seriously. I guess I always wanted to build things.”
Danny grinned. “Targets, you mean.”
“No, buil— Ah, I get it. Funny.”
“You’re right,” he said to Christy. “He’s a sharp one.”
“Leave him alone. You’re talking like we’re already married. We just started… um…” She looked down and finished in a small voice, “Dating.”
My eyebrows flew up in amusement. “I’m sorry, what was that?”
She gave me a pleading look.
“Oh, dating!” I said. “Right. Yeah, we just started dating. A little while ago.” Like, ten minutes.
Danny laughed and read me perfectly. “So you aren’t really?”
“We’re just good friends at the moment. We have a lot in common. And we like spending time together. So… yeah, I could see us dating. One day. In the future.”
“Well, that’s good to know. Birdy tends to get ahead of herself sometimes. The last guy was engaged before he realized it.”
“He was not!” she protested. “Simon asked me.”
“Whatever you say, Birdy-bird.” He drank some beer and gestured with the glass. “But I’m glad you dumped him. He was smart enough, but kind of a pantywaist if you ask me.”
“Not that anyone did,” Christy muttered.
Danny and I shared a grin.
“Did you ever meet him?” he asked me.
“Before my time.” I took a sip of Coke to cover my amusement at Christy’s discomfort.
“You didn’t miss anything.”
She sat up indignantly.
“Oh, relax,” Danny said. “No one liked him.”
“I did.” In a small voice she added, “I just didn’t love him.”
“I know, kiddo,” he said gently. “We didn’t really make it easy on him, either. I’m sorry about that.”
“Can we change the subject?”
“Sure,” he said with a recruiting-poster smile. “I have some news. Just for you.”
“What? Is it a surprise? Does it have anything to do with Sabrina?”
“My girlfriend,” Danny said for my benefit. Then he grinned sidelong at Christy. “Soon to be my fiancée. If I’m lucky.”
“You mean it? She’s going to be my new sister-in-law?”
“If she says yes.”
“You know she will, Danny. I’m so happy for you!”
“I’m going to ask over Thanksgiving.” He raised his beer. “Holy matrimony, here I come!” He clinked glasses with Christy and me. “Seems a shame to toast without alcohol. You want some beer? Wine? Whiskey?”
“To be honest,” I said, “I’m afraid I’d fall asleep. I’ve had a pretty long day already.”
He nodded. “I’m only drinking because I’m a passenger. I can sleep the rest of the flight.”
The food arrived and we started eating.
“If you don’t mind me asking,” I said to Danny, “why are you here?”
“Oh, yeah! I guess I haven’t told you yet. Been so busy interrogating you and teasing Birdy that I forgot.”
I couldn’t help but like the guy.
“The Beirut bombing has everyone scrambling,” he explained. “The situation’s still pretty gnarly, from what we hear. The powers-that-be put us on alert to deploy. So I’m headed to El Toro with another pilot to ferry a couple of planes back to Cherry Point. We hitched a ride on an Air Force bird, and I told the crew that my baby sister is at school in Knoxville.”
“So they scheduled a refueling stop?”
“Not quite. They engineered a mechanical problem and made an unscheduled landing. But this is the Air Force we’re talking about. I’m sure someone had to pick up a case of Jack Daniel’s for a general or drop off a colonel’s golf clubs.” He looked at his watch. “I hate to cut things short, but we’d better eat up. I need to get back. The flight crew already delayed things longer than they said they could.”
We finished our food and asked for the check. I was closest to the waitress when she brought it, so I managed to snag it before Danny could.
“Are you sure?” he said.
“No problem.”
“Let me pay for Birdy and me, at least.”
“Thanks, but I got it. I mean…” I shot her a smile. “If we’re dating, I’m supposed to pay anyway.”
“See?” Christy told him. “He’s a gentleman.”
“Well, I’m also trying to impress your brother.”
He arched an eyebrow.
“Never hurts to have a friend in the family.”
“Oh, Birdy,” he said with a laugh, “he’s a keeper.” He was still smiling when he turned to me. “Not that you need it, but you officially have my blessing to date my sister.” He put his arm around her and hugged. “It was great to see you, kiddo. I’m sorry it wasn’t longer.”
“That’s okay. It was great to see you too.”
“Want me to give you a few minutes?” I asked. “I don’t mind.”
He shook his head and looked at his watch. Then he drained his beer.
“We’d better book it.”
We drove him back to the base and pulled up to the guard station. I rolled down my window.
The same airman looked across me. “Good evening, Captain. The crew from your plane has a jeep waiting for you.” He looked at me. “Sir, if you’ll pull inside the gate and park next to the office, you can let the captain out there.”
“Thank you, Airman,” Danny said.
I did as instructed.
Danny flashed his recruiting-poster smile. “Nice to meet you, Paul. Take care of our girl.”
I chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“You’re the second person today to tell me that.”
“She’s a special girl. And she really needs looking after.”
“Danny! I do not!”
“Thanks for dinner.” He shook my hand and opened the door.
Christy climbed out and gave him a hug.
He picked her up and held her a foot off the ground. Then he set her down and kissed her forehead.
“I love you, Sis.” He bent to look at me through the open door. “Hope to see you again.”
“You too,” I said. “And good luck when you pop the question.”
“Thanks.” He gave Christy another hug and then jumped into the waiting jeep. It backed out and sped away.
Christy climbed into the passenger seat and watched him go with a sigh.
“You okay?”
“Yeah. I’m glad you got to meet him. I just wish he could’ve stayed longer.”
I backed out of the parking space and turned toward the gate. The airman waved us through. I pulled onto the highway back to campus. Then I glanced at Christy.
“Dating, huh?”
Her shoulders fell. “I was wondering how long before you said something.”
“You told your family we were dating?”
“Are you upset?”
“No.” I laughed. “A little surprised, but not upset.”
“That’s a relief.”
“I’m curious, though. If we aren’t dating, are we not-dating?”
“Oh, boy.”
“What exactly does that imply? Will there be any not-kissing?”
“Here we go.”
“And we should talk about not-sex.”
“You aren’t going to let me live this down, are you?”
“Well, I have lots of questions. Like, do you want to not-meet my family?
Will I not-meet the rest of yours?”
“What can I do to make you stop? Please! Anything.”
“Okay, I’ll give you a break, but just this once.”
“Thank you!”
We drove in companionable silence until I felt her mood change. I glanced at her. She was staring out the window.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
“How long has it been since May?”
“Six months.” I glanced at her again. “Thinking about Laurence?”
“Yeah. It’s been two and a half years, and I miss him like it was yesterday.”
“Come over here,” I said.
She unbuckled her seatbelt and slid across the seat toward me.
I put my arm around her and felt her sob. I held her until she cried herself out.
She wiped her eyes and sniffled. “I must look a mess.” She laughed feebly. “You won’t not-dump me, will you?”