SPOILERS!!!
In January 1942 Babe and Claude visit Grace and Charlie as the latter is leaving to join his unit the following day. Babe, Grace, and Millie have been friends for years, and even though we can see that Babe’s background has played its part in their friendship, the three women have kept close.
In this chapter we learn a bit more about Grace and Millie. Grace is married to Charlie, and they have a baby girl, Amy. Grace is the only one who has her own house as her parents-in-law are well-off, but they can also be quite overbearing.
Millie is also married, and her husband is Peter, but they live with his parents. Millie is an orphan; her mother died when she was very young, and about fifteen days later her father had a car accident and also died, so Millie went to live with her aunt and uncle.
In March the three friends’ men are gone, stationed in some army bases in the United States for training. Grace misses her husband terribly, and she can hardly stand his absence. Millie is considering visiting Peter as she longs to have a baby. For some reason, this is frowned upon and considered improper, but I have the impression that Millie won’t be ruled by convention or what others think.
The one who won’t stop to go to the man she loves is Babe. When she receives a telegram from Claude, telling her that he has made a mistake and has a ring to marry him, she uses all her money to buy a ticket and travel all the way to North Caroline for Claude. On her way there she has to put up with strange characters, army officers and some other men, who even though they are kind, she is on guard, especially as she has been warned against men who try to trick single women. I hope nothing happens to Babe there, and she doesn’t get any nasty surprises on this trip.
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