August 1942

On the way home from work, Jonathon had to resist the urge to tell James to drive faster. With his arms crossed across his chest, he stared out the window, not seeing the passing forests as he tried to contain his anxiousness. He couldn't wait to be home with Helen, and each second James took to get him there was a precious second wasted.

He thought he'd been happily in love with Helen before, but life with her now was so much better than anything he could have imagined. The last few weeks had been pure bliss, and after sharing the most intimate moments with her, his feelings for her had grown and become more intense. He knew it was probably a cliché to say it, but he was deeply, madly in love with her.

He shook his head and smiled. How could it be possible to feel so strongly about a woman? When he was with her, he felt intoxicated, and the time he spent away from her was agony. No matter what he was doing during the day, she was never far from his mind. Often, he would find himself reliving their nights together, or wishing desperately he was with her. And that's exactly what was wrong with James taking so long. Hurry up, he thought angrily, tapping his foot on the car's floor.

To his delight Helen opened the front door when James pulled up to the house. She must have been waiting for him, and it made his heart swell. She was just as anxious to see him as he was to see her.

"Hello," he said with a big smile as he climbed the front steps.

"Hi, Johnny," she said, her face practically glowing.

When he stepped on the porch, he looped his arm around her waist and she put her arms around his neck as he kissed her. "How was your day?"

She smiled up at him, her arms still looped around his neck. "It was good." She gave him another peck on the lips and then took his briefcase as they went into the house. "I planned something for us tonight, something fun. At least, I hope you'll think it's fun."

"Oh?" he said as he handed his fedora to her. "That sounds interesting."

She put his hat in the closet. "First, let me get your drink."

He took the day's mail off the nearby table and followed her into grand parlor, taking a seat on a couch as she continued to the bar cabinet.

"It seems silly that Annie puts so much work into cooking and serving dinner when it's just the two of us," she said, pouring a measure of whiskey into a glass.

"That's what I pay her for."

"I know," she said, bringing his glass to him. "But I want to cook for you." She sat on the couch beside him. "I'm your wife. That's what wives do."

"I don't know if I like that idea," he said, leaning back and putting his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled up to him. "When I'm home, I like being able to relax with you. If you're in the kitchen–"

"No, I want you to come in the kitchen with me. That's where we're going to eat."

"In the kitchen?" he said loudly. "You expect us to eat in the kitchen?"

"Sure, why not?"

"That's where children eat, not adults," he said firmly.

Her mouth dropped open. "I've eaten in kitchens my whole life!" she said indignantly.

"The Moore's ate in their kitchen?"

"Well, no," she hedged. "But my family did, most families do."

"Billy and I ate in the kitchen with Ingrid until Mother decided we could be allowed to eat with the adults. That's how we learned proper table manners."

Helen crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "I have good table manners.  I learned them eating with my parents. My whole family ate together from the time we were babies."

Jonathon could tell the conversation wasn't going in a good direction and he'd better do something about it. He didn't want their evening ruined with an argument. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. "Okay, we'll eat in the kitchen if that's what you want. Once in a while can't hurt, I suppose."

She opened her mouth, and then closed it.

"What?"

She shook her head. "Nothing," she said. To his disappointment, she stood. "Let's go. You can go through your mail while I'm cooking."

"Alright," he said with a sigh.

He'd much rather enjoy cuddling on the couch while Annie made their dinner. Tomorrow, he thought as he followed her down the hallway. He'd make sure they had Annie back cooking dinner tomorrow.

In the kitchen the air smelled delicious, and he looked around to find the source. There was a large pot on the stove, but it was covered.

"Everything is almost ready so it shouldn't be long," Helen said, and indicated the small table by the window that was set for two. "Why don't you sit?"

Once Jonathon was seated, he began to tear open an envelope.  Then he looked up and his hands froze. Helen had tied a white apron around her waist and as she went to the stove, he watched her. The apron was tight, hugging the curve her hips and the swell of her stomach. Those were curves he knew well, his mind immediately going to the previous evening.

She'd pinned her hair back with a barrette at the nape of her neck, and as she leaned over the large pot to stir, shorter segments of her hair fell forward, the curls framing her face. Since she'd been married to him, her hair had grown longer.  She might have gotten it cut, but she was no longer going into town, but he was glad.  He loved to run his fingers through it and see the waves cascading over her bare shoulders.

He continued to watch as she moved around the kitchen his mail forgotten while he drank in every detail. Her body was endlessly fascinating to him, even now while she was doing something as simple as cooking.

When he'd taken out girls in the past, before he'd fallen hard for Helen, there had been kissing and some furtive fumbling in the back seat of the Duesenberg, but he'd never dared go further. Father had spelled out in detail what he'd do to Jonathon if got a girl in trouble. And in case that wasn't enough to keep Jonathon in line, he'd told James that Jonathon was never allowed to be unsupervised with the girls he was seeing. As a result, his first time with Helen had been his first time ever with a woman, and it had been a revelation.

Helen put a steaming bowl in front of him and he blinked the memories away.

"I hope you like it," she said. "It's my mom's recipe. She called it 'Cowboy Chili."

"I'm sure I will. It smells delicious," he said, unable to take his eyes off her, and she smiled more widely with pride.

"I was able to use vegetables from our garden for the first time," she said as she walked back to the stove. "Fresh vegetables always make things taste better."

She brought her bowl to the table, and Jonathon jumped up to pull out her chair.

"Oh, Johnny, you don't have to do that."

"Manners," he replied, and returned to his seat. "Mother made sure I wouldn't forget."

"Don't you think this is cozy?" she asked, putting her napkin in her lap.

"Yes – it is," he said, realizing how much closer she was sitting to him. In the dining room, she was always on his right at their big table, but being able to look right in her eyes was nice. "I have to admit, I like this," he said, picking up his spoon.

"See! I told you it would be fun." She spread butter on a slice of bread, happiness radiating from her. "Annie and I both got letters from Billy today."

The two of them had taken on the task of writing Billy every day, hoping it would keep up his spirits. His letters to home hadn't been as frequent, and it sounded like he was either too busy or too tired to write.  Jonathon was grateful both of them were writing for Billy's sake. Even though his brother would probably never admit it, Jonathon imagined he had to be homesick.

"How's he doing?" he asked.

"He said they've been marching so much, he's getting blisters. Annie and I think it's because the army socks are too thin so we're going to knit him some thicker ones. We reckon we can knit a pair each week."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate that."

"Annie's going to teach Kitty how to knit so she can make some too. I think it'll help her," she said, her voice becoming quieter. "Kitty's still having a hard time. She misses Billy a whole lot." She straightened, and made an effort to smile. "He told Annie he really misses her cooking."

Jonathon barked out a laugh. "I can believe it. Army food must be terrible."

"He said the cooks are brand new and don't know what they're doing."

Jonathon shook his head laughing even harder.  "Well, he's really missing out.  Your chili is good."

"Thanks!  How were things at the mine today?"

While he told her the biggest news, how operations in the pit had been stopped for three hours because one of the big steam shovels had unexpectedly thrown a tread on the same strip of road the trucks used to haul gravel out, the stress of those hours came back to him, making his chest tighten. "We got so far behind, I ordered the men working the gravel crusher to stay late to make it up," he said glumly.

"Do you think they'll be able to?"

"I think so, but the schedule is so tight. We can't afford delays like that."

Helen sighed. "I wish you didn't have to work so hard, I don't think it's good for you."

He shrugged while he examined his now empty bowl. It wasn't like he wanted to either, but what choice did he have?

"You need a break from it once in a while, and – I miss you. I hardly get to see you, Johnny," she said, her eyes sad.

"I know, I miss you too," he said, taking her hand. "If Billy hadn't been so stupid..." he muttered, and then stopped. What was done was done. Complaining about it wasn't going to change anything.

"But there must be one person you trust, someone who can run things when you're not there."

"The demand for iron is almost more than we can keep up with. Just about every factory in this country is making planes, guns, bullets, bombs, and that's not including the shipyards. We're just getting started preparing for this war, and so much of it requires steel. If we don't meet our quotas, we could lose our contracts, and that would be a disaster for the company."

"You can't even be gone for one day a week?" she pressed. "I can't believe they can't manage one day without you. If anything happened, like what happened today, you could be there almost right away to make sure it got taken care of."

He studied her as he considered the idea. "Well," he said slowly. "There is one manager in the pit who's a pretty reliable fellow." By time Jonathon had made it down to the steam shovel, He'd already organized a group of men to get the tread fixed. "I guess I could try him out on Sunday."

Helen's face brightened.  "Really?"

"I meant it when I said this Sunday," he continued quickly, not wanting her to get her hopes too high. "This is just a trial for one day. I can't afford to rush into anything, at least not while we're this busy."

"I understand," she agreed eagerly.

"I'll talk to him about it tomorrow."

"That'd be swell, Johnny," she said with a huge grin, and he couldn't help smiling in return. She was so beautiful in that moment.

She got up from the table and reached for his bowl, but he took her hand instead. "Why don't you leave these for Annie to deal with tomorrow?" he said, pulling her onto his lap.

She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him. "I really shouldn't." she said quietly, smoothing his hair.

"Why not? It'll give her something to do."

She laughed loudly at his joke. "At least I have to put the leftover food away. We don't want to encourage any mice."

"Make it quick. I'm ready to go to the cabin."

She blushed heavily and stood, unable to meet his eyes, but she was smiling. While she was busy putting things in the icebox, his thoughts turned to the upcoming Sunday. Maybe they'd spend the whole day in the cabin.  It could be like a little honeymoon.

****

It's the summer of love in the Blackwell house!  I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.  I have to admit, it was difficult to write since there was no great drama happening.  But I hope I've been able to capture the intensity of their feelings, or at least Jonathon's for Helen.  It's heady times for him.

Thank you so much for reading and for all your support!  I will strive to get the next chapter completed as soon as possible.

Oh, and as promised, this chapter is dedicated to @Nzdramafreakcomedian who was chosen at random from readers who suggested titles.  Congrats!

Cheers and have a great rest of your weekend!