Page 24 of The Women of Oak Ridge
Tomorrow, I’d find Garlyn and return the boots.
The box of galoshes rode in the basket of my bicycle the next day, but I never saw Garlyn. I didn’t inquire if anyone knew his whereabouts, because asking questions drew attention to oneself. I wasn’t certain what area of the plant he worked in, since his job as an engineer often took him all over the enormous building. I’d simply leave the boots in the locker in the maintenance building assigned to me and hope I saw Garlyn tomorrow. The sooner I returned them to him, the better.
Thunder rolled across the gray sky as I exited the building at the end of my shift. I hurried to catch a shuttle while fat drops of rain began to pelt the earth.
I groaned. I didn’t have my umbrella to keep me from getting drenched. With dozens of other employees, I ran from the shuttle to the security portal. The line inched forward while rain fell harder. By the time I passed through the turnstile, any dry space beneath the covered waiting area was occupied. I hovered on the edge, soaked to the bone. A chill in the air only made things worse.
“Maebelle.”
I squinted through the downpour to see Garlyn hurrying toward me, an umbrella in hand. He drew up close and positioned the small shelter over me.
“I was afraid I’d missed you,” he said.
I shivered but didn’t reply.
“Here.” He handed me the umbrella, then proceeded to remove his jacket. “You’ll catch cold.”
He draped the outerwear over my shoulders. It felt wonderfully warm, but again, I wasn’t sure what to think about his attentiveness. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t see you today,” he said, glancing down at my feet. “I wasn’t sure you received the note and package I sent you yesterday.”
People darted around us, rushing to and from buses that came and went.
I bit my lip. “It arrived.”
Confusion crossed his face as he glanced at my wet shoes again. “Did you not like the boots? Were they the wrong size? There weren’t many options, so I just guessed.”
I’d rehearsed what I would say all day, but now the words failed me.
“I... I can’t accept them. I’ll return them to you tomorrow.”
Disappointment shone in his eyes. “I don’t understand.”
Someone bumped into me in their mad dash to the bus, nearly toppling me.
“Let’s get out of the rain.” He led the way to a bus going to Townsite. We boarded, but there was only one vacant seat. Garlyn remained standing as the bus pulled away. The lack of privacy kept us from continuing our conversation.
The drive to town took longer in the rain. We passed a bus that had become stuck in the mud, with passengers waving out the window for us to stop. Thankfully our driver kept going, otherwise we may have become bogged down ourselves. He assured us he’d have the dispatcher send a bus to pick them up.
By the time we reached the terminal, the rain had stopped. We disembarked and maneuvered through the crowd to a quieter area away from the ticket windows.
“I’m sorry, Maebelle,” Garlyn said, an earnestness in his voice.“I didn’t mean to offend you by purchasing the boots. I see now that, well, that it may have seemed rather forward, and that isn’t what I intended at all.”
His sincerity eased the tension I’d felt all day. “It was a very nice thing to do. I have to admit they fit perfectly.”
A small smile crinkled his eyes. “The only other pair was a size eleven, and I didn’t think your feet were quite that big.”
I grinned, grateful he wasn’t angry. “Not quite, but I really can’t accept them.”
He nodded, then said, “Instead of me returning them to the PX, how about you purchase them from me? You still need galoshes, don’t you? I’ll even charge you a little extra if you want. For my trouble and all.”
That made me laugh. “It’s a deal.”
He glanced in the direction of the cafeteria down the street. “Would you like to join me for dinner? I hear they’re serving fried chicken.” When he faced me again, he said, “I’ll understand if you’d rather not.”
The honesty in his brown eyes convinced me I’d been silly to think he was anything but a gentleman. That he’d bought me a pair of galoshes simply because he knew I needed them warmed me down to the wet soles of my feet.
“If you’ll give me a minute to stop by the dorm and change out of these wet things, I’d be happy to join you for fried chicken.”
