Take Me Home (9781455552078) Read Online Free PDF

Billy was down on one knee with a ring in his hand,” she continued. “He proposed, and then…and then…”
    â€œAnd then?” her father echoed.
    â€œI said ‘yes,’” Olivia answered, finally allowing her hand, and the ring on her finger, to show. At that moment, she finally felt the enormity of her decision, the weight of it; maybe by admitting it to someone else, it had become real.
    Olivia had expected her father to frown, to say that she wasn’t ready, that she was too young to get married, the same sort of sentiments expressed by his deputy, but instead, he surprised her. John dropped his cigarette to the ground, crushed it beneath his boot, and smiled as he walked over and pulled his daughter close; Olivia was so shocked by his reaction that it took her a moment to return his embrace. After a moment, her father stepped back and said, “I suppose congratulations are in order.”
    Too dumbstruck to respond, Olivia could only stare.
    Noticing, John said, “Usually when someone decides to get married, they’re a bit more excited than this.”
    â€œI’m just…I’m just still in shock I guess…”
    â€œThat’s understandable,” her father replied. “After I asked for your mother’s hand, I stumbled around in a daze for a week or so before things got back to normal. It’ll eventually pass.”
    â€œIsn’t it normal for a man to ask his prospective bride’s father for permission?” Olivia prodded, asking another of the questions that had gnawed at her all afternoon. “Didn’t Billy say anything to you about it?”
    â€œNot a word,” John answered. “But what with him getting ready to leave for training, he might not have felt he had time.” Pausing, he added, “If it makes any difference, if he had asked, I can’t think of a reason why I wouldn’t have given him my blessing.”
    How about the fact that I don’t think I’m in love with him? Olivia thought.
    â€œHave you told your mother?” John asked.
    â€œNot yet,” she answered with a shake of her blond hair.
    â€œI’m sure she’ll be excited.”
    Olivia had no reason to doubt her father. Elizabeth Marsten had always encouraged her daughter to better herself through marriage. To her, Billy couldn’t have been more ideal; his family was one of the wealthiest in town. She could already hear the shriek of joy that would meet her announcement; just thinking about it made Olivia queasy.
    â€œHow much longer does Billy have left before training?” her father asked.
    â€œJust about five weeks.”
    Tenderly, John took his daughter’s hand in his own, his fingers rough against her skin. “It’s not easy being married to a man who’ll be heading off to war,” he said. “Your mother might never admit to it, but she suffered plenty while I was gone.”
    In 1918, back during the first war in Europe in which the United States took part, Olivia’s father had been an i nfantr y­man. For months, he’d slogged across mud-strewn battlefields, marched through trenches, fighting against the kaiser’s army. Decades later, he still didn’t talk about those days, although one of the things he had acquired during that long year of war was an undying hatred of Germans. He enthusiastically supported the war against Hitler and his nation.
    Olivia understood what her father was saying, but how could she admit that this was one of the reasons she’d accepted Billy’s proposal? That she was afraid that if she had not agreed to marry him, he would go off to fight with a broken heart. That if he were killed in action, she would never be able to forgive herself. Holding her tongue seemed easier.
    â€œI’ll manage,” she said simply.
    Her father nodded solemnly; Olivia knew that she’d given him no reason to doubt her desire to marry, and it