"Ann?"
She heard Danny's soft voice as she rested her head on his shoulder and she smiled. "Mm-hmm?"
"The song is over." And she sensed that he was trying not to laugh.
"I know." She answered and didn't really care because she liked the feel of his arm around her; she felt safe.
"Not a half-hour ago you were concerned that our parents would find us in the situation we were in at your house. Do you want them to find us like this and have to explain?" He asked her sensibly.
"I suppose not." She sighed because she knew he was right and stepped away from him. "How did we get here?"
He grinned at her. "Don't tell me you've got amnesia too. Don't you remember? I walked you in there and…"
"You know that's not what I meant Daniel." And she rolled her eyes at him.
His grin got wider. "I hate to tell you this Ann, but the only one who ever called me Daniel was Caroline."
"Well I certainly don't want to be compared to her." She frowned at him. "What I meant was, how did we get from growing up together and not seeing each other as much more than a brother and sister to you kissing me on Thanksgiving?"
"I guess it's because we didn't see each other much over the last four years and didn't have the opportunity to see how much the other changed. If I had stayed here, we might not have noticed and would have gone on the way we always had."
She felt her face warm and was suddenly too shy to look at him. "I'm glad you went away."
"So am I." He answered quietly and surprised her when he leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. "I could get used to this."
Ann looked up and he was smiling again as she admitted. "So could I."
"In the meantime, it looks as though the hangar isn't as crowded. Do you think you're ready to give it another try?" Danny asked as he offered her his hand.
"I think so." She answered as she took it and they began to walk toward the hangar when Ann suddenly stopped. "I overheard Dad earlier today and he said that Wheeler is going to send the new squadrons out on some training missions."
The look on his face told her that he was already aware of it and he nodded. "We don't know exactly when, but you know that our instructors have been pushing up our flight hours."
"What exactly does that mean?" She asked him and suddenly felt goose pimples rise on her arms.
"It means that we're going to be sent out on a couple of missions soon. We'll be gone for a week for the first one and the second will be for a couple of weeks at most for survival training."
"Survival training?" It wasn't what she expected to hear and began to feel that the whole thing with them might be over before it really got started.
Danny took her gently into his arms. "It's something that we need to do Ann. When a pilot goes into combat, there's no telling what could happen and what this training is supposed to do is give us the tools we need to stay alive. And if we're shot down over enemy territory, to avoid capture."
She closed her eyes and could feel the tears come. "I wish you hadn't told me that." She whispered.
He pulled her against him and held her close. "These are things you need to know if we're going to make a go of this. I don't want to keep things from you because I don't want you to be unprepared if something should happen."
"I was too young to remember Korea and your dad getting shot down. But when we got involved in Vietnam I worried about Dad getting shot down and now I'm going to worry about you."
"Please try not to. I know it's a lot to ask but the Air Force is doing everything it can to get the new pilots ready for what we have to do. You just have to believe that I'm doing everything that I can to be as prepared as possible."
She stepped back as Danny took a handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed at her damp eyes as he smiled. "Mama always told me to carry a clean handkerchief just in case I ever needed to use it. I guess she was right."
She drew a shaky breath. "You and Hank are in the same squadron; does Sarah know about this?"
"I don't know. He hasn't said anything to me about it and neither has she, so it's anybody's guess." He told her as he pressed his handkerchief into her hand. "Keep this just in case."
It was a gallant gesture and Ann appreciated it. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Now let's get in there before they start to figure out what's really going on out here."
"All we did was dance together." She smiled as she put his handkerchief in her handbag. "Mostly."
"We did a little more that that Ann." He laughed as he took her elbow. "And I would just as soon our parents not know about that yet."
"Agreed." And they walked back into the hangar. It was still crowded, but she didn't feel the lightheadedness that struck her when they'd come in the first time.
"Are you all right?" He asked and Ann could see the concern on his face.
"I'm fine. It's not nearly as warm in here as it was before and that makes a big difference." She reassured him. "Do you see them yet?"
"I found them." Danny nodded as he answered her and then let go of her elbow.
They approached the table and not only were their families there, but Major Winkle and his were at the table next to them. Seated with the Winkle's were Mrs. Dearborn and her family. "We were beginning to wonder if you would venture in here." Sarah grinned at her. "I wanted to ask you what you thought about the uniform my brother's wearing."
"Knock it off Sarah." Danny frowned at her. "She's been through enough tonight."
Ann felt her face flush and wondered how she was going to get through the evening. "I think he looks very nice." She said as casually as she could. "And I think Hank looks nice too."
"Thanks Ann." He smiled at her. "You look really swell yourself."
"Thank you." She smiled back as she found an empty seat next to her mother and sat down.
"You'd think I didn't teach you any manners Daniel," His mother admonished as he sat down across from Ann. "you should have held Ann's chair for her."
"Yes Ma'am." And she saw him flush before he looked at her. "I'm sorry Ann, I wasn't thinking." He apologized to her.
The band began to play again and Hank stood up. "Ann I haven't had a chance to dance with you yet, how about it?"
Did he know?
She smiled and stood up. "I'd like that." And he came around the table to offer his arm.
He didn't say anything as they walked to the floor and when they stopped, put his hand just below her shoulder blades and took her free hand in his. They began to circle and he smiled at her. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes I am thank you. I'm just not used to being in big crowds like this." She admitted.
"I saw you and Danny dancing earlier." He told her without preamble. "And I saw him kiss you."
She must have looked as shocked as she felt.
He squeezed her hand in reassurance. "Don't worry Ann, Sarah didn't see you. I was on the far side of the hangar grabbing a smoke and saw you."
What would she learn next? "I didn't know you smoked."
Hank looked a little embarrassed. "I'm what you would call a stressful smoker. You get claustrophobia being in confined places and I have to smoke when I get tense."
"I don't understand."
"This dance was a really big deal for Sarah because I asked her to come with me. This is our first real date you see."
Ann smiled. "I'm surprised that you would be nervous. You and Sarah have been practically inseparable since you were posted here."
"But that was all casual, even the family picnics. Dan was always there so it wasn't like Sarah and I were actually out on a date."
"And you don't want to make a fool of yourself tonight in front of her or her family on your first real date."
He nodded. "That's it. She's really something special."
"She's been a good friend to me since we were kids." Ann told him.
"But I know she's been a pain in the ass about you and Dan." He admitted.
She shrugged her shoulders. "Sarah seems to think that we would make a good match."
"I think she's right." He said quietly. "When I saw the two of you out there dancing I could see that you fit. He was holding you in a way that a guy who thinks of a girl as a sister wouldn't do."
She felt her face warm and didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry Ann, I don't mean to embarrass you. I just thought you should have an outside perspective." His voice was still low.
"I didn't see much of him during the last four years and I was surprised at how much he changed."
Hank laughed. "You covered it up really well. All I saw was a guy who was teasing a girl he'd known most of his life and you were taking it as though it didn't bother you."
She joined in his laughter. "At the time it really didn't. It wasn't until after he got home and kept doing it then suddenly I wasn't seeing the boy I knew anymore, but a young man I didn't."
"Have you told him that?"
Ann nodded. "We've done a lot of talking tonight to try and sort out what it is that's happening."
He was quiet again. "If you give it a fair chance, I think you might end up falling in love with each other because Dan is different with you than with any other girl I've seen. He's got girls all over this base after him and he's too polite to them by half, in my opinion because he's always aware that it's his uniform or his flight suit that attracts them."
"He told me that."
Hank grinned at her. "What hasn't he told you?"
"I don't know exactly. We only really started talking after he came home and most of that was about Caroline." She frowned.
He shook his head. "I never met her and Dan didn't have a picture of her on his desk, which I always thought was kind of odd seeing as how she was his girlfriend. But he had a whole bulletin board full of pictures of his family and his friends from here."
"Did you know that he and Sarah had to stay in Tennessee after Major McCawley was transferred back here when he re-enlisted? It was too late to get them into school and they had to stay behind with their grandparents while Joe came out here with them."
"He told me. He also said he remembered how hard it was on his mother to leave them there. Every chance she and the Major got, they made sure that Dan and Sarah got back here to see them."
"I don't remember much about that because I was so young. But I think it had a real effect on all of them and made them closer than they might have been otherwise." She commented. "We're a lot like that too, but it's because Dad is such a part of out lives and never lets us forget how much we mean to him."
"Dan told me that your dad had it rough growing up."
Ann nodded. "He doesn't talk about it much and Mama doesn't either. But what she does say is he's the father to us he is because of his father and Tom McCawley for that matter."
"I've noticed that your dads are really close." Hank observed.
"They grew up like brothers. After Dad's father died, he went to live with the McCawley's until he and Major McCawley joined the Air Corps. Danny inherited his father's love of flying that's for sure." She smiled.
"He was the best pilot in our class. I don't think he's ever believed it even though our instructors told him often enough, but there wasn't anyone who could out fly him."
"Not even you?" She laughed.
"Especially me." He grinned. "I was always glad that I drew him as a roommate that first year because if it hadn't been him, I don't know that I would have made it through."
"Have you told him that?" She asked, repeating his earlier question to her.
"Several times. But Dan being the kind of guy he is always told me that I would have made it through just fine without him. I'm just glad I never had to find out." He admitted.
The song came to an end and Hank smiled at her. "Thanks Ann, it was nice to have a chance to talk to you."
"It was nice to talk to you too." She answered as they walked back to the table. What she saw when she got there shouldn't have surprised her, but it did.
"Evelyn?" She heard the surprise in Hank's voice. Seated next to Danny was a young woman that Ann didn't know. She was dressed in the uniform of a Navy WAVE and to say that she was stunning didn't begin to describe her. Her dark hair was gathered into a knot at the nape of her neck and her blue eyes fairly sparkled in a face with a complexion that was flawless.
Her eyes would have to be blue.
Danny stood up and cleared his throat. "Evelyn, you remember Hank."
"It hasn't been that long Dan, of course I remember him." She said smoothly and stood up next to him. Ann knew right then and there that she didn't stand a chance.
It wasn't fair to dislike her already but Ann did, very much. She never gave it much thought when she heard Hank call him Dan but this strange girl, scratch that, this woman calling him that suddenly made her feel very young and very much out of her league.
"What brings you to Hawaii?" Hank asked as he held out Ann's chair and waited for her to sit down before he went back to his chair next to Sarah and sat down.
"The public relations firm I work with deals heavily with the military and they've transferred me to Hawaii to work as a civilian consultant here at Wheeler." She smiled at Danny and touched his arm. "Well, I really need to be leaving, I just had to come over and say hello. I'll talk to you later."
Transferred?
Ann watched her go and her fear about things being over before they got a chance to start became very real. She looked at Danny and willed her face to stay cool. "She seems very nice."
The look in his eyes seemed to plead with her not to misunderstand. "I'm sorry that I didn't have the chance to introduce you."
"She certainly seems to think a lot of you." Mrs. Dearborn commented from the other table.
"I knew her when I was at the Academy Mrs. Dearborn. She and a group of her girlfriends used to come to the football games every season." He explained to her.
How well did you know her? Ann couldn't help but think and hated herself for it.
"It's a little odd that she has your name Ev." Ann's mother said. "Things could get a little confusing."
"I don't know about that honey." Ann's father commented as he put his arm on the back of her chair. "Once she has the chance to start meetin' people, we may not see too much of her."
"I don't think so Danny." Major Winkle disagreed with her father. "She certainly seems to know what she wants."
"But it certainly doesn't mean that she's going to get what she wants." Mrs. Winkle put a hand on his arm. "Fate has a mind of it's own and works out in ways we never expect."
"Ann, are you all right? You're looking a little pale." Her mother reached over for her hand. "You're hands are cool too. I think maybe you should go home and get some rest. This evening seems to have taken it's toll."
In more ways than one.
"If you're not feeling well, I can take you home." Danny offered and she knew that all he wanted was a chance to explain things to her.
The truth was the comfort she felt when Danny's arms were around her ebbed away when she saw that girl sitting next to him. "I'm sorry Mama."
"For what honey?" And she looked concerned.
"We were all looking forward to this evening and I had to go and ruin it." And she could feel her eyes fill with tears. But she wasn't about to cry in front of Danny, again.
"It ain't your fault honey; it's just somethin' that we didn't expect." Her father said to her as he stood up, walked over to her chair and hugged her when she stood up. "Why don't you let Danny take you home so you can get some rest?"
She held him tight. "All right Dad. If it'll make you and Mama feel better, I'll go home."
Her mother stood up and when she let go of her father, she was in her mother's arms and she asked Ann quietly. "Is there something more to this than your claustrophobia?"
All she could do was nod.
"Do you want to tell me about it?"
She shook her head.
"That's all right honey." Mama smiled at her as Ann let her go. "I'll come check on you when we get home"
Ann nodded again and saw Danny stand up.
Hank glanced up at him and didn't look happy as he stopped him with firm hand. "Explain things to her Dan." He said it so softly that Ann was surprised that she heard it.
"I'll take care of it." He said just as quietly before he approached Ann. "Let's get you home."
She nodded without comment and followed him through the crowd and out of the hangar. Nothing was said between them as they crossed the tarmac toward the parking lot.
"She seems nice." Ann finally said.
His answer was blunt. "You said that already and it's not what you think. She knew I had a girlfriend."
"Well she obviously doesn't care or she found out that you and Caroline aren't together anymore." And the minute the words were out of her mouth, she knew that was the case. "She knows that you and Caroline broke up."
He nodded. "Her parents stopped at the table while you and Hank were dancing. Evelyn was already there and they mentioned that Caroline was seeing someone back there."
"And so she thinks that you're available."
"It's not like that." He sighed.
"I think it's exactly like that." She stated.
He stopped and grasped her elbow. It was a habit he was getting into and Ann was beginning to dislike it. "No it's not because the only girl I'm available to is you." He disagreed before he leaned over to kiss her but she pulled her elbow out of his grasp and stepped back. The look on his face was a mixture of hurt and anger. Was he upset with her or with Evelyn because she showed up when she did? Ann wasn't sure.
He sighed before he continued to walk toward his car.
They didn't speak again until Danny pulled up in front of her house and shut down the engine. They sat in the quiet and she sensed that he wanted to say something but wouldn't. Instead he got out of the car and walked around to her side and opened the door. He waited for her to get out before they walked up to her front porch. "It's been quite an evening." He said unnecessarily.
An understatement to be sure.
She couldn't look at him. "And some things happened that I never expected."
"Were any of them good?" He asked her softly.
She could feel the tears come again. "One of them was very good."
"Then why won't you look at me?" His voice dropped to a whisper. "Please look at me Ann."
When she finally did look at him the tears began to fall. "You never gave her a chance because you were with Caroline and maybe she's the one you're meant to be with." He tried to protest and Ann shook her head as she struggled for the words to tell him was she was feeling. "She obviously thinks the world of you and I know how she feels. But before we go any farther with this I think it's only fair that you give her a chance."
He tried to protest again. "Please let me finish before I make a complete fool of myself. I'm not saying that I don't care for you or that you don't care for me, because I know you do. But as much as you care for me, I don't want what could have been with her to ever come between us. So I want to request that we put this on hold until you've had a chance to spend some time with her and know without a doubt in your mind that it's me that you want to pursue."
"I already know you're the girl I want and I don't have any doubts." He tried to persuade her and she could hear the panic in his voice.
"But maybe I do. I don't ever want to feel that you settled for me when there was someone who was more suited to you."
"Ann, no one is more suited to me than..." She put her arms around his neck and stopped his words with a heartfelt kiss. She could feel his arms slip around her waist as the surprise wore off and he began to kiss her back. But it wasn't what she wanted to happen and knew that she needed to bring it to an end before things got out of hand and as difficult as it was, she let him go.
Ann felt as though her heart would beat right out of her chest and it didn't help matters that she'd never seen Danny look so stunned. All she wanted to do was feel his arms around her again and feel the warmth of his lips on hers.
He seemed to feel the same way because he reached for her, but she stepped away. "Ann."
She opened the screen door and then the front door. "You have to give her a chance Danny; it's the only way that I won't have any doubts." And she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She leaned against it and it was then the tears flowed freely.
"Ann, please come back out here so we can talk about this." He pleaded to her through the closed door.
She was quiet and when she reached for the handkerchief in her handbag, she pulled out Danny's instead and it made her cry even more.
"Ann." His voice cracked and she knew he was hurt. She put her handbag down on the side table and walked out to the back porch. She curled up on the sofa with Danny's handkerchief in her shaky hands and wondered if she just threw away a chance at something special with someone really special.
Only time would tell.