Vienna, May 2, 1945
At dawn, getting out of the cockpit of the Mayfair at the air field in Vienna, Barbara remembered what Lieutenant Milland at AAF Headquarters in London had told her.
"When you get to Vienna, you will be briefed further on how to rescue the foal."
Who is that waving to me just off the field?, she wondered.
A tall, stalwart Army officer. He knows me. But who do I know in Vienna? Now she recognized him, when, just for an unmilitary moment, he took off his officer's cap and waved it over his silver hair.
Stephen! Barbara fairly leapt out of the bomber and into his arms. She didn't even hear the chorus of cheers and applause that filled the early morning air from flight crews on the field.
Stephen held her close to him for long moments, then gave her the kiss she had been waiting for all her life, and which answered all her unasked questions.
"We don't have much time," he told her. "But we'll eat and talk while they refuel your plane and check it over for wear."
"All four engines could use some oil," she called to the ground crew. "And check the air in the tires. A clean windshield would be heaven!"
Stephen led her away from the plane and to an AAF diner just off the field. He had put orders of eggs and bacon, toast and hot black coffee on hold until her arrival. The breakfasts were delivered soon as they were seated at a booth in the almost empty diner.
"I got your letter about your wife," Barbara said. "I'm sorry. I really am very sorry."
"She was a wonderful person," Stephen replied. "You would have liked each other."
He spoke about how his wife had died peacefully in her sleep and that several months had passed, so he had had some time to comprehend its meaning, for himself and for them.
"I don't think it's necessary for us to wait to express our feelings," he said. "We've waited a long time as it is."
She agreed, and even without asking him, she knew that any doubts she had had about his feelings for her were unworthy of being spoken. He had loved his wife, but that was past. There was no reason why he could not fall in love with someone else and marry.
She was more sure then than ever that he had chosen her, when he took a small diamond ring out of his uniform coat pocket.