Love Will Turn You Around
A/N – This story, which will have no impact on my "What Now" and "Musings" stories, came to me on Christmas morning while I was waiting for readers at my job with the Iowa Radio Reading Information Service (or IRIS) – I got the Kenny Rogers song "Love Will Turn you Around" in my head, and...well, you'll see. Hope you enjoy it. – robertwnielsen
A/N #2 – For timeline purposes, this story will take place some time after the events of the S3 episode "Desperate Monday," give or take a couple of days.
Summary – Hawke hears a song on the radio, and something in the lyrics prompts him to rethink several things about his life – particularly where they concern his feelings about a redheaded ex-cop from Texas.
"Morning, Dom!" Stringfellow Hawke shouted to his old friend Dominic Santini as he entered the hangar at Santini Air, the air service Dom ran where String worked part-time, along with their friend Caitlin O'Shannessy, who was curiously absent at the moment. "Where's Cait?"
"Oh...she's in the office, on the phone. She wouldn't tell me who she was calling, or why. Just kicked me out of the office about five minutes ago," Dom mused as he wiped some dust off of one of the Jet Rangers there in the hangar. "If you don't mind my saying so, buddy...Cait's been acting a little...strange today."
"Strange? How so?" Hawke had always considered Caitlin to be a little flighty, but not too strange. He figured it was just her nature – so upbeat as to almost be...perky, a word Hawke never thought he'd use to describe anybody. But, it certainly fits her, Hawke mused to himself. The only time I think I've ever seen her not smiling is if she got mad at me about something...or she was scared about something. Just then, the office door opened and Cait sauntered out, her familiar million-dollar smile plastered all over her face.
"Hey, Dom...Morning, String," she grinned, a strange gleam in her eyes. Hawke couldn't help but notice that Caitlin directed a special smile at him. "Hey, Dom...I've gotta run into town for a couple things – shouldn't take me more than a few minutes...is that okay?"
"Sure, Cait. We're not real busy at the moment...go and do whatever you need to do," Dom said with a smile. She waved good-bye, then jumped into one of the red, white and blue-painted jeeps with Santini Air painted on the side, and roared off.
"How about giving me a hand with this mount, String?" Dom asked, and switched on a radio laying on the desk as he did so. A song had just finished, a country song that String didn't recognize, but then the DJ came on with a dedication. "This goes out as a special dedication to one person...a guy named Stringfellow Hawke," the DJ said, and Dom turned a quizzical look at his young friend, who shrugged his shoulders in confusion. "Mr. Hawke, whoever you are, all the person that requested this song told me to say was this—you better listen to the lyrics," the DJ concluded, then announced, "Here's Kenny Rogers' "Love Will Turn you Around." As the song's instrumental intro began playing, Dom struggled to hide a smile, and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Hawke, as the first verse began.
You can run, you can hide
never let it inside,
keep living your life in the dark.
But sooner or later, that gentle persuader
is gonna catch up with your heart.
Make you a dreamer, believer,
believing in love.
String glanced over at Dom, who was shaking his head and smiling. Now I know why she kicked me out of the office, Dom thought to himself as he tried not to bust out laughing...and why she took off. If I know String...he's more than a little ticked off right now. Out loud, he said, "String, I hope you're..." Hawke's sharp glare cut Dominic off, and he realized, Mamma Mia, I think String really is listening!
Hawke figured Caitlin had to have been the one who requested the song.
Right when a man's doing all that he planned,
and he thinks he's got just what he needs
Life will deliver a shock that will shiver him
driving him down to his knees
Make him start giving,
Living, Living again
Damn, Cait...could you be any more obvious? Hawke cursed in his mind. She was obviously trying a new tactic in her seemingly never-ending efforts to get Hawke to see her as more than "just a friend." The problem was, even though Hawke knew he'd never admit it, even to Dom, and especially to Caitlin...it was working. Of course, I wouldn't exactly call a temperamental redhead a 'gentle persuader,' Hawke told himself as the song continued.
Well, it's your mind
that tricks you into leaving every time
Love will turn you around,
turn you around
Well, it's your heart
that talks you into staying where you are
Love will turn you around,
turn you around
Suddenly, Hawke felt something he hadn't felt in a long time—a genuine admiration for the feisty, and, Hawke had to admit, very attractive redhead who had come into their lives a few short months ago. Only she would have the gall to do something like that, Hawke laughed to himself as he contemplated the lyrics he'd just heard – and he had to admit...the lyrics did have a point. So, he resigned himself to listen a little longer.
Out of the blue, she reaches for you
and you tell her you don't have the time
So you move away fast but you know it won't last,
'Cause you can't get her off of your mind.
Thoughts are burning,
Turning, they're turning around
Dom went to change the station, but Hawke said, "No. Leave it, Dom," with a forcefulness that surprised them both. Mamma Mia...maybe he really is listening, Dom silently prayed to the patron saint of all hopeless people.
Hawke had to admit to himself – that last verse sounds a lot like the way I've treated Cait recently, and he felt a large pang of guilt at what he'd done...or more accurately, what he hadn't done.
How do you know when to stay or to go?
and how do you know when it's real?
You won't need a sign to make up your mind,
'Cause you've got your heart at the wheel
You wanna start sharing,
Caring, caring again.
As the song went into the cycle of repeat choruses that signaled its end, Hawke stood motionless, and for the first time in a long time, completely speechless. He knew he had to do something...but what? Then, the idea hit him. "Dom...I hate to do this, but there's something I've got to do. You okay by yourself for awhile?"
"What? Oh..oh, yeah, String. I think I'll manage. Cait should be back in a few minutes anyway." He regarded his friend with a puzzled look as Hawke clambered into the second jeep and drove away.
About an hour later, Dom and Caitlin had just finished work on the mount Dom had moved earlier, when a delivery person came into the hangar. "Delivery for Miss...Caitlin O'Shannessy?" a voice announced from behind them.
"Oh, that's me," Cait replied, and turned smack into the largest bouquet of roses she'd ever seen. "My goodness...there must be a couple dozen roses here! Dom...do you know anything about this?" she asked as she signed for the flowers, and gave the delivery man a five-dollar bill for a tip.
"I don't have a clue, sweetheart," Dominic replied. "Is there a card with them?"
She quickly looked, but didn't find anything. "Nope, I can't find one. They are so beautiful...I've gotta put these in some water," she sighed, and Dominic knew from her expression who she wanted them to be from. Where is he, anyway? Dom asked himself, just as he heard the second Jeep pull back in to the hangar, and saw Hawke walk towards him. "Cait not back yet?"
"Huh? Oh, heck, she got back about twenty minutes ago...and she just got the biggest bouquet of roses either one of us had ever seen," Dom answered. "You, ah...wouldn't happen to know anything about that...would you, String?" Dom questioned, his expression hopeful.
Just then, Caitlin came striding out of the office, and String thought he noticed a little extra bounce in her step. Guess it worked, he smiled to himself, before answering Dom. "I know what you think I'm going to say, Dom...and I hate to tell you this...but maybe for the first time in your life, you're wrong." Caitlin stopped and listened to the discussion, intently focused on String.
"I hope you liked the flowers, Cait...consider them an apology for the way I've been acting lately," he said as he closed the distance between them. "And, I was wondering...would you like to come up to the cabin for dinner tonight? Just...the two of us?" He had to stifle a chuckle when Caitlin and Dom's jaws both dropped at the same instant.
"String...I would love to," Caitlin answered him, even as tears flooded her eyes. "Are...are you trying to say that...you got the message?"
Instead of answering her, Hawke took her face in his hands and kissed her, a deep, loving kiss that was, up until that moment, the last thing Caitlin had ever expected from him. Dominic merely turned his back to his two young friends, sensing they needed a moment of privacy.
As he broke the kiss, Hawke looked into Caitlin's eyes and replied, "Yeah, Caitlin. I got the message. And, I just wanted to let you know that...I love you." Hawke knew Caitlin could not speak at the moment, but he didn't need her to. He could see what she wanted to say, shining in her eyes. Finally, she whispered, "I love you too, String," just before she embraced him again. Dominic, meanwhile, turned back around to see the two people he loved most in the world locked in a warm and loving embrace, and silently lifted a prayer to the heavens, and to a certain radio DJ he knew he had to meet someday. Thank you, he whispered in his heart. Thank you for everything.