Lizzie dressed carefully for dinner that night, and wore a strapless white dress that showed off her figure, with her blond hair in a neat bun, a string of pearls around her neck, and sexy high-heeled silver sandals. Audrey wore a turquoise silk dress that showed off the tan she’d started working on the day before. With her fair skin, Lizzie had to be more careful that she didn’t burn. Audrey intended to be as tanned as she could get by the time they left.
They went to a small favorite restaurant of Will’s that night, and afterwards he drove them to a lookout point on Diamond Head to admire the view in the moonlight. Audrey had the distinct impression that he would have kissed Lizzie if she hadn’t been there, and she tried to walk ahead a little distance so they could have a few minutes of privacy to say whatever they wanted. She thought she saw them holding hands for a minute. But they let go as soon as she walked toward them. They had drinks on the terrace that night, and after a few sips Audrey said she was tired and going back to their room. Lizzie stayed for a few minutes and went for a walk on the beach with Will. She was back in their room half an hour later, and Audrey smiled at her when she walked in.
“Is my brother behaving, or shouldn’t I ask that question?” she teased her, and Lizzie smiled and nodded with a mysterious look.
“He’s a pretty wonderful guy, Aud.”
“I know, he’s my brother. I just want him to be nice to you and realize how great you are too.”
“He hasn’t done or said anything he shouldn’t,” Lizzie reassured her.
“I hope not. This is only our second night here.” Audrey laughed at her.
The romance continued to blossom as the days unfurled like the petals of a flower. He took them to every place he thought they’d enjoy. Waterfalls, exquisite beaches, a forest of delicately scented tropical flowers, his favorite haunts and restaurants, Lau Yee Chai, his favorite Chinese restaurant, and the soda fountain at Benson Smith drugstore, a favorite meeting place for locals, and a nightclub where they went dancing. He invited one of his fellow pilots that night so Audrey had someone to dance with, and they all had a good time together. In part, he wanted Audrey to have a wonderful time, it was his way of thanking her for all that she had given up to take care of their mother. And he wanted Lizzie to have a vacation she’d remember forever. He didn’t know why he hadn’t noticed it before, but he felt as though he had met the woman of his life, and he didn’t want the week to end. He had never felt that way about anyone before. After only a few days, he could see spending the rest of his life with her, when he eventually settled down. But it was too soon for either of them. He was thinking of coming back to see her at Christmas, but hadn’t said anything to her about it yet. Two days before they left, on a late-night walk down Waikiki Beach in the moonlight, he kissed her, and she melted into his arms. Other than flying, he had never had a sensation like it before, nor had she. She told Audrey about it the next day, and Audrey beamed.
“If you two wind up together, I’ll be the happiest woman alive. But he still has a lot of flying to do. He’s not ready to settle down yet, but he will be one day.” She was hopeful that something serious would come of it.
“I know that. I’m not ready either,” Lizzie said thoughtfully. “I want to do something useful with my life, other than emptying bedpans in a post-op ward. I want to do something that makes a difference in the world.”
“So do I,” Audrey said wistfully. But it was only a distant dream for her.
“You already are,” Lizzie said gently. “What you’re doing for your mother matters, Aud. You’ll always be glad you did it.”
“I know. Maybe one day I can use what we learned for others. When the time is right. And in the meantime, I want my brother to fall so madly in love with you that he never lets you go, and we can be sisters forever. Maybe he already has fallen in love with you,” she said hopefully.
“So he says,” Lizzie said with a cautious smile and a giggle. “Thank you for bringing me with you.”
“I wouldn’t have come without you. I love my brother, but it would have gotten pretty boring here very quickly without you, and he wouldn’t have taken just me to all those places,” Audrey said, and they both laughed.
They had to be at the base by noon to watch him fly in formation in the navy demonstration they were putting on that day. People were already lining the beaches in anticipation. Will had told them just where to go on the base, and two of his friends were supposed to join them and look after them.
They got to the base on time, and met up with Will’s friends, and the formation Will flew in took their breath away. Will was the section leader and they were flying ten feet apart in Grumman F4F Wildcats. A tiny mistaken move or variation and all the planes would have plummeted together with tragic results. Lizzie was mesmerized, and Audrey was so proud of him as she watched. He was back with them an hour later, having put on an incredible show.
“That was quite something,” Lizzie said when he rejoined them.
“Just a little entertainment for the locals.” He smiled modestly and leaned over and kissed Lizzie on the cheek.
“You scared me to death,” she admitted. “That trick where you all looked like you were going to crash and then pulled out of it flipped my stomach over.”
“Mine too,” he teased her, “or it used to. We’ve never had an accident in any of my formations. Flying is the most exciting thing in the world…or it was, until you came along,” he said and she nodded. She felt that way about him too. It had all happened so fast, and she and Audrey were leaving the next day. He told her that night that he would try to get some time off at Christmas, or right after, to come to see her in Boston. “I’ll be counting the hours until I see you again, Lizzie,” he said, and kissed her passionately that night, before she left him and went back to her room, where Audrey was waiting. They were all packed and leaving in the morning for the flight to San Francisco. Will had promised to take them to the airport. It had been the most wonderful week of Lizzie’s life, and Audrey’s too. Her mother had given them the best vacation and graduation gift she could ever have imagined. Ellen had spared nothing for them. A week with her brother had meant a lot to Audrey too. They had only seen each other during brief, infrequent visits in recent years. A whole week with him had been a luxury she knew she would treasure forever. And Lizzie would too.
He took them to the airport the next day, and helped them check in for the Pan Am flight. They stood outside the terminal afterwards, with the tropical flowers all around them. He put a gardenia lei around Lizzie’s neck, and then a bright fuchsia one around Audrey’s. He kissed Lizzie openly in front of his sister and the other passengers, and Audrey went to buy a red and yellow lei safely nestled in a plastic box for her mother. The flight was announced then, and they walked across the tarmac to the plane. Lizzie turned to wave at him a few times, and stopped as she entered the plane to wave at him for a last time. Audrey did too. Both girls stood together waving at him, as the tall, handsome young navy pilot waved his long arms, and then they disappeared. He stood there looking bereft until the big plane took off, taking with it the woman he knew he would marry one day. He had never felt as lonely in his life as he did when he drove away. All he wanted to do now was see her again. Lizzie had cried when the plane took off, and Audrey held her hand, smiling at her. For all three of them, it had been the best trip of their lives. And the fragrance of the leis followed them all the way to New York. After the United flight from San Francisco the next day, they landed at LaGuardia on Monday night, and Lizzie hopped a short flight to Boston so she could get to work on time the next morning. Audrey took a cab into the city to Pennsylvania Station, where she took a train to Baltimore, and a cab to Annapolis. She walked into her house very late that night. Her mother had woken in the middle of the night and Mrs. Beavis was settling her again. Ellen looked pale and tired but smiled when she saw her daughter. Audrey had a deep tan, and was wearing the lei Will had given her. Her mother looked instantly peaceful and pleased. She was happy to see her, and Audrey looked young and beautiful.