Shaken to the Core (45 page)

Kate let out a quiet groan and rubbed her eyes. She gestured toward the carrying case that rested against the tent wall. “If I can somehow sell my photographs and get a position as a staff photographer with one of the daily newspapers, I could take care of you.”

How sweet she was. Giuliana’s smile was interrupted by a yawn. “Or I find a new job of a maid and take care of you.”

“People don’t have the money for a maid right now,” Kate whispered.

Giuliana suppressed a sigh. They wouldn’t find a solution tonight. Her tiredness had disappeared when she’d been kissing Kate, but now it returned full force. Her eyelids grew heavy. She felt as if she were tripping over her tongue with every word, laboring more than usual to form the English words.

Kate yawned too. “Let’s talk tomorrow.”

Giuliana hummed her approval. She cuddled against Kate’s warm side, laid her cheek on Kate’s shoulder, and, after a moment’s hesitation, wrapped one arm around Kate beneath the blanket. The last thing she felt before she fell asleep was Kate’s hand settling on top of her fingers pressing against Kate’s belly.

CHAPTER 20

Golden Gate Park

San Francisco, California

April 21, 1906

Loud shouts from outside woke Kate from the best sleep she
’d had all week. Trying to delay the inevitable just a little longer, she kept her eyes shut and cuddled closer to Giuliana.

At some time during the night, they must have changed positions. Now Kate’s belly was pressed against Giuliana’s back, not an inch of space between them. She marveled at how perfectly the contours of their bodies fit together. How could this be wrong when it felt so right?

She remembered that Giuliana had said the same last night
. She feels the same!
She kept repeating the words to herself until it became easier to believe them. The impossible had happened. Kate wanted to hug the whole world but settled for embracing Giuliana while she slept.

After enjoying their shared warmth for a little longer, she opened her eyes a fraction of an inch and blinked into the bright daylight falling through the hole at the top of the tent.

Except for her and Giuliana, the tent was empty. Even the old woman in her wheelchair was gone.

They must have slept really late. After the exertions of the last three days, they’d needed it.

Tenderly, she tugged the blanket up to cover Giuliana more fully and moved a little higher so she could inhale the scent of her bare skin along the nape of Giuliana’s neck.
Hmm.
She let out a happy hum. That irresistible aroma had to be all Giuliana. It certainly wasn’t the army soap Lucy had given them.

It was amazing how much better she felt after a good night’s sleep. The ground was hard and the blanket rough and itchy, but pressed up against Giuliana, she was still in the most comfortable sleeping spot she could imagine.

She allowed herself to drift off to sleep again for a minute or two—until shouts pierced her peaceful cocoon again. What on earth was going on outside?

Giuliana stirred against her and mewled like a little kitten as she stretched.

Kate grinned and softly rubbed Giuliana’s arm, easing her into wakefulness.

After a few seconds of leaning into the touch, Giuliana rolled over and rubbed her eyes. “What happened?”

More shouts and cheers drifted into the tent.

Kate shrugged. “Maybe the water wagon came. Or they’re handing out something other than beans and stew for a change.”

At the mention of food, Giuliana’s stomach growled loudly.

Laughing, Kate peeled back the blanket and sat up. “Come on. Let’s get some breakfast…or rather lunch. We slept in.”

A light pink color dusted Giuliana’s cheeks.

Was she remembering what had kept them up last night? The memory of their kiss was like a dream—almost too good to be true. At times, Kate could hardly believe that Giuliana wasn’t appalled by Kate’s feelings toward her and, what was more, even shared them.

But Lucy had spoken about her aunts and had freely admitted to liking women that way too, so as unnatural as Kate had felt all her life, there were clearly more women like her. As luck would have it, Giuliana was one of them. At least Kate hoped so. If Giuliana changed her mind, she’d be heartbroken.

Kate shook her head at herself.
Don’t think that way. You’ve got to trust her.
She kept peeking at Giuliana as they sat side by side on the blanket to put on their stockings and shoes.

Once, Giuliana peered over at her at the same time, and their gazes met.

“Do you still…want what we talked about last night?” Kate asked quietly.

Giuliana’s eyes widened, and this time, it wasn’t just a light pink that stained her cheeks. Her face was a flaming red, and she averted her gaze as she nodded.

“Oh, no. Not that. I mean…that too, but…I was talking about…” Kate fanned her own glowing cheeks and took a deep breath.
Come on. I know you can string a complete sentence together.“
Do you still want to find a way to stay together?”

“Yes.” Giuliana stood and rushed past Kate to the tent’s entrance.

Kate watched her go. She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. It was wonderful to know Giuliana wanted to share her life with her.
And her body.
The daring thought brought new heat to her face. She followed Giuliana out of the tent with a new swing in her step.

Outside, people were cheering and embracing each other. In front of the makeshift hospital, a soldier was dancing a jig with one of the nurses. The lively tune of a piano drifted over. The entire camp was celebrating as if it were the Fourth of July.

“What’s going on?” Kate asked the old woman who sat in her wheelchair next to the tent.

“Haven’t you heard? The fires are out!” The old woman flashed a big, toothless grin.

Kate glanced from her to Giuliana and back. “Out? All of them?”

The old woman nodded and kept beaming. “Every last flame.”

After three days and three nights of fear and terror, the park and the rest of the city were safe. No other building would go up in smoke and ashes. A huge weight lifted off Kate’s shoulders. She threw her arms around Giuliana in an exuberant hug. Oh, how she wished she could kiss her right now, the way some of the other couples did in plain sight of the other refugees. But it wasn’t acceptable, not even under these special circumstances, so she just held her close for a moment longer.

* * *

Giuliana glanced up from the shawl she was mending and looked east. The once-impenetrable clouds of smoke were thinning out in the light afternoon breeze. Soon, they might even be able to see the sky and the sun again. The thought made Giuliana smile.

After tying off the thread, she stood up from the overturned crate they had placed in front of the tent and stretched her stiff back. “All done, Mrs. Kohler. Is as good as new.” She draped the shawl around the old woman’s shoulders.

Mrs. Kohler beamed up at her. “Thank you, dear.”

Now that the shawl was mended, there was nothing more to do. Giuliana wasn’t used to sitting around idly. She glanced toward the makeshift hospital, where patients were still lining up, waiting for treatment. Red Cross volunteers were heading in and out of the tent, but with so many patients every helping hand would probably be welcome.

Giuliana looked at Kate, who was sitting in the grass, trying to clean clumps of dirt off her shoes. “I go to the hospital and see if Lucy needs help.”

Without hesitation, Kate slipped her shoes back on. “I’ll come with you.”

“You want to help the patients?”

“Yes. Why not?” Kate stood and gently bumped Giuliana’s shoulder. “Just because I’m rich doesn’t mean I consider myself too good to get my hands dirty. Well, I’m no longer rich anyway. So, let’s go.”

Giuliana was only too happy to hook her arm through Kate’s and head over to the hospital tent with her.

Lucy was in the middle of examining a pale young man when they found her.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Kate asked.

“You want to help? Here?”

Their friend looked so skeptical of Kate’s nursing skills that Giuliana had to bite back a grin.

“Sure.” Kate shrugged. “You’ve done so much for us. We want to give back somehow.”

Lucy paused with her fingers on the patient’s belly and raised her eyebrows at Kate. “Have you ever attended a sick or injured person?”

“Uh…no.”

Kate looked so embarrassed that Giuliana immediately jumped to her defense. “She cleaned my cuts when I was hurt. She is a very good nurse. Very gentle.” The memory of how gentle Kate had been, how soft her touch, sent shivers through Giuliana’s body.

Lucy chuckled. “I just bet. What about you, Giuliana?”

“I was the nurse of my brothers and sisters many times. When the piscaturi cut their hand at the harbor, they always come to me to clean the wound.”

Now it was Kate who murmured, “I just bet they did.”

“All right, you two. I don’t have the time to keep a close eye on new volunteers, so why don’t you, Giuliana, stay here while Kate heads over to the food station? I hear they are looking for people to help peel potatoes.”

“Peel potatoes?” Kate repeated with little enthusiasm. Then she squared her shoulders. “Peel potatoes. Sure. Why not? There are a lot of hungry people to feed, right?”

“Right,” Lucy and Giuliana said in unison.

“I’ll go, then.” Kate gave her a quick hug and strode to the exit like a woman on a mission.

As soon as the flap fell closed behind her, the young patient turned on the cot and vomited all over their shoes.

Lucy wrinkled her nose but then laughed and patted Giuliana’s shoulder. “Welcome to the hospital, my friend.”

* * *

This might possibly be the most embarrassing thing that had ever happened to her. Kate had survived the earthquake and fires with barely a scratch, and now blood was dripping down her thumb.

“Hey, you!” The woman who stirred the huge pot of beans shouted. “You’re bleeding all over my potatoes!”

Kate glanced at the ill-fated vegetables, just to make sure she wasn’t actually dripping on them. “I’m not.”

“Would you just go over to the hospital tent and let them patch you up?”

“It’s fine. It’ll stop in a second.” There were people with horrible injuries seeking treatment over in the hospital, so she didn’t want to take up a physician’s time with something as minor as a little cut. And, truth be told, she didn’t want Giuliana to think that she was too stupid to peel potatoes.

The woman waited a beat. “Second’s over. It’s still bleeding. Go.”

Blood ran down her wrist. The sight of it made her a little queasy. Maybe sending her to the food station instead of letting her help in the hospital had been a good idea after all. But then again, if she’d stayed in the hospital, she wouldn’t have cut herself. Sighing, Kate got up from the stool and carried her bowl of peeled potatoes over to the cook before heading toward the hospital.

At the entrance, she lingered for a moment, not sure if she should really go in.

The doctors and nurses all seemed to be busy with the many patients lying on cots and treatment tables.

Then her gaze zeroed in on Giuliana, who was kneeling next to a cot, applying a cooling compress to a patient’s forehead. Tenderly, she brushed a few strands of hair from his face so they wouldn’t get trapped beneath the compress.

The gentleness of her actions and the compassion on her face touched Kate deeply.

“Do you need help?” someone asked next to her.

Kate jerked. She had forgotten where she was for a moment as she watched Giuliana with her patient. “No…yes…”

“Which is it?” the nurse asked. “You’d better decide fast. I haven’t got all day.”

It seemed not everyone here had a bedside manner as gentle as Giuliana’s.

“The cook sent me over because I cut my thumb.” Kate held it up. The bleeding had stopped.
Wonderful.
Now everyone would think she was a hypochondriac.

But the nurse barely even looked at her finger. “Come on in. I’ll get a volunteer to take care of it.”

“No, no, I—”

The nurse walked away without listening to her protests. Seconds later, she returned with Giuliana in tow.

Of course. Just the person to witness her humiliation. Kate sighed.

Giuliana rushed toward her. “Kate! What happened? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Just a little cut. I didn’t have a handkerchief to wrap around it, so the cook sent me over.”

Giuliana didn’t laugh or make sarcastic comments; she simply took Kate’s arm and led her over to a quieter corner.

Did you really expect her to? You know that’s not like her.

After washing her hands in a basin, Giuliana poured fresh water from a pitcher. “Come.”

Hesitantly, Kate stepped closer.

With the same gentleness that Kate had watched before, Giuliana took Kate’s wrist and then dipped the injured finger into the bowl to wash out the cut.

The cold water made Kate flinch.

Giuliana stroked soothing circles on Kate’s bare forearm.

The pain faded away from Kate’s consciousness as tingles ran through her body, all the way down to her toes. She couldn’t look away from Giuliana’s hands as she lifted Kate’s thumb from the basin, examined the wound, and then applied a bit of iodine to it.

“You’re very good at this.” Kate’s voice sounded a little hoarse, so she cleared her throat.

Giuliana looked up from the narrow strip of gauze she was cutting from a bigger piece. A blush colored her cheeks.

“She’s right,” Lucy said as she walked toward them. “I think some of the patients like you better than me—and that definitely includes the one you’re treating right now.”

Now Kate blushed along with Giuliana. “Shh!” She looked around, but no one was paying them any attention.

Lucy grinned. “So, are you sick of potatoes already?”

“I think the potatoes are sick of me. One slipped and…” Kate nodded down at her thumb.

“Do you want me to take care of it?” Lucy asked, looking at Giuliana.

“No. I do it.” Giuliana wrapped a strip of gauze around the finger and tied it off. For a moment, she looked as if she might bend and kiss the thumb, but she caught herself just in time. “All good.”