By the next day when the group was on their way to Pearl Harbor, Alex and Evelyn had already written Rafe two letters, which they put together and sent off to the Eagle Squadron base in England. They didn't have a lot to say—not much had changed since they'd seen him last—but somehow it was better to write about missing him than simply missing him. Besides, knowing how long the mail took to get from place to place, it would be a while before he got the letters.

"He's going to be all right," Danny assured them as the boat neared Hawaii. He wasn't really as certain as he sounded, but they needed him to be the strong one.

"He better be," Alex stated as she lifted her head to look at the glistening water, refusing to show how anxious she was. "Because if he gets himself hurt over there after promising to come home safe, I'll never forgive him."

Evelyn smiled, but it was obviously forced. "You'd forgive him for anything."

She frowned stubbornly, as if she could will him to stay safe through sheer determination alone. "Not this."

"Look at all those sailors," Amy Madison squealed, walking over to them. Amy was one of the nurses who'd worked at the clinic with them. She was a short blonde with bouncy curls and brown eyes that took their time as they traveled over the ships filled with men. A brilliant smile took over her face. "Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun."

The men on the next ship on their right started to whistle and grin at the nurses, and Amy lifted her hand in a wave. Alex chuckled. "Is that all you think about?"

"Well, not usually. But I don't have anyone tying me down and… look at all of them, Alex! There are so many! And those are just the sailors. There are still the pilots—like you, Danny." She winked playfully at him. She'd tried a couple of times in the past month to catch his attention and knew now that nothing was going to happen between them, but it was still fun to flirt with him a little. If nothing else, she liked to watch him twitch and blush.

"I miss Rafe," Evelyn sighed. "He should be here."

Alex's hands tightened around the boat rail. "I'm serious, Ev. One scratch and I won't forgive him. I'll hit him, I swear I will."

"You're gonna hit Rafe?" Amy cried. "Why would you want to hit the cutie?" Evelyn frowned, and Amy quickly added, "I mean your cutie, Evelyn. He only has eyes for you anyway, you know that."

"I want to hit him for worrying us like this," Alex stated, her eyes now glued to the island as they approached it. It was really a beautiful place, the crystal blue water and sandy beaches, but she was too worried to truly appreciate it. Rafe probably hadn't even landed there yet and she was already fretting about him.

"Oh. I understand that," Amy agreed sympathetically. "But you two need to relax a little bit. Rafe knows what he's doing." As someone who'd seen the boys fly firsthand, she felt confident in saying that. Rafe was a terrific pilot.

"We'll try to relax," Alex told her seriously, pushing her sunglasses onto her face to cover her eyes from the bright sun. She was telling the truth—she would try. She very much doubted that she would succeed, but she would try. "It's what Rafe wants. We owe him that much."

"I know you're right," Evelyn agreed. "It'll just be hard. But I'll try."

Amy grinned. "Great! We're here!"

The ship docked and they disembarked to find transportation to the base waiting for them. Amy, Evelyn, and Alex were directed to the hospital for orientation, while Danny and the other men were told to change and report in.

Alex moved to follow the other women, then hesitated. Maybe it was silly, but in Rafe's absence Danny had become something like a security blanket. She was a little reluctant to leave him, though they had no other choice. "I'll see you later, okay Danny?"

"Sure, I'll see you," he replied. He gave her a reassuring smile before they headed in different directions.

The orientation was pretty much what they'd all expected, and afterward they were taken to their new home. The nurses' living quarters turned out to be a very nice house located close to the beach. It wasn't particularly large, but there was enough room for the necessities. Alex, Evelyn, and Amy were placed in the house with three other women: a perky brunette named Hayley Wheaton, a bookworm type named Wanda Maximoff, and someone even more boy crazy than Amy, Betty Busher.

"So, why is everyone here?" Hayley asked as a way of breaking the ice. "I mean, I know we all feel we have to—the men may fight a war and we have to help out somehow—but does anyone have another reason?"

"The men themselves are reason enough," Betty giggled girlishly, lying on her cot.

"I just wanted to help out," Evelyn and Amy put in together.

"Even more than wanting to help, I wanted to see my brother again," Alex revealed. "What about you, Wanda? Any reason?"

"I… I don't have anywhere better to be," she answered with a small smile. "I'm not missing anything at home. Hayley?"

"My boyfriend Levi is here," she replied with a large grin. "I couldn't let him go off and leave me at home so I just followed him. He flies. Does anyone else here have a boyfriend? Or a husband?"

"Me," Evelyn replied immediately. "A boyfriend, but he's not here right now. He's in the Army Air Corps, but right now he's in Britain, fighting. Rafe's a pilot."

"Britain? He's involved in that war? How brave," Betty sighed. "I've heard bad things about what's going on there. You have to be good to get sent out, otherwise it's a death mission." Realizing how pessimistic her statement sounded, she bit her lip and hurried to add, "But I'm sure he's a qualified pilot."

"He is," Alex and Evelyn stated at the same time, then looked at each other.

"Uh-oh," Hayley muttered. "Um, is there a competition between you for this guy?"

"No!" Alex cried, shaking her head. "Rafe is my brother."

"Oh," Hayley murmured, nodding her head. "That's good. We don't want you guys fighting over him. That would make friendships here hard."

"Yeah," Evelyn agreed.

"So do you have anyone, Alex?"

"No," Alex replied, shaking her head.

"Uh-hem… Danny," Amy whispered quietly to Evelyn, who giggled under her breath despite her attempt not to.

Unfortunately, Alex picked up on it, as well as the other girls, and looked at her friends with wide eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Who's Danny?" Wanda asked, intrigued.

"Why would you mention Danny when you talk about me and a boyfriend?" Alex questioned, raising her eyebrows at her friends. Danny wasn't a boyfriend to her. He meant a lot to her because of their history and he looked out for her—and there was the tiny issue of that old childhood crush—but their relationship had never been romantic.

"Well… he likes you," Amy replied, as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Alex let out a noise of disbelief.

On the bed beside her, Evelyn bit her lip. "I have to agree with Amy."

Alex stuck out her tongue in a childish manner. "Traitor."

"I'm sorry, it's just what I think. It isn't a bad thing."

"Who's Danny?" Hayley cried.

"Danny is Rafe's best friend," Evelyn answered.

Wanda's eyes widened. "So your brother's best friend likes you?"

"No."

"I think he does," Amy threw in with a shrug. "But that's just me. Anyway, Danny is a real sweetie, and very cute. He doesn't seem to have interest in any girls except for Evelyn, because she's Rafe's girlfriend, and Alex, so I think that means something."

"I grew up with Danny," Alex replied, a bit defensively. "He and Rafe were almost inseparable, and I always tried to tag along. He's so used to having something to do with me that it's habit by now."

"He goes out of his way to look out for you. He calmed you down when you found out about Rafe's mission, didn't he?" Evelyn put in. "He couldn't let you go away mad."

"Sounds like a little crush," Betty admitted.

"Oh yeah," Hayley agreed.

"You're all crazy."

"We'll see," Amy murmured. "For now, let's go out and see what this island is made of. We don't have duty until tomorrow, right?"

"Right," Wanda affirmed with a nod.

"Let's all get changed and go to the beach," Hayley suggested.

Everyone agreed, and the girls got ready for their first adventure as roommates. It seemed to Alex, Evelyn, and Amy that they'd made new friends and they were glad for it, but Alex and Evelyn were still worried about Rafe. Both wanted nothing more than to see him safe at home again.

Weeks later, word of the war worsening reached Pearl Harbor. Evelyn, Amy, Wanda, Danny, Alex, Hayley, Levi, Betty, and some of Danny's friends were all talking in a large group at the beach, listening to the radio, when they heard what was happening. They'd received letters from Rafe and each one helped make them feel better, but they always wondered if the newest letter would be the last.

The announcer on the radio spoke of how many British planes had been shot down in a recent battle while everyone who knew Rafe—Alex, Danny, Evelyn, Amy, and many of the guys around who knew him from Tennessee—listened with fear in their hearts.

Unable to help herself, Evelyn began to weep softly. Immediately, the girls started trying to soothe her.

"Shh… sweetie, he'll be all right," Betty cooed to her friend, her voice quiet so they could still hear the announcements.

"He's coming back to you. You said he promised, and he doesn't sound like a man who would break his promises," Wanda reminded her.

"He's not," Amy stated firmly.

"See… he loves you. He'll come back," Hayley tried.

"I know he will if he can," Evelyn said, sniffling, "but it's not all in his control. What if he doesn't come back?" She wiped at her eyes, trying to compose herself, but it was a lost cause. She already missed Rafe too much and now with this announcement… she was starting to believe that she would never see him again.

"Of course he will," Red, a friend of Rafe's, assured her. "You don't need to worry, Evelyn. He'll be back."

"I… hope so," she breathed.

Alex rose from her seat on the sand and walked away quickly, trying to hold back the tears welling up in her eyes. Stop it, she silently ordered herself. Don't be a big baby. She stared straight ahead, pulling her shades over her eyes, as she headed for the house.

"Alex?" Danny's voice called out, and she knew that he was coming after her. He always checked up on her, no doubt to follow through with some promise Rafe had gotten him to make before he left. "Alex, are you okay? Alex!"

"I'm fine, go back," she called over her shoulder. "Really, Danny. I just… I can't… I need to be alone a while." With that, she increased her speed and was at the house in a matter of minutes. When she reached the door, she paused to look back at the group. Evelyn was being consoled by the girls, the guys sat still, not knowing what to do, and Danny was staring at the house.

Alex tried to smile—tried to show any positive action, really—but it was a futile attempt and she closed the door and walked into the bedroom. She tossed her body onto her bed and let out all her frustrations, half moaning and half sobbing into her pillow.

The truth was, she missed her brother. She missed him so much it hurt, and there was nothing she could do about it.