David’s Journey Through Love and War: A World War II Romance Novella

By Becca Daniel

The Durand family comes from a very traditional French village, where daughters are married off to eligible men – regardless of what those daughters want. At the height of the Great Depression, recent immigrant Madame Durand believes that the family’s best chance for survival is finding a suitable match for Amandine, her eldest daughter, in New York City.

But Amandine has other ideas in the form of David Middleton. Despite the odds, the two forge a relationship with Madame Durand’s disapproval hanging over them. When America is forced to join WWII, David answers the call of duty and goes to Europe.
Traumatized by the horrors of war and unsure if Amandine will give in to her mother, David finds comfort in the arms of a mysterious stranger. In turn, Amandine must find the courage to stand up to her mother and hope that David not only survives, but returns to her at war’s end.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug West
• Release date: Jan 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370054763

Becca Daniel

I really enjoy writing stories about people falling in love. I guess I'm just a romantic old soul.

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David’s Journey Through Love and War

A World War II Romance Novella

By Becca Daniel

David’s Journey Through Love and War

Copyright © 2016 C&D Publications

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1 – Madame Durand

Chapter 2 – The Redhead

Chapter 3 – A Short Lunch Break

Chapter 4 – War!

Chapter 5 – The War Hits Home

Chapter 6 – A New Job

Chapter 7 – Talk of War

Chapter 8 – Croissants

Chapter 9 – A Time to Run

Chapter 10 – Off to War

Chapter 11 – An Italian Woman

Chapter 12 – Mr. Moreau

Chapter 13 – The Red Cross

Chapter 14 – Breakfast with a View

Chapter 15 – A Moonless Night Over France

Chapter 16 – A Homecoming

Books by Becca Daniel

Prologue

Brooklyn, New York

It was the smell of lavender with a hint of dandelion. It almost smelled like one of those teas they sold in Chinatown – faint but distinct. If you weren’t paying attention, or if you were in a hurry, you wouldn’t notice it. But if you were taking your time, then it sort of tapped you on the shoulder. You wouldn’t be able to help but pay attention to it.

Every time he smelled it, it took him away from the noise, the grime, and the crowds that filled the streets of Brooklyn. The very streets he wanted to whisk her out of, for she deserved so much better than this.

David? she said in that special way of hers, putting the stress on the last syllable and pronouncing the i as ee so that it came out as Dah-VEED. You are… eh… distracted? Yes?

He loved her voice. It wasn’t the high-pitched squeak that was so common on the streets. It was slightly deep with a burr to it, like the voice of Rita Hayworth or Bette Davis. A movie star voice, he called it, for she was his star.

He squeezed her hand gently and leaned down to kiss her on the side of her head, breathing in more of her faint perfume.

"You distract me," he said with a grin.

She blushed. It didn’t take much to make her do that, even with the same old cheesy lines he’d been using for two years now, ever since they’d gotten together. Her ivory skin (now pink) stood in sharp contrast to her bright red hair, so vibrant it almost looked violet.

When they first met, he assumed that the red of Amandine’s hair had come from a bottle. But it also colored her brows, her eyelashes, her armpits, and so much more.

You can’t dye eyelashes! his mother, a hairdresser, had said. It would burn and make you go blind. She’s a looker, all right. You sure know how to pick ‘em, Dave. Just like your dad, eh?

David smiled a little ruefully at the memory. He sure did know how to pick them. What he didn’t know was why they picked him. More precisely, he wondered why the lovable one had picked him, for that was what her name meant. Amandine, French for lovable.

Amandine pulled her hand away from his and stood stock still, intimidating him with her pale green eyes. Given that he stood six foot two to her five foot seven, it was funny, but he fought back a chuckle.

What is wrong? she huffed.

Nothing, everything, he wanted to say. But didn’t know how to respond.

Amandine’s family had immigrated to the city from France several years back, and though her English had come a long way, David kept his words and sentences short and simple. The language barrier frustrated him at times, especially times like these when he wanted to articulate thoughts even he wasn’t sure about.

They were walking aimlessly in the cemetery beside Highland Park when they stopped beside a tree. To buy himself time, David walked up to the one with the letters DM+AD carved into it. Remember? he asked.

Amandine’s eyes narrowed into dangerous slits, but after a brief pause, she looked at the tree. Yes? Now what?

This is where we first met.

She sighed, shaking her head but no longer looking as hostile. No, she countered. We met at work.

Okay, so we met at work, David amended. But this is where we first talked.

So talk!

The hostility was back. David realized that he had just trapped himself. For a woman who had only started speaking English about six years ago, Amandine had a way of doing that to him.

The old frustration came back. He only realized that he had balled his hands into fists when he felt her small, warm