Present Day:

Late one Wednesday night in March, Charlotte sent Justin a quick text.

//J, flew the last flight into Portland. Won't be home 'til tomorrow AM. C//

She was a bit surprised to get a response at this late hour.

//OK, how 'bout we have dinner at my place tomorrow night, I'll cook something special. Bring your toothbrush, just in case. J//

//okay C//

Charlotte arrived home just after 10 AM. The first thing she did was empty her bags in her luxurious laundry room if there could be such a thing. The next thing she did was take a long cool drink of water and go to sleep. She set her phone for 3 PM but knew that she would be lucky to sleep more than a couple of hours. Later that morning which was really early in the afternoon, Charlotte woke up and took stock of where she was. After a brief moment of confusion, the answer was in her own bed, in her own house and alone. She smiled to herself and was sure that she could remedy the latter situation in a most satisfactory manner in the near future.

Charlotte took care of doing her laundry while multitasking and paying a few online bills and the usual household chores required after a week away from home. At just after 5 PM she received a text from her boyfriend.

//C. Done for the day. Want me to come over and get you? J//

//Sounds good. I'm here, pick me up out back//

//Okay. See you in 10//

Justin drove his truck from the back alley to the parking area near Charlotte's detached garage and smiled as the tall dark-haired girl opened the back door. She was wearing tight jeans that made Justin's heart skip a beat and yet another one of her seemingly endless collection of squadron T-shirts. Her overnight bag was a US Air Force issue OD green helmet bag with pilots' wings and the name Janssen embroidered on the side. Charlotte opened the door to Justin's 4 x 4 truck and got in. She right away noticed that his truck was a much less cluttered office/tool storage/empty fast food container storage area than it had been when he was just her contractor and not her boyfriend. She leaned over and gave him a passionate kiss. "Been looking forward to that all week."

Justin smiled. "Yeah, me too. The days away from you suck, but the reunions are always worth the wait."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Good line Mister, keep going like that and you might even get lucky tonight."

As they drove the slightly more than 2 miles to Justin's old house he asked. "Good week babe? You were gone a couple extra days this time."

Charlotte put her hands on his thigh and thought to herself how much she loved it when he called her babe. "Yeah, sorry about that. I thought I was done for the week and then one of the senior Co's called in sick, so I ended up taking the Anchorage to L.A. and back. That one is an overnighter and then I got stuck in Portland last night. Just so you know, the money for those longer trips is really good. I do have a new house to pay for you know."

A few minutes later, they walked into the kitchen of his old house and Charlotte kissed Justin again and squeezed him tight. She whispered in his ear. "Miss me?"

Justin returned the kiss with one of his own. "Like you cannot believe. I'd take you down to the bedroom and prove it to you, but I'm betting that you are hungry..."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Guilty as charged. But don't worry, we have all night and all weekend. I plan to tire you out to the best of my ability. So, speaking of food..."

Justin laughed. "You women are all the same. Just food and sex."

Charlotte laughed at the inside joke. Justin turned around and removed a covered tray from the fridge. "There's sourdough from Zepole, and olive oil with black pepper, cheese and some of those salted cashews you like. May I also pour you a glass of wine?"

"Sure thing J. You got a Merlot?"

Justin smiled and gestured to an already opened bottle of Columbia Crest. He poured two glasses and handed one to his girlfriend. They toasted each other as Charlotte quipped. "To our weekend together."

Charlotte sat down at the old round kitchen table and watched as Justin finished making a tossed green salad. She was intrigued and asked. "So, what's for dinner J?"

The tall man with a freshly shaven face smiled at the beautiful woman in his kitchen. "Got some prime tenderloin from the co-op, a giant Idaho Baker and you're watching my best shot at making a healthy green salad. If you don't mind, I'll grill inside tonight, it's like 22 outside and supposed to snow some more."

Charlotte laughed again. "Is that why you put in that giant gas range with the indoor grill at my house?"

"Maybe..."

Later on that evening, over a romantic candlelit dinner, Charlotte put down her fork and commented. "Justin, you have outdone yourself, this is been an awesome meal."

"Thanks, Char, I've been looking forward to this all week."

Charlotte nodded as she sipped her wine. "Yeah, me too. I actually had a nice dinner in L.A. with a couple of the other pilots, but most of the week consisted of airline and airport hotel food."

Outside, the wind picked up and shook the hundred-year-old house a bit. Justin pointed out the window. "Snow is really coming down now."

"No kidding. Welcome to Idaho. Hey, I really had a good time skiing last month. Thanks again for being patient. I know that you like the black diamonds, but your girlfriend has regressed to green circles and blue squares."

Justin smiled at the memory. "It was fun Char, we'll have to go again, maybe the next time you have a long weekend."

"Sounds great J, but I sort of have another idea for our next long weekend together."

Justin sipped his wine. "Okay, I'm listening."

Charlotte pointed to the portrait of the two of them that had been taken by Beverly V. "So, on our New Year's Eve date, I didn't really tell you where we were going, or what we were doing..."

Justin smiled and raised his glass. "Or that we were sharing a room."

"Yeah, and that worked out okay."

"Only the best first date in the history of first dates."

Charlotte leaned over and kissed him again. "Sure was. Anyway, how about I take you to Hawaii for a long weekend."

Justin raised his brows. "Wow, did not see that one coming. Sounds great. I would love to get out of the snow for a couple of days. So how exactly would this work?"

Charlotte gestured with her fingers and tapped her palm. "Easy, we just pick a Friday through Monday when you can take off work and I'll do the rest."

"Hawaii, no kidding, just like that? I've never been. But I'm sure that you have."

Charlotte laughed ironically. "Well, I have been to joint base Pearl Harbor-Hickam a bunch of times in the C-17, so I have touristed around Oahu and Honolulu. There is some cool stuff to do there, you know the Arizona Memorial, Diamondhead, and they do have great beaches, but it is really crowded. Kind of like Los Angeles with better weather and nicer people."

Justin laughed at the traditional Boise L.A. bashing. "I do remember a little from middle school geography, there are a few other islands, the biggest one is called Hawaii, right? But I can't remember the names of the other ones."

Charlotte nodded. "Right, so whenever I want to know where to go for the best deals, I ask the world's best travel experts."

"And they would be?"

Charlotte laughed. "Airline flight attendants. They know all of the places to go, just about anywhere in the world and at the best prices. There's lots of great stuff to do on each of the outer islands, which is what they call them, but for a romantic weekend they said that Maui is the place to go."

Justin raised his brows again. "Romantic weekend?"

Charlotte took a sip from her wine glass. "Yeah, for our first trip, I figure we just stay in a nice place, eat some nice meals, walk on the beach, watch the colorful tropical birds and spend a lot of time in bed."

Justin's heart skipped a beat before he managed to croak. "I'm in. Things are slow at work right now. Just a couple of projects with inside work. You now electrical, drywall, floors and paint and other stuff like that. Anyway, any time after next Thursday works for me, just let me know and we're off to the islands."

"Awesome, I'll check the magical scheduling app and see what's available. So, now that we have decided on Maui, what kind of hotel do you want to stay in?"

Justin shrugged. "Don't want to sound like a newbie, but, um near the beach?"

Charlotte leaned over and kissed him. "You poor deprived Idaho boy. It's an island J. Everything is near the beach unless it's on the volcano and we're not staying up there."

Justin raised his brows. "Volcano? Is that the one I saw on TV with steam and lava and stuff?"

Charlotte laughed. "No, not the one on Maui, the one you're thinking about is on the Big Island. But if you want to see that one up close, I can rent a little plane and we can fly over to get a close-up look."

Justin laughed. "Um, maybe next trip."

Charlotte pointed to her iPad. "Okay back to business. Like I said, I spoke to the pros and they said that we could stay in a little dive hotel like this one, it's just a bedroom and a bathroom. Pretty low rent, no amenities, but by far the cheapest. Also, probably only has a parking lot view. The girls told me that they lie to you and call it a Mountain View but it's usually just the parking lot."

Justin shook his head. "Okay, I get it. But it's our first big trip together, maybe we should go a little nicer and not stay in some low-budget dump."

Charlotte smiled. "Right then, so for option #2 we could stay at one of those super resorts. Here let me show you this one."

Charlotte pointed to the tablet again. "This is the site for one of the big resorts at Kapalua, they have a PGA golf tourney there every January."

Justin watched the video for a minute. "Nice place, but I'm almost afraid to ask how much?"

Charlotte smiled. "Just less than a thousand before the airline or military discount."

Justin gulped. "I'm guessing that rate is not per week."

Charlotte shook her head. "Nope, that's per night. Hey, but all the restaurants are four-star or better."

"Included?"

Charlotte smiled. "Nope, again."

Justin paused a moment before asking. "So, I'm guessing you are probably planning on something else. What is Charlotte Janssen's preferred option three?"

"Very perceptive of you, my friend. Yes, we can find a nice low-rise condo with a kitchen and beach front ocean view. You know the kind of place, we wake up late, make love, get up and make coffee, listen to the birds singing, make love again and finally get around to having a late breakfast in our own little private kitchen. We go out when we want, don't have to get dressed for meals and we can eat in on other nights and also make our own lunches for day trips."

Justin laughed and leaned over and kissed her. "Char, I'm pretty sure what your choice is. But it doesn't matter you had me on... and then make coffee."

Charlotte laughed. "Figured I would."

Justin smiled. "Okay, you pick the place and make the reservations. But, will you at least let me pay?"

Charlotte acquiesced. "Sure thing J. It's a deal, you can pay for the condo. I'll cover the plane tickets, friends, family and boyfriends fly for free you know. I'll also book a rental car and fill you in on the rest later."

He reached over and squeezed her hand. "I'm looking forward to this trip more than you know. It will also be awesome to get away from the ice fog and cold Idaho winter for a few days."