Hope you enjoy. Sorry for the delay.

The following afternoon, Bill noticed that Jim seemed anxious. "You okay?" he asked his charge.

Jim's head swiveled as he "looked" at Bill. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked gruffly.

"You just seem nervous."

"Oh. Yeah, I guess I am. An said she would come back this afternoon."

"I thought you wanted her to come," Bill said.

"I did…do, but…"

"You two have a history…from before the explosion, I mean?"

"Yeah, we do. I knew her in Vietnam. My unit was assigned to her village."

"Wow. Small world."

"No kidding. Anyway, when she came to see me in the hospital, it was like…well, like the years in between disappeared."

"So you had a thing for her back then?" Bill asked.

"Yeah, that and more. I had put in the papers to marry her but my CO wouldn't sign them. We were reassigned before I could make it happen."

So…she's free now? Single, I mean."

"Yeah, she never married," Jim confided.

"So you're thinking maybe you can pick up where you left off?" Bill asked skeptically.

Jim shook his head. "No. Too much had happened in between. But maybe we can…I dunno, start over?"

Bill shrugged. "Well, maybe. But one thing is certain; you don't need me in the middle. I have a couple of errands I need to run, so I'll disappear while she's here. If that's okay?"

"Yeah, that'll be great." Jim grinned. "I don't mean to chase you off all the time but…"

"No, it's okay. I get it." Bill grinned back at Jim, noticing how much calmer the man seemed. "Maybe next time I'll hang around and get to know her a little. But you two need some one on one probably."

An showed up about an hour later. Again Bill let her in the house, made his excuses, and left. It all happened so quickly, Jim was a little embarrassed. Surely An had noticed that the other man was leaving as soon as she arrived.

"Your helper seemed to be in a hurry," An commented.

"Yeah, he um…had some stuff to take care of. He wanted to get it done so he can get back before you need to leave."

"Ah….okay. Then it is not because…" her voice dropped off.

"Because of what?" Jim asked.

"I'm…Vietnamese." She was quiet, self-conscious.

"No…no… he just had some things to take care of. He said that maybe next time you come over he can get to know you a little. Besides, he thought we might like having some time together…alone, you know?"

Her sigh was audible. "Yes…oaky. I would like that."

Jim chuckled. "To get to know him…or to spend alone time with me?"

"Both. But I do enjoy out time alone, when we can talk."

"So, how is the family? Is Mai feeling better?"

"She is recovering. She still has bad dreams, but not as many. Jimmy's wounds have healed and he will go back to work tomorrow. Vinh has started having bad dreams though."

"Vinh? Maybe he's worried about his father going back to work?"

"Perhaps. But his dreams seem more about Mai. And he says you are in his dreams too."

"Me? We only met one time."

"Apparently you made quite an impression. He talks about you…about the man that saved his father and his sister."

"Oh," Jim sighed sadly. Inwardly he had hoped that maybe the boy had connected with him in some way. He didn't want to be that guy who saved his family. He wanted the boy to look at him as family.

"It will be okay, Jimmy," An said soothingly. "He does not know who you are to him. When they are told, he will be excited. And so will Mai."

"So only you and Jimmy know?"

"Yes. Jimmy has not even told Alicia. She knows there is something… but she thinks it has to do with Mai's kidnapping or Jimmy's beating. Jimmy is still trying to find peace about you. He is not ready to tell the others yet."

"Okay, fair enough." But Jim felt deflated.

"Jimmy?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you show me the rest of your house? I have only seen this room and the kitchen."

"Sure," he said as he stood. Carefully stepping across the room, he moved toward the dining room. "This is supposed to be the dining room," he explained. He could imagine the expression on An's face as she studied the room. There was a desk in the middle of the far wall and a bookshelf in the corner with a chair nearby. A big screen TV was on the opposite wall. "But since it's just me, I eat in the breakfast nook in the kitchen. I use this room as a den."

"And you have a really big screen TV for watching the sports," An teased.

"Yeah, I uh…haven't turned it on since…"

"Of course," she replied. "And the rest of the house?"

"Uh…yeah," he answered as he turned and began to step off the distance to the hall. He felt her hand work into the crook of his elbow and it both consoled him and scared him. They moved slowly down the hall and he pointed to the bedroom door that Bill was using. "Bill's in that room; it's the guest room" They moved a couple of steps and he nodded to the opposite side of the hall. "That's the bathroom." And then moving farther down the hall, he stopped in the doorway. "This is my room," he explained. "There's a bathroom over there," he added as his hand swept in the general direction of the bathroom door.

An looked in the door. It was a very masculine room, dark furniture but sparse. His bed was a mess. Making his bed was obviously not a priority. Had it been before the explosion? The rest of his house was very neat and tidy. There was a picture on his bedside table of a little girl. His daughter? A box was open on his clothes chest. In it she glimpsed several watches. And the closet door was slightly ajar, revealing a line of suits.

Turning her attention back to him, she commented simply. "You have a nice house. I am surprised that a man keeps such a clean house," she joked.

Jim smiled. "My room is a mess right now. But yes, I like a neat house." Then he shrugged. "It isn't hard since it is just me."

"Yes, I find it much easier to keep things clean since Jimmy moved out. Sometimes I miss the …disorder."

Jim flinched. "Yeah…I was pretty rough on my ex about keeping a clean house but sometimes I think I wouldn't mind having someone around to disturb things."

He turned and led her back to the living room. "So that's pretty much it. I lived in an apartment when I first moved here and bought this house after a couple of years. I just couldn't get used to apartment living and the management always called me whenever there was trouble on the premises. It got old."

"We lived in an apartment in Los Angeles. It was large but …it never felt like our home," An offered. "Jimmy married Alicia and moved out and I didn't like staying there. Then we moved here. He and Alicia bought their house and I found a small one nearby. Mai and Vinh can walk to my house when they want to see me."

"That's great," Jim nodded. "I'm sure they go over a lot."

"They do. And when they know about you, they will want to see you often too."

They sat on the sofa, close but not too close. Jim deliberated for a moment and then asked, "An, I'd like to take you to dinner one night. Except you'll have to drive, of course. But I'd like for us to go out…like on a date."

He was nervous and her hesitation made it worse. But finally she spoke. "I would like that,"' she answered. "But I have not… there have been few dates … or men in my life since you... and even then it was over business."

Jim was stunned. "No men… None?"

"No," she admitted.

"What, are the men in L.A. crazy?"

An laughed. "No, I have been asked. But no one interested me."

Something stirred deep within him. Had she turned down all comers because of…him?

"Well, those guys should've tried harder. But I'm glad you turned them down. One of them would have married you by now. And you wouldn't be here. So, dinner…tomorrow night?"

"Yes, I like that."

Jim was nervous as he dressed. Bill helped him find the clothes he wanted to wear, matching the shirt and tie to the suit Jim told him he wanted. He had just finished with his tie when he heard the doorbell. Bill started for the door but Jim stopped him. "I want…I…"

Bill smiled. "Of course. Well, you have a nice night and let me know if you need help when you get back." Then he disappeared down the hall to his room.

Jim opened the door and smiled. "An?"

He heard a soft chuckle. "You look very nice, Jimmy," she said.

"Um, thank you. You do too."

She chuckled again. "You can not know. Perhaps I am ugly and wearing pajamas," she teased.

"No, in my mind I can see you and you are beautiful."

"I'm afraid for when you get your sight back," she said lightly.

"Why?"

"Because I think I like the way you see me…in your mind. You might not like the real me."

"I'm sure I don't look like how you've thought of me for the last forty years."

"No, you are not… your hair is darker."

Jim snickered, "and not so much of it?" Then shifting, he stepped out of the door. "You ready?"

"Take my arm; I'll show you where the car is."

He slid his hand into the crook of her elbow and after a hesitant few steps they found a walking pace. She led him to the car, made sure he was okay getting in, and then hurried around to the driver's side. Once inside, she noticed he was fidgeting.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, um…I've just always driven ...on dates that is."

An laughed. "Next time you drive then," she teased.

Jim sat quietly for a minute and then asked, "so what do you look like, right now I mean?"

He heard An sigh. "I am wearing a dark blue dress. It is American made but has a little Vietnamese in the design. The sides have little slits at the bottom, at my knees."

"Okay, so your blue dress matches my blue suit. But what do you look like?"

"Oh well… I am the same as I was only older. My head comes to your shoulders when we are standing. My hair is dark but the gray is taking over. I keep it short, unlike when we knew each other before. The back is at my collar and I have bangs that are parted on the right. My eyes are still brown and …what else?"

"I know you have a few curves that you did not have before. I felt that when we hugged at the hospital."

He heard her chuckle. "Are you saying I am a fat old mama now?"

"No," he grinned. "I'm saying you've developed some interesting angles since I saw you before." He paused and then asked, "who do you look more like, your mother or your father?"

"My mother, I suppose. My face is long and angular like hers and thankfully I do not have my father's large nose."

Jim grunted. "So I guess you like my nose then?"

"Your nose is fine, Jimmy. I think you have broken it sometime? But my father's…it just kept getting wider and wider and bigger and bigger," she giggled. "Mine is not so big. I used to not like it but I think it is better than having his nose."

Jim sighed. "I wish I could see you."

"You will. That is what the doctor says, isn't it? That you will see?"

"Yeah, but…it's not soon enough for me."

"Then when we get to the restaurant, I will let you feel my face and you will see. There was an old woman at the refugee camp who was blind. She felt everyone's face and said then she knew what we all looked like. Maybe you will know what I look like if you feel my face."

"Don't know about that," Jim teased. "But I wouldn't mind feeling you up at all."

The sound of her nervous giggle lightened Jim's mood. "I'm sure you wouldn't," she finally replied.

So how do you think things are going? Too fast, too slow, just right? Drop me a line and let me know. Wait, let me look...yes, the little button is still there.