Eyes on the Stars Read online

  “It doesn’t matter to me, you go ahead.”

  Claudia’s smile was brilliant. She turned in a full circle as she surveyed the room.

  “Before you make up your mind,” Jessie rushed ahead, “you’ll probably want to know that there’s only one commode for twelve of us.”

  “Oh. In that case, I think I’d better take the bed closest to the bathroom.” Claudia shrugged. “Weak bladder.”

  “Ah,” Jessie murmured, not knowing what to say to that. She put her duffle bag on the bed next to Claudia’s, trying for nonchalance. “Guess I’ll just bunk here.” She watched as Claudia struggled to lift her suitcase onto her cot. Jessie noted that the bag likely cost more than her entire wardrobe. “Here, let me get that.” She reached over and hoisted the suitcase onto the bed, and was rewarded with another laugh from Claudia.

  “You make that seem so easy, when I know full well how heavy that bag is.” Claudia swept an errant strand of hair out of her eyes. “I had no idea what to pack.”

  “I can see that.”

  The door flew open and four other women burst in, all laughing and talking at once. Jessie winced at the noise level. Growing up in rural upstate New York, she was unused to a lot of extraneous chatter.

  “They are a loud bunch, aren’t they?” Claudia whispered conspiratorially.

  “Wha?”

  Claudia smiled. “Your expression gave you away. Remind me to play poker with you.”

  Before Jessie could respond, Claudia crossed the room and introduced herself to their new bunkmates. “That’s Jessie over there.” Jessie waved weakly as the other women followed Claudia’s gaze to where she still stood rooted to the spot.

  “I’m Janie.”

  “Rebecca.”

  “Shirley.”

  “Annabelle.”

  Jessie nodded in each of their directions, hoping she’d be able to keep them straight.

  “Goodness,” Shirley said, or was it Rebecca? “Look at the time. We’d better get going. Don’t want to be late for ground school.”

  As quickly as they’d rushed in, Janie, Rebecca, Shirley, and Annabelle flew back out, leaving Jessie alone with Claudia once more.

  “Whew, they’re going to be a handful, aren’t they?” Claudia remarked. She crossed the room and hooked her arm through Jessie’s. “C’mon. We’d better get going.”

  “Right.” Jessie looked down at their interlocked arms, and warmth spread through her. What was it she was being asked to do, again? Oh yeah, walk.

  “Please come with me, Jess? Please?” Claudia stood at the foot of Jessie’s bed, looking pretty as a peach in a sleeveless sundress and slingback, medium-height heels. Her hair framed her face like a picture, and her makeup reminded Jessie of one of those big movie stars.

  They’d been training for three weeks solid without a day off. It was Saturday night, and some of the girls were going into town to check out the action at the Blue Bonnet Hotel. Jessie’s stomach twisted painfully as she envisioned some young buck putting his paws on sweet Claudia, even just to dance. She sighed heavily. “Okay, I’ll go, but there’s no way I’m setting foot on the dance floor.”

  “Deal.” Claudia put her hand out and they shook on it, as had become their custom whenever she got Jessie to give in on something, which, Jessie noted, was often.

  Jessie ran a comb through her hair and grabbed her jacket.

  “You’re going like that?”

  Jessie frowned and looked down at her standard WASP-issued white shirt and khaki slacks. “What’s wrong with this?”

  Claudia smiled and patted her on the arm. “Not a thing. I think you look incredibly dashing. But I expect you might get hassled for wearing slacks.”

  Jessie shrugged. “Too bad.”

  “Okay, then. Let’s go,” Claudia said brightly, linking their arms.

  The contact sent a shiver down Jessie’s spine, as it always did.

  When they arrived, the crowd at the Blue Bonnet was raucous and the music was loud. Cigarette smoke wafted through the air, men and women danced to the latest tunes, and others congregated near the bar.

  “Want something to drink?” Jessie yelled close to Claudia’s ear to be heard.

  “Oh, I’m not much of a drinker. Just some pop, please.”

  “Okay, I’ll be right back.” Jessie fought through the throngs to get to the bar. By the time she’d gotten the drinks and returned, there was an enlisted man standing close enough to Claudia to count the dusting of freckles on her nose. Jessie’s jaw set.

  “No, I really don’t want to dance.”

  “Come on, sugar. A pretty thing like you? We’d look perfect together.”

  “Thank you, but I’m just not interested.”

  The man took Claudia’s wrist and pulled her toward the dance floor…and ran directly into Jessie, whose eyes showed fire.

  “The lady said she wasn’t interested.”

  “Yeah, but she really didn’t mean it.”

  “Actually, I believe she did.” Jessie didn’t give any ground as the soldier tried to push past her. “Now let go of her and go on your way.”

  “Who do you think you are?” The man made a show of examining Jessie’s shirt and slacks. They stood eyeball to eyeball.

  “Jess, it’s okay,” Claudia said, putting her free hand on Jessie’s arm. “Don’t make a scene.”

  “Do you want to dance with this…person?”

  “N-no, but…”

  Jessie continued to stare daggers at the soldier. “Then it’s not okay, is it?”

  “Jess…”

  Jessie heard the desperate, nervous plea in Claudia’s voice but chose to ignore it. To the soldier she said, “Take your paws off my friend and go find someone else to pester.”

  The soldier hesitated, clearly weighing the blow to his ego against the effort this conquest was taking. Finally, he released Claudia’s wrist and, with a disgusted look in Jessie’s direction, faded into the crowd.

  “Whew. Goodness,” Claudia chattered, “I wasn’t counting on that kind of excitement.” She fanned herself. “Is that for me?” She pointed to the Coca Cola Jessie held in her hand.

  Jessie wordlessly gave Claudia the drink as she tried to wrestle her temper under control.

  After an uncomfortable silence, during which Claudia sipped her soda and swayed to the beat of the music, Jessie said, “I’m sorry, Claude. I shouldn’t have come.” She turned on her heel and hurried to the exit.

  When she got outside, she took several deep breaths and stared at the stars. “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” she mumbled to herself as she strode away from the hotel.

  “Hey! Hey! Jess, wait up.” Claudia came up alongside.

  “What are you doing, Claude? Go on back inside and have a good time.”

  “It won’t be a good time without you there, silly.”

  “Nonsense. You were looking forward to dancing and letting your hair down.”

  Claudia shook her head and chuckled. “You don’t get it, do you?”

  “Get what?”

  “What I was looking forward to,” Claudia linked her arm through Jessie’s in a now-familiar gesture, “was spending time off-base with you, getting to know you better.”

  Jessie stopped short. “What?”

  “For someone as sharp as you are, you can be so dense, sometimes.” Claudia glanced around at the crowded parking lot. “Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”

  Jessie made a show of looking at Claudia’s feet. “You’re not really wearing the appropriate footwear for that, are you?”

  “God, you can be so pig-headed.” Claudia reached down, slipped her shoes off, and dangled them from two fingers. “Come on.” She pulled Jessie forward, away from the lights of the town.

  After a little while, Claudia stopped them and looked around. Jessie wrinkled her brow. They were in the middle of nowhere, inky darkness enveloped them, and there was not a soul in sight.

  “This will do.”

  “For what?”


  Claudia sighed exasperatedly. “You really are dense, you know?” She turned to face Jessie, stood on her tiptoes, and softly kissed Jessie on the mouth.

  Jessie’s brain froze, then melted, as Claudia slipped her arms around Jessie’s waist and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. When they broke apart, Jessie’s eyes were still tightly shut.

  Claudia cleared her throat and took a step back. When Jessie dared open her eyes, Claudia was smiling at her dreamily. “For that. This spot will do for that, which is something I’ve been wanting to do since the first time I saw you.”

  “Um. You did?”

  “Yes, silly. Gosh, you are the dreamiest.” Claudia chewed her lip. “You didn’t mind, did you? I mean, if you did…”

  Jessie tried to get her mouth to move so that she could speak, but her lips were still tingling. So instead, she pulled Claudia back to her and kissed her, gently at first, and then with more urgency when Claudia melded to her body.

  “I guess that means you were okay with it, huh?”

  Jessie laughed. Claudia linked their arms and began walking again. “That’s the first time I’ve ever heard you laugh. I like it. I’ll have to work on getting you to do that more often.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Jessie was sure she must have died and gone to heaven. It was their two-week anniversary—two weeks since that wondrous first kiss, and Claudia wanted to celebrate in style. Somehow she got permission for the two of them to borrow one of the BT-13s in which they’d been training. With the brass’s blessing, they were flying to the Palm Springs Army Air Base in California.

  She’d never been to California, but Claudia had spent a lot of time there growing up and promised to show her the sights. Two whole days alone with Claudia. Wow.

  “Hey Jess,” Annabelle called on her way to the bathroom. “You thinking about a fella?”

  “N-no, why?” Jess fidgeted with the beret she held in her lap.

  “You’ve got this queer expression on your face—all gaga-like.” Annabelle studied her and Jessie shifted uncomfortably on her cot. “Sorta the way I felt when I’d kissed my first boyfriend.” When Jessie remained silent, Annabelle shrugged and went on her way.

  Jessie waited until the door closed and rushed outside. She didn’t want to be around when Annabelle emerged. “Of all the idiotic…” Oof.

  “You know, you really ought to watch where you’re going. You might run into someone.”

  Jessie raised her gaze from her shoe tops and looked directly into Claudia’s laughing eyes. When she realized that Claudia’s arms were wrapped around her waist, she blushed and stepped back. “Sorry.”

  Claudia regarded her quizzically. “I’m not. Are you okay, Jess?”

  “Yeah. Fine. Why?”

  “You’re acting like your pants are on fire.”

  “Am I? No. Everything’s good.”

  Claudia took a step closer. “Listen, if you don’t want to go tomorrow…”

  Jessie saw the uncertainty in Claudia’s expression and wanted to kick herself. She would’ve, in fact, if she were that flexible. “Of course I want to go. Are you kidding? I can’t wait.”

  Claudia stared hard at her for a few seconds longer, then relented. “Okay, but if you change your mind—”

  “I won’t.”

  “Outstanding.” Claudia’s smile was as bright as the midday sun. “Now we’d better hurry or we’ll be late for instrument training. Jess? Earth to Jess, come in, please.”

  “Huh? Oh. Right.” Caught mooning again, Jessie gave herself a second mental kick for good measure.

  Claudia was in the front cockpit, piloting the Vultee Valiant on the second leg of their trip, so Jessie took full advantage of her position in the rear to study her. Jessie noted the way she bit her lip in concentration every time she turned her head to check their surroundings, how her hands looked as they flew over the instrument panel, the way her hair curled at the base of her neck. “Damn, woman, you’ve got it bad.”

  “What’s that?” Claudia shouted to be heard over the engine noise. “Did you say something?”

  “No. We should be coming up on it soon.”

  “Yep.”

  “You do know how to land this bird, right?”

  “Very funny. You can always take over from back there if you don’t trust me.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind.” Jessie smiled. Claudia had logged nearly seventy-five more flying hours than her, and she was an excellent pilot.

  When they touched down ten minutes later, they were guided in by two enlisted men. As they jumped down from the wing and removed their goggles and caps, one of the soldiers said, “Catch this, Solly. It’s a couple of dames. A couple of dames flying one of our trainers. What is this world coming to?”

  Jessie felt the hair on the back of her neck rise at his derisive tone, but before she could say anything, Claudia stepped forward, effectively blocking her path.

  “Hi fellas. Just thought we’d drop by for a bit. You know, before we head back to hang the wash and cook our men dinner.” She swept past the men, exaggerating the sway of her hips. There was nothing for Jessie to do except to follow. “Jerks,” she heard Claudia mumble under her breath.

  A little while later, they arrived at The Desert Inn and checked in to their room. “How did you know about this place?” Jessie asked, as she unpacked her bag and hung up her dress khakis.

  “Are you kidding?” Claudia was sprawled across one of the two beds. “This place is legendary. We might even see Cary Grant at the pool. Clark Gable and Carole Lombard stayed here. Terrible about her death, wasn’t it? And now I hear he’s overseas flying missions. I wish he’d just make another movie.”

  “Are you a big movie fan?”

  “Gosh, yes. Did you see Grant and Katherine Hepburn in The Philadelphia Story? What about Gable and Vivian Leigh in Gone With the Wind? That was epic.”

  Jessie looked back over her shoulder at Claudia. “Nope and nope. I like the movies. Just never had much time to go.”

  Claudia sat up, a determined look on her face. “Well, we’ll just have to fix that. I noticed on our way in that Casablanca is playing in town. Maybe we could go tonight?”

  “Sure, if that’s what you want.”

  Claudia popped up off the bed and came to stand in front of Jessie, essentially pinning her in the corner. Her gaze was searching. “What do you want, Jess? I feel like we only ever do what I want to do. I don’t want it to be that way.” Her lower lip stuck out appealingly, and Jessie couldn’t tear her eyes away. “Are you just going to stand there looking, or are you going to kiss me? It’s been forever.”

  Jessie swallowed hard and wiped her sweaty palms on her pants as Claudia closed the few remaining inches between them. “Claude…”

  “Mmm? You’re not going to keep me waiting, are you?”

  “Of course no—”

  Claudia slid her arms around Jessie’s neck and brushed her lips against her. “Stop”—Claudia pulled Jessie’s lower lip into her mouth and sucked on it briefly—“talking.”

  Warmth spread throughout Jessie’s body. She buried her hands in Claudia’s soft curls and kissed her. Claudia’s lips parted, inviting her inside, and Jessie was lost.

  “Claude,” Jessie murmured, when they stopped briefly for air. She licked her lips. Her legs were shaking. “If you keep kissing me like that, I won’t want to stop.”

  “Who said anything about stopping?” Claudia ran her fingers down Jessie’s arms and captured her hands. She kissed each of Jessie’s palms. “I could kiss you forever.”

  “You won’t get any complaints from me, but…”

  “But, what?”

  Jessie felt the blush creep up her neck. “I’m feeling a little out of my depth here.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Jessie examined a spot on the carpeting. “I-I’ve never kissed anyone before.” She said it in a rush, as if pushing the words out fast would somehow make the admission less embarrassing.


  “Huh. Not in your whole entire life? Not even a boy in high school?”

  Jessie shook her head. She didn’t need to look up. She could practically hear Claudia snickering at her.

  “Hey.” Claudia squeezed Jessie’s hand. “That’s nothing to be ashamed of. I think it’s sweet. And you picked me as your first. Wow. I’m a lucky girl.”

  Jessie finally chanced a glance, and was surprised to discover the earnestness in Claudia’s expression. “You really don’t care?”

  “Of course not, silly.”

  “You don’t think less of me?”

  “Gosh no. Do you think less of me because I have been kissed before?”

  “What? No. I suppose one of us should know what we’re doing.”

  At that, they both laughed.

  “Come on,” Claudia said, tugging on Jessie’s sleeve. “Let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into.”

  They rented bikes from the hotel and rode through town. Claudia pointed out various sites along the way—watering holes of celebrities, nifty dress shops, and the like.

  “Oooh. That’s dreamy.” Claudia hit the brakes so hard Jessie nearly ran into the back of her bike.

  “Hey!”

  “Sorry, but oh, Jess, look.”

  Jessie turned her attention to the display in the store window, where a mannequin modeled a shimmering gown with a daring neckline. Taped to the window was a picture of Betty Grable wearing what looked to be the same dress. Claudia pulled her by the sleeve.

  “Can we go inside? Please? I just want to try it on.”

  “Where would you wear that?”

  Claudia punched her in the arm and rolled her eyes. “You’re so practical. Nowhere, silly. I just want to see what it looks like.”

  Jessie couldn’t see the sense in it, but she could tell that Claudia was determined, so she dismounted the bike.

  “Thank you. You won’t regret it.”

  When Claudia emerged from the fitting room wearing the dress, Jessie was grateful to be sitting. “Holy mother of God.”

  Claudia twirled around in place. “You like it?”

  Jessie, who was sure her eyeballs must’ve fallen out of her head, blinked several times. “It’s…um, it’s out of this world.” The front of the gown revealed a healthy expanse of creamy smooth skin, including a scandalous amount of cleavage. The back dipped low so that Claudia’s upper back and shoulder blades were visible.