Caroline planned to leave for New York in a couple of days and Danny was ready to say goodbye to her for good. Her own father encouraged that very thing because the Major could see as well as anyone that Danny and his daughter were not suited for each other.
The truth of the matter was he didn't want a girlfriend at the moment because he wanted to concentrate on being a pilot and nothing else. He enjoyed the fact that he was home and got to see his parents, his brother and his sister on a regular basis again. He'd never really adjusted to the cold winters in Colorado and the novelty of snow wore pretty thin the winter of his freshman year.
It was because of that he couldn't seem to get enough of the sunshine and since his return was at the beach or his parent's house whenever he was off duty. Of course there was sun at the Academy, but it wasn't the same kind of warmth that he spent his childhood in.
He didn't think much about how things would be different and was surprised to see Ann, Shelby and Tom when they came back to Colorado for his graduation. It startled him to see how much they had grown up. The Walkers were always scarce when he came home for his Christmas breaks because they always went to Ohio to spend the two weeks with Mrs. Walker's parents. And during his first three summers when he would come home for a few weeks, Major Walker's kids were in Tennessee visiting his grandparents and Ohio visiting theirs.
They didn't go back to Tennessee that summer because the McCawley's came out for his graduation and the O'Connell's took their first trip to Europe. Annie told him once that her grandfather wanted to take her grandmother on a grand tour of Europe for their honeymoon, but they didn't have any money. So they scrimped and saved over the years and when they finally had enough they decided that it was time to go. Danny couldn't help but think that Caroline would never have the patience or the discipline to do it.
Caroline.
After he said goodbye to Ann and her mother, Danny jogged back to his quarters and showered. His favorite clothes to wear off duty were his dungarees, loafers and the Hawaiian shirt his sister sent to him while he was at the Academy. He always wore it unbuttoned over a tee shirt and it was as close as he could get to casual before his mother would protest at his attire. He knew he could get away with it, though because his own father had dressed similarly when he wasn't much older then Danny was. He knew about that because of a picture that Mama clipped out of the newspaper a few days after Pearl Harbor was bombed.
The particular picture he always remembered was taken in what he could only surmise was an examination room. Dad and Major Walker went to the hospital that morning to volunteer their help. Mama took them immediately to give blood and a Navy photographer was there and took a picture of the event. To most it wouldn't have seemed too important because it was a fellow being attended to by a nurse but Danny always remembered their faces as they looked at each other. To him he saw love, fear and uncertainty because they'd been pulled into a war they had not asked for.
He wanted that, what his parents had.
He wanted a girl that would love him, worry about him and while she didn't need to take care of him, make a home with him. He didn't know that Caroline was capable of doing it or that she particularly wanted to. And it was because of that that he knew she wasn't the right girl for him.
He also suspected that she felt the same way about him and finally had to admit to himself that most of his charm was the uniform he wore. Whether it was ROTC in high school or the Academy in Colorado Caroline never liked to seen with him unless he was wearing one. It was something that he was aware of when he went to pick her up at the airport a few days earlier and she was more out of sorts than usual. He knew she would be upset that he came to get her in his civvies, but he didn't care.
It was the first time he ever felt that strongly.
Mama told him to always be considerate of a girl's feelings but it became more difficult over the years because she was rarely, if ever considerate of his. Even Evelyn was more considerate of his feelings, but he already knew that she didn't want to be a military wife any more than Caroline did. But girls like his sister and Ann probably would.
Ann.
He didn't know why exactly he teased her so much since he came back from the Academy. Maybe it was the fact that she never reacted to it when she was a kid and for some reason she was now. It was very possible that because they hadn't seen each other much over the last four years they just weren't used to how the other changed.
Ann was a picture of her father and was tall like him too. He knew that Mrs. Walker worried when she was little that she would have to wear glasses but it didn't happen and he remembered his parents comments on how relieved her mother was.
The look on her face earlier in the afternoon however left him puzzled. He couldn't tell what got her out of sorts because he knew Mrs. Walker well enough to know that Ann being a little late wouldn't have upset her. It seemed to be that it was the two of them together and he didn't understand it because he'd always looked out for all the kids as they grew up. He did what his parents would expect him to do and walked her home from the beach.
She sure was pretty though and he didn't know when he began to notice that. Sarah hadn't told him if there was anyone around the base that had his eye on Ann or if she was interested in anyone in particular. Of course it wasn't any of his business.
And why in the hell was she on his mind anyway, she was only seventeen. He still had Caroline to deal with and it was time to finish it. He walked over to the telephone, picked up the receiver and dialed the Harris's house. He shifted from foot to foot as he waited for someone to pick up the other end of the line. It was Caroline.
He let her know who it was and he heard her sigh. "I was in the middle of packing."
He frowned at that piece of news. "Packing? You weren't supposed to be leaving until the day after tomorrow."
"I changed my mind. I've been away from New York for far too long and it's time that I get back."
It was his turn to sigh. "Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?"
"I wouldn't think it would matter to you."
It was now or never.
"I know that the beach isn't your favorite place, but would you indulge me and meet me down by my parent's house? We really need to talk."
She seemed to sense what it was that he wanted to talk to her about. "Must it be the beach?"
"Yes, it must. It's always been a favorite spot of mine and it's where I want to be."
Caroline was quiet for a moment and he heard her sigh again. "Well I suppose I could. I'm leaving awfully early in the morning so we might as well."
"So you were going to leave and not let me know." He began to steam.
"My father was going to call you and let you know my plans changed. Daniel, I need to hang up now."
"Meet me down by my parent's house in ten minutes and we'll walk down to the beach."
"Very well, ten minutes." And the line went dead.
He put the receiver down and after he picked up his car keys from the side table by the front door he left his quarters to have it out with her.
It didn't take him long to get there and Danny should have known that she would be late. Caroline Harris ran on her own schedule and everyone else be damned, even him.
When she finally showed up she refused to go for a walk on the beach. "I've got an early flight tomorrow Daniel. What is so important that I had to meet you here?" The contempt in her voice and folded arms across her chest irritated him but he wouldn't be deterred from what he had to do.
"You've never been happy here." He started.
"I'm happier not to be here, that's for certain." She frowned. "So what is it you're trying to say?"
"I was miserable being away for the last four years and couldn't wait to get back." He answered. "It was just a fluke that I got assigned here."
"I never understood what you find so appealing about this place."
Danny nodded. "I know, but I grew up here. This is home and that's what's so appealing to me. My family is here and now I get to be on the same base as my dad."
"There's so much going on in New York and it's much more exciting." She countered.
"It all depends on what you consider exciting Caroline. Some of the nicest times I've had have been spent on picnics here with my family or in the air with my dad. It may not be that exciting to you, but it was more than enough for me."
"And that was always the problem."
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Nothing I tried to do ever seemed to make you happy. You would never give anything I wanted to do a chance."
"Flying in an old airplane didn't seem like fun to me."
"Which you made abundantly clear when I suggested it. You would have thought I had the audacity to suggest that you move back to Hawaii when I came home." He knew how sarcastic he sounded, but he wanted to get the conversation over with.
"I'd go back to Florida first." She declared.
"No you wouldn't. You hated it in Florida more than you hated it here." He fired back.
"Daniel, did you ask me to come here just so we could argue?"
He took a deep breath and sighed. "No. I asked you to come here because I think it's time that we say goodbye, for good."
He could see from the look on her face that she hadn't expected it. "Are you saying that you want to break up with me?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Caroline, we've spent most of the last four years apart and barely communicated. You never invited me to New York and as often as I invited you to see the Academy, you never came. You didn't even come to my graduation."
"You're throwing that up in my face again? I already explained why I couldn't be there."
"Yes you did and that's what finally did it for me. You and I have nothing in common and we've always known that. We've never really gotten along and the idea of spending the rest of my life in a relationship like ours was too much."
"The rest of your life? Oh god, you weren't thinking about marriage were you?" The idea seemed to appall her.
"You find the idea that unappealing?"
"Daniel, you're a pilot! Why on earth would I even consider marrying a pilot and end up like my mother!"
"Your mother seems pretty happy."
Her frown deepened. "That's because she's never lived anywhere else but military bases. My grandfather was in the Navy and mother and grandmother trailed after him all around the world. They never had any say about where they wanted to go they just went where the Navy sent them and I hated it when the Air Force did it to me. So why would I have ever considered marrying you and doing it for the rest of my life?"
"Then why didn't you make this clear four years ago? We wouldn't have wasted so much time."
"Having a boyfriend at the Air Force Academy came in very handy. Why would I jeopardize that?" She smiled, but it was more of a Cheshire smile.
Why didn't that surprise him?
"Well, I'm not going to be handy for you anymore. I'm through with the Academy and I certainly won't be handy as an Air Force pilot because we're done."
It seemed to sink in and Danny watched as she dropped the smile. "You're serious."
"I'm very serious. It took me a long time to get here and I want to take the time to concentrate on flying."
"You met someone back there didn't you? That's why you want to break up with me." The look on her face told him that she thought she'd caught him at something.
"I don't want to walk around with a knot in my stomach all the time because I haven't heard from you in months and feeling guilty because I don't care. I want to have a girl who cares about me and wants me to be a part of her life. And the truth of the matter is, you're not that girl and I think you've always known it."
"You just said that you want to concentrate on flying."
"I do for now, but it's not all I want. When the time comes that I decide to start looking around, I want a girl who will take me as I am and at least try to understand what it is that I do."
"Daniel, this is 1964. Girls aren't like that anymore."
"I don't believe that."
She shrugged. "Well, believe what you will. As for me, I will release you and you can comb this god-forsaken island for a girl who has no more ambition than to be someone's wife."
"And you can go back to New York."
"Goodbye Daniel." She answered and without another word turned around and walked to her car.
Danny took a deep breath and let out a deep sigh because for the first time since he and Caroline began to see each other during senior year he felt content.
He walked down the beach and headed toward the water. He watched young parents with their small children make sand castles and smiled. It was only a vague memory but Danny remembered being on the very beach where he now walked with his own father when he was small and they built sandcastles. It was something they always did when Dad was home and off rotation because sometimes it was as short as three days, but other times he was home for as many as ten.
It would probably be like that for him once he was factored into the rotation. At the moment, he was only involved in training flights because as their commander told them, he wanted to give the new pilots a chance to get their feet wet before they flew into actual combat.
He sat down near the surf but not so close that he would get wet and watched it come in. The sound of the ocean was something he'd missed when he was stateside and it was nice to be able to sit and listen again.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" He looked up toward the familiar voice and he felt his chest tighten at the sight of her.
When did she get so pretty?
Ann smiled. "You're going to get wet if you sit here much longer."
"So you thought you'd save me from myself." He smiled back.
She laughed and Danny never realized before how nice it sounded. "You were so deep in thought that by the time you realized how close you were, it might be too late."
He stood up to brush the sand off of his dungarees and if he didn't know better, he could swear that Ann's face flushed. "I was just remembering when I was little and Dad and I would come down here to build sandcastles."
She looked a little puzzled as they began to walk. "And you had to come down to the beach to remember that?"
He couldn't help but smile for a moment and then grew serious. "I came down here to talk to Caroline."
Ann looked around. "Are you waiting for her?"
"No. She's come and gone and will be winging her way back to New York early tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow? I thought she was going to be here for another day." She said.
Danny shook his head. "She changed her mind and decided to go back early. It's just as well though." He thought he sounded too cryptic, so he explained. "The fact of the matter is I broke things off with Caroline."
She looked absolutely stunned. "Sarah's been worried about that for a long time."
"I know."
"Are you okay about this? You don't look very happy." She commented and the concerned look on her face made him smile.
"I'm fine Ann. I've just gotten so used to walking around with a knot in my stomach that it's going to take some time to unknot it."
Ann frowned. "You let her do that to you? You're not as smart as I always gave you credit for."
"I don't think Sarah would disagree with you about that." And he put a casual arm around her shoulders. "So how does it feel to be going into senior year?"
He felt her stiffen a little and realized that she'd started to do that in recent weeks. But he also figured that she wasn't aware of it. "I'm really excited but Dad and Mama are having some trouble adjusting to the idea that I'm almost out of high school."
Danny nodded. "My parents were the same way when I started senior year."
"But they were awfully proud of you when you graduated from the Air Force Academy." She added.
"I never worked so hard in my whole life like I did at the Academy. But having Hank as my roommate made it a lot easier."
"He really does seem to have taken to Sarah. I think he's over at your folks house almost as much as you are." Ann observed.
"I didn't think you would notice something like that." He teased and as he thought she would do, shrugged his arm off of her shoulder. "You're not going to call me a cocky pilot again are you?"
Her face flushed. "And state the obvious? I don't think I need to."
"Fair enough." He grinned. "So what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be home having dinner?"
"Spoken like a bachelor." She seemed to recover her good spirits. "We've had dinner already."
"I sure miss Mama's cooking. But between Hank and me, we manage not to starve."
Ann smiled. "If you drop a hint to Sarah, she'd be happy to cook for him."
"Well, if she cooks for him it's only fair that you cook for me." He answered.
Her face flushed again. "I can barely boil water. I keep trying to tell Mama that I'm hopeless in the kitchen."
He touched her arm to stop her and she jumped. "Is everything all right Annie, you seem a little jittery."
She smiled at him, but Danny could sense that it took some effort. "Annie? Sarah is usually the only one who calls me that any more."
"I'm sorry, it's an old habit. I try not to call you that anymore because I figured you wouldn't like it."
Ann shrugged. "Dad still calls me Annie too and it doesn't really bother me."
"I'll remember that."
She laughed and Danny liked the sound even more. "I'm sure you will." And she looked at her watch.
"Time to get going?" He asked her.
"Dad wanted me home in an hour and my time is just about up."
He smiled. "You're a good daughter Ann."
"If it were anyone else but you saying that, I'd think I was being made fun of." And she started up the beach.
He didn't know exactly why, but he stood and watched her as she walked away from him. She wasn't wearing anything special, just a pair of slacks and a blouse, but she looked nice. She had curves in places that weren't there when he left for Colorado and that he hadn't noticed after he came home.
Ann seemed to realize that she was being watched because she stopped and turned around. The look on his face must have told her what he was doing and her face slowly turned red. "What are you looking at?"
"You really have grown up." Was all he could think to say before he caught up with her. "Would you like me to walk you home?"
She shook her head. "We caused quite a stir with my mother when you walked me home earlier and I think twice in one day would be too much."
"All right Annie, I'll let you go."
"Are you going to be all right?"
He smiled at her. "The hard part's over. Caroline will be on her way back to New York tomorrow and I won't have to worry about her anymore."
"And hopefully that knot will go away soon."
"I'm counting on it." Danny tried to assure her as he looked at his watch. "Get going will you? I don't want to be responsible for you being late again."
"Sarah's going to be happy to hear that you've made a decision about Caroline." She said as she turned around and headed up the beach.
"I'm sure she will Annie." He said to himself as he watched her walk away.
When did she get so pretty?
