Over a month had gone by and Lucinda was doing well with saving money. Customers had really taken a liking to her and tipped her well. Although she did notice that there was a select few who would ignore her. It was usually the women who flirted with Raif or the older men who were stubborn in their ways and didn't trust that the 'new girl' would know how to make their 'usual'.

Other than that, Lucinda really enjoyed working at the Barrel Wave and was able to help Raif get caught up with his bookkeeping. In fact, she was able to get him reimbursed on back orders that he never received. With a huge, prideful grin, she slapped down a reimbursement check in front of Raif as he sat in his office. He lifted the check and began reading it over while saying the amount quietly to himself. Then he said it louder, the disbelief still in his tone.

"You can thank me later." Lucinda smiled and as she began turning to leave, he sprang up from his chair and pulled her back to him.

"Four hundred dollars!" He exclaimed as her body thudded into him. "How?"

"Easy." She shrugged, suddenly grinning like a fool. "You've been waiting over four months for those orders and in their company policy it says that if your back order exceeds three months, then you get reimbursed."

"Really? Why didn't I know this..."

"Cause you're too busy to read the fine print." She smiled up at him. "Aren't you glad you hired me, after all?"

"Glad?" He asked as he quickly bent his knees to wrap his arms around her. Next thing Lucinda knew, Raif was lifting her off of the ground and she let out a little squeak as he raised her into the air. "I'm ecstatic!"

He spun her around so fast that the office blurred and despite being caught off guard, she felt butterflies in her stomach, even a bit of disappointment when he set her back down. She smoothed down her hair, trying to hide the blush in her cheeks, but his hands were too fast as he lifted her chin so he could look her in the eyes.

"You've made my day, Lucinda." He motioned over his desk. "Here I was trying to figure out how the heck I was going to afford the repairs for the deli cooler and now you've solved the problem for me."

He kissed the top of her head and that zing of flutters past through her again. For the rest of the week Lucinda tried to push the memory of it away, but every time she thought back on his reaction she could still feel his strong arms around her. Her flesh would instantly tingle, but the last thing Lucinda wanted was to get hurt again or to become distracted from her goal of happiness. She needed to keep her eyes on the prize, except it wasn't always so simple. Raif was just so pleasant to be around. He was nice, funny, considerate, appreciative, patient and his smile was contagious... oh boy was it contagious!

Sometimes Lucinda stayed up at night, laying in bed going over the events of that day and would find herself smiling just at the memory of him smiling. It was so honest, especially the way he looked her in the eyes, as if they really were windows to her soul. Like the day she was walking over to the soup station and somehow slipped, landing right on her bottom with feet in the air. Raif was immediately by her side and lifting her up by the armpits to get her to her feet. He stared so deeply into her eyes as he asked if she was ok, and it took her a moment to realize that she had gone completely mute with how hypnotizing his gaze was. Then with an embarrassed blush, she replied she was fine and wiggled out of his grasp.

He was overwhelming at times, so she often avoided his intense gaze, convincing herself that dodging his eyes would help her keep her goals on track. So far the money she was making was enough to cover her living expenses, which was great because it meant she didn't have to touch her savings account. The only downside was that her savings account wasn't growing. She needed it to grow so she could hopefully put a deposit down on a studio to start her flower shop. Eventually she could even build up to something bigger like a storefront.

Which was why staying focussed on her goal needed to be at the forefront of her mind, at all times. Thinking about Raif, needed to be non existent.

Of course it also didn't help that he seemed to be everywhere she was even when they weren't working together. Like after her morning runs whenever he would plop himself down next to her as she stretched her muscles and they'd watch the sunrise together. Or at the grocery store where she'd try to just give a friendly wave, but he'd make his way over and chat. This particular Sunday evening wasn't any different as she turned down an aisle and saw him picking out produce. Her breath hitched at the sight of him. Since it was Sunday Raif liked to work the cafe on his own, giving Lucinda a day off and it occurred to her that she actually missed his companionship on those days.

He had been a little flirty the day before, grazing her lower back with his palm any time he squeezed by her during the lunch rush. Or brushing his fingers against hers whenever he asked her to pass him something. Distraction. That's what the delicious feeling in her stomach was every time he touched her and Lucinda needed to keep her eyes on the prize! So, she blew out a breath and tried to push her cart past him, hoping to God he wouldn't notice... buuut he did.

"Are you really just going to pass on by and not say hello?" he said with his neck craned to look at her. She paused, her eyes closing with a wince, but she slowly turned to face him anyway.

"I just..." she shrugged, embarrassed. "Figured you see enough of me at work and maybe wanted a break?"

He tilted his head with a playful smirk. "So you thought walking right past me and pretending not to see me would be less awkward?"

"I guess so..." She blushed.

"Lucinda... oh Lucinda..." he shook his head and stuffed a melon into a reusable bag. "I could spot you a mile away with that beautiful head of hair of yours. So do us a favor and don't be such a stranger next time. It's not like we don't watch the sunrise together almost every morning."

She rolled her eyes with a smile spreading across her face. He was insufferable. "Might I add that I'm not the one inviting myself to sit down and interrupt a very important stretch and meditation time."

"Me?" He pointed to himself and gave her a sideways glance as he bagged a few lemons. "Here I thought you enjoyed my company. After all, you seem awfully happy to see me each time I walk up to you. You wouldn't be able to hide that smile in the dark with how bright it is."

Lucinda widened her eyes and her jaw dropped simultaneously. Suddenly she couldn't even form a sentence with his eyes digging into her and that smile, that damn smile. "Well... you... I mean, I..."

He raised a brow at her, a sly smile spreading even further on his face as he opened a container of blueberries, completely content with himself. Lucinda couldn't let him win whatever standoff they were having, so she straightened her back and placed her hands on her hips.

"Exercise happens make me happy, so you're just catching the tail end of my already happy state when you come up to me."

He popped a blueberry into his mouth and extended the container to her. "Well, blueberries make me happy."

"Thank you..." she said as she playfully narrowed her eyes at him and reached for a berry. As she placed it into her mouth and began to chew, she couldn't help but notice how he studied her mouth. She licked her lips self consciously and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed. A tickle rolled through her stomach and everything felt too intense despite the shopping carts between them. Whatever was going on was making her heart pound.

"Blueberries are my favorite," he said as if he were in a trance and continued to stare at her lips. Then he cleared his throat, snapping himself out of his zombie-like state and said more confidently, "But I think I've found a new favorite."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Can't tell you," he leaned in with a whisper. "But I also think you ought to add some blueberries into your basket. Trust me."

Darting her eyes away, Lucinda turned back to her shopping cart. "I should get going..."

"Wait." He reached out for her and she looked up at him over her shoulder. His eyes searched hers with a hypnotism that turned her thoughts to jello. "See you tomorrow morning at sunrise?" he asked.

"I never miss a run." She smiled and tore her gaze away from him along with her entire body as she pushed her cart down the aisle. Completely far from him.

Distracting. Way too distracting.

🌊🌊🌊

The next day as she rose for her run, she suddenly cared if she looked good in her jogging outfit. She stood in front of the mirror examining the tightness of the material against her hips, wondering if Raif would like the way it looked or not? Then she facepalmed herself. Running was her outlet for forgetting about the world for a bit and just be free, surrounded by the outdoors. Becoming stressed out over her jogging gear, was ridiculous! Yet she couldn't deny that something had shifted between her and Raif at the supermarket. She didn't have to be the smartest person on earth to feel that there was an attraction, a pull that both of them were having a hard time keeping at bay. The line between boss and employee had been blurred and she wasn't even sure if it counted when they were outside of the cafe? Maybe it did? Maybe ignoring the little pitter patter her heart made every time she remembered how he stared at her lips as if he wanted to taste them, was dangerous? She needed to not ignore it, and instead use it as a reminder to keep her priorities in check!

Who was she kidding, though? As soon as she was done with her jog and saw the silhouette of him walking out of the ocean, her heart became a conga drum. Sure enough, she could feel her cheeks tightening too as a smile began spreading on her face. As he approached she shielded her eyes against the bright beams of light from the sunrise and tried her darndest to bite back a smile.

"Hey!" Raif nodded and stabbed the end of his surfboard into the sand. "Good run?"

Lucinda stretched with her legs out in front of her and touched her toes. "Yes! Running on sand is different from running on gravel or concrete. My calves and thighs feel sore, but in a good way, so I must be working muscles I haven't before."

"You should try surfing."

"Hmm..." she thought it over. "Maybe one day, but for now the thought of sharks being out there terrifies me."

"Ok, take your time, but I'm telling you, if you like how your legs feel after running on sand, wait till you experience how they feel after surfing. I swear it's a greater workout than sex!"

"Right." Lucinda blushed at his frankness and looked down.

"Don't believe me?" He dipped his head to catch her eyes.

"I didn't say that..."

"Of course, if I had to choose, I'd go with sex, every time."

"Oh..." Lucinda's heart was pounding so hard that she swore it would explode from her chest if she didn't change the subject. "Aren't we getting a new coffee shipment today? The Guatemalan blend, right?"

The smile on his face dropped. "I'm so sorry, I made you uncomfortable... I'm such an ass..."

"It's ok."

"No, it's not." He shook his head. "I've become too comfortable with you and misread the situation. The last thing I want is for you to feel uncomfortable with me."

"I'm not... uncomfortable," she began to explain. "Just... caught off guard? I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been awkwardly single for quite some time, so sex doesn't usually come up in my conversations."

"Maybe it should. Maybe that's why you're awkwardly single." He nudged her elbow with a smile, teasing her.

"No... that's not why..." Lucinda looked away.

"Then why?" Raif asked in a softer, more serious tone as he began drawing circles into the sand.

It was silent for a few beats while Lucinda tried to formulate her words. Fear of revealing too much made it difficult to explain why she had become such a lonesome soul within the last three years. Taking a deep breath, she decided to be vague while at the same time giving Raif some truth.

"Have you ever had your heart broken so badly that it makes you a little scared to put yourself out there again?" He looked up at her, staring directly into her eyes and nodded his head. "Well, lets just say that mine was shattered and even though I've put the pieces back together, the fracture lines are still there. And those fracture lines remind me to be careful with who I give my heart to next..." Suddenly the conversation felt way to intimate with the way Raif was staring at her so intensely. It almost felt as if they were having an entirely different conversation. One where she was offering her heart to him and he was deciding what to do with it. Her pulse was thunderous as it pounded beneath the skin of her neck, so she looked away from him. "I'm not explaining this right."

"You're explaining it perfectly." He smiled softly. "Some jerk broke your heart and now you're safeguarding it. It's completely logical. I think most people do that after someone has crushed them, but if you ask me, you're letting whoever that guy was take up too much space up here..." He tapped his head. "And it's affecting how you are with this..." He placed a hand over the left side of his chest. "When you do that you're giving the person too much power and you shouldn't let them control you that way."

Lucinda shook her head. "I'm not letting him control me."

"Yet you said that the fracture lines he left you with are a reminder to be careful with who you give your heart to next..."

Lucinda opened and closed her mouth, the need to protest escaping her. What Raif had said made sense. She was letting her ex occupy space in her head and letting him control how she handled her heart. It was a tough truth to swallow, but she needed to hear it.

"You're... right..." she admitted out loud.

He shrugged and rubbed a soothing hand against her back. "It happens to us all, but at least now that you're aware of it, you can work on it." Lucinda slid her gaze toward him and cracked a smile. "What?" Raif asked, a smile spreading on his face too.

"Oh nothing. I was just thinking about how I never imagined that when I woke up this morning I would be getting lessons in love from my boss."

With that remark he retracted his hand from her back and dropped it onto his lap. The warmth of his touch still lingered on her shoulder blade and Lucinda tried to remember if her ex's touch had ever had the same effect? Then it dawned on her how she was doing exactly what Raif had said. She was letting that man occupy her thoughts again. It was a hard habit to break, but she would try to conquer it.

Raif got up and dusted himself off, stealing Lucinda's thoughts away as he held his hands out to her. "Come on. Let's go home so we can wash up and head to the cafe."

As Lucinda slipped her hands in his, she liked the way the, we, sounded when he said it. Especially because his wording about going home could've easily meant something different if they were a, we, but again, thoughts like that were just distraction. Work was where her mind needed to focus. She still had bills to pay, including her home in Redwood Village which was conveniently awaiting her return. Except there was no way she was going back there. Too many ghosts from her past were there and with her heart having it's own ideas about Raif, betraying her at every turn with pitter patters, she really hoped she wasn't creating ghosts in Breeze Bay too.

🌲🌲🌲

Back in Redwood Village, Merrill tried his best to entertain his son, daughter and their families. He had spent the morning cleaning the house, gathering fresh eggs and picking out a chicken for a recipe that his wife used to cook. When they arrived mid-day, he took his grandchildren out fishing and taught them how to milk the cows. He did that each time they visited but they always forgot since they only saw him twice a year. Merrill didn't mind their forgetfulness, though. He knew it wasn't their fault that their parents rarely brought them. The truth was, he enjoyed the company of grandchildren more than his own children. His grandchildren respected him and sought him out during the day but his children treated him as if he were senile. He hated it.

That evening Merrill's daughter Sylvia and his daughter-in-law Marie helped him prepare dinner. Meanwhile his son Aaron, son-in-law George and his grandchildren played board games. Merrill did not own a TV and felt irritated as he overheard Aaron and George complaining that there wasn't any cable. They were missing the playoffs and were bored stiff playing board games. Merrill tried his best to ignore it and carried on with setting the table.

During dinner, Merrill's grandchildren laughed at his jokes and gazed wide-eyed as he told stories about being in the Vietnam War. Little did Merrill notice that his daughter and son sat nervously throughout their entire meal. Afterward, Sylvia gathered up the dishes while Marie cut the cake she had made with the fresh eggs Merrill collected that morning.

Clearing his throat Aaron began to speak, "Dad. Sylvia and I have been talking and we feel..." Aaron fidgeted with the buttons on the wrist of his sleeve. "Uh, we've come to the conclusion together that we should put the house for sale."

"Oh really? Which house? Yours or Sylvia's?"

"No Dad. Aaron means your house," Sylvia said with an arm around Merrill's shoulder.

Merrill's skin grew scalding instantly. If he had been a cartoon, steam would've been coming out of his ears. "Have the both of you gone mad? This is MY home! I own it! What makes you think you can decide, or have the right to decide that I sell this house! You have no right."

"Dad please don't get upset." Sylvia pleaded.

"How can I not get upset Sylvia. This is my home. The home your mother and I made together. The home we raised you in and now the two of you want to sell it? What's in it for you, huh?"

"Dad you're being unreasonable." Aaron dropped his forehead into his palm and rubbed his temples. "You're getting older, we live almost two hours away. What if something happens to you? You need to be closer to us." Aaron then lifted his head back up and said in a calm tone that Merrill despised, "Look we found this great community for active seniors just a five minute drive from Sylvia and George. We could use the money we get from the house and get you a really nice apartment in that community."

"An apartment? I live in a three bedroom home with two and half baths. It has a full basement, a storm shelter and twenty acres of land. Not to mention the livestock and that my property has the river running through it!" At this point Merrill was breathing fire. "And you want to move me into an apartment! The four of you have gone mad!" He pounded his fist against the table.

"It's a nice community," Sylvia said as she placed a pamphlet in front of him and opened it. "It has a pool, a golf course, a park, it's pet friendly."

Aaron motioned to the pamphlet and added, "We made an appointment for you to see the community next weekend and--"

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Merrill growled, shoving the pamphlet away and causing everyone to flinch as he shot up from his chair.

"Dad, please sit down," Sylvia begged while placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Take your hands off of me Sylvia!" He barked and she immediately backed away from him.

"Dad, just please listen to us..." Sylvia's eyes were begining to water, but Merrill continued on despite it.

"You guys come into my home, eat my food, sit at my table, treat me like a blubbering fool and bombard me with this nonsense. Your mother is probably turning in her grave!" Merrill could hear his voice starting to break and it didn't help that he felt terribly for making his daughter cry. "All of you only care to see me two times a year and when it's convenient for you, so what difference would it make having me live closer?"

"It's hard to come up here Dad," Aaron replied with an exhausted sigh. "We have lives too and our own families that we're raising. It's hard to rearrange everything in order to make plans to come up here. If you lived closer..."

"Oh please Aaron! It's only an hour and a half drive. Two hours at the most with traffic! The two of you are just so absorbed in your own lives that you have forgotten all of the sacrifices your mother and I made for you."

"Pop is right." Marie, his daughter in law stepped in. "It's not our place to decide that he should sell it." Aaron tried to hush Marie but she ignored him. "I'm sorry Pop. We didn't mean to ruin this visit for you and we should make more of an effort to come see you."

Merrill felt his eyes burn. He did not want to cry in front of his children and have them think of him as a feeble and fragile man even more.

"I think it's time to go," said Sylvia's husband, George, as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I think you're right," she replied and wiped her eyes. "Kids, please gather your things."

There was a round of protesting from Merrill's grandchildren, maybe even some whining, but they gathered their coats anyway.

"We should go too." Aaron scooted his chair back and glared at his father. "Thanks for the visit, Dad, always a pleasure."

The evening ended sourly as his kids and grandchildren said goodbye to him while shuffling out of the house. Marie was the last one out of the door, but stopped to kiss his cheeks and smile at him apologetically. As Merrill squeezed her hands, he thought of how lucky his son was to be married to such a sweet woman.

"You're much too good for my son," he sighed.

Marie laughed softly. "Don't be so hard in him. He's a great man and a good father, he's just... he's still healing from your wife's death. He loved her a lot."

"So did I."

"I know." Marie squeezed his hand. "See ya, Pop."

Merrill watched as their cars pulled out of the driveway and felt more than ever that it was time for a change in scenery for a while.