They had finished with dinner and decided to take a walk on the beach before it was time for Danny to take her home.
Sandra didn't know if it was because she felt officially engaged after being able to celebrate it properly, but it was the most beautiful night she could remember and didn't know if there would ever be one quite so beautiful again. She should have taken her shoes off she knew as they walked down the beach and Danny held her hand.
He laughed while they struggled as the sand shifted under their feet. "I don't know if this was such a good idea."
She smiled because she'd thought the same thing. "It's the thought that counts Danny and it was a very romantic one."
"I do try honey. But if it's all right with you I think it's time to get back to the car."
She nodded. "That's fine. It's been a wonderful evening and this was a nice way to end it."
They trudged back up the beach to where he'd parked the car and Danny leaned against the hood as he emptied the sand out of his dress shoes. Sandra followed his lead and did the same with hers.
It was something that had been on his mind since he'd asked her to marry him. He'd joked about them being together and Gooz had razzed him about the very same thing earlier that night. He loved Sandra and he knew she loved him and the main reason that they had never made love was that there had been no formal commitment. But tonight they had made it official and as he helped her into the car and walked around to the driver's side, he thought about it some more.
It wasn't something he'd planned on when he'd made the reservations at the hotel for dinner. If he had, he would have gotten them a room with the hope that she would stay with him. But the idea that she might think less of him because of what he'd had in mind stopped him cold. It was a fine line he felt he walked sometimes, because he did love her and he wanted to show her how much.
As they pulled away from the beach, Sandra watched her fiance as he drove her back to the nurses quarters. She could see that something was definitely on his mind because he'd become so serious and it struck her as very odd because he'd been in such good spirits throughout the whole evening.
When he pulled up in front of the house, he shut down the motor and they sat in the quiet.
"All right Danny, out with it." Sandra said softly. "You haven't said a word all the way home and I'd like to know what's got you so serious all of the sudden."
He looked at her and if she could have seen it in the dark, she would have seen a flush spread across his face. "You don't want to know."
She put a hand on his arm and could feel it tense. "Daniel Walker, tell me what has you so bothered."
He didn't say anything for a moment but then he sighed. "We've been goin' together for a long time and I've wanted to marry you for a long time." He began.
She had no idea what he meant. "Danny, what are you trying to get at?"
"What would you say if I told you I'd thought about getting a room for us tonight?"
So that was it.
Sandra felt her face grow warm. "Then why didn't you?"
That seemed to surprise him because he turned in his seat to face her. "I didn't want you thinkin' that the only reason I proposed was so that you would finally stay with me. The night we slept together at Rafe and Evelyn's was a hell of a night for me because I finally had an idea of what it could be like for us. I haven't been able to get it off my mind since."
"Me either." She admitted. "I'd tried to imagine what it might be like being with you and when I woke up in the middle of that night and your arm was around me, I felt a security I'd never felt before." She took a deep breath because they'd never really discussed the physical part of what their relationship would be. "It made me so impatient for the first time and if you had wanted to make love that night, I wouldn't have objected. I knew you loved me and I knew I loved you and it would have been all right with me."
"What about what you said about things changin' just by sleepin' on the same bed? Things really would have changed if we had made love."
"I'm not saying that it wouldn't have been awkward afterward and I'm certainly not saying that it would have happened again, but what I was feeling that morning was that you might have thought less of me because I let you stay with me and I should have known better."
He smiled for the first time since they'd left the beach. "So it would have been an awkward situation no matter what we did."
That made her smile back at him and nod. "Pretty much."
"I love you Sandra and what ever you want to do is all right with me. I've told you that before and I still mean it."
She sighed and put her hand back on his arm. "Danny, you always tell me that what ever I want to do is all right. What about what you want to do?"
"I never want you to look back and wish that you'd waited until we got married." He reasoned.
"That's very considerate of you but you've already said that what ever I want is all right with you. Did it ever occur to you that I might want to be with you as much as you want to be with me?"
Danny was absolutely floored. It never really had occurred to him that she would want to take that step yet and he didn't know what to say.
"Cat got your tongue?" She asked him.
"Sandra, you really surprise me sometimes." He finally said.
If he could have seen it in the dark, he would have seen a flush spread across her face. "Why? Because I want to make love to the man I love?"
"Somethin' like that. I'm not sayin' that you never thought about it or wanted to, but I always thought it was so important to you to wait."
"It still is. But now that we're actually engaged and the closer we get to getting married makes it that much harder to wait."
"It almost makes me wish that I'd gotten that room." He said, almost to himself.
"Me too." She answered softly.
He smiled at her before he kissed her cheek and got out of the car. He walked around to her door to help her out and held her hand as he walked her to the door. Danny felt as though their relationship had changed in more ways than one that evening because for the first time, they had discussed something decidedly personal that they never really had before.
"This evenin' turned out to be much better than I had expected because I found out somethin' about you I didn't know."
"All you had to do was ask Danny, I would have told you."
"I underestimated you." He frowned for a moment.
Sandra shook her head. "No you didn't. You loved me and were considerate of my feelings, that's why I love you so much."
He let go of her hand long enough to put his arms around her. "Thank you for sayin' you'd marry me."
"Thank you for asking." She answered as he pulled her close and kissed her.