Danny and Rafe weren't talking and Sandra didn't know why.
She and Danny were at the Hickam Officer's Club with Ev and Rafe for Barbara and Dennis' pre-wedding dinner the night before the ceremony. The girls wanted to host the dinner, but Dennis beat them to it and made the arrangements without telling anyone.
The Club was full of family and friends of Barbara and Dennis. Danny, Rafe and Red came in their dress uniforms while Gooz was there in his Sunday suit. Danny told Sandra that he made the suggestion to Gooz before he returned for the wedding to wear his uniform, but Gooz refused. He'd been out of the military for too long and explained that he would have felt odd wearing his old Army Air Corps uniform.
He was there with his family and with them were Red, Amy and baby James. Sandra and Danny sat at an adjacent table with their two girls, taking turns holding Thomas and the McCawley children sat with them as well. Martha hadn't showed and Barbara tried to hide her disappointment. There was still the chance she would show for the wedding because she sent a reply letting Barbara know she would be there.
Evelyn and Rafe sat at the head table with Barbara, Dennis, their parents, his best man and his wife.
When the toasts were made and the Hickam Dance Band began to play, she put Thomas in Danny's arms. "I need to talk to Ev for a minute." And she looked at Ann and Shelby. "You two be good for your dad, all right?" They nodded in unison before she stood up and headed toward Evelyn.
"I was going to take a short walk and get some fresh air. Why don't you girls join me?" She directed the question more at Evelyn, but she didn't want Barbara to feel left out.
"You two go ahead." Barbara smiled. "Pop was just about to tell us what happened when he and Mom tried to get a cab to LaGuardia."
Sandra smiled back as Evelyn stood up and came around the table to stand next to her. "All right. We won't be long."
They walked out of the Officer's Club and Evelyn laughed. "We better not wander too far off. Hickam is laid out a little differently than Wheeler and I could get lost."
She laughed in return. "Don't worry Ev, I didn't want to get too far away either but just in case let's fix some landmarks. That way if we do get too far away, we can find our way back."
"Good thinking." Evelyn replied as they began to walk and then she sighed. "Do you have any idea what's going on with those husbands of ours? Rafe's been so quiet since he came home last night and he won't talk."
"It might have something to do with Danny coming home early last night." Sandra admitted to her. "He was happy to help Dennis with the painting last night but he really wanted to be home with us."
Evelyn tucked her arm through Sandra's. "I can understand that. You had Thomas just before Danny had to fly out and he was gone for a month and a half. Six weeks is a long time to be away from a newborn because they change so much."
Sandra nodded. "He was home and we weren't at war when the girls were babies and I think we both took it for granted that it could happen. I told Danny that without noticing it we slipped into being parents and forgot about that young couple who waited to get married."
"How did he take that?"
"He wasn't happy at first that I said it because he thought I meant that we didn't love each other as much. But Ev, since Annie came along we've spent our honeymoon weekend talking about the kids and it wasn't something I noticed until last year. That's when it hit me that we had made the switch from being Danny and Sandra Walker to being Daddy and Mama." And she sighed. "Without saying it, I think at some point he realized it too and it seems as though we've been trying to make it up to each other since he's been home."
"Does Rafe know any of this?"
"I don't think so. But then Danny didn't really tell me what the quarrel was about."
Evelyn shook her head. "Those two boys really are like brothers. They get sore at each other and won't talk for a day or two, but then one of them always breaks the ice and they talk."
"Well, the way they look tonight I don't think either one of them is going to crack any time soon." Sandra sighed.
"They have to if our kids get married."
She said it in such an offhand way that it stunned Sandra. "Ev, did you have a dream about our kids?" And she hesitated for a moment. "I mean, Danny and Ann?"
Evelyn looked just as surprised. "How could you know that it was them? I didn't tell anyone but Rafe."
Could it be possible that they'd had the same dream?
"I would know because I had a dream about them too. It really was the oddest thing because I never thought about the two of them. But you want to know something else? In my dream Danny was a pilot."
"It doesn't surprise me because the Air Force Academy is all he talks about. I have to admit though that I'd never thought about Danny and Ann either."
"You don't really believe it could happen, do you?" She was surprised.
Evelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? I had a dream about Danny before he was born. I knew he was going to be a boy and that his name was going to be Danny."
Sandra was skeptical. "And you never thought that it was just a coincidence?"
"I would have if Rafe and I had picked a name for him, but we didn't decide until after he was born."
She sighed again. "I've never believed in dreams but it does strike me as odd that you and I would have one that was so similar."
"And I guess there's only one way to find out if our dreams turn out to be premonitions or not." Evelyn smiled.
Sandra smiled back. "You're right about that Ev, only time will tell."
"In the meantime, we still haven't figured out how to get those two talking. It's not like them to not talk to each other and I certainly don't like it."
She thought about it and came up with a simple solution. "Come over to the house for dinner on Sunday. If we can get them out on the back porch with a cold beer in their hands, that might do the trick." Sandra smiled. "How many conversations do you figure they've had on that back porch? Between the time that you lived there and with us there now it's been quite a few years, don't you think?"
"That won't work. Don't you remember? We're having everyone over to our house Sunday to have dinner because Gooz and his family will be leaving Monday morning." Evelyn reminded her.
She frowned. "I forgot about that. And they certainly won't talk if the other boys are there. What do we do?"
Evelyn shrugged. "I wish I knew. But maybe this won't turn out to be such a bad thing after all. They've been as close as two fellows can be and not be related and as far as I know, they've never had a serious disagreement as long as they've known each other."
But they had. "You forgot about England."
Her face grew pink. "You're right, I did. But as I recall, as upset with him as Danny was he still wrote."
Sandra nodded. "That's true."
"As hard as it is for us, I still think that we should leave them alone for the time being. The last thing either of them may want is the two of us trying to patch up something they simply aren't ready to patch up."
She knew Evelyn was probably right. "I don't like it Ev, not one bit. But I do agree that they may like it even less if we interfere."
"Then it's settled, we leave them alone." And they turned back toward the Officer's Club. Something else was bothering Sandra as well. "Ev, do you think that Martha is going to come to the wedding tomorrow? She was supposed to be here tonight for the dinner and didn't come. If she doesn't show tomorrow, Barbara will be heartbroken."
Evelyn sighed. "I've thought about that too. But maybe it's something that she can't bring herself to do. I know that she sent Barbara her RSVP card to tell her she would be here, but she could have changed her mind."
"But if that's true, wouldn't she have called?"
"I would hope so, but things were so prickly when she left it's hard to say what she would do."
"She's got to be here tomorrow. It would mean the world to Barbara to have everyone here."
"I know. But Martha is going to do what she's going to do and there isn't anything we can do." She said bluntly.
Sandra nodded. "I know you're right, but it doesn't mean I like it."
"Me either Sandra, me either." Evelyn answered as they walked arm in arm back into the Officers Club.