Battle Cry - Leon Uris [51]
“Damned if I feel like a fairy prince.”
“Oh, very funny. A young handsome lover, then. And all the frustration years burst out. For a flash, a wild moment, she forgets her years of falseness and she is herself…. Hell, kid, it’s an old pattern. She’ll go back to Vernon Yarborough. She’s used to comfort.”
“So I’m just a pawn in a frustration complex. Or as Andy says, some other guy would be in her pants if it wasn’t me.”
“Just an interlude. Families, once stable and solid, are undergoing an upheaval and women like Elaine are bound to act crazily.”
“And your wife, and Kathy?”
“The strong find courage. I pray, and you do too, that we have a little more to offer. That we can build on mutual interest and something deeper than money or sex. In plain English, loving her every minute of every day and telling her so and letting her know that she is the most important one in your life. Never take your love for granted, kid. Work at it. Oh sure, I say it couldn’t happen to me. But I suppose it could. Frankly, I think Gib and I are too much a part of each other to let a little thing like a war hurt our marriage.”
“She’d have to be off her rocker to hurt a guy like you, Nort. So to hell with the Vernon Yarboroughs and three cheers for you and me.”
Danny smiled and they arose from the booth. He put his arm about Nort’s thin shoulder as they walked slowly over the parade ground toward the Pioneer tents.
“What’s the payoff, Nort?”
“What am I fighting for, Danny? That’s easy—peace of mind.”
“Peace of mind,” Danny whispered. “Peace of mind. You make everything sound so damned simple. That’s what I like about you.”
“It sounds simple, but sometimes it isn’t so simple to get.”
“Nort?”
“Yes.”
“Do they have an engineering course at Penn?”
“I suppose so, why?”
“Oh, sounds kind of a long way off, but I was thinking that I’d like to sit in a classroom and listen to your brand of bullcrap by the hour after the war.”
“What do you mean, bullcrap? I’ll have you know I teach only by the latest, approved methods.”
Danny spun his glass so the ice cubes tinkled against its sides. He gazed out of the window, down on San Diego from the Skyroom Cocktail Lounge. It was quiet, plushy, and nestled on the top floor of a tall hotel.
“I should be angry, Danny,” Elaine said. “I waited for over an hour at the gate.”
“I phoned, but you had already left. It was impossible for me to get liberty last night.” He drew a leg up on the leather seat and continued gazing below.
“Is anything wrong?”
He didn’t answer. She reached nervously for a cigarette and studied him for a long spell.
“Why didn’t you come last night?”
“I had to study…besides, I was broke.”
“You know that doesn’t make any difference.”
“It does to me.”
“Danny?”
“Yes.”
“We’re washed up, aren’t we?” she asked softly. He turned, looked into her anxious eyes and nodded. She crushed out her cigarette and bit her lip. “It sort of completes the circle. Danny Forrester, All-American boy. I knew you’d catch up with yourself sooner or later.” He emptied the glass and set it down on the table slowly and fiddled with it. “The little girl…Kathy?”
“Yes.”
“What would you say if I told you I was going to have a baby?”
“You’re too smart for that, Elaine. We both knew it was going to kiss off sooner or later. You’re not going to