"Who in their right mind would swim in a pool when there's over a hundred miles of coastline and beaches to choose from?" Steve demanded, pointing one end of his Longboard across the yard at the bright sand behind his house.
"For once, I agree with you," Danny concurred, "but it's Grace's first big job, and, like the supporting father I am, I have to be proud of her for signing up."
Steve gave him a strange look. "You 'have to' be proud of her? That's an odd way to say that you're happy she has a job." He took a quick drink from the bottle, pausing when a new thought entered his mind. "Or are you not?"
"No, I am happy. It's just that…" Danny hesitated, swirling the dregs of the bottle. "Does it have to be this job?"
Steve frowned. "You mean lifeguarding?" What's wrong with it? I did it one summer- it's a great job- yeah, you have to sit in the hot sun, but there's also the pool, and all the cute girls in their bikinis, and free shaved ice from the concession stand…" A brief grin flashed across his face at the memory.
"Excuse me," Danny objected loudly, "my daughter is one of those girls in bikinis now!"
"And you think she won't ogle all the guys while she's up in the lifeguard stand?"
"She better not," Danny growled. "She has a job to do. Or she will. Once I give my official, fatherly approval."
"Your 'little monkey' is growing up, Danno," Steve pointed out. "She's got a car, a job... you're lucky she's taken this long to get a steady boyfriend."
"Yeah, yeah, please don't remind me," Danny grumbled and lapsed into a grumpy silence. Steve grinned and leaned back in the chair, tipping the last of the beer into his mouth as he watched the sun drift quietly toward the horizon. There were only a few more weeks until the frenzied summer tourist season, which meant crowded beaches, crowded malls, crowded interstates, and a very grumpy governor. The months of June to August left them all exhausted and somewhat frazzled, and Steve was glad that his task force only handled the major cases and not the hundreds of pickpocketing, petty theft, and other miscellaneous calls that HPD would receive during that time. For now, he was happy to enjoy the peace and quiet of his own backyard, the sun setting over his beach, and the company of his best friend.
"The thing is," Danny began again, interrupting his thoughts, "why lifeguarding? Why not babysitting, or a cashier at the mall or, heck, Kamekona's shaved ice stand?"
"Why not lifeguarding? Steve returned. "Are you worried she won't pass the certification course?"
"What? No. Oh, and she's planning on asking you to practice training with her, by the way," Danny said, tilting his bottle in Steve's direction. Seeing his partner puff up with ohana pride, Danny smirked. "Don't let it go to your head, partner. She may just need a warm body to play the victim. I don't want to be her practice dummy when she starts learning CPR."
"They don't use real people for CPR training, Danny."
"I know, I know…"
Steve looked sideways at his partner who was staring into the distance at the waves. "So why aren't you helping her practice? Or did she not ask you? I know you can swim well enough," he pushed, hoping to provoke a snarky response, but Danny only shrugged.
"It's just not my thing," he said.
Steve noticed he'd avoided answering the question. "Have you asked her why she wants to do this?"
"Yeah. I thought maybe there was boy from school or something, but no. She said something about watching us do stuff, and she wanted to do stuff, too."
" 'Stuff'? What kind of 'stuff'? We chase down bad guys and shoot things. She won't be doing any of that as a lifeguard."
"Oh, trust me, I know. I already asked about the curriculum at the Red Cross, and the lady told me there's nothing in the course on Hand Grenades or Rocket Launchers."
"But there could be."
Danny glared at him. "Don't even go there, Steven," he warned. "My baby girl may like pineapples and surfing because of your nefarious influence, but you will not corrupt her into a little ninja on my watch!"
Steve shot him an impish grin. Danny rolled his eyes and drained the last of his beer. Kicking off his shoes, he propped his feet up and watched a cargo ship chug slowly across the fading horizon. Several minutes of quiet passed between them.
Steve broke the silence first. "Are you ok with Grace doing this?" he asked quietly. When Danny didn't reply, he thought perhaps his partner hadn't heard him, but when he looked at Danny's chair, he saw him gazing out over the ocean, forehead wrinkled in thought.
"Do you know how few safe places there are on this island, Steve? When she told me that she wanted a summer job- a real job, she said- I started thinking about all the places where we've taken down criminals and busted drug rings, and it's a long list."
"You can't protect her forever, Danny."
"You don't have kids, Steve. And this is different from protecting her from bad grades or mean girls at school, or nasty boyfriends. Just last week we were at the mall dealing with that meth-addled kid who took hostages in the food court. Do you know how many girls Grace's age work there? A lot. And Grace could have been any one of them."
Steve wasn't sure what to say. He didn't have children of his own- Grace was as close as it came- and while he deeply adored his adopted niece, there were some deeply protective instincts that came naturally to Danny but which Steve didn't feel. He understood Danny's reasoning and sentiments but it wasn't with the same fierce intensity that he saw in his partner. "And you're afraid something will happen at the pool?"
Danny laughed, short and humorless. "With my luck, yes." He sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "But it's Rachel and Stan's country club, it's inside a gated community, and you need a key card to get in. And a pool is not one of the places where we've made any kind of major bust in the past several years."
"Uh huh." Steve adjusted his features into a serious expression. "If you're worried about her, I'm sure there's an opening at the St. Francis Convent…" He stopped when Danny punched him in the arm. "Ow!"
"You deserved that. Implying that I'm overly protective."
"I didn't say that!" Steve protested. He watched as Danny set his empty bottle on the deck and stood up, stretching. "Where are you going?" he asked as he slowly pushed himself out of the chair and he eyed his own empty bottle wistfully. He had hoped that Danny would stay long enough to drink another with him.
"Grace's study session ends at 9. She's got a slew of finals coming up, so she signed up for extra study sessions at the library. I never did that kind of crap until college, but apparently high school isn't what it used to be."
Steve collected the empty bottles from the deck and followed his partner into the kitchen. "But somehow she's got the time to take an intense training course for her lifeguard, CPR and AED certification?"
"What can I say? I've got an amazing daughter."
"Yes, you have," Steve agreed. "Tell her I'll be happy to train with her. She just needs to let me know when."
"Will do." Danny headed for the door, feeling somewhat better about things. Talking to his partner had that effect. " 'Night Steven," he called as he let himself out.
"Good night, Danny," he heard from somewhere inside the house.
Smiling to himself, the detective hopped in the car and went to pick up his daughter.