The Grafton Girls - Annie Groves [57]
‘You mustn’t say things like that,’ Ruthie repeated breathlessly.
‘Why not?’
‘We’ve only just met. You may think that…that you…you like me now…’
‘Nope, I do not think I like you at all,’ Glen stopped her, mimicking her accent. ‘I know that I love you.’
‘How are you feeling now, Walter?’ Jess asked sympathetically as he steered her hesitantly around the dance floor. ‘Have you written to your girl yet, like I told you?’ she demanded in a semi-scolding motherly tone.
‘Yes. And I’ve told her that I love her and that I want her to wait for me,’ he admitted, bashfully.
Unlike the other GIs who were dancing, Walter didn’t look as though he was exactly enjoying the experience. In fact, he looked so uncomfortable that Jess’s sympathy for him increased. He hadn’t had very much to do with girls prior to coming to England, she guessed. Well, she might as well take him under her wing and make sure that by the time he rejoined his girl ‘back home’, he could at least dance without falling over his feet, and talk to a girl without sounding as though he was about to choke on his own words, Jess decided firmly.
‘There’s no need to hold me as though you think I’m going to break, you know,’ she told him.
‘No, ma’am,’ Walter apologised earnestly.
‘Walter, there’s no need to call me “ma’am”, either,’ Jess reminded him. ‘I thought we’d agreed on that.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Jess burst out laughing. She felt so sorry for Walter. It was so unfair that the other GIs, apart from Glen, whom anyone could see was a real softie, didn’t seem to include him in their conversation or treat him as one of their group. Walter’s plight aroused all her protective instincts and she was determined to show him that British women knew how to treat the men who were risking their lives on their behalf.
‘Hello there, Carrot Top.’
Jess gave an indignant glower in the direction of the familiar voice. ‘Billy Spencer, how often have I told you not to call me that?’ she told him as he steered his own partner close enough to her and Walter to grin down at her. Billy was equally as tall and broad-shouldered as Walter, and it was plain from the look on her face that the girl who was dancing with him was more than happy to be in his arms. Talk about looking like the cat that had got the cream, Jess thought irately.
‘Aren’t you going to introduce me?’ he asked, ignoring her rebuke.
Walter was giving Billy a hesitant, wary look that caught at Jess’s tender heart. Poor Walter, why should he look as though he had done something wrong when if anyone was at fault it was Billy for butting in like he had?
‘Why should I do that—’ she began.
But Billy was speaking as well, drowning out her question as he announced firmly to Walter, ‘Sorry to barge in, only I promised her dad I’d look out for her. She doesn’t mean any harm, but what with her being a bit flirty, like, some lads can get the wrong impression. Not that you’re one of that sort. I can see that.’ Releasing his partner, Billy extended his hand to shake Walter’s, causing Walter to release Jess. As he did so, his wallet slipped from his pocket, but it was Billy who retrieved it from the floor, where it had landed, closing it and handing it back to him.
By this stage Jess was almost hopping up and down with fury. If she and Billy had been on their own she’d have given him a piece of her mind and no mistake but they weren’t, and what with Walter looking all-self conscious, and Billy’s dance partner throwing daggers at her, she had no choice but to content herself with a murderous look in Billy’s direction and a warning.
‘You know, Billy, I could swear that nose of yours is getting longer by the minute.’
‘Don’t mind her,’ Billy told Walter with a smile. ‘I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve had to get her out of some trouble or other. Grown up together, we have, and she’s like a sister to me.’