Once Lucinda was gone from sight, Raif escorted Rachel and Gavin into his house. Frank began barking his head off at Rachel and wouldn't stop even after commanding him to. This of course infuriated Rachel as she stood with her palms covering her ears. Raif patiently picked Frank up and put him on time out in the spare bedroom.

"Gavin, I need you to go busy yourself while I speek with Raif, ok?" Rachel said, as Raif was returning from putting Frank away.

Gavin stomped his foot with a huff. "But then what am I suppose to do while you guys talk?"

"Figure it out! I just need to speak privately with Raif, ok?"

"You could play with Frank in the spare bedroom." Raif offered. "I've got an Xbox in there too, its not the latest model but it works."

Gavin got up from sitting on the couch with a bit of reluctance, and walked away with shoulders down. As soon as he slipped into the room and the door closed behind him, Rachel began talking.

"I don't think its a good idea for Lucinda to be around Gavin so much."

"What? They're getting along fine." Raif protested.

"Today was supposed to be about you and him, not the three of you."

"Well it wasn't just the three of us, my aunt and Merrill were with us too."

"The old man?" Rachel scrunched her face. "Anyway, whatever, the point is that the two of you should have spent the time alone. Are you even serious about this Lucinda? She's not even..."

"What? Not even what, Rachel?"

"I don't know... not even your type and she's weird."

Raif rolled his eyes and laughed. "She's not weird, Rachel, and how would you know what my type is? We haven't seen each other in years."

"For one, she's blonde. Since when have you been into blondes?" Raif rolled his eyes again but Rachel continued. "And two, who the hell is this old man she's carting around? Doesn't she have her own family!"

"No, she doesn't, Rachel. Her parents died almost ten years ago and her extended family lives across the country. Merrill has become a father figure to her and he is actually a very sweet and caring man... and for your information, I've always been attracted to blondes. Redheads. Brunettes. You name it!" Raif threw his hands in the air and walked over to the fridge for water. "You don't know me as well as you think you do."

"Actually, I know you very well, Raif." Rachel sauntered over and stood next to the fridge with folded arms. "You're still the same. Not a care in the world, still going with the flow, never letting anything bring you down. Trusting as ever." Rachel shook her head. "She's hiding something, I know it."

"Oh knock it off, Rach. Is this really what you needed to talk to me about?" Raif walked over to the couch and sunk into it. "Are you jealous of her? Besides, you're the one who wanted Gavin to meet Lucinda."

"I know she's hiding something." Rachel stood over Raif with arms folded. "Who just decides to move here to start a floral business of all things. Clearly she didn't have a solid plan which is why she's working at a coffee shop instead of pursuing her business."

"She's saving up money, Rach."

"Why didn't she already have the money saved? What, did she just pack up her things one day and decide to move here?" Rachel scoffed. "I bet she's hoping that old man will drop dead and she can inherit his money."

"You know what, I've had enough! You're accusing her of hiding something, but what about you? You hid a BIG secret from me." Raif motioned with his arms apart emphasising big. "Now our poor son is confused, sad, angry, and he's mourning."

"Mourning!?"

"Yes Rachel, mourning. He doesn't see me as his father, he calls the other guy, dad. And I dont blame him. From what it sounds like, he's been the only stable male figure in his life."

"What!" Rachel inhaled a sharp breath.

"Yes. He's mentioned him enough for me to notice that he misses him. He loves him. That was his dad."

"He's just a kid." Rachel unfolded one of her arms, motioning with her hand toward the hallway. "He only remembers pieces, he doesn't know the hell I went through. It was never going to work with Richard, we faught too much." Rachel was began pacing in front of Raif. "He flirted with women in front of me and even cheated. I could never trust him."

"Well Rachel, that's the life you chose, but that doesn't excuse putting your child in the middle of your hot mess." Raif got up from the couch and walked back to the fridge. This time he reached for a beer.

"You think I wanted this for my life?" Rachel followed.

"You chose to lie about Gavin, no one forced you." He twisted the cap off of his beer and tossed it onto the counter.

Rachel growled with her hands in the air. "Damn it Raif! I didn't have a choice!"

"Oh yes you did."

"No, I didn't! I didn't want to be stuck here, in this town. You know very well that all I ever wanted was to get far away from here and from my mother. If I could take it back, if could change my choices, then of course I would have you in Gavin's life from the beginning."

Raif leaned his palms against the kitchen counter and stared at the surface as if the answers were there. Then he said calmly, "I would've dropped everything. I would have married you, Rachel. I would have left Breeze Bay for both of you."

Rachel dropped the scowl on her face and approached Raif slowly as he leaned against the counter. She gently placed her hands on his forearm and looked him in the eyes. "I know you would have. I don't like being in one relationship to the next, of course I would rather be married to you and have a family. I thought I could find that for Gavin but its hard and I guess that's just the price I'm having to pay."

Raif looked down at her hands on his arm. They were hands that once brought him comfort, but they were foreign to him now. "Rache, you're still young. You have time to find a nice guy, but what's most important right now is figuring out how to co-parent Gavin. I'm in love with Lucinda." He looked up at Rachel while plucking her hands away. "So we're just going to have to learn how to blend our families together. Ok?"

Rachel stepped back and tried to play cool by painting a smile on her face. "Of course. That's all I want. But first I need for you and Gavin to spend more quality time together... alone."

"I'd like that. I want to get to know him better, but Lucinda is part of my life now, so she'll need to get to know him too."

"RAIF," Rachel said sternly. "I mean it. You need to spend time with him alone. It's important."

"Ok, fine." Raif backed off.

However Rachel wasn't finished. She was determined that Lucinda was hiding something and was going to do her best to find out. She shouted for Gavin that it was time to go and before they left, Raif invited him to go surfing again. Rachel agreed to drop him off at the beach in the morning and off they went for the night.

🌊🌊🌊

Audrey and Merrill chit chatted over wine while eating Boeuf Bourguinion. Logs crackled in the fireplace and the pitbull snored on her bed near it. They had a lot in common and Merrill found it refreshing that Audrey had so much zip to her. His late wife Louise was more of a shy and calm woman but surprisingly witty. The strange thing was that while sitting through dinner with Audrey, he kept thinking about his wife. He felt as if he was cheating on her but mostly because he felt that Sylvia and especially Aaron, would disapprove.

"Celeste hated growing up in Berryville." Audrey paused and took a sip of wine, the sound of it causing Merrill to focus back to their conversation. "I don't blame her, for the longest time I wanted to get away too. It's such a small town and Celeste was anything but small-town. She was a cheerleader, prom queen, Ms. Berryville three years in a row, in fact a lot of girls thought it was rigged," Audrey chuckled. "By the third year the girls started to really give her a hard time, they were very jealous of her. At that time we only had one grocery store too so when the owner picked Celeste to be a model for his advertisements... woo, you should have seen those girls then! They were seething."

"Sounds like you really admire your sister," Merrill replied.

"Oh she's an incredible person and beautiful inside and out, but mostly incredible. You know, most siblings would feel a bit of competition or jealousy if their sibling had half as much praise as Celeste. Not me. See, before she was born, our Mother had a miscarriage, a stillbirth actually, so when she finally had Celeste, I was so thrilled. I watched over her, treated her like she was my baby. I always encouraged her to reach for more." Audrey took a deep breath and thought for a moment. Her eyes swept across the table, thinking. "I was never able to have children. I tried, but I had too many miscarriages. I suppose I inherited that from my Mother. After that I couldn't conceive anymore."

"I'm so sorry." Merrill reached across the table and patted her hand in comfort.

"It was very hard for me." Audrey continued, and nonchalantly twined her fingers with his. "Incredibly hard. I went into an emotional cave for a long time, but when Celeste became pregnant with Raif... in a way it saved me. He lit up my world and I came right out of that depression. That's why I dote on him so much, I think he is just as much my baby as he is Celeste's."

"What about Rally?" Merrill asked, using the moment to retreat his hand from Audrey's and take a sip of wine. "What was he like?"

A smile appeared on her face. "Rally was a very loveable kid. Such a cuddler, excellent musician. In fact he won a few local talent shows for playing his guitar. He looked up to Raif so much, wanted to be just like him." Audrey wiped the corner of her eye. "I've lost children... but not like that. I don't know what happened. I don't know when the shift happened that he became so depressed. I wish I could have recognized it so that I could have helped him."

Merrill just sat and listened to Audrey speak. He enjoyed hearing her open up about her family. It made him feel good to know that Lucinda was surrounded by such amazing and strong people. She needed that in her life.

"So what about you? I've been gabbing on about my family, but tell me something about yours. What are your kids like?" Audrey asked, leaning forward to give him her full attention.

"Oh..." Merrill responded, and ran a hand over his head in thought. "Well, let me see... my daughter, Sylvia, she's beautiful like her mother and very strong willed for being such a short thing. She's a veterinarian and worked so hard to become one and now runs her own clinic. Unfortunately, it also means that she spends a lot of hours in that clinic, which means that over the years it's swallowed up her time. She wants to move back to Redwood Village to slow things down, but I'm not sure if it's a good idea right now."

"Why's that?"

Merrill sighed as he shook his head and reached for his glass of wine. He kept his fingers curled around the stem while he formed his words. "She's been having trouble in her marriage. I know she's not being completely honest with me. She says that they just had a fight over a disagreement, but I think it's more than just that."

"Hmm," Audrey hummed as he leaned her elbow on the table and propped her chin in her palm. "Does he work long hours too?"

"Her husband? Yes, he does. Actually, he works with my son Aaron at a legal firm."

"Hmm..."

"What? What is it?"

"Well..." Audrey bit her lip, as if deciding whether or not to speak her mind. "In my experience, when spouses spend a lot of time apart, it allows for others to creep in."

"Sylvia isn't like that!" Merrill snapped.

"I know, not saying she is." Audrey held up her hands in apology. "No offence, but men can become very sensitive when their wives are successful. They become pouty, maybe even jealous and then one day they start looking at their female coworkers a little differently. They start noticing how attractive they are and then next thing you know, they stay later and later at the office, 'working.' So it wouldn't suprise me if her husband is having an affair."

Merrill had no words to reply with. Never could he imagine his son in law cheating on Sylvia. She was too much of a catch for him to screw things up. Sylvia was smart, funny, beautiful, a good mother, caregiver, awesome cook, not to mention raising their amazing children. She was a super woman! Merrill took a long sip of wine. But what if Audrey was right? Deep in Merrill's gut, he just knew that there was more to Sylvia's story about their fight over moving to Redwood Village.

"I'm sorry," Audrey said aloud. "I shouldn't have said anything. It's incredibly rude of me to assume anything about someone I've never even met."

"It's alright." Merrill waved his hand. "I know you weren't trying to be rude."

"Well, what do you say we go sit on the couch by the fire?" Audrey rubbed her shoulders.

"I'd say that sounds like lovely idea."

Together they took their wine over to the sectional and continued chatting. By the time Lucinda returned home, Audrey had left and Merrill was snoozing on the couch. The street light trickled in from the doorway as she walked through, casting a light on Merrill as he slept. She gently nudged him awake and they walked to their rooms yawning, each bidding one another a good night.

And it had been a good night.

🌊🌊🌊

As the sun began rising the next day, Raif made his way out to the beach as usual. He waxed his board lazily, with a sleepy stare toward the waves. They were gentle waves, good for teaching a beginner. He could hear car doors closing from the other surfers, laughter and friendly shouting-like banter from the usual crews. Some waved to him from across the way, while others wasted no time waxing their boards hurriedly and then off they went like sea lions into the water, one after the other.

As Raif sat back with his bottom in the sand and his palms stretched out behind him, he watched the sunrise streak the sky like cotton candy. The only thing missing from the peaceful morning was Lucinda at his side. He almost forgot she wasn't joining them as a smile spread on his face to the sounds of sand crunching behind him. For a moment he thought it was her, but then he remembered that she was meeting Emma and Isabel for breakfast.

"We're here," Rachel announced with coffee in hand.

"That's not from my cafe..." Raif pointed as he looked over his shoulder.

"Gas station," Rachel replied and took a sip. "Mind if I sit and watch?"

"Not at all. Come on Gavin, lets get your board waxed." He patted the sand.

He propped the board on his lap and nodded to Gavin to do the same with his board. Together they began working the wax in circles while Rachel spread out a towel and sat down, criss-crossing her legs. Her eyes scanned the beach for Lucinda as she took sips of her coffee.

"No girlfriend out running today?"

"Doesn't look like it," Raif replied. "She's meeting friends for breakfast."

"That's too bad, thought we could get to know each other a little better."

Raif narrowed his eyes at her. He knew her too well to believe she'd want to become friendly with Lucinda. "You'll have plenty of time for that, Rache... she's not going anywhere."

"I didn't say she was," Rachel replied, narrowing her eyes back at him. "But I am surprised she's stuck around this long."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He paused from waxing his board.

"Well, I might not live here anymore, but I still keep in touch with a few of our old friends and... well... let's just say that rumor has it you're into temporary."

"Well they're wrong," Raif said as he set the bar of wax aside. "Alright Gav, let's head into the water."

Trying to get the last word in, Rachel replied, "You're quite optimistic about that."

"It's not optimism. It's absolute truth," he said over his shoulder as they headed for the water.

Off the two went and Rachel sat back in the sand, defeated by his words. She watched as Raif carefully taught her son how to surf and it created a pit of regret in her stomach. So much wasted time spent on lying when she could've been honest with Raif years ago, back when she returned for the summer. Perhaps if she had been honest about cheating on him with a guy from a Frat party, he would've forgiven her? Or maybe they wouldn't have slept together at all and Gavin wouldn't have been born? However, a life without her son was impossible to imagine, so maybe hiding her unfaithfulness had been worth it?

After a couple of hours, Rachel grew bored and started calling out to Raif that it was time to finish up. He held up both of his hands signaling for ten more minutes. Gavin was just starting to get the hang of surfing and was standing up perfectly on the board without any help. So Rachel gave in and allowed them ten more minutes.

Out on the water, Gavin and Raif paddled out for one last wave, but to Raif's surprise, Gavin let the wave pass them and then he sat, waiting for another one.

"Why didn't you go for that one, Bud?" Raif asked. "That was a pretty good one."

"I'm not ready to leave yet."

"Well, we've got ten minutes. That's plenty of time to get at least one good wave in."

In his quiet voice, Gavin replied, "I actually wanted to talk about something..."

"Oh... ok, well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I know what my mom is trying to do. She probably thinks she can get you to go out with her."

Raif began to chuckle, but when Gavin shot him a stern look, he stopped and asked, "What makes you say that?"

"Cause." Gavin shrugged. "All last night on the way home she kept asking me questions about you and your girlfriend. She did that one tine after meeting my friend Arny's dad. She thought he was real cute and asked me all about him. They went on a couple of dates, but mom said she wasn't interested anymore after that."

Raif nodded his head, understanding now. "Well, I have a girlfriend. Besides, your mom and I had our time many years ago. We have good memories, but we're both different people now."

"Well, my friend Arny's dad had a girlfriend too!" He looked to Raif sternly again, as if proving a point. "But he went on those dates with my mom anyway and Arny says that his dad probably just had sex with my mom a bunch of times and then got bored with her."

Raif looked down at Gavin's hands and noticed his fists were clenched. It sent a pang of emotion through him that he wasn't familiar with. He didn't like that Rachel's romantic life was affecting their son in such a way. Based on what he had observed over the weekend, Raif could tell that Gavin held resentment against his mother and it was apparent now that it was more than just her lying to him about his real father. He couldn't imagine being Gavin's age, with a mother that looked like Rachel and having to hear that his friend's dad basically used her as a booty-call.

Gavin continued, "Apparently Arny's dad and his girlfriend broke up after she found out. They had been together for two years, they were supposed to get married, yet mom managed to split them up! Sometimes I hate her." He growled as he clenched his fists tighter. "Please don't dump Lucinda for my mom... I like Lucinda and I don't think she deserves that."

"Trust me, Bud, I won't."

Gavin shook his head. "I'm tired of her boyfriends."

"I guess she's had a lot, huh."

"Yeah and they're all losers!"

"Well Gav, you don't have to worry about me. One, I'm not a loser and two, Lucinda is my girl."

"It's just that..." Gavin's voice trailed off.

"Just what?" Raif asked.

"I heard you tell mom that you would've married her if she told you the truth a long time ago."

"It's true, I would have dropped everything, but like I said, we're both different people now and at different points in our lives. Plus it would be pretty mean to dump Lucinda."

"Are you saying if you weren't with Lucinda that you'd marry my mom?"

Raif let out a chuckle, but truthfully he wasn't sure. "I don't know. It's hard to say. Right now I can't imagine Lucinda not being in my life, so to say otherwise... just doesn't seem right. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah..." Gavin trailed off again. "It's probably for the best anyway. All my mom does is push the good guys away. I just wish she wouldn't push my dad away."

Raif finally realized that what Gavin was really worried about, was having someone else stepping into his dad's place. "Hey Gav, since we're being honest, are you secretly hoping that your mom will get back together with your dad?"

"Not really... well, ok, maybe I do, but I guess he's not really my dad anymore. Is he?"

Unsure of how to respond, Raif asked the first thing to come to his mind. "He raised you, didn't he? And you love him, don't you?"

"Yeah, I guess so, although I haven't seen him since I was ten, so..."

"Well..." Raif took a breath as he rubbed his neck. "I think most people would say that it's safe to call him your dad."

Gavin stared down at his surfboard as water lapped over it. He was quiet for a moment as they bobbed along with the push of the ocean and then he finally looked up at Raif and asked, "Do you want me to call you, dad?"

As Raif stared back at Gavin, he felt a zip of desire to have his son call him, 'dad.' It was a bizarre feeling to suddenly have that need, when only a few weekss ago, he was oblivious to there even being a child out there with his DNA.

"Buddy," he finally began to say. "You can call me anything you like. I won't force you to call me anything you're not comfortable with. Ok?"

"Ok." Gavin nodded.

"I think you should take that one." Raif pointed to an oncoming wave. "It looks like a good one."

Without another word, Gavin began paddling out and took the wave. At first he struggled to stand, but once he was up, it was as if his feet were glued to the surfboard and he rode the wave without falling off. It was a good way to end the morning and Raif couldn't have been prouder as he clapped, hooted and hollered.

After making it back to shore, Rachel sang Gavin praises and ruffed up his hair while hugging and kissing him. Raif could see that despite the unstable lifestyle, Rachel really loved her son. Perhaps she was just having a string of bad luck with men? Maybe she was chasing after them for all the wrong reasons? Maybe what Gavin really needed wasn't a father figure, but just Rachel. A happy and loving mother.

"We're heading back to the city tomorrow," Rachel announced. "Gav has to get back to school. Mind if we just spend the day with you?"

"What about your parents? Don't they want to spend time with the two of you?"

Rachel rolled her eyes. "No. My mother is being impossible these days. Which you already know. Besides, we need to chat about some legal stuff."

"Ok. Umm, I suppose we can head to my house and I can cook up breakfast."

"Sounds good." Rachel smiled. "It's been a long time since we've spent time together. I think this will be good for us."

At Rachel's words, Raif flashed his eyes to Gavin, gaging his reaction, but the boy simply adjusted the surfboard under his arm and looked up. "Can I have pancakes?"

"You can have anything you want," Raif replied and he truly meant it, as his heart swelled with love for his son.