Chapter 1

“Fill in your name and give the permit to the registrar,” Daniel said. “I will collect you tonight.”

He checked his watch as he pushed the document across the desk.

Daniel had returned from the European front three months earlier. His transfer to Washington had been approved, and we were expected to register our marriage before he reported for duty.

The permit carried his signature and the red seal of the post commander.

Under the temporary Postwar Dependent Registration Order, an officer awaiting reassignment could sign his marriage permit in advance and authorize a household representative to file it. If the named spouse already had a signed relocation affidavit in the household record, the registrar could treat the two documents as consent. The stamp made the marriage valid, while a summary annulment still required both named parties to sign. Daniel had left the final filing step to me.

In my first life, I wrote Eleanor Hayes with such care that my hand cramped. Then I crossed half the town buying announcement cards and pastries for our neighbors.

Daniel returned hours late because Clara had a fever. He told me that celebrating could wait until she recovered.

Now the clock on the registrar’s wall showed nine fifteen. Clara had begun coughing the previous night, and Daniel had called the Army doctor before dawn.

His attention soon returned to his watch as Clara’s cough echoed in his memory.

“She may panic if she wakes and finds me gone.”

“Then go home,” I said.

His hand stopped over the permit. “The office closes at eleven.”

“I know. I can file it alone.”

Daniel studied me before placing his fountain pen beside my hand.

“My orders take effect next week. The quarters in Washington are still being prepared, but I requested a separate study for you. I remember how much you dislike anyone touching your books.”

He remembered small things. In my first life, those details kept me hopeful long after I should have stopped.

“I will take care of you once we are married,” he continued. “You also need to stop resenting the time I spend with Clara. She is ill, and she has already lost too much. Public arguments would only damage her reputation.”

“You think I am jealous of her?”

“I know you dislike how much she depends on me.”

With the patience of a man explaining something obvious, he continued, “Clara is your sister, and my family has supported both of you for years. Marriage will not end my responsibility to her.”

In my first life, I promised to understand. Daniel spent our wedding night in Clara’s room and gave her the only sleeping berth when we moved to Washington. Decades later, our son helped him place divorce papers on my hospital bed.

I refused to sign and died that night. Then I woke at this desk.

Daniel lifted his cap from the chair and said, “Wait for me tonight. We will have dinner with my mother.”

“All right.”

After he left, I picked up his pen and wrote Clara Hayes in the space reserved for the spouse.

The registrar compared the permit with the family records attached to it. “Captain Whitmore signed the filing authorization, and Clara Hayes’s relocation affidavit is already attached to the Whitmore household record. Her identification and signature are complete.” She looked at me. “Do you confirm this name?”

“Yes, I confirm it.”

After one final glance at the documents, she brought her stamp down on the page.

The official certificate would reach Daniel’s Washington office within three days. Once Clara used the dependent pass to enter military housing, the marriage would be added to his personnel record.

I placed my copy in my bag and took a bus to the regional admissions bureau across town, which held wartime enrollment files for several universities.

Westbridge University had agreed to hold my place in its economics program during the war. After Daniel returned, I prepared a letter declining admission, but I had never mailed it.

Mrs. Cole found my file in a cabinet and reviewed my grades.

“Your place remains available,” she said. “You must reach California before registration closes on Monday.”

The journey required several days by train. I had four days to leave.

My scholarship covered part of the tuition. I wrote down the remaining fees, housing deposit, and travel cost before signing the dormitory form.

“Does your family support this decision?” Mrs. Cole asked.

“It is my decision.”

She stamped the form and handed it back. “Then do not miss your train.”

Daniel’s boots were in the hall when I returned to the Whitmore house that evening.

I stopped at the foot of the stairs when Clara’s voice came from her bedroom.

“Will you still take care of me after you marry Eleanor?”

“Of course I will,” Daniel answered.

“She hates how much I depend on you. What if she makes me leave?”

“She will not do that.”

“What if she does?”

Daniel paused before answering, then said, “You will always have a place in this house. I will never let anyone send you away.”

“Even your wife?”

“Even if that person were my wife. I would end any marriage that required me to abandon you.”

In my first life, I had missed that conversation because I was buying wedding announcements.

This time, I stayed beside the stairs with my Westbridge papers pressed against my arm.