Shadowed by Grace Read Online Free PDF Page B

roads mired in mud. Just one nice day. That’s all he wanted. One day to get out of Naples. Do something important. If they got turned back by rugged roads or roadblocks, he’d go crazy.
    “You okay?”
    “Yeah. Fine.” He relaxed his hold on the steering wheel. “Can you grab the map in my bag? I think we go about five miles out of town before turning.”
    “Kilometers?”
    “Sure. Check the map.”
    Rachel bit her lower lip as she pawed through his bag, but he still saw her grin. “This it?” She held up a crumpled piece of paper.
    “Looks right.” He worked to keep his attention on the heavily rutted road rather than on the woman next to him.
    She spread the map across her lap and frowned. “Guess I should have taken Italian. My momma did. She studied here in the twenties.”
    Scott glanced at her in time to catch the shadow that fell on her features. “You didn’t study it?”
    “Not enough. If my mom wanted me to, then I didn’t have the desire.” She turned the map from side to side. “I’ll have to work hard to say more than grazie .”
    “Not many Americans care to do that.” Today would be his first real test. He hoped he was up to the challenge, especially with an audience.

Chapter 4
    May 16
    THE HILL THEY DROVE stood like a multilayered terrace, each level lined with the remnants of vines. Grapes maybe? Rachel fingered Momma’s silver locket as she searched the landscape. She’d never seen anything like it in Philadelphia. She hadn’t grown up in an agricultural center. Now she wished she’d asked her mom more questions and made her talk about Italy.
    The GI seated next to her drove the jeep with confidence, but what did he see? The silence that settled over them said he didn’t need to entertain her. Yet the longer the silence stretched, the more curious she became. Then she’d catch him looking at her. The kind of glance that telegraphed he saw her, really saw her, and wanted to know more.
    Her cheeks warmed and her palms sweated. He’d given her openings to share some of her story, but the words failed. They’d just met, and she couldn’t let him see the turmoil roiling inside. No, she needed to affix a look of composure and strength and never let it slip. One word from him and she’d spend her time in Naples fighting with Sergeant Bowers for another assignment.
    “Do you think we should stop?” She held up the map. “We should have arrived by now.”
    He glanced at her, his brows merging in a frown. A crater in the road almost yanked the steering wheel from his hands, and he fought the car back into position. “A couple more minutes. We can’t go fast, so it’s still ahead of us.”
    “All right.” She turned back to the map. The lines zigged and zagged across the page without making much sense. Guess this wasn’t the time to mention she’d never had occasion to drive or use foreign maps.
    They approached a crossroads. “Which way, Justice?”
    She stilled as her name sounded like a caress. “I’m not sure. Sorry.”
    He pulled the jeep to the side of the roadway and gestured for the map, which she handed over with a smile. After a minute studying it, he eased back onto the road. “We’ll try left.”
    “Try? Aren’t we in a war zone? Trying doesn’t sound safe.”
    Did he just growl?
    He was driving her into the unknown and growled at her. Rachel crossed her arms and leaned against the bench seat. Her gaze darted back and forth. Far behind them the dust of a vehicle rose in a cloud. What if they drove into Germans? Or partisan Fascist troops? Would her rank as a captain protect her in the event she became a prisoner of war, or would they know it was a sham?
    “I’ll get us there and back.”
    She nodded but refused to comment, not sure her voice would cooperate. She turned to look at the cloud but couldn’t tell if it drew closer.
    “What are you looking at?”
    Rachel shrugged. “I can’t tell. Is someone following us?”
    Scott shook his head. “As far