Only a Paper Moon [ Band of Brothers ] 3

Chapter Twenty

July 10, 1946

San Francisco, CA

Doris and Blanche Nixon lived in a house that Alice could only describe as extravagant. She and Lewis got out of their taxi cab together, the warm summer air filled with the scent of blossoms. A handful of trees lined the hill they found themselves on, the next houses a few car lengths to either side of the edge of their lawn. Doris had told them to be ready for lunch when they landed. Alice's stomach growled as she stood on the sidewalk.

"Welcome to sunny California," Lewis told her. He grinned and gestured to the house. As he did so, the front door opened and his mother stood in the doorway. He grinned. "Speak of the devil."

Alice laughed at him. She picked up her suitcase and followed as they walked up the driveway. Lewis had told her about their multiple properties; Blanche preferred this one, a bit away from the bustle of the city, whereas the main house was on Lombard Street. She hadn't quite understood the extravagance of it until they'd driven past and she'd seen the crooked street.

"You look lovely, dear," Doris told her, offering a kiss on either cheek. "You as well, Lewis."

"Same to you, Mrs. Nixon," Alice told her. They stood in the hall, Alice putting her suitcase on the floor to the right of the door and listening to the laughter further in. One was definitely Blanche. The other she didn't recognize. "I hope we aren't late."

"Not at all," Doris assured her. She turned to Lewis and pointed him to the rooms upstairs. "Take the bags up, Lewis."

He scoffed out a laugh but did as he was told. As he disappeared upstairs, Alice followed Doris Nixon further inside. It wasn't a particularly large house, but the windows were tall and the ceilings too. When she walked into the kitchen at the back of the house, she could see down into the city. She also found Blanche grinning from ear to ear where she sat at the table beside a young blonde woman.

"Alice!" Blanche shot up from the table and gave her two kisses. "I'm so glad you could come out here. Alice, this is Peg, Peg, this is Alice, my brother's wife."

"Hi!" Peg got up from the table and offered a kiss. "Pleasure to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

Alice chuckled. As she eased herself into a chair across from Peg, she looked at Blanche. "Oh, no."

"Only good things," Peg insisted.

"Lewis!" Blanche called. "Get in here."

It didn't take long for both Doris and Lewis to move into the dining room with them. Both looked happy, Lewis significantly happier than she remembered him looking since the reunion. It just added to her mental list of reasons she wanted him to leave the Nixon Nitration Works. She knew Dick wanted out. Since Stanhope had pulled the gun on him, he'd been loathe to stand in the same room with the man. Alice couldn't blame him.

"Look at you three, already getting acquainted," he teased. "I better watch out."

"Nice to see you too, Lew," said Peg. She laughed. Standing out of the table, Peg shared a kiss with him in greeting. "Been awhile."

He agreed. "Too long." Slumping into the last chair at the table, he gestured to Peg. "How's your fiancé? Still in medical school?"

Peg grinned. With a nod, she pointed at Blanche. "We were just talking about him. BJ's good. He's still at Stanford."

"Not quite Yale."

Alice poked him. "Would you stop?"

He ignored her. "When's the wedding?"