The Last Night in London by Karen White (reading list .TXT) 📕

beautiful, even. With more than just a hint of a suntan on her face and bare arms. Precious saw Eva looking and laughed. “I know. It looks like I’ve been on vacation, doesn’t it? When the weather was nice, several of the nurses and I would take the patients who could walk down to the gardens to sit in the warm sun.”

“Did Graham go?”

Precious nodded, focusing on placing her hairbrush and comb in the right spot on her dressing table. “When he was well enough. He seemed to enjoy it.”

“Did he talk about me at all?” Eva hadn’t meant to ask, hadn’t meant to seem as if she cared.

Precious shook her head. “I don’t really recall. I think he was focused on getting better. He was in such bad shape when they brought him in. You can’t imagine what he had to go through.”

“He never responded to my letters. Not once. Did he tell you why?” Eva felt her voice rising, felt herself beginning to lose the self-control she’d become so good at. She fumbled in her pocket for her cigarette case, and her hand shook as she lit one, an Abdulla. That was the brand Sophia’s friends smoked, so she’d switched. Her thumb brushed the engraved bee on the silver case as she shoved it back in the pocket of her skirt.

Precious looked troubled. “I’m sure he has his reasons. You know how men are.” She attempted a smile. “The important thing to remember is that he’s alive. We should all be grateful for that.”

“I am. Of course I am.” Eva took a deep drag from her cigarette, watching the smoke rise. “I didn’t even know he was back in London until I went to see Sophia yesterday.” She couldn’t hide the accusation in her voice.

Precious concentrated on shutting her valise and moving it into the bottom of her armoire. “I assumed he’d see you before you received a letter from me, so I didn’t write. I’m so sorry.” She put her arm around Eva’s shoulders and squeezed. “One of the sailors I met at the hospital is here now on leave. He wants to take me dancing tonight. Come with us, Eva. You might even meet someone new.”

Eva pulled away. “Someone new? There will never be anyone besides Graham. He’s not an old frock I don’t want to wear anymore!”

“What about Alex?” Precious’s voice was quiet, her eyes wide and searching. “Surely you have feelings for him.”

“Alex? Oh, yes, I have feelings for him.” Eva took a final drag from her cigarette, then stubbed it into the ashtray. “But not the kind you might think.”

“What do you mean?”

Eva pulled out another cigarette, though what she really craved was a drink. “He’s not a nice man. Just stay away from him. Promise me.”

Precious blushed. “Sure, but . . .”

Eva studied her friend closely. “But what?”

“I’ve met someone. The sailor I mentioned—Paul Watkins. He’s very . . . special to me.”

Eva tried to feel happy for her friend, but the news somehow made the weight in her chest tug even harder on her heart. “Good for you,” she finally managed. “I hope he deserves you. A lot of disappointed gentlemen have called for you at Lushtak’s while you’ve been gone. This Paul Watkins had better know what a prize you are.”

“Thank you, Eva.” Precious surprised her with another hug. “You’re a good friend.”

“You, too,” Eva said, blinking back the sting in her eyes, desperate for the moment she could leave and throw back a shot of whisky. She had two hours before Alex would arrive to pick her up for another insidious evening, two hours to numb herself so she could perform.

“Well, I’d best let you get rid of all that travel dust and get ready.” She smiled. “Like I said, it’s good to have you back.”

“It’s good to be back.”

Eva was halfway through the door when Precious called her name.

“I forgot something. From Graham. He asked that I give this back to you.”

Eva looked at the small object Precious held out, and her vision blurred around the edges. “Thank you,” she said, her tongue thick, as Precious placed the ivory dolphin in the palm of her hand. She closed her fist around it, the ivory like fire against her skin. Then she left the room in search of the only way she knew to ease her pain.

CHAPTER 31

LONDON

MAY 2019

I lay awake most of the night, imagining I could hear the echoes of the past that lived within the walls and between the floorboards. Whatever haunted this flat seemed like apprehension, a feeling of waiting. I remembered the first time I’d been here, when I’d stood in the foyer and felt that suspended breath, the expectation of someone about to walk through the front door.

It unsettled me enough that no matter how much I tossed and turned, sleep eluded me. The fact that images of Colin kept crossing my mind didn’t help much, either. Eventually, I threw off my covers, slid my laptop from my backpack, and made my way down the creaking hallway to the front room. I flipped on the desk light and opened my laptop on the desk. Someone—presumably Laura—had neatly stacked the letters in precise piles on the back edge.

I sat down and stared at them, wondering again why there wasn’t a single letter from Eva, and why there were no letters from Precious prior to 1946, and no mention of Graham at all. There had to be a logical reason, and I shared Colin’s frustration at our inability to make any sense of it. I needed to question Precious. She had to know the answers, as well as the meaning behind the cryptic message written on the Savoy menu. I could only hope that we wouldn’t be too late.

I was almost done with the article, with the factual aspects of it, at least—what people had worn and where, what had happened to the fashion houses during the war. I had the