On the very same evening, on that day wherein Koa Rey had nearly died of a drug overdose, Danny was promptly at Tani's home with a bottle of red wine and a short-stemmed bouquet of red roses in hand. He'd been promised dinner, and a movie. An evening of companionable dining and an excuse to sit on Tani's sofa with his arm around her to watch a director's cut of her choice. It didn't matter to him what they watched as long as they could be together.

His heart was all aflutter as he cleared his throat while he switched the fragrant bouquet into his hand that held the wine bottle. His index finger a tad shaky, he rang the doorbell. Visions of his lovely, soon-to-be hostess coalesced in his mind. How good this was going to get between them, only time would tell. Danny knew she cared for Junior, but, he sensed that ran along the lines of her feeling something akin to brotherly affection for the kid.

It wasn't the Jersey ex-pat's imagination monkeying with his judgment. Tani liked him, as in if you want this going to the next level, I'm game, kind of like. What was going on between them wasn't one-sided on Danny's part. They were growing closer to his absolute delight. His index finger connected with the doorbell again, wondering what could be keeping her. She was a hair-trigger kind of gal, always a step ahead of what was going down. Was she in the bathroom putting the finishing touches on her heart-stealing, beautiful face, with the door closed? He waited before ringing a third time. The antsy bubbling in his stomach wasn't helping his nerves.

Did he have the wrong night? Had she asked him over for tomorrow night? He stared at the wine and flowers he held, pondering this sudden dilemma, which vanished the moment her door opened, and there she was standing before him, as lovely as always. Only, huh? Something was way off about her as rushed words leapt from his mouth.

"What's the matter?" He set his presents down on the step, stepping in closer to her. Of course she'd been crying; that was obvious.

Although she forced a smile, her voice wobbled when she struggled to speak. The pretense she thought she could count on crumbled. "Oh, Danny." Her breath caught and her façade of resilience fractured. "I'm-I'm sorry. I should've…called. I…I-I…ca-can't-not, not…" She quivered before his eyes that were overflowing with concern. "Not…"

It seemed as though the power of coherent speech escaped her.

Danny shouldered Tani, folding her into his arms, willing them to suffuse her with comfort and security to combat whatever had rendered her muddled, scrambling for coherency. "What's wrong? Please, tell me."

Inside the home she shared with Koa, who was sleeping in his room, following the medical treatment that had saved his life, which he'd received from Dr. Noelani Cunha earlier, Tani sat with Danny, quietly wrapped up in his arms. Her head rested on his shoulder, and with her eyes closed, she breathed along with him. Her emotions were in an uproar. Preparing herself, she wanted to tell him, trusting him with the terrible secret she'd borne all alone for too long.

Her brother was a stone junkie. No two ways, no whitewashing about it. He'd nearly succumbed, had nearly added himself to the long, ever-growing list of those who had died from an excess of an illegal opioid. Their relationship, strained to the max, taxed her daily. She was at her wit's end.

The reason responsible for her having to grow up far too fast, to keep the promise she'd made to their father. She was her brother's keeper, trying as hard, and as best as she could to keep sad Koa on the straight and narrow. Tani sighed, forlorn, and feeling a failure. Thus far, her track record had been miserable. What was she going to do with him? Rehab? But what if Koa's heart truly wouldn't be in it? What then? Would he pull through if, and when there was a next time?

Often, Tani wished Koa could be more like Junior. If Koa died, it would kill her. As she had tearfully reminded him once they'd arrived back home, Koa, having been a good deal still out of it after his death-dealing ordeal, he was the only family she had left.

Danny jiggled her gently, curious. She was so quiet. Had she fallen asleep? His hand slid along her neck, caressing her softly. His mind and heart bound up in the life of this remarkable lady. His life too. "Babe…you awake?"

"Yes," Tani whispered back; her ears alert to the tenderness of his voice. Relieved that he was here, doing his best to ease her pain, she said, "Thank you, Danny. You being here, saying the things you've said to me, mean a lot. I feel so stupid. I can't help him. I love him so much. He knows that, but it isn't enough. There's an emptiness in him nothing can fill. So, what does he do? He checks out; he does drugs, they take over. This time, they almost fragged him."

Danny brushed her forehead with his lips, savoring the velvety quality of her exquisite skin. "No need to thank me. I'm here for you. Whatever you need. Whenever you need." He felt her hand slip into his, giving it a firm squeeze. Emotionally, he blurted, "Want me to say something to him?"

Her sigh was heavy, charged with emotions, when she released it, and she confessed, "I'm not sure it would do any good. Y'know, we've talked, and talked, and talked till I'm blue in the face. And still, he just doesn't listen. I'm lost; I can't reach him. I only see him sinking down, down, down into that rat hole, deeper and deeper, and I lose him." He felt her head move against him as she shook her head. "I break my promise to our father." Painful tears stung her eyes again as they teetered on the verge of streaming. "I fail him, and Koa."

Danny hushed her pessimism and her fear of failure. Delicately, he assured, "You fail no one. Not your father. Not Koa. And most of all, not yourself. The success you are is astounding. Never forget that. Tani..." He'd said that like a promise of wonderful things to come. "You're the strongest woman I've ever known…and…" The four-letter word tottered precariously on his tongue, with a mind of its own to be spoken. "Loved."

He felt her lift up from him to study his face in the shadow of the soft lighting. "Love." She said, sounding mystified, "You love me, Danny?"

Moving in carefully on her mouth, a hairs-breadth from it he murmured, "With all my heart." He kissed her, his mouth melding impulsively with hers. Against her mouth, he promised, "Always will, sweetheart. That's my promise to you." He leaned away from her face, stroked her cheek with the tips of his fingers and put it to her again. "So…I have a little talk with Koa? I won't preach. Don't know how to. All I'll do is tell it to him straight. I had this cousin…Amelia…she was smart, talented, had all the right things going for her except one. She got addicted to blow, then heroin, back when I was a rookie cop. Died with the needle in her arm, in some tenement for down-and-outers in Jersey City. She never made it to twenty, never got to know how great life can be off junk. Drove the nails into her mother's and father's hearts, not to mention her older brother's and younger sister's. I was the one who found her. So, yeah, let me have a go with Koa. It can't hurt, and I'll do what I can so it will help."

"I need your help, Danny," Tani reverently admitted as her hand nearest to his chest rested over his heart that beat in unison with her breaths.

Kissing the palm of her other hand, he solemnly pledged, "You've got it."

In Koa's room, they heard him cry out, then heard what sounded like laughter. Perhaps he dreamt, his dream better than the torture of his reality. Tani felt she owed Danny the dinner she'd promised him, but he assured her that holding her close, muttering sweet words of endearment in her ear, was all he wanted, tonight.