Still, even though we Americans won the Battle of Okinawa, the war goes on in the Pacific. And so, we go on with it. G.G. held a meeting with the Select Few here and told us nothing had changed. Our objectives remained the same, and we were to double our efforts.

  Honestly, dear diary, my poor girls (including my Mary!) are working themselves to the bone. I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up. I feel horrible for all of them. The hardest part is not being able to share any reasonable justification or rationalization with them for the increased hours and intense pressure. I know I alone must carry this burden, but my shoulders are sagging.

  Worst of all is the growing chasm I feel between me and my beloved. I have no words of wisdom to ease her anxiety about the future, for we cannot yet plan for the future without knowing the outcome of our present. I know without doubt that I love her with all my heart, and that I would walk through fire for her if that were required of me.

  I cannot say where the path we’re on will lead. Will my future in the scientific community be assured after this? I can neither know nor say. One thing is clear: if we are to make it in this world, I will have to make sufficient income to support us.

  Where would we go? Where in the world would a love such as ours be accepted? Where would we not be ostracized or worse? Here, we are somewhat insulated by the unique circumstances. I fear the same will not be true in the world at large, and I don’t know what to do to protect us—to protect her.

  Mary continues to sink deeper and deeper into despair. Her insecurity about my love for her and my intentions are fueled by my inability to spend the necessary time to allay her fears.

  I feel trapped between love and duty. While it may sound overly dramatic, I believe the fate of the world hangs in the balance based on the work we are doing here. I must stay focused, with a steady hand on the wheel, and pray that when all this is over, I will be able to speak freely and that Mary will understand and forgive me.

  It is getting late, dear diary, in so many ways, and I must at least try to sleep, for the days and nights ahead are bound to be long.

  Ever faithfully yours, dearest diary.

  Nora

  She closed the journal, shut off the light, and tiptoed back into the bedroom. For long moments, she stood there gazing down at Mary. In sleep, she appeared so young and innocent. Tears formed on Nora’s lashes, and she brushed them away. She returned the diary to its hiding place, changed into her nightgown, and slipped under the covers.

  Unconsciously, Mary reached for her and snuggled against her. Nora drank in the scent of her skin, her shampoo, and her perfume. “I love you, sweet Mary, and I always will. Sweet dreams, my love.”

  “I love you too,” Mary murmured in return.

  Nora smiled a bittersweet smile, closed her eyes, and prayed for her dreams to take her somewhere where she and Mary could live carefree and in love. Within seconds, she was asleep.

  Nora hurried down the hall toward the conference room. She was in such a rush that she nearly ran over Jane, who had just emerged from a side office.

  Jane squeezed her hand and winked. When Nora cocked her head in inquiry, Jane simply smiled.

  Nora’s stomach flipped. Did that mean what I think it meant? She knew Jane couldn’t, and wouldn’t, tell her. But the fact of her presence, the sheaf of papers she carried, and the broad grin gave Nora goosebumps.

  They arrived in the conference room to find General Groves, Colonel Nichols, and the middle-of-the-night group Nora secretly had dubbed The Select Few, already there.

  “Close the door, please,” General Groves instructed.

  Jane closed the door behind them. She walked to the front of the room and presented the general with the sheaf of papers.

  He took a moment to review them and nodded. “Gentlemen, and ladies.” He nodded to her and Jane. “I am happy and relieved to report that your extraordinary efforts here have reaped the desired outcome. After several years of hard work and dedication, we have reached our target goal. Congratulations.”

  Everyone in the room broke out in smiles. The men clapped each other on the back and shook hands. She and Jane hugged.

  “Hold on a second.” The general held up a hand. “I want to be clear. We must stay the course and continue our production unabated. This is not the end, but the ascertainment of an important milestone. I am counting on all of you to keep your people pressing forward. And remember…”

  The group repeated, “What you see here, what you hear here, what you do here, let it stay here.”

  “Dismissed.”

  Outside the conference room, Nora breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever they had done, indications made it appear as if it would all be over soon.

  Mary thought she’d never been as glad to see home as she was this morning. Normally, third shift was challenging, but with the additional hours of overtime on the front end, tonight had seemed interminable.

  She opened the door and slipped inside, fully expecting to hear the shower running and Nora getting ready to go to work. But the house was quiet. Maybe she’d already caught the bus. In any event, Mary was looking forward to falling into bed for a few hours before she had to go run some errands in Jackson Square.

  She went first into her room, stripped, and threw her dress in the hamper. It was a humid early August morning, and she didn’t feel like putting on a nightgown, so she didn’t bother. She brushed her teeth and headed for bed.

  “I thought you’d never get here.” Nora lay in the center of the bed, her head propped up on her elbow, wearing nothing but a bemused expression.

  “Argh!” Mary’s hand flew to her heart. “You’re still here. You nearly scared me to death.” Her mouth went dry. Even after all this time, and all they’d been through, the sight of Nora like this set her on fire.

  “It is my house, you know. Occasionally, one should expect to find me in it. And yes, reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.”

  “That’s not what I meant. Why aren’t you on your way to work?”

  “Because my girl had a really long night, we haven’t had nearly enough time together lately, and I wanted to surprise her. Surprise!”

  Mary crawled across the covers and landed on top of her. “Really? You’re not going to get up and run out on me, are you? No emergencies? No mysterious disappearances?”

  “The president himself couldn’t drag me from this bed.” She flipped Mary over, surprising a laugh out of her. “Not until I’ve made love to my girl. That is, if she’ll have me.”

  Her voice cut right through Mary, sending a bolt of lightning directly to her core. “Let me see if I have time for you in my schedule.”

  Nora nibbled on the sensitive area just below her ear. “Well? Do you…” She changed direction and moved further down Mary’s body. “…have time for me?”

  Mary moaned and arched back. “I think so. Keep going and I’ll let you know.”

  All of the angst, all of the anger, all of the uncertainty and frustration of the past few months dissolved in an instant, leaving in its wake the only thing that mattered—their love.

  “I love you, Mary Elizabeth Trask. You make my life complete in a way I never imagined possible. Please say you haven’t given up on me…on us?”

  “I could never give up on you, Nora. I loved you from the moment I first laid eyes on you. That will never change.”

  Mary closed her eyes and surrendered to the moment, to love, to Nora, and to their life together.

  Afterward, she stirred as Nora disentangled herself. Mary checked the clock. It was 8:45 a.m.

  “I’m sorry. It is a Monday, and I really do have to go to work.”

  “Spoil sport.” Mary stretched languorously and Nora leaned over and kissed her tenderly.

  “I love you. Thank you for the perfect morning.”

  “Thank you, Dr. Lindstrom. Now go save the world.”

  “What are you going to do while I’m off saving the world?”

  “I have a few errands to run. I’ll pick us up some groceries and stop at the bank.”

  “That sounds like a lot more fun than going to work. But, alas…” She rose and headed for the shower. “Will I see you before your shift?”

  “I don’t see why not. I’ll probably leave around ten thirty. I should be back here by mid-afternoon. If you get home by six, we could have dinner together.”

  “You know I’ll do my best.”

  “I always do,” Mary said at the same time Nora said it.

  “You know I hate that I’m so predictable.”

  “I consider it more like…reliable, and I find it charming.”

  “Thank God.”

  “I’m just going to catch a few winks before the errands.”

  “I’ll be quiet as a church mouse. You won’t even hear me leave.” Nora came back for one more kiss. “I’ll see you later. I love you. Sweet dreams, sweet Mary.”

  The last thing Mary saw as she drifted off to sleep was Nora’s beautiful face smiling down at her.

  Nora whistled all the way to Y-12, and even once she reached her office. She pulled out the scheduling manifest and went to work. If she focused, she could knock out the new schedule for next week in several hours. After that, she would walk through Beta-2 first, since Mary wouldn’t be there to distract her, and then Beta-4, the newest plant.

  She had no idea how much time had passed when Jane came flying into her office without knocking.

  “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” she joked.

  “What are you still doing sitting there?”

  “Where else would I be?”

  Jane shook her head. “You’re either the coolest customer ever, or you’re living in a cave.”

  Nora knew she must look as puzzled as she felt. “What in the world are you talking about?”

  “Haven’t you heard?”

  “Heard what?”

  “Oh, my God. You are living in a cave. It’s all over the news and all over town!”

  “What is?”

  “We dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, on some city named Hiroshima! And the fuel for that bomb was made right here in Oak Ridge, by us! Apparently, that’s what I’ve been doing all this time—calculating percentages of enriched uranium. I had no idea!”

  Nora sat back and tried to absorb that information. “We dropped a…”

  “Uranium!” Jane shouted. “That’s what the Tubealloy is! It’s enriched uranium, and we made it right here. The president said so in an official statement. Put your head out the window.”

  Nora went to the window. A sea of jubilant people crowded the streets.

  “Come on, we have to go celebrate!” Jane tried to tug her along.

  “I’ll be out in a minute. I’ve got to tie up a few things here.”

  “Okay. See you out there!” She practically floated out the door.

  Nora slumped in her chair. They’d done it. They’d actually done it. She’d been right. Their purpose had been to convert enough harmless U-238 into reactive U-235 to create a massive chain reaction—one big enough to wipe out an entire population. They’d brought Japan to its knees. Surely, the Japanese would have to surrender now. She and Mary were going to get their happily-ever-after.

  Mary. She needed to get home to Mary. Nora jumped up. She had to tell her. Now she wouldn’t need to keep secrets anymore. They could talk about it openly. They could celebrate that the work they’d done likely had brought an end to the war. Now the Allied soldiers would be able to come home. She gathered her papers and stuffed them in her desk. Heck, she didn’t need to hide what she was doing from prying eyes anymore. Apparently, the whole world knew.

  She needed a radio. She needed to get home, see Mary, and they could listen to the radio together. She ran out and down to the bus stop, jumped on the first bus she saw and was on her way.

  Out the windows, she could see workers pouring out of buildings and swarming the street. As they got closer to the bus depot, even more townsfolk lined the wooden walkways. Everyone was hugging and cheering. They pulled into the bus depot and it was pandemonium.

  Nora fought her way through the crowd. All she could think about was getting home to Mary to tell her the war most likely was over, they’d won, and she’d helped make it happen—they both had.

  “Excuse me, pardon me, excuse me.” She pushed against the tide of humanity until she was in the clear. Then she ran all the way to 105 Georgia Avenue and flung open the door.

  “Mary! Mary! Did you hear?” When she got no reply, she ran through every room. Then she remembered, Mary would’ve gone to Jackson Square to run errands.

  She checked her watch. It was almost noon. She headed for the door, changed her mind, spun around in a circle, headed for the door again, and changed her mind one last time. She flipped on the radio and stood in front of it.

  “At 11:00 a.m. Eastern War Time, President Harry Truman, in a statement delivered at sea, announced that the United States unleashed the fury of the world’s first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima on August sixth, at 8:20 a.m. local time… That’s some seventeen hours ago.

  “According to the president, the bomb contained more power than twenty thousand tons of TNT.”

  Nora put a hand to her mouth. It had been even more powerful than anything she could’ve imagined. It would’ve decimated an entire city.

  The announcer continued. “The president’s statement goes on to say—paraphrasing here—that secret sites, including Oak Ridge, near Knoxville, Tennessee, Richland near Pasco, Washington, and Los Alamos, near Santa Fe, New Mexico, have been working for more than two years on the materials to produce this bomb, and that it was the facility in Oak Ridge that played the principal role in the creation of this, the most powerful weapon ever used in war.”

  Outside the window, Nora heard shouts of joy. Should she wait here for Mary? No. If Mary was in Jackson Square, she’d find her. Just in case they missed each other, though, she should leave her a note.

  She found a notecard and a pen.

  My dearest, darling Mary,

  As you probably know by now, all of our hard work has come to fruition. We did it, sweetheart! We did it. And now we can share everything. No more secrets, no more clandestine, middle-of-the-night meetings. Now I can explain everything. Now I can share that what we’ve been doing here was creating the fuel for the bomb that brought the Japanese to their knees. Now they will have to surrender, and our troops can come home. You should be so proud of what we—what you—did, darling.

  Oh, my love. There are so many places I want to show you, so many things I want us to do together. I can’t wait to get started! I want to give you the world.

  You must be out running errands. I know it’s crazy to brave the crowds, but I have to see you. I’m going to Jackson Square to find you, even though I imagine it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

  If I somehow miss you there and you get back here and I’m not here… WAIT here! I’ll come back for you. I can’t wait to hold you in my arms.

  All my love always.

  Nora sealed the envelope. For once, she wished she could throw caution to the wind and sign the note, but they were ever mindful of someone else finding their correspondence.

  She exchanged her dress for practical slacks and a blouse, and her high heels for saddle shoes. Then she propped the note up on the table where she knew Mary would see it and headed back out the door.

  The crowds were so thick she couldn’t see her own feet. Still, she kept pushing forward. People she didn’t know hugged her and kissed her on the cheek.

  “Did you hear? We won the war!”

  “And Oak Ridge is on the map!”

  “Uranium! We’ve been making uranium!”

  “We got the Japs good! We brought ’em to their knees!”

  Nora let the words wash over her. She looked left and right. She squeezed through the tiniest of openings. She finally reached the bank’s front door, only to find that the place was mobbed. After multiple tries, she was able to get inside. She searched every teller station and line—no Mary.

  She left the bank and worked her way around the square to the grocery store. The crowd was dozens of bodies deep. She couldn’t even get close.

  “Nora! Hey, Nora!”

  She whirled around. “Mary?”

  Rosalie grabbed her by the hand. “Isn’t it great?”

  “It is. Have you seen Mary?”

  “Who?”

  “Mary. Have you seen her?”

  “Oh! Sorry, I couldn’t hear you with all this noise. No, I haven’t seen her. If she’s in this mess, good luck finding her.” Rosalie got carried away by the swell of the crowd.

  Nora raised up on her toes. She looked left and right, up the square and down. Finally, just as she was about to give up, she saw a figure in the distance. She wore a beautiful, bright yellow dress just like one Mary owned. Even though she could only see her from behind, Nora was certain she’d know that body anywhere.

  It would take a herculean effort to get from here to there, but they had time. In fact, they had all the time in the world. Nora pushed through the crowd, never losing sight of that girl—her girl—the one she would spend the rest of her life with.

  The End

  Want to find out how

  Nora and Mary’s story ends?

  Pick up your copy of

  Chain Reactions

  The best-selling sequel to

  Secrets Well Kept

  About the Author

  Lynn Ames is the best-selling author of The Price of Fame, The Cost of Commitment, The Value of Valor, One ~ Love, Heartsong, Eyes on the Stars, Beyond Instinct, Above Reproach, All That Lies Within, Bright Lights of Summer, Final Cut, Great Bones, Chain Reactions, Secrets Well Kept, and one of five authors of the collection Outsiders. She also is the writer/director/producer of the history-making documentary, “Extra Innings: The Real Story Behind the Bright Lights of Summer.” This historically important documentary chronicles, for the first time ever in her own words, the real-life story of Hall-of-Famer Dot Wilkinson and the heyday of women’s softball.