I always wondered what Evelyn's thoughts were after Rafe's departure to England. So here is my take on what might have happened.
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"Could you not come see me off? Because sayin' good bye to you once is hard enough."
Evelyn knew she shouldn't have come because Rafe had asked her not to. But after he'd told her he loved her the night before, she was so stunned by his admission she didn't have the chance to tell him that she loved him too.
Because Rafe had not wanted her to come, she had had no idea when his train would be leaving and it was only after a reluctant admission from Danny that she knew when his train would be pulling out. So the next morning she took a cab from the hotel to the station and after a stop at the information desk she ran toward the platform, hoping to see him. "Where are you?" She walked quickly down the platform and she tried not to cry because he was no where to be seen and knew she'd missed her chance to tell him she loved him.
Evelyn had no idea how close Rafe really was. He was frantically knocking on the window where he sat trying to get her to look up, but because of the noise from all the trains arriving and departing she did not know he was right next to her. As his train pulled out he kept trying to get her attention, but she did not see him and turned back toward the station.
Evelyn was more afraid than she'd ever been because the man she loved was leaving her to fight someone else's war and he might not come back. It didn't matter that he'd promised her he would because in the end it wouldn't be up to him.
She suddenly remembered the night at the coffee shop when Rafe had talked to her about the trouble in England. What she didn't know at the time was that he'd already talked to his commanding officer, Major James Doolittle, about arranging for his transfer to the Eagle Squadron.
She got a cab back to the hotel and after paying the fare, got out and walked into the lobby. All she wanted to do was get upstairs and cry. She'd held it in as long as she could and tears were starting to roll down her cheeks as she opened the door. She all but ran for the room the girls were sharing until she heard Barbara. "Ev, are you all right?" She asked quietly.
Evelyn saw Barbara sitting on the sofa, a fire burning in the fireplace. Her friend looked worried and motioned for her to come sit next to her.
She sat down next to Barbara, her coat still on and she started to cry.
Barbara put her arms around Evelyn and held her while she cried. She was shaking so badly and it wasn't because she was cold. She knew how afraid Evelyn was because they'd talked about it the night before after everyone had gone down to the hotel ballroom to dance, leaving them alone.
Evelyn took a shaky breath and sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what, being afraid for Rafe? If I were in your spot, I'd be afraid too."
Evelyn was quiet for a moment. "I wish he'd come up here with me. I wish he hadn't been so noble."
Barbara smiled. "I know you do and I also know that's why you love him so much. Because he is noble."
"If he doesn't come back, he'll never know that and how much I wanted to be with him last night."
"Ev, I think he already does."
She sighed again. "I hope so." And she got up to hang her coat in the closet. It suddenly dawned on her that at 7:15 on a Sunday morning, Barbara was awake and she managed to smile. "You're the only one up?" She asked.
"Danny was up before me. I heard him out here on the phone with Rafe about a quarter to six telling him he'd meet him at the train station. You could have gone with him."
"Rafe didn't want me to come, remember?"
"But you went anyway."
The front door opened and Danny stood there, looking absolutely lost. "He's on his way." He told them and headed to the room where the other pilots were sleeping. "I hope he know what he's doin'." He added before he opened the door and disappeared inside.
Two days later Evelyn drove out to Mitchell Field. When Danny had told her that Major Doolittle had been instrumental in getting Rafe into the Eagle Squadron, she wanted to talk to the man who was responsible.
Danny met her at the front gate and escorted her to the Major's office. She was shown in by his aide, given a seat and told he would be in to see her as soon as possible.
After a few minutes of waiting, she started to get restless and got up to walk around the office. She ended up standing at the window and watched as the different aircraft landed and took off. She was watching a P-40 take off when the door opened. "Lieutenant Johnson?" Evelyn turned around and saw Major James Doolittle standing in the doorway.
"Thank you for seeing me Major Doolittle."
The Major went to his desk and indicated for Evelyn to sit in the chair across from him. As soon as she took her seat, he took his. "What can I do for you?"
She looked at him. "You can tell me why you let Rafe go to England."
He tried not to smile. "Rafe. You're referring to Lieutenant McCawley are you not?"
"Yes sir. Why did you let him go?" She asked again.
"Lieutenant, you know how headstrong that pilot of yours is and no amount of discussion with me was going to change his mind."
"You could have said no."
"You know as well as I do that McCawley does not know the meaning of the word and he was not going to give up until he got what he wanted."
Evelyn smiled because she understood that. "When you put it that way, I guess you really didn't have a choice."
It was then the Major smiled back at her. "You know something about that, I gather."
"Yes sir."
"Lieutenant, I didn't want him to go. I told him that we were going to get into this thing eventually and I wanted him here."
"Rafe is headstrong. He actually did try to tell me he wanted to do this and I didn't want to hear it."
"He's an outstanding pilot and the Brits are lucky to have him."
She sighed. "I feel better hearing that from you."
"If McCawley has anything to say about this, he will come home in one piece." And he stood up. "Try not to worry about him Lieutenant."
"I'll try." She stood up and Major Doolittle escorted her to the door.
"Lieutenant McCawley is a very lucky man to have someone worry about him the way you do."
"I'm the one who's lucky Major." And she smiled as she left his office.