Prologue

Steve and Chrissy slowly followed Sarah onto the airplane. They'd wasted no time in making plans to return to Hawaii. On their way to pick Sarah up from school, Steve had made reservations for a late afternoon flight out of LAX, which gave Chrissy and Sarah plenty of time to pack since they'd never really unpacked. Chrissy had called Adam to let him know of her decision, and she was surprised to find out that he'd left Skyline as well and would be transferred from LAPD to Hawaii within the month. All of them were anxious to be back in Hawaii, where they truly felt at home.

Coach was dead with the exception of seven people who appeared to be traveling in a group. Steve, Chrissy, and Sarah sat across the aisle from them. Always the observant task force leader, Steve did a quick study of the group. Listening to their voices, he noticed their lack of dialect or accent, leading him to assume they were not from the Deep South or Northeast. However, something about their plaintive tone had him thinking Chicago. To be honest, the whole group looked completely mismatched. It consisted of three couples: an older couple who spoke so brazenly it had him cracking a smile, a couple around his age who were just shaking their heads at the older couple, and an African American couple too into each other to notice anyone else. The three couples were accompanied by an attractive dark-haired woman who seemed kind of out of it. The group perplexed Steve, and that was unusual.

After the older couple's discussion grew even more outrageous, the female half of the second couple leaned over to Chrissy and whispered, "I'm sorry about all the noise and…interesting conversation topics. My family has a lot of, well, let's just say vibrant personalities. I know you have a little girl and you probably don't want her hearing this stuff."

Chrissy laughed, "It's alright. My daughter probably hasn't heard a word of it. Besides, she'll probably be driving you and your family nuts within the hour."

The woman smiled, glancing at Sarah. "I doubt that. She seems so sweet."

Chrissy glanced back at Sarah, who was now climbing onto Steve's lap for a story. "Yeah, she is. However, she is autistic, so she can be quite a handful sometimes."

"I thought she was, but she is so mild that I couldn't tell. I'm a teacher, so I've worked with autistic kids of different severities."

"Really? Where do you teach?"

"Walter Payton Grade School in Chicago. By the way, I'm Molly Biggs."

Chrissy reached her hand across the aisle. "Chrissy Raines. You're from Chicago. Wow. Never been there, but I've heard it's nice."

Molly nodded. "Yeah. My husband and I have lived there all our lives, and we really love it."

"That's great. I grew up in L.A., but I moved to Honolulu about eight and a half months ago. I absolutely love it there."

"They say it is paradise. That's why my mom and her fiancée want to get married there. It is a beautiful idea."

"Yeah, I'd say so. We're flying back because, well, it's a really long story."

"Oooh, a long story. That usually means it's a good one."

"Yeah, you could say that. There's a lot of twists and turns to it."

"Well, we have an entire plane ride. Let's get started."

By the time they were two hours into their flight, Molly and Chrissy had exchanged life stories. Chrissy had introduced Steve to Molly. Molly, upon discovering that Steve was in law enforcement, introduced him to her husband, Mike, who was a police officer in Chicago. Mike and Steve got to talking, and Mike proceeded to introduce Steve to his partner, Carl. Both Mike and Carl realized they'd heard a lot about the fearless Steve McGarrett in a few reports they'd run through. They discussed cases they'd encountered and similarities and differences in their jobs. By this point, the three of them were talking like old friends.

Molly introduced Chrissy to her sister, Victoria, her mom, Joyce, and Carl's girlfriend, Christina. When Chrissy explained her relationship with Steve to them, she couldn't help but notice the envious glances and their careful analyses of him. She didn't really mind, though. Chrissy knew Steve was in love with her, and that nothing would change that. Besides, she'd seen women look at him that way many times and nothing came of it. Joyce was getting married, Molly was married, Christina was in a serious relationship with Carl, and Victoria was, well, definitely not Steve's type. All of them were absolutely sweet and really considerate of Sarah. Unlike most people, they didn't ignore her or shy away. At one point all of them had taken her on their lap and played with her a bit. Chrissy was absolutely amazed.

Around that time, Chrissy felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned her head to see an attractive blonde woman who appeared to be in her mid-to-late twenties and was dressed in a flight attendant uniform. She didn't recognize her.

The woman smiled. "You must be Chrissy. Steve has told me a lot about you."

Chrissy nodded, slightly confused. "And you are?"

The flight attendant laughed. "Oh, God, how silly of me. I'm Mary Ann McGarrett, Steve's younger sister."

Chrissy grasped her outstretched hand. "Of course. Steve has told me a lot about you."

Mary's grin widened. "Yeah, but I wouldn't trust everything my brother says. He tends to over exaggerate to prove a point. That's why I didn't take everything he said about you at face value."

Chrissy adjusted her body. "What exactly did he say about me?"

Mary leaned down closer to Chrissy. "To be honest, when he described how he felt about you, I think he downplayed it a lot. Knowing my brother, he was trying to sound all tough and macho. However, I know that he really cares about you. He's never done the things he has with you with anyone else. You and your daughter are very special to him. I mean, he's actually talking about a future with you. I don't know that he's ever done that before."

Chrissy smiled. "I know. Steve is not like anyone I've ever met. I felt something the very first time I met him. I'm not sure what it was. Anyway, I'm glad I did."

"I am, too. My brother needs somebody like you in his life."

"Thank you. It's great to meet you."

Chrissy introduced Molly and her family to Mary while Steve, Mike, Carl, and Joyce's boyfriend, Vince, talked. The entire group was mismatched, but all of them felt completely comfortable in each other's company, as though they'd known each other for years. Even when Mary had to leave to go check on the passengers in First Class, the conversations continued as they had before.

The hours flew and dinner came and went. The group of ten ate together, continuing their conversations and combining them as the meal went on. Molly was in complete awe of the relationship between Steve and Chrissy, the stoic Navy SEAL and the shattered mother. It seemed like a romance straight out of a movie or a book. She knew her romance with Mike had been anything but conventional, but she had no regrets about the way of it. Regardless, it was nice to see a fantasy come true in real life.

When the landing warning came over the intercom, the entire group sighed. Chrissy had really enjoyed the company of Molly and her family, and she knew that Steve had as well. Frantically, all of them exchanged cell phone numbers and other contact information. They all said good-bye at the terminal. No one would ever guess how this group would come together again.