Dani

Dani dropped her keys in the little bowl on the table next to the door. She drug her suitcase into the living room, leaving it to sit by the couch as she stripped off her jacket, tossing it on the chair.

"Auntie Dani! Auntie Dani!"

Dani smiled, scooping up the little pigtailed girl that came running at her, dripping wet.

"Kennedy! Why are you all wet?" Dani laughed.

"Me and Mommy are washing the dog! He went like this!" Kennedy shook her head around, blowing through her lips. "All wet!"

Dani laughed, carrying her niece into the backyard where she found her sister, cranking the hose back onto the wheel that held it, her jeans wet up to the knee. The dog was running in circles around the big oak tree, shaking water everywhere.

"I take it Jasper was less than cooperative again, huh Melany?" Dani said, drawing her sister's attention to her.

"Of course," Melany said, sighing and pushing her wet hair off her forehead. "Kennedy you need to go inside and take off those wet clothes so you can take a bath of your own okay?"

Kennedy squirmed her way out of Dani's arms and ran back into the house. Dani followed her sister inside, and upstairs, leaning against the side of the door while she started a bath for her daughter.

"What's on your mind, Dani? You rarely hover this much unless there's something bothering you." Melany said.

"There was this guy on my layover flight..." Dani started.

Melany leaned out the door, one eyebrow raised, shaking water off her hands. "A boy! Was he cute?"

Dani frowned, sliding down the wall, wrapping her arms around her legs. "He was. In an...unconventional kind of way. But he was mean, Mel."

"He was mean? How so?" Melany asked, then called out. "Kennedy! Come on, it's bath time!"

Dani smiled, hearing Kennedy's little feet come running down the hall. She had a pink Hello Kitty robe on, the hood of it pulled up over her head. Melany ushered her into the bath. Melany stepped out of the bathroom, waving at Dani to follow. Dani unfolded herself and stood up, following her sister to her bedroom. Dani kicked off her shoes and stretched out on Melany's bed as her sister sat beside her.

"Now, tell me what you meant by he was 'mean'?"

"He was! He was just really surly. He kept staring at me. I mean really staring. So I tried to make conversation with him and he was really nasty. Told me to 'stay over there'. But then he kinda apologized and asked me what my name was. So I told him and he told me his," Dani sighed, scrubbing a hand over her face. "His name was Jon. So a little while later, I can like...feel him staring at me again. So I asked if he wanted to say something. He told me I looked like his little sister. That's fine and all but the staring got creepy. I told him so much and that I'm not his sister and please stop staring at me. Then he got really annoyed and said 'I know you're not my fucking sister. She's fucking dead.'"

Melany frowned. "That's awful. I mean on both accounts. His sister being dead and the way he talked to you. What a jerk."

"I tried to apologize to him. I felt really bad. But he wasn't very receptive to it," Dani sighed. "But he was right when he said that I'd never see him again."

"Who knows. If he travels a lot you never know when you'll run into him again." Melany said, shrugging.

Dani chewed her bottom lip. "He did say that. The flight was delayed and when I tried to talk to him the first time he said he was used to delayed flights."

"Well, you never know, Dani. He may be right and you might never see him again. Or by some weird chance you could run into him again," Melany said, patting the top of her sister's head. "If you do, just leave him alone. Clearly he doesn't want to be bothered. If not, then no loss either way."

"Yeah. You're right," Dani said, sighing softly. "He was kinda cute..."

Melany laughed. "But he was a jerk. So that means he can't have been that cute."

Dani shrugged. "I guess. But he had a nice face."

"Silly girl. Leave those bad boys alone." Melany laughed.

Melany slid off the side of the bed, walking out the door to check on Kennedy in the tub. Dani got up, grabbing her shoes and followed her sister. Dani walked past the bathroom in the hall to her bedroom at the opposite end. She tossed her shoes into the closet, pulling her hair out of its ponytail. She shut her bedroom door, digging a pair of cozy pajama pants and a tank top out of her drawer. Walking into her bathroom, Dani started up the shower and stripped off her work clothes, dropping them into the hamper before stepping in.

Jon had her perplexed, even made her a little sad. When she first saw him sit down beside her, she'd been intrigued. He looked tired but had a handsome enough face. His cheeks were scruffy but his eyes were sharp and a little wild and bright blue like a clear summer morning. His lips pushed out when he studied her, red and teasingly kissable. He had a mop of dirty blonde hair that had been matted by the hat he'd used to cover his face with. There was a certain husky rasp to his voice when he spoke to her. Something about him was intriguing, even a little mesmerizing despite his grump. Dani wondered how close he'd been to his little sister that he'd so intently watched her, coming to the conclusion that Dani looked so much like her. She wondered if he'd been offended by the likeness. Or if Jon had been as enthralled by her and she was by him.

Shaking off the thought, Dani finished her shower and stepped out, grabbing a towel to wrap around herself. Walking out into her room, Dani sat on the edge of her bed to dry and changed into her comfortable clothes. There was a knock on her bedroom door, and it pushed open slowly when she called come in.

"You alright?" Melany asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Dani said with a shrug. "Just...thinking."

"About that jerky Jon guy? Dani forget it. It won't do you any good to dwell on," Melany said, shaking her head. "Come downstairs, we're ordering pizza for dinner."

Dani sighed, following her sister out of her bedroom. Kennedy was sitting on the living room floor, coloring books and crayons spread out in front of her, humming to herself as she colored. Dani bent and ruffled her hair as she passed by to sit on the couch.

"Where did you go this time, Aunt Dani?" Kennedy asked, not looking up from her book. "Somewhere fun?"

Dani laughed, Kennedy was always so interested in the places she went for work. Being a flight attendant meant she wasn't home very often, but frequently got to see new cities. When Kennedy was younger, she'd been determined to bring her back a stuffed toy from every state she visited. After a few years though, Melany had told her to slow down because the toy net in her bedroom was getting a little too full.

"I went to Florida and Maryland. Washington and Oregon. Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois. And!" Dani got up, unzipping one of the front pockets of her suitcase. She pulled out a small teddy bear with a yellow t-shirt on that said 'Oklahoma!' on the front. "Oklahoma too!"

Kennedy squealed, jumping up to take the bear. "That's a new one!"

Melany came into the living room, smiling at her daughter and sister. "Go put it on your bed baby. We'll put it in the net with your Texas bear."

Kennedy nodded, running up the stairs to do what her mother said. Melany day on the couch next to Dani, patting her sister's knee.

"Let it go, Danica. He's just a boy." She said.

Dani blushed, biting her thumbnail. "I can't help it. There's just something about him..."

"Something you shouldn't be worrying about. If you already think he's a jerk then there's nothing about him you need to be pursuing." Melany said warningly.

"I can't pursue anyone I'll never see again," Dani said softly. "He's just...hard to get out of my head."

"So I'll help you get him out," Melany said. "Tell me what he looks like."

"How is that supposed to help?" Dani asked, shaking her head.

"I find when I'm trying to get something out of my head that actually speaking it helps," Melany said. "Now. Tell me."

Dani opened her mouth to speak, but Kennedy came skipping back into the living room, plopping herself down on the floor with her books again. Dani glanced over at her sister who motioned towards the kitchen, not wanting to gossip too much in front of the little girl.

"Kennedy, Mommy and Aunt Dani are gonna be in the other room, okay? Come get me if you need anything or if you hear a knock on the door."

Kennedy bobbed her head, still coloring. "Okay Mommy."

The sisters got up, walking to the kitchen. Dani opened the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water. She leaned against the counter sighing as she opened the cap.

"He's cute, in a scruffy kind of way. Blonde hair, blue eyes, nice lips," Dani said, chewing her bottom lip behind a smile. "He may not have been pleasant but he had a nice voice. I don't know, Mel. There was just something there. There's obviously something warm inside him if he cared so much about his sister. She must have been very special to him."

"So you'd wanna try and fix him?" Melany asked.

"No. I don't even know him. I just...it was a fleeting attraction I guess. He's just some guy on a flight," Dani said. "God I could really use a drink after this day."

Melany laughed, opening a cabinet above her head. She pulled out two wine glasses and walked to their small, latched liquor cabinet. From there she grabbed a bottle of red wine and sat it with the glasses on the kitchen island. Dani smiled, reaching into the drawer behind her and handed Melany the wine bottle opener. Melany uncorked the wine and poured two glasses, passing one to her sister.

"If I know you as well as I know I do, it sounds to me like you wanna meet him again," Melany said. "To see if there's any possibilities."

"No! That's crazy Mel!" Dani frowned, sipping her wine. "I just met this guy and it's probably the last I'll ever see of him."

"You want to see him. You want to get to know him," Melany teased.

"I do not!" Dani said. "He probably hates me or something."

"How can he? He doesn't even know you."

Dani shrugged, sipping her wine again. "Something about the way he looked. Like he was kinda interested but not at the same time. I dunno. He's just a boy."

"Mommy!" Kennedy called, running into the kitchen. "Someone's at the door!"

"That'll be dinner," Melany said, heading to the door. "Forget about him, Dani. It'll only cause you problems."