It was exactly a week later when the plane carrying the men from the Eagle Squadron flew into Hawaiian airspace. As Rafe's on-base contact—he hadn't wanted anyone else telling Alex or Evelyn news about him—Danny was the one contacted, and he immediately went over to the girls' house. He felt so anxious, wondering whether his best friend would be walking off that plane or not, that it was all he could do not to shake with nerves as he knocked on the door.
Hayley answered in a white printed dress, struggling to slip into her shoes. "You're early!"
"I didn't know I was expected."
She looked up, a black heel in one hand, and laughed. "Sorry, Danny. Levi's supposed to be here in ten minutes. Alex isn't home right now."
"Do you know where she is? And what about Evelyn?"
"Ev's getting dressed and Alex just left… oh!" A thought suddenly hit her as to why he'd be looking for both women and her eyes lit up with interest. "Is Rafe's plane here?" All of the girls had heard so much about Rafe that they were dying to meet him.
"Should be landing in a couple minutes," Danny answered.
"Oh, that's so exciting! I'll get Evelyn." She ran to the bathroom and banged her fist on the door. "Evelyn! Hurry up and get yourself looking good! The plane is coming!"
"The plane's coming?" Wanda, sitting on the couch with a book, repeated.
"Yes!" Hayley squeaked, almost as excited as Danny was.
The door opened and Evelyn popped her head out, her hair not completely done but everything else about her appearance ready. "What?"
Danny smiled nervously at her. "Come on, Evelyn. Ready to see if he kept his promise?"
"Give me one minute," she said, rushing back to finish her hair. "Where's Alex? We can't go without her."
Wanda didn't hesitate to toss her book aside. "I'll go to the hospital and take her shift," she volunteered, jumping up. It only took her a second to retrieve her shoes and bag from her room. "Hayley, call them and have them send her home as soon as she gets there. I'll be there as soon as I can." As Hayley rushed to the telephone by the front door, Wanda turned to look at Danny. "Don't leave without her."
He hugged her impulsively. "I won't. Thank you for doing this."
"Of course." Wanda smiled and then she was gone, hurrying off to the hospital.
"I'm ready," Evelyn announced a minute later as she came out from the bathroom. "Do we have to go get Alex?"
"She just got to the hospital and they're sending her home," Hayley informed her as she replaced the receiver on its hook. "Just wait a couple minutes."
"I don't know if I can do this," Evelyn whispered, suddenly looking afraid. "What if he's not there? Maybe I shouldn't go."
"You have to see," Hayley cried. "For God's sakes, I'm tempted to go and I don't even know the guy. Evelyn, you love the man. If you don't go and he's there looking for you, think about how much that would hurt him."
Evelyn took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. I'll go."
"Of course I'm right."
It wasn't long before the front door burst open and Alex rushed in, breathing hard. "Okay, let's go," she exclaimed.
"Did you run the whole way here?" Hayley asked in surprise.
"Well, yes. We should be there when the plane lands. I don't want to miss it," she huffed, patting self-consciously at her hair to see if she'd lost any pins on the way home. Speed-walking in heels was hardly dignified and she was sure she must look like a mess, but she couldn't contain her excitement.
"You look great," Danny told her, as if reading her mind. "Sorry, we should've just stopped by the hospital to pick you up instead of making you run back here."
She gave him a fond, exasperated look. "Now you tell me."
He had the good grace to look sheepish. Honestly, in the hurry since he'd gotten the news, he hadn't done much clear thinking about anything.
"Good luck!" Hayley called as Evelyn left the house, followed closely by Alex and Danny, who had linked hands like they were giving each other support. "God, please let him be there. Those three will be broken-hearted if he's not," she whispered to herself.
"Evelyn, we need your opinion on something," Alex said when they were all in Danny's open-top Buick, driving toward the landing runway. The butterflies in her stomach were in full flight, and the only way she could sit still was to distract herself. "Do you think Danny and I should tell Rafe about us?"
In the back seat, Evelyn frowned. "Why wouldn't you?"
"I don't know how he'll react," Alex tried to explain. She and Danny had talked circles around when and how to tell her brother they were together, but they hadn't been able to come up with anything. "He's coming back from war. I just don't know if he'll be up to learning about the changes around here."
"It's up to you two, I guess, but I think I would tell him," Evelyn answered. "Do you really think he won't be happy for you? Alex, he's always looking out for you. I think he should be glad that he likes the guy you're with."
She considered that, biting her lip. It made sense when she said it like that, but a nagging in her gut told Alex that Rafe wasn't going to like their news. "Maybe…"
"Whatever you decide, we'll all play along with," Evelyn assured her.
"What do you think?" Alex looked over at her boyfriend with questioning eyes.
"I'm not sure," he admitted. "All I know is that Rafe is real protective of you, Alex."
Remembering the men Rafe had scared away from her when they were in New York, she nodded. "Maybe we should just wait," she suggested, even if a little voice in her head called her a coward for it. "We'll tell him soon, but not until he's settled in here and the war is out of his system."
Danny seemed to hesitate a second, as if trying to figure out if that was really the best course of action, then nodded. "Okay."
"I won't say a thing. Just remember to tell the others so they don't accidentally let the cat out of the bag," Evelyn said. That was when she realized, with a happy flutter in her stomach, that they weren't talking in terms of "if Rafe comes back," they were talking in terms of "when Rafe comes back."
"We will." Alex's hands gripped her seat as Danny pulled the car easily into a parking spot and shut off the engine. They had reached the landing runway, where women, children, and men alike were all waiting for the plane so they could see whether or not their loved ones had survived the war.
Danny helped the women out of the car and they walked over to join the rest of the hopeful families. The three of them silently stood in a row and joined hands, Danny then Alex then Evelyn, as they waited for the approaching plane to land.
"He's in there," Evelyn whispered. "I don't know how, but I just know he's in there."
Alex gave her hand a squeeze. "I think so, too."
It seemed like an eternity before the plane touched the ground and taxied around before coming to a stop. It felt like even longer before the side hatch of the plane opened, and men started to disembark. Evelyn held her breath as the first one, a short blonde she'd never seen who had his arm in a sling, stepped out into the sunlight. On their left, a petite woman holding a boy of about five let out an excited scream.
It was nice, to see the man smile and feel his wife's joy, but Evelyn just continued to hold her breath as Alex crushed her fingers in a powerful, nervous grip. Not Rafe.
Another man slowly came next, taking his time on the steps and favoring his left leg.
Not Rafe.
But she recognized the third man who stepped out of the plane even before she could see anything more than his silhouette against the doorway. His height, the way he stood, the way he moved—she recognized all of it, loved all of it. Her heart leapt in her chest, and she felt as though she might burst into tears when he moved down into the light and she could see his face clearly. Even from the distance, she knew the exact moment his eyes found her in the crowd, and they both smiled.
"Rafe." Evelyn breathed his name, that was all.
"Oh, thank God!" Alex sighed, feeling literally dizzy with the force of her sudden relief. She gave Evelyn's hand a last little squeeze and released her. "Go see him, Ev. We can wait." Especially since her legs felt like they might collapse beneath her if she asked them to do much more than support her weight right now.
Evelyn grinned and ran at Rafe as soon as he reached the ground. The nurse in her was visually sweeping him with each step she took, trying to figure out if he'd been hurt. She couldn't see any damage done, accepted her assessment when he was perfectly able to swoop her up in his arms.
"Rafe, I'm so glad you're here," Evelyn whispered to him, tears running unheeded down her face. "I was worried I wouldn't see you again…"
"I told you I'd come back to you," he replied, kissing her over and over again, holding her close. "Now we can be together."
She reached a hand up to caress his face, to reassure herself that he was real. "Yes, we can. I missed you so much, Rafe."
"I missed you, too," he told her. "The thought of coming back to you was about the only thing that kept me alive more than once. I had to see you again just once before I died. I couldn't leave you."
"Oh, Rafe." She kissed him again, and it felt like the pieces of her soul were finally clicking back into place after being scattered for months. When she pulled away, she laughed with uninhibited joy and swiped at her teary eyes. "There are a few other people who want to see you."
Rafe looked over Evelyn's shoulder to see Alex and Danny standing a few feet away. Danny was comforting Alex, an arm around her as he let her cry into his shoulder. "Alex…"
"Rafe." Evelyn stepped out of Rafe's embrace so Alex could hug her brother, which she did very tightly. Then she lightly slapped him on the back of the head, tears still dripping off her face.
"What was that for?" Rafe asked, half laughing.
"For making me worry about you," Alex muttered through her tears. "I love you, Rafe. And you're never leaving again. None of us could take it."
He laughed as he tugged playfully at the tips of her hair, the way he had to annoy her when they were little. "Not plannin' on going anywhere for a while, Alex."
She smiled at him and pulled away so Danny and Rafe could see each other. They shared a brotherly hug.
"Good to see you, Rafe," Danny told his best friend. "You had us all worried."
"It's good to be back," he replied before adding softly, so that neither Alex nor Evelyn could hear, "Thanks for taking care of them for me, Danny. I owe you one."
"You don't owe me anything," Danny assured him a bit uncomfortably, thinking of his relationship with Alex.
"You have a whole welcome wagon waiting to see you," Alex informed her brother as she wiped away her tears. "The majority of which you've never met."
"Uh-oh, why don't I like the sound of that?" Rafe asked as he put his arm around Evelyn and began to walk with them away from the platform. The occupants of the plane had all exited, leaving the wives and friends of those who hadn't made it back in tears. It wasn't something he wanted to see—or could handle seeing—right now. "Did you meet someone, Alex?"
"You could put it that way," she admitted lightly. Did it count as 'meeting someone' when she'd known her new boyfriend almost all her life?
"She just means that the girls we live with want to meet you," Evelyn covered for her. "They've heard a lot about you."
"Uh-oh," Rafe repeated. "Not good."
"It was good stuff," Alex laughed. "Mostly." She caught herself reaching for Danny's hand as they walked, and quickly dropped her hand back to her side. She and Danny had been a couple for such a short time, but she'd already grown used to their touches and habits. She'd have to be careful if they were going to keep this a secret for any amount of time.
"They're nice people, anyway," Evelyn went on. "Everyone wants to meet you—our roommates, Wanda, Betty, and Hayley, Hayley's boyfriend Levi, almost all the other nurses."
"So you like it here?"
Evelyn thought it over, then nodded. "I do. We have a lot more free time than I was used to when we got here, but the people are nice and it's beautiful here, obviously."
"Not as beautiful as you," Rafe told Evelyn, who smiled and blushed. "I mean it. I've missed looking at you."
"You're silly," Evelyn laughed, but it was obvious to everyone that she was pleased with the compliment.
Alex saw the looks that passed between Evelyn and Rafe, and she found it sweet. They had missed each other so much while he was gone… Alex knew that if the war did reach them, she would worry about Danny nonstop, and their relationship was so new compared to Evelyn and Rafe's.
Danny snuck a look at Alex, who noticed and smiled up at him. He smiled back, knowing that he couldn't touch her or kiss her but wishing that he could. From the very start, he'd looked at Rafe and Evelyn and considered their relationship as something to be aspired toward. Seeing them together now only made him want Alex more, so they could build on what they had, and he could tell by the look in her bright eyes that she felt the same way.
He realized with a pang in his gut that Alex wouldn't be slipping into his bunk at night anymore. Sneaking in with all the guys there was risky; sneaking in with her brother a few beds down was impossible.
"So what are the plans for today?" Alex asked. "Rafe, do you want to do anything in particular? Take a drive, go to the beach…" She shared a secret smile with Danny. The beach…
"The guys will want to get a beer with you tonight," Danny told him after pulling his gaze away from his girlfriend. "There's this club they found the other night for drinks."
"A good place?" Rafe wanted to know.
"I don't know," Danny admitted. "I've never been yet." Normally he would have checked it out with the guys, but they hadn't found the place until the first night he'd gotten with Alex and he'd already promised her a dinner date. There had been no way that he was willing to blow her off for guys and beer.
Rafe shot him a questioning look, but left it alone. "Okay, is it all right with you if I go out with the guys tonight?" he asked, his focus on Evelyn.
"As long as you're here, I'm not complaining," she responded. "I have to be at the hospital early tomorrow morning anyway."
"I should find out Wanda's next shift and take over it for her," Alex thought aloud. "Evelyn, make sure I do that later, okay?"
"Sure."
"You guys… probably want to be alone, huh?" Alex asked, watching the faces of her brother and friend. It was clear that they both wanted to say yes, but were worried about excluding the others. "It's okay," Alex assured them with a laugh. "We know you want to. Go ahead, and we'll see you guys later."
"Are you sure?" Rafe asked, feeling a little guilty. He didn't want his sister and best friend to think that he hadn't missed them, too, while he'd been away.
"Positive," Danny concluded. "Go have fun, man. You guys have been separated too long."
"Meet us at the house for dinner, though," Alex told them. "We can all go eat before your drinks with the guys. I'll tell the girls when I get back home."
"Okay, we can do that," Evelyn agreed, then went over to Alex and added softly in her ear, "Thank you. And don't worry, I'll make sure he doesn't find out about… you know."
Alex smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks. Go have fun." She turned to her brother. "See you later, Rafe. I'm glad you're home."
"Do you want my car keys?" Danny offered. "You could go for a ride if you want."
Evelyn looked to Rafe and, almost in unison, they shook their heads. "No thanks, I think I want to walk around and see this place."
"All right, then we'll see you later."
As soon as Evelyn and Rafe were out of sight, Danny took Alex's hand and kissed her. She giggled as she pulled away from him.
"I guess it's safe to say this is as hard for you as it is for me," she observed. "When do you have to go in?"
"Three," he answered. "We're testing the new weaponry on the plane."
"Sounds like fun," she laughed.
"I'd rather be with you."
"I always knew you were a little crazy," she teased, pulling away from him and walking ahead. When he caught up to her a moment later slipping his arm around her waist, she leaned comfortably against his side. "What do you want to do until then?"
"How does the beach sound?"
She grinned up at him. "Perfect."
As a couple, Alex and Danny were fairly low-key, and the beach had become their spot—quiet and peaceful, where they could just be together and talk with the sound of the water behind them. Most of the time, they didn't even actually go in the ocean.
They hopped into his car and drove over to the beach, Alex giggling like a schoolgirl when he parked in the sand. The logistics of getting it out later eluded her, but she didn't ruin the moment by asking. Lying in the sun, they pushed back their seats and looked up at the sky.
"Do you think the war will catch up with us here?" Danny asked, looking sideways at her.
"I don't know," she answered honestly.
"It's just that every minute I'm not with you, it feels like we're preparing for the war. This seems about the least likely place for fighting, but I don't know," he went on thoughtfully. "Does that mean it's coming over here and they just aren't telling us?"
Alex frowned. "They would tell you if they knew anything, make sure we're as prepared as possible… don't you think so?"
"Probably," he agreed, pushing the thoughts from his head. "I was just thinking about it. Never mind." He scooted over in the seat and wrapped his arms around her. "It's not worth worrying about. We can't stop it."
"I like it here," she admitted, relaxing into his embrace. "I like living with the girls and having you—and now Rafe—close. At home it's just mom and my stepfather, and he's…" She trailed off, shaking her head, and picked up his hand in hers to toy with his fingers—something she did when she was nervous, or worried.
"What?" Danny prodded gently, sensing her hesitation.
She shook her head and smiled at him, but he knew her well enough to see that the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Nothing," she replied. "It's nothing."
But Danny knew it wasn't nothing, and he silently vowed to eventually find out what bothered her when she was at home.