don’t have to feel guilty about it.”
    “Don’t I?” Eva mumbled, still staring at her plate. “I’ve promised to meet him next Saturday night and I feel as guilty as hell. If I knew how to get hold of him, I’d call it off.” She prodded the congealing remains of her lunch with her fork.
    “But you want to see him?”
    Eva made a face. “Is it that obvious?”
    “I could tell as soon as I saw you. Your eyes are all . . . you know . . . and you’ve hardly stopped smiling all morning—I mean, how can anyone smile when they’re eating Curried Carrots?”
    Eva gave a helpless shrug. “It’s like he pressed some switch I can’t turn off. I’ve been playing the whole thing back in my head. Over and over. I can’t sleep for thinking about it.” With a sigh she pushed her plate away. “I know it’s wrong, but I’m desperate to see him again.”
    “So do it.” Cathy’s voice was matter-of-fact.
    “ You wouldn’t, though, would you? If you were me?”
    “But I’m not you. I can’t feel what you’re feeling and I can’t say what I’d do if I did.
    Anyway, if I was to meet someone, I could go ahead and do pretty much what I liked, but you—you’re in an impossible situation.”
    Eva traced a stain on the tablecloth with her finger. “I thought I was coping with it, though, Cathy. I was coming to work, looking after David, staying in with my mum most nights, just the odd trip to the pictures now and then. And I was okay. I didn’t sit there every night wishing I was out dancing or whatever. I’d got to a point where, secretly, I thought I didn’t really need a man at all. And then what happens? One night out and wham!”
    “What’s his name, this Yank?”
    “Bill. Bill Willis.”
    “ William Willis? His parents must have had a sense of humor!”
    “Well, yes—I suppose it must be short for William. He didn’t say.”
    Cathy smiled. “Too busy kissing, I suppose?”
    Eva grunted. “We talked about all kinds of things, actually! Where he comes from, what it’s like at his camp, his thoughts about the war and . . . ” she broke off, rubbing her finger around and around the greasy mark. “God, what must I sound like?”
    “Worrying about Eddie’s not going to help, is it?” Cathy said gently. “How long since you