He wasn't a gourmet cook; hell he was barely a decent cook. But Danny needed to talk to his former roommate and he couldn't do it at his mother's dinner table so he invited Hank to his quarters for an early evening meal to talk.

The fact was Ann had been on his mind a lot since she flew with him a few weeks earlier. The images of her that began to cross his mind were anything but platonic and it bothered him to all hell that she was in his thoughts. She had always been like a sister even though he knew that she wasn't but it didn't make him feel any better about it. It didn't seem right that he couldn't get the feel of her out of his mind, tucked in so close to him when they were in the air. He shouldn't have noticed how soft she was when he held her because she hadn't gotten her land legs under her.

The thing of it was and certainly didn't help the situation was that Ann seemed to feel something too and he could tell that it unnerved her, badly. He felt that they crossed a line that afternoon and went from being all but family to two people that, for whatever reason saw each other for the first time as a young man and a young woman. And she was young; he couldn't get around that.

But the knowledge that she was only seventeen didn't curb his thoughts and he didn't know what to do.

"All right Dan, what's on your mind?" Hank asked. "You invite me over for this sorry excuse of a meal and then you clam up on me. What gives?"

"I've got a problem and I don't know what to do about it." He answered simply.

"Well that's obvious, so why don't you just spit it out and I'll see if I can help." Hank told him. "It can't be that bad."

Danny wasn't sure how to put it into words because he knew how protective Hank had become of Ann he and didn't know how his friend would take it. "It's Ann." He finally said.

"What about her?" He looked a little wary.

Danny struggled to explain. "The day that we took the girls around the base and you and Sarah disappeared, I took Ann up with me when I went flying."

Hank seemed relieved and laughed. "Is that what has you tied up in knots, because you took her flying?"

"You didn't let me finish."

"Sorry." He apologized and sat back in his chair.

"It's not the flying that bothers me. She was a real trooper and seemed to enjoy it."

Why was it so hard?

"It was after we landed and she had some trouble standing on her own. I put my arm around her to hold her steady and I felt something that I shouldn't have felt."

"Something other than brotherly I take it." He sat forward to rest his forearms on the table.

Danny nodded reluctantly. "I don't know how to explain it. There was this pretty girl in my arms and it wasn't the Ann that I grew up with. It was a girl I didn't really know but one that I thought I would like to know better."

"So what's the problem? Do you think that she might not want to get to know you better?" He asked.

"I think she saw me differently too and it seemed to really spook her." Danny admitted. "She got flustered and tried to pretend that nothing was different but everything is different."

"Are you sure about that? Maybe she got flustered because what she sensed from you wasn't what she wanted." Hank suggested. "Maybe all she wants from you is what you already have, namely a good friendship."

"Maybe." He conceded. "But what if she felt was I was feeling?"

Hank sighed and he sat back again. He was too quiet and Danny didn't like it because it usually meant that his friend wanted to say something and didn't know how, just as he couldn't. "I guess my next question would be this. Where do you think these feelings might head? And what if these feelings you have right now fizzle out and you've already let her know that you have feelings for her? Where does that leave her?"

It wasn't something Danny considered. Dad and Mama told him to always treat a woman with respect and he couldn't help but wonder how respectful of Ann it would be if what he felt at the moment didn't last.

"So you think the best thing to do is back off on this." He wasn't sure if it was a question or a statement.

Hank took it as a question. "I think you need to give yourself time to get used to whatever it is that you're feeling and see what happens. Don't treat her any differently than you did up to that point and if what you think is true, give her time to get used to it too and see where it goes. I know I don't need to tell you that she's a really nice girl and I don't want to see her get hurt. So just proceed with caution, okay?"

"Understood."

"Did you ever stop to think how ironic this is?" He commented. "You spent the last five years in a relationship where you were really unhappy and no sooner do you give Caroline her walking papers, you find yourself with feelings for someone that you never expected."

"I didn't want this." Danny frowned and the look his friend gave him thought he meant Ann, so he clarified. "I didn't want to get involved with anyone for a good long while. I wanted to be on my own and do my job and not worry if I was spending enough time with a girl I might be seeing."

"Dan, we usually don't have a say when the right girl comes along. And it seems to me that if you've found that right girl you're going to want to spend all of your time with her." He reasoned.

"She's the only girl I've ever taken up with me and to tell you the truth I can't imagine taking anyone else up after that."

Hank smiled at him. "Did you ask her to go up again?"

The question shouldn't have made him feel so self-conscious but it did. "Do you think I should have?"

His smile turned into a grin. "Of course you should have. You obviously enjoyed having her so close to you and I'd bet that you had a pretty lively conversation while you were up there together."

Danny smiled at the memory of their banter. "She gave as good as she got from me that's for sure."

"And it seems to me that's what you need. Caroline never struck me as the kind of girl who would enjoy a good verbal joust with you."

"You're right about that. All she seemed to want to do was complain that she had to come home," He amended his reference. "Come back to Hawaii and talk about when she could go back to New York."

"And now there's a girl who loves living here as much as you do and that's a pretty nice place to start. And you have the added advantage that you've known each other most of your lives." Hank added.

"Unlike you and my sister." Danny grinned and watched as Hank's ears turned red.

"Never mind about that." He smiled back. "We're not here to talk about your sister or me; we're here to talk about what's happened with you and Ann. And the more that I think about the idea, I like it."

"What if you're right though and she's not interested?" He wondered out loud. "Or that these feelings I've got right now will go away?"

"Dan, I never said that she wasn't interested; I said that she might not be. And as far as what you feel, that's why I think you need to take it slow. Be sure that the feelings that you have for her right now aren't going to go away."

"Be patient and wait." Danny frowned.

Hank laughed at his frustration. "Says the guy who waited most of his life to get into the Air Force Academy. "

"If I'd ever had feelings like this for another girl I'd at least have a frame of reference to work from. But it feels like that training exercise we went through during senior year when we had to fly without instruments. It was scary as hell and so disorienting because I didn't know exactly where I was."

"And the point of that exercise if you'll remember, was to learn to rely on your instincts as well as your instruments because there might come a time when your instincts would be all you had."

His friend was right. Danny was never one to rely on his instincts because if his instructors or his instruments told him something, then that was that. But he felt at that moment very much the way he did the afternoon he had to fly on instinct, scared.

"Just give it some time because something tells me that you won't be disappointed."

It was Danny's turn to laugh. "Are your instincts telling you that?"

He grinned back at him. "You really are a smart-ass."

"Just don't tell my mother."

Hank pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. "Well Lieutenant, if we're done with this little powwow of ours, I need to get out of here. I'm going to log in some flight hours and I think you should take a walk down to the beach and get some fresh air. It seems a shame to waste a Hawaiian sunset sitting in your quarters."

"I read you." And he stood up to walk with his friend to the door.

"Just remember to tread carefully Dan. Ann strikes me as the kind of girl who takes these things seriously and I really don't want to give you a black eye because you forgot that." He had a smile on his face but Danny knew that he was serious nonetheless.

"You don't need to remind me of that but I hear you just the same."

"Good." And they walked outside. "I should be back in a couple of hours if you want to grab a beer at the Officers Club."

"Or you can come back here and we can sit out front with a couple from your refrigerator."

He grinned. "We could do that."

"And you can tell me what the hell is going on with you and my sister. It's a fair trade if you ask me. I fed you and told you about Ann so you can give me a beer and tell me about Sarah."

"That's a little different. Sarah's your sister."

Danny laughed. "And you treat Ann like yours so it's still a fair trade."

Hank seemed to realize that he couldn't get out of it and finally nodded. "All right. We'll have a couple of cold ones and I'll fill you in."

"Be careful up there." He cautioned.

"I always am Dan, you know that better than anyone." And he raised a hand in farewell as he headed to his car.

Danny could have walked to the beach but he hadn't had much of an opportunity to drive recently. He usually rode in with Hank to the main part of the base in the mornings because it didn't make sense to drive two cars when they were headed to the same place.

He got into his old car that Caroline hated so much and he smiled. His pride and joy was stored in his parent's garage while he was away and at his father's suggestion was brought out on occasion. He told Danny that it wasn't good for a car to sit idle for long periods of time so he would take it out every once in awhile for short trips. With Danny's okay, his sister and brother learned how to drive in it and he was impressed that they had taken such care with it.

When he arrived at the beach it was nearly deserted. This was his favorite time of the day to be there because he didn't have to negotiate around small children. They would usually be headed toward the surf at a gallop with their panicked parents right behind them to give them a swat on their backsides because they scared the life out of them. Or the tangle of blankets with groups of young girls as they studied or watched the boys that sat together a few feet away. Then there were the occasional tangle of arms and legs of young men and their girls as they necked in plain sight of those parents with their young children. That last thought stopped him in his tracks because he got a sudden picture in his mind of he and Ann in that tangle.

Why her and why now?

It was a question he couldn't answer and it frustrated him no end. Ann was still a kid, but she sure as hell didn't look like one and the womanly curves that hadn't been there when he left confirmed that.

He looked out at the horizon and watched as the sun began to set. He saw a handful of surfers still out on the water and realized that he hadn't been out himself in awhile. There didn't seem to be much time any more for recreation even though he and the other pilots were advised to relax when they were off duty. But just as Hank had decided to put in more flight hours that late afternoon Danny knew that most of his fellow pilots did the same, as did he. None of them knew what they would face when they were finally put into the rotation and they wanted to be ready.

He walked down to the water's edge and watched as the surfers rode the waves in and paddled out again to ride the next one.

"This afternoon is too nice for you to be so serious."

The object of his turmoil admonished him gently and he turned around to see Ann.

"You look awfully tense." And a look of concern crossed her face. "Have you heard something?"

He wasn't sure what she meant. "Like what?"

"Like if you've been put in the rotation yet. Have you heard?" She looked at him hesitantly because she seemed to realize that he hadn't taken his eyes off of her. Maybe Hank was right and she might not feel anything more for him than she did for her own brother.

He shook his head. "I haven't heard anything yet."

She touched his arm and Danny felt his body tighten up in places that it never had before and he knew without a doubt that what he felt for Ann wasn't going to go away. "Then why are you so serious?" She persisted.

"Just thinking."

It surprised him when she punched him in the arm she'd just touched. "Don't do that! I asked you a direct question and you could at least do me the courtesy of giving me a direct answer."

He grinned because he couldn't help it and decided to revert to form and tease her. "You're cute when you're irritated."

Ann punched him again. "And you're being a jerk." She frowned before she turned and walked away.

"Ann, wait a minute." He went after her and grabbed her arm, which she didn't seem to appreciate, so he let go. "You asked me a fair question and the truth is I don't know how to answer it."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know if you're going to like the answer." He told her honestly.

That hesitant look was on her face again and she seemed to brace herself. "Just tell me and let me decide."

"Fair enough." Danny agreed. "The truth is I was thinking about you."

It couldn't have been what she expected to hear because she asked again. "Why?"

He could have been flip about it but Ann asked him for straight answer and he needed to give her one. "Because something happened the day I took you flying with me that I didn't plan on." He took a deep breath. "I've been teasing you a lot about how much you've changed and that's all it was. But it wasn't until I was holding you because you didn't have your land legs back yet that I felt how much you've changed."

"Oh." Was all she could seem to muster.

"You've been on my mind a lot since then and I don't know what to do about it." He added.

That really seemed to fluster her because her face flushed pink and she started to back up. "Well that makes another flight out of the question. If my being so close to you is that much of a distraction it's not a good idea."

"Shouldn't that be up to me?"

"No it shouldn't! I let you talk me into going up once and look what happened. If I were to go up with you again who knows?" Danny thought she was about to cry and instinctively he reached out for her to comfort her. But she would have none of it and backed up farther.

"You wanted me to be direct with you and I can't be any more direct than that."

"I shouldn't have gone up with you." It came out almost as a whisper and he couldn't tell if she directed the comment to him or herself.

"Maybe, but you did."

"If I'd known this was going to happen I wouldn't have." She sighed.

So there it was. He'd revealed too much to her and without so many words she told him that it didn't affect her in the same way. It was his own fault because his instincts when it came to women were never very good and what he thought he'd sensed from Ann was his imagination.

"I appreciate your honesty anyway. Goodnight Ann." And he trudged up the beach toward his car.

"And that's it?" He heard her call after him.

He stopped and turned around. "You seemed to have made things pretty clear. I don't know what else needs to be said."

She seemed to struggle with what it was she wanted to say and then decided not to say anything.

"Make sure and get home before dark so your folks won't worry." Danny told her as he turned back around and unknowingly left a bewildered Ann behind to watch as he walked away.