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Chapter Text

Tim Bradford sat across from his commanding officer, Sergeant Grey. The older man had an open file folder on his desk. Contained in that folder were documents pertaining to Tim’s health, both physical and mental. At the thought of what those documents might say, Tim shifted in his seat. Although it wasn’t hurting him in that particular moment him, Tim swore he could feel the bullet that was still inside of him pressing against his muscles. He knew it was probably all in his head. It had been weeks since he had been shot. Weeks since the doctors had decided that taking the bullet out would do more harm than good. But the bullet felt harmful to Tim. It felt like that bullet would be a constant reminder of how he had failed.

“The doctor signed off,” Tim stated, breaking the silence between him and Grey.

“I read his report,” Grey responded, closing the folder.

“So, can I come back to work?”

Grey looked Tim in the eyes. “The therapist didn’t sign off.”

“Come on, that guy is a quack. I’m fine.”

“You were shot,” Grey said very matter of factly. “Your rookie was killed.”

There was that word. Killed. Dead. Deceased. Murdered. No matter how you said it, the words meant the same thing. Someone that Tim was responsible for had lost their life on his watch.

“I did all of the recommended physical therapy and sessions with the therapist,” Tim continued, ignoring Grey’s last comment. He didn’t want to think about his rookie. “I’m fine.”

“I think you need more time,” Grey said.

“Sir…”

“You also haven’t taken a vacation since you started at Mid-Wilshire. That was many years ago.”

“I don’t believe in vacations,” Tim said. He knew it sounded dumb, but he believed in what he was saying. He had no reason to take a vacation. Work was his life. He wanted to work. He needed to work.

“Six months,” Grey said.

“Six months, what?”

“You’re on leave for six months.”

“What?”

“Take the time to process what happened,” Grey said. “Take time to heal.”

“I am healed! Sir, I’m fine.”

“Take a vacation. Get out of LA for a while.”

“I don’t want to get out of LA,” Tim protested. “I want to get back to work!”

Grey sighed. “You know I’m on your side.”

“Are you? Because it sure as hell feels like you’re in cahoots with that quack therapist!”

“Tim, you’ve been through a lot these last few years. What happened between you and Isabelle. Your last rookie washing out. This one being gunned down, which you know wasn’t your fault. Getting shot yourself. Take the time, Tim. Get your head on straight.”

“Do I have a choice?”

Grey shook his head. “No. If you choose not to comply to the six months of leave, you’ll be terminated from the LAPD.”

Tim stood up. “Well, just know that you’ll have one less person to keep the streets of LA safe for these next six months.”

Without letting Grey respond, Tim walked out the door, letting it slam behind him. Angela, perhaps his best friend in the department, jogged to catch up to him as he sped walk through the building.

“What happened?” She asked, keeping pace with him.

“Six month leave.”

“What? Grey put you on a six month leave?”

“He said I need to get my head on straight.”

“Are you going to fight it?”

Tim shook his head and sighed. He knew he had rights. He could go to his union rep and make a claim against the department, but that wasn’t his style. And perhaps, deep down inside, Tim knew Grey was right.

“No,” Tim answered simply.

“What are you going to do?” Angela asked.

He turned to look at her right as he reached the door. “I don’t know.”

Tim pushed open the door and made his way to his truck. When he got behind the wheel he stared out at the familiar building. Mid-Wilshire was more of a home to him than his own home had been. The thought of not being able to work for six months was unbearable. What the hell was he going to do with himself? Besides watching sports he really had no hobbies. And aside from his colleagues at work, he had no real friends or family either in LA.

Tim slammed his fist down on the dashboard. He probably would have slammed his fist again when his phone began to buzz. He looked at the caller ID. It was his sister. He thought about not answering. He thought about going home and drowning himself in beer. Then he remembered that he had no beer because he had drunk it all a few nights before. Actually there had been many nights when he had consumed beer in excess since he had been shot.

“Hey Genny,” Tim said, deciding to answer the phone.

“How did the meeting with your sergeant go?” Genny asked.

Tim sighed. “Not great. He put me on six months leave.”

“I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you wanted.” There was a pause. “But I think this will be a good thing for you.”

Leave it to his sister to agree with the quack therapist.

“I need to work, Genny.”

“There’s more to life than work,” Genny said. Tim didn’t reply. “Look, why don’t you come visit?”

“Visit?”

“Yes, visit. You know, that thing family does every once in a while. It’s been over a year since we’ve seen you. I know Tyler would love for you to come. And I could use the company after the divorce. Our apartment isn’t much, but our couch is comfortable and the weather is beautiful in New England in the spring…”

“The weather is beautiful all the time in LA,” Tim countered.

“Just come. What else do you have to do?”

Tim had to admit she was right. He didn’t have anything else to do.

“I’ll think about it.”

*****

On the other side of the country, 2500 miles away, Lucy Chen crammed one last moving box into the back of her brand new CRV. It was double parked on a busy New York city street. The sounds of the city surrounded her. Lucy wondered if she would miss those sounds.

She slammed the hatchback closed, knowing full well that when she opened it again, more than likely something would fall right out. The car was jam packed with her belongings.

“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Chris said from the steps of their apartment building.

“I do,” Lucy responded. She gestured between the two of them. “But we don’t have to do this again.”

“You’re the one leaving,” Chris pointed out.

“I’m not taking the bait, Chris. We’ve been over this time and time again. We want different things. And if we’re both being honest, this relationship hasn’t really worked for years. We stayed because it was easy. But I think we both deserve more.”

“I love you, you know.”

“I know.”

“But you can’t say it back, can you?” Chris countered.

“Do you really want me to answer that?”

“Alex will miss me.”

“He can’t miss someone who was barely around. And I don’t think you’ll miss him.” Lucy sighed. She did not want to have the same argument with Chris again. “Goodbye, Chris. I wish you well, I really do.”

“Just remember what you’re walking away from,” Chris retorted.

“Bye,” Lucy said simply before getting in the car. She pulled out carefully and didn’t look back. Although she had been living in the city for the past five years and could navigate it easily by foot and by subway, driving was a whole other story. Lucy hadn’t driven a car in years and she had to concentrate on the busy city streets. It took her nearly twenty minutes to go just two miles down the street to the school. She got into the car pickup line just as the bell rang. In New York City very few public school children got picked up in cars so there were only a few cars ahead of her. Lucy spotted Alex right away and with a wave to his teacher, Alex trotted over to the car. He opened the back door.

“Wow, nice car!” Alex exclaimed.

“You like it?”

“Yeah! Is it ours?”

“It is as of nine o’clock this morning.”

“What’s this?” Alex asked, pointing to a booster seat that was taking up the only available space for him to sit. The rest of the backseat was covered in boxes.

“It’s a booster seat.”

“I’m not a baby!”

“It’s not for babies.”

“Then who is it for?”

“For kids who aren’t quite big enough or old enough to safely sit in a car without one. Now get in. I want to start driving before traffic gets too bad.”

“Do I have to sit in it?”

“It’s the law, bud. All kids under eight have to sit in some type of special seat.”

“I’m almost eight!” Alex insisted.

“You just turned seven last month.”

“Why can’t we take the subway?”

“Because the subway doesn’t go all the way to where we’re going. And we have too much stuff with us. Now climb in.”

“Fine.”

Alex climbed onto the seat. Lucy reached back and helped him with the seatbelt. When they were both safely buckled, she started driving. As Alex rambled on about his day at school, Lucy concentrated on driving safely through the city. Once they were out of the city, Lucy started to relax a little. They only had about two more hours to go before they reached their destination.

“Mom?” Alex asked from the backseat.

“Yeah, bud?”

“I’m going to miss my friends.”

“I know, sweetheart. But we’re not that far away. We can still see them sometimes. And I just know you’re going to make lots of new friends at the new house.”

“Can I play baseball?” Alex asked.

“Of course. We’ll find you a Little League team right away.”

“Mom?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m glad it’s just me and you.”

Lucy smiled. “Me, too, bud. Me too. Hey, you want to listen to some music?”

“Yeah.”

“Hamilton?”

“Yes!”

Lucy laughed at his excitement. She pressed a few buttons on the screen of the car that was connected to her phone and Lin Manuel Miranda’s voice began to come through the speakers. As they both sang along, she smiled.

Just over two hours later, during their second time singing Aaron Burr, Sir Lucy pulled the car down a long driveway she hadn’t seen since she was Alex’s age. As they approached the house, she smiled. It looked the same. Well, it looked older than Lucy remembered, but mostly the same.

“Is this our new house?” Alex asked.

“It is. Wanna check it out?”

“Yes!”

Lucy turned off the car and they both got out. Taking Alex’s hand, they walked closer. The house was huge and also oddly decorated. One quarter of the house was painted a bright pink while there was another section that was blue and one side was green. It looked like a toddler had picked out the colors. From what Lucy remembered, she knew there were four bedrooms and two bathrooms on the top floor as well as a laundry room and a walk-in closet that was bigger than Lucy and Chris’s entire New York apartment. The main floor had two additional bathrooms, a huge kitchen, a formal dining room, a living room, a parlor (that Lucy was never allowed to sit in as a kid), an office, and beautiful french doors that led out to a backyard garden oasis complete with a pergola and built in firepit. Further on in the backyard was even a small guest house with its own mini kitchen and bathroom. Lucy remembered playing in it like it was a fort when she was little.

When they reached the front, wooden steps that led up to a wrap around porch, Lucy noticed the bottom step had a massive hole in it.

“Be careful,” Lucy warned Alex. “Honey, this play is old and it’s been empty for a little while. We need to make sure we’re paying attention and being cautious, ok? No running around or playing until we get a good look at it.”

“Ok,” Alex agreed. “Will I get my own bedroom?”

Lucy smiled. “You will.”

“Yes!”

After carefully ascending the steps, Lucy took the key out of her pocket that had been mailed to her and slipped it into the lock. The door creaked open. The air inside the house was stale, but nothing that couldn’t be dealt with by opening a few windows. It was still furnished with a modge podge of antiques, colorful pieces, and old furniture that had seen better days. As Lucy and Alex walked down the main hallway, exploring, Lucy could see there were plenty of places where wallpaper was peeling, floorboards creaked more than they should, and there was a pretty thick layer of dust on everything.

Alex sneezed. “It’s dirty in here,” he said, scrunching up his nose.

“I know,” Lucy said, wondering if she should have made the drive by herself and gotten the place cleaned up a bit before bringing Alex there. But that would have meant leaving Alex with Chris and she wasn’t comfortable with that.

“We’ll clean it up,” Lucy said cheerfully.

“Can we go see my room now?”

“Of course! You’ll have three rooms to choose from.”

“Really?”

“Yup. Mommy gets the biggest room, but…”

“Wait, how come you get the biggest room?” Alex pouted.

“Because I’m the grownup.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Fine, but I get the second biggest.”

“Deal.”

Several hours later, Lucy was sitting up in the bed of the master bedroom. Alex was asleep next to her. A half eaten pizza was in a box on a little table next to the bed. The entire house needed such a good cleaning that Lucy decided for night one, they would clean just one room well enough to be comfortable to sleep in. Lucy had vacuumed the mattress to get all of the dust off of it and fitted it with the sheets they had brought from New York. She dusted the surfaces in the room and vacuumed the floors. Not wanting to use the kitchen until she could give it a real cleaning, they had ordered pizza. Alex had fallen asleep almost immediately after eating. Lucy didn’t have the heart to wake him up and order him to brush his teeth so she let him sleep. Lucy was wide awake, though, scrolling through her phone. She was determined to find her son a baseball team to play on sooner rather than later. Baseball was the one thing he loved more than anything else and she promised that the move wasn’t going to take that away from him. She was going to do right by her son.

Chapter Text

Pulling his duffle bag with him, Tim got out of his truck. He arched his back, feeling every muscle as they bent back into place. He had been sitting for way too long. The last stretch of drive Tim had done had been a grueling ten hours and his body was protesting. He knew he shouldn’t have pushed himself so hard, but he was tired of being on the road and was eager to reunite with his sister and nephew.

Tim grabbed some of the fast food wrappers from his passenger seat and threw them in a nearby garbage can. He had parked in the parking lot of a Little League baseball complex complete with two baseball and two softball fields with a concessions stand and bathrooms in the middle. The parking lot was full of cars, mostly SUVs and minivans, Tim noted. It was the address his sister had given him, but the complex was a decent size and he had no idea where he was actually going. Locking his truck, Tim wandered through the parking lot.

“Come on, bud, we’re going to be late,” a female voice said.

Tim glanced over and saw a pretty woman with her dark hark in a bun at the base of her neck standing at the back of her CRV. She was ushering a boy out of the backseat. Tim wondered for a brief moment what it would be like to take her hair out of that bun. As quickly as the thought came, though, he shook it out of his mind. She was a stranger just trying to get her kid to baseball practice and it wasn’t like Tim to lust after someone.

“I can’t find my shoe!” A boy’s voice called out.

“Why aren’t you already wearing your shoe?” The woman asked back.

Tim spotted a child size black and white cleat about a foot under the car. The boy must have dropped it and it somehow rolled away. Tim walked over to the CRV. He got down on his hands and knees and pulled the shoe out.

“Here you go, slugger,” Tim said.

At the sound of a man’s voice, the woman came out from behind the vehicle. She was clearly startled by the presence of an adult male and went immediately into defensive mom mode. The woman was petite, but Tim had a feeling she could hold her own.

When Lucy heard a man’s voice, her first instinct was to protect her son. But when she saw the man standing a few feet in front of her, holding Alex’s shoe, she relaxed. He had a calming presence. He was tall, in good shape, and had a handsome face. He seemed a little older than Lucy, but he was most definitely attractive.

“Thanks!” Alex exclaimed, taking the shoe from Tim.

“Thank you,” Lucy said to Tim. “I swear he’d lose his head if it wasn’t attached.”

“You’re welcome.”

She smiled at him and Tim was struck by how beautiful she was. He smiled back.

“We…ah…we have to get going,” Lucy stuttered wondering why she suddenly felt nervous around the stranger.

“Right, don’t want to be late,” Tim replied. “Good luck out there, kid.”

“It’s just a practice,” Alex explained.

“Don’t be rude,” Lucy said. “Thanks again for finding his shoe.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Tim began to walk away. He turned back just long enough to see the license plate of the car as Lucy shut the hatchback. New York plates. Interesting, Tim thought. Trying to shake the vibe that there was some sort of story there, Tim walked off towards the fields. He quickly texted Genny and she immediately responded with which field to go. He walked over and saw her sitting in the stands.

“Tim! Hi!” Genny shrieked, running down the metal bleachers to fling herself into Tim’s arms.

“Hey, sis,” Tim said, wrapping his arms around his sister. It felt better than he expected to be in the arms of someone he really cared about. He had been missing that for a long time.

“I’m really glad you decided to come,” Genny said.

“Yeah, me too.”

“I can’t believe you chose to drive all that way by yourself. How was it?”

“It was ok,” Tim answered. “It was nice to be out on the road. I’m supposed to be clearing my head so that’s what I did.”

“I’m glad. And I’m really glad you’re here.”

“Where’s Tyler?” Tim asked.

“He’s out in left field. He’s really excited to see you.”

Shielding his eyes from the sun, Tim looked out onto the field. He could just about make out his nephew standing in the grass concentrating more on some bird flying overhead than what the coach was yelling from home plate.

As Tim and Genny settled next to each other on the bleachers, chatting about Tim’s drive cross-country, Tim saw the woman from the parking lot walking to the field with her son behind her. She walked right up to the fence that surrounded the field.

“Excuse me,” Lucy called over to the coach.

The coach stopped showing the child in front of him how to hold the bat and walked over to Lucy. He was an older man with wrinkles on his face and a bit of a gut that hung over his Jeans. He had kind eyes, though. Kind eyes that Lucy would hope would cut her a break.

“Can I help you?” The coach asked.

“I hope so. My name is Lucy Chen. This is my son Alex. He just turned seven. We were hoping to sign up for a team.”

“I’m sorry. Sign ups were two weeks ago. We’re starting practice now.”

“I saw that online,” Lucy explained. “The trouble is, we just moved here about five days ago so I didn’t know about sign ups.”

“Those are the rules, ma’am. I’m sorry. Maybe he can find a town league to play in somewhere nearby.”

Before the coach could walk away, Lucy kept talking.

“But those aren’t the official rules,” Lucy said. “I read the official Little League rulebook and it doesn’t say anything about having to sign up a certain number of weeks in advance. Look, he’s been playing in Little League since he was four. And I have all of the paperwork filled out including a physical from the doctor. And I have a check ready to go to pay for his spot. Please.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe next year,” the coach said.

“Look, sir,” Lucy stated with more of an authoritative tone in her voice. “We’re new here. My son needs to make friends and be part of a team. I am asking you to please reconsider and…and I’ll volunteer!”

“We don’t need any more coaches.”

Lucy racked her brain. She was not going to let this man say no to her.

“I’ll…run concessions during games,” she continued. “Or I can bring a healthy snack for the kids every week. Please…”

“Is there a problem, Chuck?” Genny asked.

Lucy looked as she saw a tall, pretty, redheaded woman walking towards her from the bleachers.

“This doesn’t concern you, Genny,” the coach, whose name apparently was Chuck, said to her.

“Why won’t you help this poor lady and her son out?” Genny asked. “Isn’t Little League all about sportsmanship and camaraderie? She just wants her kid to play baseball.”

“It wouldn’t be fair to the other players who get denied because they try to sign up late.”

“What other players?” Genny asked, looking around. “I don’t see anyone else trying to sign up. Let the kid play. Be a rebel, Chuck. Otherwise I might just have to talk to Cindy on Monday at school and tell her that her husband is trying to deny children a proper physical education.”

“Fine!” Chuck exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. “The kids like watermelon and orange slices. At least that’ll be one less thing I have to do.”

“I got it,” Lucy replied. “Watermelon and orange slices. I’ll have them here for the next practice.”

Huffing, Chuck walked back onto the field.

“Come on, kid!” He called back at Alex.

Alex grabbed his bat and, with a huge smile on his face, raced after the coach. Seeing her son happy made Lucy smile.

“Thank you,” Lucy said to Genny.

“Don’t mention it. Chuck isn’t a bad guy. He’s been volunteering to coach since his kids were young. Now he’s got two grandkids on the team. He’s just a rule follower.”

“Well, I appreciate the assist,” Lucy said.

“I work with his wife at the elementary school in town. I’m a kindergarten teacher there. His wife is the phys ed teacher. She takes physical fitness very seriously. She should probably retire, but I don’t think she wants to be home with Chuck all day.”

Lucy laughed.

“I’m Genny, by the way,” Genny continued. “Genny…Bradford. Sorry, I’m just getting used to going back to my maiden name.”

“I’m Lucy. Lucy Chen.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Lucy. So, you just moved here?”

“Yeah. Over on Baker street.”

“Not into Crazy Mae’s house?”

“Mae was my aunt,” Lucy answered with a chuckle.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“No, it’s ok. She was a bit eccentric. After she passed a few months ago, she left everything to me. And it turned out I needed a bit of a fresh start after a breakup and wanting to get out of the city so…here I am.”

“Here you are. Well, I’ve lived here for almost fifteen years and just finalized a divorce so I know the breakup story all too well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lucy said.

“Don’t be. It was amicable and for the best. My son Tyler is out there in the field. He’s seven.”

“Alex just turned seven. When I finally get the house all cleaned up, we’ll have you and your son over for a playdate. Although that might take a while considering the condition it’s in.”

“Well, we’ll just have to have you over to our place in the meantime,” Genny offered. “Come sit with us.”

Tim had remained on the bleachers, watching and listening to what was going on. It now made sense why the woman had New York plates. And he knew she was newly single. Not that he should be thinking about that. He also knew that she was willing to stand up for herself and her son. And he knew that she was gorgeous.

“Lucy, I want you to meet Tim, my brother,” Genny introduced as she made her way up to where Tim was sitting. Lucy followed her. “Tim, this is Lucy.”

“We sorta met already,” Lucy said, recognizing him. “It’s nice to meet you officially.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Tim replied.

Genny turned to Tim. “Wait, you’ve been in Connecticut for what? Five minutes? And you’ve met the new girl before I did?”

“I’m visiting,” Tim explained to Lucy, hoping to fill in the gaps. “I just drove in today.”

“Where from?” Lucy asked, feeling a small twinge of disappointment that the handsome man wasn’t going to be sticking around.

“Los Angeles,” Tim answered. “But I’ll be here for a while.”

“That’s quite a drive,” Lucy commented.

“Wait, how did you two meet in the parking lot?” Genny asked. “He wasn’t hitting on you, was he?”

“Genny!” Tim snapped.

Lucy smiled. “No. He helped find my son’s shoe.”

“Ah…the detective strikes again,” Genny remarked. “He always was good at finding stuff when we were kids.”

“I’m not a detective,” Tim added quickly. “I’m a sergeant.”

“So, you mean, you’re outranked by detectives?” Genny teased.

“No,” Lucy answered before Tim could. “It’s really more a matter of what kind of police work you want to do. Detectives are assigned to specialized divisions. A sergeant often still works a beat, but helps organize and monitor the other officers on that beat.” Lucy noticed the way Tim was looking at her. It was as if he was amazed. She was sure her cheeks grew a little pink. “At least, that’s how it’s been in my experience.”

“Your experience?” Tim asked. Normally someone didn’t know something like that unless they or a close family member were involved with the police department in some way. Tim was fascinated by how much she knew.

“I…”

Lucy was interrupted when a tall, blond woman in high heels and a white tracksuit plopped down on the bleachers next to Genny.

“Can you believe it’s baseball season again?” The woman asked. “I feel like we just finished up last year’s season. Don’t tell anyone I said this, but I hope the team is awful this year. I do not want to do any championships or playoffs or anything to make the season longer. I tried to convince Cora to do something girly like dance or gymnastics, but that girl loves baseball for some reason.” The woman locked eyes on Tim. “Oh, hello.”

“Ah…everyone, this is Ashley. Ashley’s daughter plays on the team, too. Ashley, this is my brother, Tim and my new friend Lucy. Her son, Alex, is on the team, too.”

Ashley extended her hand to Tim. “Nice to meet you, Tim. Aren’t you handsome?”

Lucy nearly choked on her own spit. She wondered if a line like that ever really worked on anyone. Focusing her eyes on the field, Lucy listened as Ashley went on and on about some event that was going on at the school in the future. Lucy once glanced over at Tim and saw that he was looking at her. They both looked away, sheepishly. Feeling a little warm, Lucy took off her sweatshirt, leaving it on the bench beside her, and tried to concentrate on watching her son at practice. She had to try really hard not to look at the handsome man nearby.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Tim woke up with a backache. He sat up slowly from the couch he had slept on, rubbing his sore muscle. It hurt right over where the bullet still lived inside of him. Tim rubbed his hands over his face. He was appreciative that his sister was willing to let him sleep on her couch, but he wasn’t sure if his body would be able to handle it. He wondered if there were any decent hotels in the area that would give him a weekly rate. After all, he hadn’t planned on returning home any time soon. He felt like there was nothing back in LA to return to.

“Hey, Uncle Tim!” Tyler yelled, bounding out of his bedroom and heading right for where Tim sat on the couch. Tyler launched his body at Tim. Bracing for impact, Tim caught him in his arms and they both tumbled against the back of the couch.

“Morning, kid,” Tim said, grimacing. His back was screaming in pain.

“Tyler, what did I say about jumping on your Uncle Tim?” Genny asked, coming out of her bedroom with a robe over her pajamas.

“Not to do it,” Tyler answered.

“Right. Your Uncle Tim is still recovering.”

“I’m fine,” Tim insisted, even though his back wasn’t feeling fine.

With his mother staring at him, Tyler climbed off of Tim and sat down beside him on the couch.

“What are we having for breakfast?” Tyler asked.

“How about I make us all my famous pancakes?” Tim suggested.

“Yes!” Tyler exclaimed, fist pumping into the air.

“You don’t have to do that,” Genny insisted. “You’re supposed to be a guest.”

“I’m your brother. I’m not a guest.”

“Can I go play on my Xbox until the pancakes are done?” Tyler asked.

“Only until the pancakes are done,” Genny answered. “And don’t forget you’re going to your dads later today.”

“Thanks mom!” Tyler shouted, jumping off the couch and heading back to his room. Tim couldn’t help but be a little hurt that the kid was much more interested in his gaming console than him.

“Seeing as how you’ve established that you’re not a guest, maybe after you make the pancakes, you can do me a favor while I drop Tyler off at his dad’s and go grocery shopping?”

“Sure,” Tim said, slowly getting up. He tried hard not to wince. He didn’t want his sister to know the pain he was in. “What is it?”

Genny picked up a black sweatshirt that was hung on the back of one of the kitchen chairs.

“This belongs to Lucy,” Genny stated.

“The woman from the baseball game yesterday?” Tim questioned.

“Ah, so you remember her,” Genny said with a smirk. “Well, she left it behind and you know the nights get cool around here so she’ll need something to keep her warm and…”

“I know what you’re doing,” Tim interjected.

“What am I doing?”

“Trying to set me up with a woman you don’t even know.”

“I know her name is Lucy and she has an adorable son named Alex and she just moved her from New York City. Oh, and I know she’s single.”

“I’m just here visiting,” Tim reminded her.

“I’m not saying you have to marry her. Just…be open. I could see you two had a spark.”

“Oh really?” Tim countered. He wasn’t the type of person who enjoyed being set up, but Tim couldn’t disagree that he did feel something when he was near Lucy.

“Look, it’s just dropping off a sweatshirt. Unlike LA, we’re neighborly here.”

“Right. And how do you know where Lucy lives? You literally met her yesterday.”

“That’s easy. She told me she moved into Crazy Mae’s house. I guess Mae was her aunt and left everything, including her house, to Lucy.”

“Who’s Crazy Mae?” Tim asked.

“She was this older lady who has lived here longer than anyone else I know. She’s a bit of a local legend. I think she was born in that house that Lucy just moved into. Anyway, she was always wearing the most mismatched clothes. And her house is at least four different colors. She’d give out small antiques to the kids at Halloween instead of candy and decorate for 4th of July at Christmastime. She got the nickname Crazy Mae. But she was actually quite sweet and totally harmless. Even though she didn’t have any kids of her own, she was always donating to fundraisers for the school and she volunteered every Thanksgiving at the soup kitchen a town over. As she got older, the neighborhood banded together to make sure her grass still got mowed and everyone took turns delivering groceries to her house. I think most people were actually a little sad when she passed away.”

“Well, she sounds…interesting.”

“Come on, you live in LA. There must be a lot of interesting people out there.”

“You can say that again.”

“So, are you going to bring Lucy’s sweatshirt back to her?” Genny asked, getting the conversation back on track.

“Yeah,” Tim agreed. “After all, it’s the neighborly thing to do.”

Genny handed the sweatshirt over to Tim. When she turned her back, he couldn’t help but sniff it. It smelled like a combination of wildflowers and vanilla. The smell was intoxicating.

After making his famous Tim Bradford pancakes, which included a dash of cinnamon and a little extra vanilla extract, Tim got in his truck and drove to where his GPS told him Crazy Mae’s house was. Tim knew immediately why people had called the old woman crazy. He hadn’t gotten the vibe from Lucy that she was quite so eccentric and he immediately realized just how much work Lucy would have to do to make the house a little more normal.

As he turned off his truck, Tim saw Lucy come out from around the back of her house. Her hair was in a ponytail and Tim got his first look at her long, dark hair. Even though it was in a ponytail, he could tell that it wasn’t exactly straight, but it wasn’t curly either. It seemed to have the perfect wave to it. She was in a pair of overalls over a light pink shirt and she had work boots on her feet. She was holding a small square of sandpaper in one hand and, as she got closer, Tim could see a smudge of brown wood stain on her cheek.

“Hey,” Tim said, getting out of his truck. “I’m Tim, Genny’s brother. We met yesterday at the baseball field.”

“I remember,” Lucy said with a little smile.

Tim realized he should have thought of a better first line.

“Right. Ah…you left your sweatshirt at the game yesterday and Genny sent me to give it back to you.”

“That was really thoughtful of you and her. Thank you.”

Tim grabbed the sweatshirt from the passenger seat of his truck and handed it off to Lucy. Their fingers brushed briefly and Tim felt a spark.

“You’re welcome. It looks like you’ve got your hands full around here.”

“Yeah. This place needs a lot of work.”

“Genny said it belonged to your aunt? She had some…interesting taste.”

Lucy laughed. “She did.”

Suddenly there was the sound of glass breaking.

“Mom!” Alex’s voice rang out from somewhere behind the house.

Lucy took off in a sprint immediately. Tim followed. Alex was standing next to the guest house in the backyard. One of the windows was broken. He had his bat in one hand. His ball was sitting on the floor inside the small house.

“Honey, are you alright?” Lucy asked, kneeling on the ground in front of him and putting her hands on his shoulders. She looked her son up and down for any signs of injury.

“I’m ok, mom. Sorry about the window.”

Lucy looked at the broken glass. “A window can be replaced. You can’t. I’m just glad you’re ok. And maybe next time we play baseball away from the house. Ok?”

“Ok.”

Tim watched the interaction between Lucy and her son in awe. If he had ever done something like that as a child, his father certainly would not have reacted in the same way.

“Do you remember meeting Tim yesterday?” Lucy asked. “He’s Tyler’s uncle.”

“Yeah, he found my shoe!”

“Nice to see you again, bud,” Tim said. “Looks like you’ve got quite a swing there.”

“It’s hard to play by myself.”

“Well, I’d be happy to throw the ball around with you anytime,” Tim offered.

Alex’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Ah…we don’t want to take up too much of Tim’s time, honey,” Lucy interjected. “He’s here visiting his family.”

“No, it’s fine,” Tim insisted. “Really, I’d be happy to.”

“Good, cause mom sucks at baseball and I don’t have a dad.”

“Language, young man,” Lucy warned. “And I think we’ve said enough for today.”

The words ‘don’t have a dad’ floated through Tim’s mind. He knew Lucy had broken up with somebody recently. Had he not been Alex’s father? In Tim’s mind, any man who walked away from the responsibility of being a dad didn’t deserve to be one.

“Can I go play in my room?” Alex asked.

“Sure, honey. Just be careful to…”

“Go around the loose floorboards. I got it, mom. Bye, Tim!”

Alex ran into the house, leaving Tim and Lucy alone.

“I can help you board up the window if you want,” Tim offered.

“Thanks, I got it. I think there’s some extra wood lying around in the basement. I’ll go back to the hardware store again tomorrow and ask them about windows.”

“May I ask what you’re working on now?” Tim asked, motioning to the piece of sandpaper that was still in her hand.

“Oh, the pergola back here wasn’t finished before my aunt passed. It needs to be sanded and stained.”

“You’re going to sand an entire pergola with a piece of sanding paper?”

“The hardware store rents electric sanders, but they ran out for the weekend. Apparently everyone is sanding this weekend. I figured I’d at least get a head start with the areas Alex can reach so he doesn’t get a splinter and I’ll rent something later in the week.”

“Are you planning on doing all of the repairs to the house yourself?”

“Most. If I can. Don’t be so surprised. I’m pretty handy and a fast learner,” Lucy said. “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t…”

“No, no, that’s not what I was thinking. Of course you’re more than capable.”

“Sorry, I can get defensive about things like that. Some things I’ll have to contract out like the electrical and plumbing. Especially when I start working again next week. But Alex will be starting at school tomorrow so that’ll help give me more time to get things done.”

“What do you do for work?” Tim asked.

“I’m a licensed therapist and social worker. I have private clients, but I also worked with the NYPD on assisting domestic abuse and violent crime victims. I counsel them through the trauma and get them the resources they need.”

“That’s how you knew so much about how detectives don’t outrank sergeants.”

“Yeah. You learn the police lingo pretty fast when you work with officers all day. Because of the move right now I’m mostly taking my private clients and doing virtual sessions, but I am still going to work virtually with some of the friends I made in the NYPD to help victims and survivors.”

“That sounds like an amazing partnership,” Tim commented and he meant it. He knew that the counselors who worked with the LAPD were just as important as the police officers themselves in many cases.

“It’s something I’m really proud of. I think it’s really made a difference in a lot of people’s lives.”

“That’s very noble.”

“And being a sergeant in the LAPD isn’t?”

Tim shrugged. “We do what we can to keep the streets safe.”

“Still, it’s dangerous work.”

Tim thought of the rookie he had lost and the bullet still in his body.

“Look, you can’t do all of this work on the house all by yourself,” Tim said, wanting to change the subject. Lucy opened her mouth to object, but Tim put up his hand to quiet her. “And I’m not saying that because you’re a woman. Let me help you.”

“You want to help me renovate?”

“I’m good with my hands,” Tim said before realizing that that sounded like a come-on. “What I mean is, I’m good at home improvement stuff. My dad taught me when I was a kid.”

“I thought you were supposed to be here visiting your sister.”

“I am. But I’m here for a while. And she’ll be teaching all day and Tyler will be at school. Really you’d be doing me a favor giving me something to do.”

The therapist in Lucy realized quite quickly that Tim had something he was trying to work through. She wasn’t quite sure what it was, but she knew that for many people, keeping busy was the only way to let them work through whatever it was that they were going through. And for some reason she trusted Tim.

“Ok. But I don’t have any tools here and…”

“That won’t be a problem. Genny’s ex-husband lives just on the other side of town. He’s got a whole garage full.”

“And he won’t mind you using them?”

“No. Like Genny said, their divorce was amicable. He’s actually a pretty decent guy. They just weren’t meant for each other. And despite having lots of tools, he’s not actually great at home improvement. I think the tools were just for show. I’m sure he’d be happy for them to get some use.”

“I’ll pay you for your time.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

“I can’t just take advantage of you. I…”

“Like I said, you’d really be doing me a favor,” Tim insisted.

“Ok, um…I have to bring Alex to school in the morning and meet his teacher and everything. Then I have a client at 10:00. Could you come over for 12:00 and we could go over some projects?”

“That sounds perfect. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Ok. See you tomorrow.”

Lucy watched him go, not quite sure what she had just gotten herself into.

Chapter Text

The next day Tim drove his truck around the same block three times just to waste time. He didn’t want to show up at Lucy’s too early and seem too eager. He had stopped to get himself a sandwich at a local deli for lunch and then decided to get something for her too. Of course, he didn’t know what she liked so he ended up with four sandwiches total and a cobb salad. A few minutes before twelve, Tim drove his truck up her street and parked in the driveway. Lucy was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch with her laptop in her lap. The rocking chair at one point must have been bright white, but the paint was chipped revealing the wood underneath. She shut her laptop when she saw Tim pull up. Tim noticed she was in a pair of black dress pants and a blue button down blouse. Her hair was down and, just as Tim suspected, it framed her face beautifully.

“I’m not interrupting, am I?” Tim asked.

Lucy shook her head. “No. Just finishing up some client notes. I like to write them down after each session so they’re fresh in my mind.”

“How did Alex do starting at his new school today?” Tim questioned.

It touched Lucy that he asked about her son. “Good. He was nervous, but he’s in class with Tyler and a few of the other kids on the team. So that made things much easier. Plus he saw Genny in the halls, which he was very excited about.”

“Yeah. I always thought it would be weird to go to the same school your parent teaches at, but Tyler loves it.”

“I feel better knowing he has someone there to keep an eye on him. Anyway, I’m just going to run up and change into something more appropriate for home repairs. Did you have lunch yet? I can throw us something together if you want and we can sit down and talk about a to-do list.”

“Actually I brought lunch,” Tim said.

“Oh.”

“For both of us. I didn’t know what you liked so I got a little bit of everything.”

“That’s very sweet. Thank you. Ah, come on in.” Lucy said, opening the front door.

“I’m just going to get some stuff from the truck. I stopped by Genny’s ex’s this morning. He let me borrow whatever I wanted.”

“That’s great. Well, I’ll run up and change and why don’t you take a look around?”

“Sounds good.”

As Lucy went into the house, Tim first grabbed the sandwiches and salad he had gotten for lunch and brought them into the house. Then he returned to his truck to bring in a toolbox. He had other tools and equipment, too, in the back of his truck but decided to just start with the basics. Without knowing exactly what Lucy wanted to accomplish, he didn’t yet know what tools he would need.

After delivering the food to a small table in the kitchen and dropping the toolbox on the floor off to the side, Tim began to look around. The house was definitely eclectic, but Tim could see that it had good bones. Some minor work would have to be done here and there and the interior would definitely need to be brought up to date, but the house itself was gorgeous. Much like its current occupant.

“So, what do you think?” Lucy asked, coming down the stairs with a T-shirt and jeans on and her hair in a loose braid.

Tim had to stop himself from answering that she looked beautiful. He knew she wasn’t talking about herself. She was talking about the house.

“I think the house has great bones. Nothing I see seems like too big of a job, so I think we can do this.”

“Good.”

They sat down together at the kitchen table. Tim showed Lucy all of the different sandwich options. She stifled a laugh when she saw just how much food he had brought, including a vegetarian option just in case. She went with the turkey and cheese wrap, which had been Tim’s first instinct to buy for her. As they ate, they started a list of the projects that needed to be done. Replacing the window of the guest house, fixing the hole in the front steps, nailing down a few loose floorboards on the top floor, taking down wallpaper, fixing a plumbing issue in the ensuite upstairs bathroom, painting the outside of the house so that it was all on color, finishing the pergola, and so much more.

“I think we’ve got enough to start with,” Lucy said.

“Yeah, I’d say so. Those loose floorboards should be easy enough,” Tim said. “I can go deal with those right now so Alex doesn’t trip on them.”

“That would be great. I’m going to start removing the rotten wood on that front step.”

“Great.”

“Thank you for lunch,” Lucy said.

“You’re welcome.”

Tim got up and went to pick his toolbox up off the floor. As he bent forward and then went to stand up straight again, his back spasmed. He clutched his back and yelled out in pain.

“Are you ok?” Lucy asked, immediately at his side. She instinctively put one hand on his chest and the other around his back to help hold him up.

Along with her support, Tim was using one hand to lean on the kitchen counter nearby to keep himself from falling to the floor. His free hand massaged the spot over where the bullet was.

“Yeah, sorry,” Tim replied, gritting through the pain. “I have some back issues.”

“Should I call an ambulance?”

“No. No, no. I’m fine. Just gotta give it a second.”

“Do you want to…sit down? Can I help you over to the couch?”

“Actually, right here is just fine,” Tim said. He slowly lowered himself to the ground, gently leaning his back against the kitchen counters. He sat completely still for a full minute, letting the pain subside.

“I don’t even think I have any pain killers,” Lucy said. “Maybe some children’s tylenol?”

“Really, I’ll be fine,” Tim assured her.

Biting her bottom lip, Lucy slid to the floor, opposite him. He locked eyes with her for a moment and she smiled at him. She had such perfect lips. He wondered what they tasted like.

“If you’re having problems with your back, I don’t want to make it worse by you doing home improvements.”

“It just spasms sometimes,” Tim told her. “It’s feeling better already.”

“Tim…”

Something about the way she said his name made him trust her. And he suddenly wanted to tell her everything he had been keeping bottled up for so long.

“I was shot,” he stated simply. “I was shot in the back while trying to save an officer I was training. We were both taken to the hospital. I survived, but was left with a bullet in my back. The officer I was training didn’t make it out of the hospital.”

“That burden must be incredibly difficult for you,” Lucy said in a calm, even tone.

Tim was surprised by her reaction. She hadn’t said she was sorry like so many other people did. She hadn’t changed the subject immediately because talking about it made her uncomfortable like it did for others. Most importantly, she hadn’t said it wasn’t his fault.

“Thank you for sharing with me,” she continued.

“It happened a few months ago and I got cleared by the doctors to go back to work, but not by my department mandated shrink. So, my boss gave me six months to clear my head and then they’ll reevaluate.”

“For someone who is so dedicated to your work, six months can feel like an eternity.”

“Thank you! Nobody else seems to get that.”

“It’s a good idea after a traumatic event to be around a support system. Do you have anyone to support you back in LA?”

“My friends are all cops. They’re sympathetic, but they get to keep working. I don’t have any family besides Genny. And my ex-wife and I have been divorced for over a year now.”

“Then It’s good that you came here,” Lucy commented. “To be with family, of course.”

“You’re very easy to talk to,” Tim said. “I’m not usually this open.”

Lucy shrugged. “I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I wasn’t easy to talk to. But since you’re not officially a client of mine and since you shared something difficult…”

“It’s your turn,” Tim insisted.

“I left my fiance in New York because he didn’t want to be a dad.”

“Where is Alex’s dad?” Tim asked. “Sorry. That’s a personal question.”

“No, it’s ok. I don’t know who Alex’s dad is.”

Tim was a little surprised by that news. He didn’t want to judge and he didn’t exactly know what to say. “Oh, I…”

“What I should have said is Alex is adopted.”

Tim wasn’t expecting that. “Oh.”

“I met Alex and his biological mother about four years ago through my work with the NYPD. Alex had just turned three. His biological mom was a victim of domestic abuse. I worked with her on finding housing away from her abusive boyfriend. He wasn’t Alex’s father. She told me she didn’t know who Alex’s father was. She was a drug addict and didn’t always make the best choices. But she was trying to get clean and I did everything I could to help her, including letting her live at my place for a while.”

“Sounds like you adopted a puppy,” Tim commented.

“What?”

“Not an actual puppy,” Tim clarified. “It’s a term training officers use with their rookie cops. It’s when a person who cares a lot, someone like you or one of our rookies, goes out of their way to help someone else. It’s like you adopt an abandoned, abused puppy. I tell my rookies all the time not to let it happen to them because that puppy is just going to take and take.”

“Do your rookies ever listen to you?”

“Not usually. They all end up with a puppy at some point.”

“Did you ever have a puppy when you were a rookie?” Lucy asked.

“That’s a story for another time,” Tim answered.

“Well, I guess you could say I adopted a puppy. I worked with Alex’s bio mom for six months. We got her clean. We found a nice apartment she could afford with government assistance. She even got a job in a hotel and we got Alex into daycare. Everything was going really well. Until the police were called by the daycare Alex went to because nobody came to pick him up one day. They found his biological mother dead in her apartment. It was an overdose. I don’t know what triggered her to use that day, but…her death changed Alex’s life and mine. It was Thanksgiving weekend and all of the usual emergency foster homes were either full or people were too busy with family over the holidays. Since I was a state social worker, I was able to take him temporarily. And of course I couldn’t say no. I couldn’t let him go to a group home.”

“That’s because you’re a good person with a good heart.”

“And I really do like puppies,” Lucy said with a smile. “So anyway, Alex’s placement with me was only supposed to be temporary, but I fell in love with him and I started the adoption process soon after. The only problem was, I couldn’t legally adopt without the father’s consent except we never knew who the father was. So, that started an investigation, which was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. And all that time I just fell more and more in love with Alex and I knew I was meant to be his mother.”

“That’s incredible.”

“I met my ex Chris at work maybe a year after I took Alex in. Chris is a lawyer who works in the prosecutor’s office. When I met him, I was overworked and trying really hard to be a good single mom. Chris was kind and he was ok with me having Alex. Things were ok for almost three years. I mean, it wasn’t some magical romantic fairytale like you read about in storybooks, but Chris treated me well enough and he was nice to Alex. Chris proposed and asked me to move in with him at the two year mark and I said yes even though I shouldn’t have. But he was safe and it felt easy. A few months ago, though, Alex’s adoption papers were finally approved. Alex would be legally mine. Unbeknownst to me, Chris didn’t want that. He told me the morning of the adoption ceremony at the courthouse that he wasn’t sure he could be with me if I legally adopted Alex. I broke up with him right then and there.”

“He sounds like a prick,” Tim said.

Lucy laughed. “Yeah, maybe a little. If I’m being honest with myself, I should never have stayed with him for as long as I did. There was no spark.”

“Spark is important,” Tim added quietly, thinking about how he had had an instant spark with Lucy. He wondered if she felt it too.

“It is. But by then I had given up my apartment to live with him and I knew I’d have to find a new place in the city, which seemed so overwhelming as a single parent. But then when my aunt died and I was notified by her lawyer that this house would be mine, I jumped at the chance to start a new life with Alex here.” Lucy paused. “And I can’t believe I just laid all of that out there here on the kitchen floor,” Lucy said with a little chuckle. “I guess you’re a good listener too.”

“You’re an amazing person, Lucy Chen.”

“You barely know me.”

“I know enough. Besides, I’m a police officer with the LAPD. I’m good at reading people.”

“How’s your back?” Lucy asked.

Tim had been so enthralled in their conversation that he hadn’t thought about his back.

“It feels good,” he answered.

“Think we can get up off the floor?”

“I think it’s worth a try.”

Lucy stood up first. She reached out her hand to Tim. He slipped his hand into hers. It fit perfectly. She counted down from the number three and helped to hoist him to his feet.

“If you want to go home and rest I completely understand,” Lucy said.

“No. Besides, I think it’s Genny’s couch that’s the real culprit here.”

“You were shot in the back and you’re sleeping on a couch?”

“Genny’s apartment is only a two bedroom. I didn’t want to kick Tyler out of his room. I’ve been looking at a few hotels in the area. I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry about me. Now, those floorboards aren’t going to fix themselves.”

Tim picked up his toolbox, with no pain this time, and started climbing the stairs. Just with a five minute conversation with her, he felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

Chapter Text

Three days later, Lucy finished up her virtual meeting with one of her clients from New York and closed her laptop. She felt good that the woman she had been helping was making great progress in being an independent, single mother.

Feeling like the air in her office was getting a little stuffy, Lucy went to open the small window that was next to her desk. She made a mental note to ask Tim about helping her install a ceiling fan. In the few days that he had been helping her fix up the house, Lucy had been impressed by just how handy he was and at how at ease she felt with his presence.

As she opened the window, Lucy caught a glimpse of Tim walking from his truck to the back of his house with a toolbox in his hand. He didn’t notice her in the window, but she certainly noticed him. He had on a white T-shirt and Jeans. The shirt showed off his muscular arms and Lucy licked her lips As Tim unfortunately disappeared from view, Lucy was about to sit back down at her desk to type up some patient notes when she saw an unfamiliar car pull up and park in front of the house. Curious, Lucy continued to watch. A moment later, a very familiar face stepped out of the driver’s seat. Lucy’s jaw dropped. It was Chris. She flew out of her office and down the hall out the front door. She made it outside before Chris had even gotten to the door.

“Hey babe,” Chris said as Lucy closed the front door behind her. She did not want him in her house. He was wearing his usual gray suit with a navy blue tie. Lucy guessed he had just come from court. Since he didn’t own a car, she realized he must have rented the car to drive up to see her.

“Don’t call me that,” she replied, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to see you.”

“Why?”

“Because I miss you.”

“Go home, Chris.”

“Let’s talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“I disagree,” Chris said.

“We have talked. We spent hours talking before we broke up. We want different things. And that’s ok.”

“I want you.”

Lucy took a deep breath. “I don’t want you,” she stated simply and she knew that she hurt him. That wasn’t her intention, but she knew she had to be straight with him.

“Babe…”

“I said don’t call me that,” Lucy warned.

“We were together for three years.”

“And I think we both know that we weren’t really meant for each other, Chris.”

“You agreed to marry me!”

“I shouldn’t have said yes. I am sorry about that. But even you have to admit that we never had that passion, that need for each other that two people should have.”

“I can’t admit that, Lucy, because it’s not true. I do have that passion for you.”

Lucy shook her head. “No you didn’t. And that’s ok. It’s ok to admit that we weren’t right for each other.”

“Stop saying that!” Chris shouted.

“What about Alex?” Lucy asked, keeping her voice calm. She had no interest in getting into a shouting match with him.

“What about him?”

“You said you don’t want a child.”

“I lived with him before. I can get used to the idea that you’ve adopted him and he’ll be in your life forever, I guess.”

“You guess? And in my life forever? Chris, whoever I end up with, if I end up with anyone, needs to be completely onboard with having a child. And to whoever that person might be in the future, Alex will be in our life. Alex is my son.”

“He’s not. I mean, legally, yes, he’s yours, but…”

“Go home, Chris,” Lucy said more forcefully.

“No. Not until we talk!”

Chris stepped forward and reached his arm out to grab Lucy by the hand.

“Hey!” Tim yelled. Both Chris and Lucy turned to look at him. He was standing to the side of the house, obviously having just walked over from where he was in the backyard.

“Who the hell is this?” Chris grumbled, dropping Lucy’s hand.

“My name is Tim and I think she asked you to leave.”

“Is he the guy you’re screwing now?” Chris asked.

“That’s none of your business,” Lucy snapped.

“We’ve been broken up for less than a month after three years together and you start sleeping with someone else? What’s that teaching your son, Lucy? That his mom is a whore!”

“Hey!” Tim yelled. “You don’t talk to her like that. Now she asked you to leave.”

“What are you going to do about it if I don’t?” Chris asked.

Tim was inclined to punch the man in the face, but he knew that wouldn’t solve anything. And Tim remembered Lucy saying that he was a lawyer. The last thing Tim needed if he ever wanted to be able to go back to work was an assault and battery charge.

“We’re over, Chris,” Lucy stated. “I don’t know how many different ways I can say that. Go back to New York. Don’t contact me again.”

“You know what, you can have her,” Chris said to Tim. “She wasn’t that good anyway.”

Lucy managed to hold herself together long enough for Chris to get back in his car and walk away. She wasn’t sure why his words hurt her so much. Perhaps because she was faced with the reality that she had stayed in a relationship for three years that wasn’t right and she had no one to blame but herself. As soon as his car was out of sight, Lucy opened the front door and went inside the house. Tim followed her.

“That guy’s an ass,” Tim stated, closing the door behind him. Lucy had made her way to the kitchen and was filling a glass with water. Her back was to him, but Tim could see that her hand was shaking. He walked up behind her and took the glass from her hand. Lucy put both of her hands on the counter to steady herself. Tim couldn’t really see her face, but he knew she was trying hard not to cry.

“I don’t know why I’m letting him get to me,” Lucy said, slowly turning around. Tim wanted to wrap her in his arms and whisper that everything was going to be ok in her ear. He could see on her face just how hurt she was and he wanted to make that hurt disappear. “I don’t have any feelings left for him. I just…for him to say those things about me…”

“You’re feeling this way because even if there was no spark between you, someone you once cared about and who said they cared about you just said some hurtful things about you. That’s never easy.”

“You’re right.”

“You know, towards the end of our relationship, my ex-wife had gotten so deep into her undercover work that she became addicted to drugs. She wasn’t the same person I had fallen in love with. I hardly ever saw her, but when I did, she would lash out and say some pretty awful things to me and about me. It was her way of pushing me away.”

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said, putting her hand on his arm. “That must have been pretty hard for you.”

“Ending things…letting go…it’s never easy for anyone.”

“Now you sound like the therapist.”

Tim smiled. He was a little surprised at the words that were coming out of his mouth. He wasn’t usually the type to talk things out. But Lucy brought out that side of him. She made him feel like it was ok to share and be vulnerable.

“And listen, if you want me to set Chris straight, I may know a few moves that could scare him away.”

“While I appreciate that, I don’t think the LAPD would appreciate one of their sergeants getting prosecuted for assault and battery,” Lucy pointed out. “Chris is a lawyer remember.”

“True, but I have friends in LA that would back me up.”

“Are you close to your coworkers?” Lucy asked.

“I am, yeah. It sounds corny, but Mid-Wilshire is like a family.”

“Mid-Wilshire?”

“That’s the precinct we work in.”

“Tell me about them,” Lucy prompted.

“You want me to tell you about my friends?”

“Yes. Distract me from my horrible ex. Wait, before you do that, do you want some wine? I could use some wine.”

Tim glanced at the clock on the stove beside Lucy. It was almost one o’clock, which meant they had another two hours before Alex got home. And even though it may have been frowned upon by some to drink in the middle of the day, it had to be five o’clock somewhere.

“I guess one glass wouldn’t hurt.”

“Glasses are in the cupboard above the sink,” Lucy said as she opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of white wine. Tim retrieved the glasses while Lucy uncorked the wine. She filled the wine glasses half full and put the wine back in the refrigerator. She handed Tim a glass.

“Thank you,” he said.

“It’s a beautiful day out,” Lucy suggested. “Let’s sit outside. I could use some fresh air.”

Exiting out the french doors that led to the patio with the newly stained pergola, Tim and Lucy sat on two folding chairs with a plastic tray table between them.

“I’m sorry, I really need to get better outdoor furniture,” Lucy remarked.

“You moved in less than two weeks ago. You’ve been busy with a kid, work, and renovating a house. I think folding chairs are more than acceptable.”

“Thanks,” she said, sipping her wine. “So, tell me about your friends.”

“Ok,” Tim said, thinking about what he wanted to tell her. “There’s Angela, I’ve probably known her the longest. She’s a detective now and a damn good one. She’s probably the toughest person I know.”

“Any sparks flying there?” Lucy asked, sipping her wine.

“With Angela? No. There never has been sparks between us. She’s just a really good person who I’m happy to say has my back in any situation. Besides, she's happily married to a defense attorney. And she has a son.”

“Who else works in Mid-Wilshire?” Lucy prompted.

“Well, there’s Nyla Harper, her partner. Another badass woman I would trust with my life. Then there’s John Nolan. He was a forty year old rookie.”

“A rookie? At forty? Really?”

“Yeah, he decided to start his life over again and join the police force. He took a lot of flack for it in the beginning, but he’s actually a really good cop. He’s good at connecting with people and talking to people. You two have a lot in common in that regard. Gray is our commanding sergeant. He’s solid and fair and is the glue that holds us together. Then there’s Jackson. He’s…”

Tim trailed off. Jackson wasn’t alive anymore. Jackson was gone and it was Tim’s fault.

“He was your rookie,” Lucy said quietly. “The one who was killed.”

“Yeah.”

“Sometimes I forget that he’s not still out there on the streets doing his job.”

“That’s normal. And it’s ok to talk about him.”

“He was a good kid. He was a legacy.”

“A legacy?”

“His dad was a cop. Jackson wanted to prove to his dad that he had what it takes to be a cop in LA. He would have been a good cop.”

Tim rubbed his back. Lucy noticed immediately.

“He would have been a good cop because he had a good cop training him,” Lucy said.

“How come you never tell me it’s not my fault?” Tim asked, although not accusatory.

“Do you want me to say that?”

“No. I got so tired of people telling me it wasn’t my fault.”

“Tim, I’ve worked with cops all over the NYPD. It’s a dangerous job. People die. Other cops see their friends killed in action. It’s not easy for anyone. And there’s no shame in feeling bad or taking the time you need to heal.”

“Being here is helping me heal.”

Lucy smiled. “Good.”

Tim ran the back of his hand over his eyes. “I’m supposed to be cheering you up after that ridiculous confrontation with Chris, not the other way around.”

“It’s ok.”

“It’s not true what he said, you know. You’re an amazing person, Lucy. You’re smart and resourceful and clearly a good therapist. Not to mention you’re an incredible mom. For the record, I think you’re worth it.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“Look at us. Two people sitting around feeling sorry for ourselves.”

“Sometimes that’s part of the healing process,” Lucy stated.

“Yeah, so is laughter and having a good time. I have an idea,” Tim said.

“Oh?”

“Let’s all do something fun tonight.”

“Fun? What did you have in mind?”

“Well, Tyler told me about this arcade in town that supposedly has some old school games. I guess it’s all the rage with the kids at school.”

“Alex mentioned the arcade to me yesterday. One of their classmates had his birthday party there last year and told the boys how they have an original Pac-man machine,” Lucy said. “I didn’t even know Alex or anyone his age knew what Pacman was.”

Tim laughed. “Why don’t I text Genny and we can all go tonight? The boys can have some fun and we can enjoy some grownup conversation and laugh and put all of this negativity out of our minds.”

“That sounds really nice.”

“Good. And I am an expert at Pac-man.”

Lucy laughed and Tim smiled at her.

“Oh really?”

“Yup.”

“Well, that I have to see,” she said with a laugh.

Taking a sip of wine, Tim realized just how much he loved hearing her laugh.

Chapter Text

Later on that evening, Lucy and Genny were sitting across from each other at a booth in the arcade. They were each nursing a beer. Tim was in the arcade with Alex and Tyler. Genny and Lucy could hear cheering and they both smiled. Lucy sipped her beer.

“I’m glad they’re having fun,” Lucy commented.

“I think Tim is having more fun than the boys,” Genny said with a chuckle.

“Thank you for coming out with us tonight.”

“Trust me, I was happy I didn’t have to cook,” Genny told her. “Who knew that half of adulting would be figuring out what to eat for dinner every night.”

Lucy laughed. “That is a challenge.”

“And I could tell you needed some girl time,” Genny added.

“It is nice to have female companionship. I worked so much in New York that I didn’t have many close friends there and I don’t know anywhere here so…”

“Well, you know me. And I can tell we’re going to become fast friends.”

“Me too,” Lucy said with a smile. She had liked Genny from the first time they met at the little league field. The woman had an easy way about her and Lucy hoped she would quickly become a close friend. It would be nice to have a female companion and confidant. And it didn’t hurt that Genny’s brother happened to be kind, handy, and incredibly attractive.

“From what Tim told me, your ex seems like an ass,” Genny commented. “What he said to you today? That was uncalled for.”

Lucy sighed. “Yeah, I know. The sad thing is he was never a bad guy in our relationship. I think I stayed with him for as long as I did because he was a nice guy. He just fell much harder for me than I ever did for him and he’s having a hard time with it. But I like to believe that things happen for a reason. Adopting Alex, breaking up with Chris, even my aunt dying. Not that I’m happy about that last one, but It all brought me here to this moment.”

“I like that outlook. I guess the same could be said about me and my ex-husband.”

“You said it was an amicable divorce?” Lucy prompted.

“It was. We met in college on the West coast. He was from here. I fell head over heels and by the time we both graduated, we were engaged and I decided to move with him back to his hometown. We were happy for a while, but we both grew up and started to drift apart. There was no big scandal or fighting. We just weren’t happy anymore. But he’s a great dad and we’re friends now so, like you said, everything that has happened in my life has led me here and I’m not mad about it. And it’s nice having Tim here.”

“It is,” Lucy concurred.

Genny lifted an eyebrow at her. “So what is happening between you and my brother?”

Before Lucy could answer Tim walked over, dropping himself into the booth next to Lucy. Genny immediately noticed that he hadn’t chosen to sit next to her and she smiled just a little.

“How’s Pac-man going?” Genny asked.

“We whooped his butt!” Tyler exclaimed, racing over to the table with Alex in tow.

“Don’t say butt,” Genny scolded.

“I thought you were a Pac-man expert,” Lucy teased as she looked over at Tim.

“Maybe I should have mentioned that the last time I played Pac-man was when I was ten.”

“Come on, mom, your turn!” Tyler shouted.

“Unlike your Uncle Tim, I didn’t spend my childhood playing video games,” Genny replied. “I don’t think I’ve ever played Pac-man.”

“We’ll teach you!” Tyler said.

“Yeah, you all should come into the arcade with us!” Alex begged, literally tugging on Lucy’s sleeve. “It’s fun!”

“Ok, ok, we’ll all go into the arcade,” Lucy agreed. “After we have some pizza.”

“Pizza!” The boys shouted simultaneously.

A waitress brought over two large pizzas. One with plain cheese and the other pepperoni. Alex sat down next to Lucy, causing her to scooch in a little closer to Tim. Their thighs bumped against each other and Lucy muttered an apology. Tim waved it off, not at all irritated by the sudden close contact.

“Mom, Alex said that he used to ride the subway all the time,” Tyler said, biting off a large piece of pizza. “Can we go on a subway?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Genny said, handing him a napkin. “But yes, someday we can go on a subway.”

“Alex said he’ll take me to all of the cool places in New York,” Tyler continued.

“Yeah, like the deli down the street from our old apartment that had the best chocolate cream pie,” Alex explained. “And there’s a huge museum with dinosaur skeletons and old things. It’s awesome!”

“Can we go to the museum, mom?” Tyler begged.

“Maybe this summer,” Genny replied.

“We could all go together,” Lucy said. “I’d be happy to play tourguide.”

“That sounds great,” Genny replied. She looked at Tim. “Maybe we can squeeze in before you go back home.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Tim said, glancing over at Lucy and then concentrating back on his pizza. The truth was that he would love to go to New York with Lucy, Alex, and his family. The problem was, he wasn’t sure if he would be around long enough to go.

As they all ate some pizza and the boys chatted about Pokemon and baseball and other things, Coach Chuck, the boys’ Little League coach, approached the table with a second man beside him. The two men looked very similar and Lucy guessed it was the coach’s brother.

“Hello boys,” Chuck said cheerily.

“Hey coach!” The boys chorused, their mouths full of pizza.

“Hey Chuck,” Genny greeted.

“You boys ready for the game this weekend?”

“Yup! We’re gonna crush the other team!” Tyler exclaimed.

“That’s what I like to hear,” Chuck said.

“Chuck, this is my brother Tim visiting from California,” Genny introduced. “You didn’t get the chance to officially meet at practice the other day.”

Chuck shook Tim’s hand. “That’s why I came over here actually,” Chuck explained. “This is my brother, Chip. He’s the chief of police in town.”

Chip shook Tim’s hand as well and everyone exchanged pleasantries.

“Would you two gentlemen like any pizza?” Lucy asked. “We have plenty.”

“No thanks,” Chuck said. “We’re waiting for our kids and all the grandkids to arrive. It’s my niece’s ninth birthday.”

“How nice,” Genny commented.

“Anyway, I came over to introduce you all to Chip for a reason, not to just interrupt your dinner,” Chuck continued. “Tim, my wife heard from Genny that you’re a police officer in Los Angeles?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Tim answered, wondering where the conversation was headed. “I’m a sergeant.”

“Well, as Chuck said, I’m the chief of police in town,” Chip explained. “And one of our deputies who usually runs our gun safety classes went out on maternity leave a bit earlier than expected. We haven’t found a replacement for her yet. Would you be interested?”

“In running a gun safety course?” Tim clarified.

“It’s a six week course and it runs once a week. It’s a requirement for all of our newest police recruits from here in town and a few of the neighboring towns. And it’s recommended for folks in town who want to own a legal firearm. It’s pretty basic stuff. There’s a manual you follow and everything. Now I know you’re here on vacation and to visit family, but it’s only once a week and you’d be helping us out. I’m assuming your gun safety certification is up to date?”

“Yes, sir, but…”

In the way that Tim’s posture had changed since Chip had brought up the mention of guns, Lucy could tell that his back was suddenly bothering him. It didn’t take a therapist to understand that handling a gun again could be traumatic for Tim after what he had been through.

“Just think it over,” Chip said. “Here’s my card.” Taking a business card out of the breast pocket of his shirt, he handed it to Tim. “The course starts next week.”

“Thank you,” Tim said, pocketing the card. “I’ll think about it.”

“Enjoy your dinner,” Chuck said.

“Enjoy the birthday party,” Genny replied.

Once Chuck and Chip had walked away, Lucy looked over at him. She wanted to ask if he was ok, but she knew it wasn’t the time or place. Genny watched the silent exchange between the two of them.

“Can we go back into the arcade now?” Alex asked, clearly oblivious to the tension that was forming. Tim was glad for the distraction.

“Yeah, come on, mom, it’s your turn to play Pac-man!” Tyler added.

“Ok, let’s go,” Genny agreed.

The three adults followed Tyler and Alex into the arcade. Watching her son running off happily made Lucy forget all about the troubles she had had with Chris earlier in the day and as she looked over at Tim, who had a big smile on his face, he seemed to be doing fine as well. As Tyler and Alex brought Genny over to the Pac-man game, Lucy eyed a row of three skee ball machines.

“Pac-man may have been your game of choice, but skee ball was always my favorite,” Lucy commented.

“Want a match?” Tim asked.

“You’re on,” Lucy agreed.

They both paid the money into two games beside each other and the balls were released.

“How about a wager?” Tim suggested. “The loser has to buy the next round of beers.”

“Wait a minute, you asked me out. What kind of gentleman asks a lady out and doesn’t pay?” Lucy teased.

“Oh, I asked you out, did I?”

Lucy realized the error in her phrasing. Tim had asked her out, but he had also invited her son, his sister, and his nephew. It certainly wasn’t anything close to a date.

“I mean, you didn’t ask me out, out. You asked me to hang out. You know to get my mind off of Chris and…”

Tim laughed. “I did ask you. And I was going to pay for the beers anyway.”

Lucy smiled. “That’s because you’re going to lose.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Lucy grabbed one of the balls and launched it up the ramp. She rolled it so hard that it hit the back of the game and bounced right back at her. She managed to catch it before it landed on the floor.

“I thought you said skee ball was your favorite,” Tim remarked.

“I haven’t played in a long time,” Lucy said.

Tim took one of his balls and expertly rolled it up to the ramp. It hit the small hole for 40 points. He looked over at Lucy who rolled her eyes at him.

“Showoff,” she mumbled.

“Here, let me show you how it’s done.”

Tim took a stance behind her. He put his left hand on her hip. She could feel her breath on her neck and she had to remind herself to keep breathing.

“You want to stand with your hips square to the ramp,” Tim told her. He was suddenly very aware that he was very close to her. He took the ball out of her right hand. “Don’t hold it so tightly. Point your arm in the direction where you want the ball to go. When you’re ready, release with just enough force so that it makes it over the lip, but not enough force to send it springing back at you.”

“Got it,” Lucy managed to say even though her mouth was suddenly very dry.

“You ready to try it?”

“Mhmm.”

Lucy could barely think. She felt his hand against her hip seering right through her clothes. His head was right next to hers. If she just turned, his lips would be within reach. Lucy tried to shake the thoughts from her mind and concentrate. With Tim’s arm loosely hanging on to hers, she swung her arm back and launched the ball. It landed right in the hole that was worth 50 points.

“You got it!” Tim shouted.

“Thank you for the expert teaching,” Lucy said as she picked up another ball. Reluctantly stepping away from her, Tim did the same. He tossed his ball down the ramp. It bounced and hit the 10 points by default.

“Better luck next time,” Lucy commented as she launched her next ball. It fell right into one of the 100 point pockets off to the left.

“Beginner’s luck,” Tim said.

“We’ll see.”

Before Tim could throw his next ball, Lucy threw hers. She hit the 100 hole on the right side.

Tim’s jaw dropped. “You played me,” Tim stated, clearly impressed rather than angry.

“Maybe,” Lucy said with a smile as she turned her attention back to the game. “Maybe I was a skee ball champion back in high school.”

“Skee ball champion, huh? Is that even a thing?”

“It was for me. I told you you were going to lose.”

Tim didn’t usually like to lose, but if he was going to lose to anyone, he didn’t mind it being the pretty brunette who had suddenly come into his life. They both launched their balls. Lucy cheered when hers hit the 50 hole and Tim only hit the 20. Lucy did a silly dance, which made Tim burst into laughter. From across the arcade, Genny watched them and smiled.

Chapter Text

Three days after going to the arcade, Tim woke up with a backache. As a matter of fact, his back had been bothering him every morning since he had arrived in Connecticut. Sleeping on Genny’s couch was not doing him any favors.

As Tim slowly sat up, letting his back stretch out, he ran his hands over his weary face. He glanced down at his watch. It was 6:30. But Tim didn’t focus in on the time. He looked at the date. His first thought was that it had been one week since he had first gone by Lucy’s house to return her sweatshirt and he had agreed to help her fix up her house. His second thought was that it had been two weeks since Grey had told him he was going to be on a six month leave. He was surprised at the order of his thoughts. For days after his meeting with Grey the only thing he could think about was the fact that he wasn’t going to work and he had started a countdown in his head of when he could go back. But Tim’s thoughts were being replaced by a certain beautiful brunette and her adorable son.

Reflecting back on the last week, Tim smiled to himself. He liked the routine of his days. He would go to Lucy’s house in the morning and work around the house on some project while she met with her clients online. Occasionally she was right beside him while they worked on a project together. A few times they sat together at the kitchen table and talked. He found her to be incredibly easy to talk to.

They talked about their favorite movies, books, pizza toppings, and more. Lucy tried to wrap her head around how much Tim loved sports while Tim tried to convince her that the LAPD was better than the NYPD. Through their conversations, Tim was impressed by her intelligence, energized by her wit, and entranced by her beauty. And getting to spend some time with Alex was the cherry on top. Although he was at school most of the day and Tim was sure to go home in the evenings to hang out with Genny and Tyler, Tim had found himself hanging out with Alex after school. One day Alex asked Tim how to use the tools Tim was using to fix a lopsided shelf. Tim happily showed him and Alex proudly showed his mother how he had fixed the shelf. Another day Tim found Alex in the backyard, throwing a baseball into the air and catching it by himself. That turned into a rousing game of catch between the two of them. Tim loved his time with the young boy almost as much as he loved spending time with Lucy.

“So, what project are you and Lucy working on today?” Genny asked, pulling Tim from his thoughts. She was busy in the kitchen putting a lunch together for Tyler. Tim had been so deep in his own thoughts that he hadn’t even heard her enter the kitchen.

“The window Alex broke finally came in for the guest house so I’m going to swing by the hardware store to pick it up and then we’re going to install it,” Tim explained.

“Together?” Genny questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, together,” Tim answered. “It’s easier with two people.”

“Uh-huh.”

“What does that mean?”

Genny pointed the butter knife she was holding that was full of mustard in Tim’s direction.

“You like her.”

“Sure, she’s nice,” Tim said as nonchalantly as he could.

“Oh, no. You like like her.”

“What are we in seventh grade?”

“I saw you two with your hands all over her at the arcade the other night.”

“My hands were not all over her. I was teaching her how to play skee ball.”

“It looked to me like she could play just fine. Admit that you like her.”

Tim sighed. There was no use denying it. “Ok, so I like her. What’s the big deal?”

“You haven’t been interested in anyone since Isabel left,” Genny pointed out. “Why aren’t you making the next move? Ask her out on a real date.”

“I’m only here temporarily, Genny. Sooner rather than later I’m going back to LA. I don’t want to lead her on. I don’t want to make promises I can’t keep. And she’s got a kid. I’m not going to do that to Alex.”

“I heard Alex talking at the baseball game this past weekend about how much he loves playing catch with you in the backyard. Sounds to me like you’re already involved. And I really like Lucy. Tyler and Alex get along great and…”

“I don’t have to date her for you two to be friends,” Tim said.

“But wouldn’t it be better if she was dating my brother?”

“Actually, no. That sounds messy.”

“Tim, she’s perfect for you!” Genny exclaimed, ignoring her brother’s comment.

Tim shook his head. “It can’t go anywhere, so why start something?”

He paused, waiting for Genny to have a comeback, but she said nothing. Tim had thought about asking Lucy out dozens of times. He thought about what it would be like to have her in his arms, to kiss her, and to have her next to him naked in bed. But he wasn’t a one night stand kind of guy and she deserved far better than that. Getting involved with Lucy wouldn’t be good for either of them. Tim had a little over five more months before his leave was over and then he would be going back home.

“Have you thought any more about that gun safety class?” Genny asked.

“I have.”

“And…”

“And I don’t know, Genny. I’m supposed to be out here to get my head on straight. I’m not sure if diving back into the world of policing is what I need right now. And working on a small town precinct? I don’t know if it’s for me.”

“Well, I support you no matter what you decide. And hey, be careful this afternoon. The weather is supposed to get bad. Lots of heavy rain and gusting wind.”

“Thanks,” Tim replied. “Have a good day at work.”

As Genny finished in the kitchen and went to Tyler’s room to make sure he was actually getting ready for school, Tim finally willed himself to stand up. His back screamed at him, but he forced himself to keep moving. After taking a quick, very hot shower, which helped ease some of the tension in his back, he got dressed, and headed out the door.

Driving to the hardware store, Tim thought about what Genny said. Of course he had thought about asking Lucy out. He wanted desperately to take her out on a date, but he knew getting romantically involved with her would just lead to heartbreak.

As Tim pulled into the hardware store parking lot he saw a familiar face walking out of the store. It was Ashley, the friend of Genny’s whom Tim had met during the first little league practice. Then again, Genny had said she wasn’t so much of a friend but an acquaintance she was forced to work with as part of the PTO group. Ashley was wearing high heels, a black skirt, and a white blouse. She looked very professional and a little out of her element wheeling a carriage with large pieces of lumber inside. Tim watched as Ashley made her way to her minivan and popped the back open. She attempted to lift one of the pieces of wood, but was having a hard time maneuvering it. Tim hopped out of his truck.

“Can I give you a hand?” Tim asked as he jogged over.

“Yes, please,” Ashley exclaimed, clearly grateful for the help. “Your Genny’s brother, right? Jim?”

“Tim,” he corrected. “And yeah, I’m visiting from LA.”

“How nice. I wish all men were as thoughtful as you. My cheating ex-husband certainly wasn’t.”

Tim helped put the pieces of wood into the bag of her immaculate minivan, ignoring her comment about her cheating ex-husband.

“Are you building something?” Tim asked, desperately trying to change the topic of conversation.

“Me? Goodness no. This is for the school. For that family event we have going on next month. It’s an under the sea theme and I stupidly volunteered to pick up the wood so we can paint murals.”

“That was nice of you.”

“That’s what happens when you’re head of the PTO. Say, you’re not good with a paintbrush, are you?”

“I’m sure I could help,” Tim answered.

“Wonderful. Maybe we could discuss it over dinner sometime?”

“Ah…I’m sure Genny can fill me in on what I need to know.”

Although Ashley was, on paper, Tim’s type, he had absolutely no interest in going out to dinner with her. Sure, she was good looking and clearly knew what she wanted and wasn’t afraid to ask for it, but Tim only had eyes for someone else.

“Well, if you change your mind, Genny has my number.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.”

After Tim closed the back of the minivan, Ashley made her way to the driver’s side, her heels clicking against the pavement. She put on a pair of designer sunglasses and got in behind the wheel. Tim walked towards the store, not bothering to give her so much as another glance.

When Tim arrived at Lucy’s, he spotted her sitting on the front porch, sipping on coffee. She was bundled up in the sweatshirt he had returned to her. Her hair was down, blowing slightly in the breeze. She looked comfortable and as beautiful as ever.

“Good morning,” Tim called as he got out of the truck.

“Good morning,” Lucy replied. She stood. “I made you a coffee.”

Lucy held up a travel mug. Carrying her mug in one hand and Tim’s coffee in the other, she walked down the steps of the porch to meet him.

“Thanks,” Tim replied, taking the cup from her. He loved the fact that after such a short time together, she knew how he liked his coffee.

“So, it looks like we’re in for some weather this afternoon,” Lucy said. “We better get this window in.”

“Yeah, I have it in the back here. You don’t have any clients this morning?”

“I don’t take clients on Tuesdays so I’m yours for the day,” Lucy said and then immediately regretted the words she chose. The words were more suggestive than she meant them to be. “I mean, I can help. We can…work on projects together. Or…”

“Let’s get the window in,” Tim said with a smile.

As he went to the back of the truck to unload the window, Lucy couldn’t help but stare at him. He was a very good looking man and after getting to know him, she found him to be even more attractive. He was smart, funny, and even though she could tell he had a hard cop exterior, she felt like she was getting a glimpse of what was happening underneath his outer shell. He was amazing with Alex and clearly very good with his hands. She had found herself thinking about what other amazing things he could do with his hands quite often. But then she would force herself to shake the thoughts from her mind. She had just had a pretty major breakup, had legally adopted her son, and had moved to a new state in a pretty short amount of time. Adding a new relationship to the mix didn’t seem like a good idea. Plus there was the fact that he would be going back home across the country.

“You coming?” Tim asked, holding the window with two hands. He was already halfway to the backyard while Lucy was still standing by the truck.

“Yeah,” she called. “I’ll grab the tools.”

She grabbed the toolbox that was in the truck and followed Tim into the backyard. They worked together on taking down the temporary boards that they had put up when Alex had broken the window. Then, while Lucy held the new window in place, Tim began installing it. At some point they both realized just how close their bodies were to each other while Tim reached over Lucy’s head to hammer in a nail. He had to remind himself of all the reasons why starting something beyond friendship with her was a bad idea. Lucy had to do the same.

By the time the window was installed, the skies had turned grayer and the wind had picked up. Lucy and Tim were standing inside of the guest house. Unlike the main house, the guest house looked completely normal. The walls were all painted white. The couch was a plain blue. The tiles on the floor were a marbled gray pattern. Although it was more like a studio apartment with no walls separating the bedroom, living space, and kitchen, the guest house was spacious.

“I see your aunt’s decorative talents didn’t make its way out here,” Tim remarked.

“No. She used to use this space just for storage, but a few months before she died she had it renovated so that she could potentially rent it out. Everything in here is pretty new.”

Tim absentmindedly put a hand to his back and began to rub the muscle that seemed to constantly bother him.

“Your back is bothering you again,” Lucy commented.

“It’s Genny’s horrible couch,” Tim replied, trying to laugh it off.

“You decided not to get a hotel?”

“Come to find out, hotels by the week are pretty pricey and I think it would hurt Genny’s feelings.”

“So you’re going to suffer instead?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You could stay with me,” Lucy offered.

Tim raised an eyebrow. “Ah…”

“Here, in the guesthouse,” Lucy continued quickly. “Like I said, it’s all brand new. It’s a little dusty, but we can take care of that.”

“I wouldn’t want to put you out,” Tim replied.

“Put me out? Tim, you’re basically renovating my whole house for free. You won’t even take money for the supplies you’re using. The least I can do is give you a comfortable bed to sleep in that won’t hurt your back.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.”

Tim nodded. “Ok. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll go get some cleaning supplies and we’ll have this place ready for you in no time.”

Tim watched her head into the house. He wondered how he was going to be able to keep his feelings in check with her sleeping twenty yards away.

Chapter Text

As Lucy fit the fresh out of the washer and dryer fitted sheet around the corners of the mattress in the guest house, she heard the first splatters of rain hitting the roof overhead. Tim appeared from the small bathroom, which he had been sweeping, getting rid of some small cobwebs that had formed in the months since Lucy’s aunt had passed away. They both walked over to the new window they had installed a few hours earlier. The rain began to pelt against the window, showering down hard and fast.

“Looks like we did a good job,” Tim said, inspecting the window for any leaks. There were none that he could see.

“And I’d say this place is just about habitable,” Lucy commented, looking around. They had spent hours cleaning, wiping down dusty surfaces, sanitizing the bathroom, and bringing in a bureau Lucy didn’t want from inside the main house so that Tim would have somewhere to put his clothes. He had insisted he didn’t need much seeing as how he hadn’t brought much from LA, but Lucy wanted him to have a place that felt as much like home as possible. What Tim didn’t tell her was that the small guest house was beginning to feel more like home than his own house in LA did.

“I’d say it’s more than habitable,” Tim told her, looking around. “Thank you again.”

“You’re welcome. I know right now it doesn’t have a TV so that you can watch the sports you love so much, but I can get you one.”

“I can swing by the store and pick one up.”

“You’ve already done enough for me,” Lucy said. “You don’t need to buy me a TV too.”

“The TV is for me. And you’re letting me stay here rent free.”

“You’re renovating my house.”

Somehow in their little argument they had moved even closer together. Tim stared into her eyes. He noticed a little smudge of dirt on her cheek in almost the exact same spot the wood stain had been when he had arrived at her house to return her sweatshirt. Had that only been 7 days before? Tim felt like he had known Lucy for a lifetime.

“You have a little…” he said, reaching his hand towards her to wipe the smudge away with his fingertips. He longed to touch her. But, before his finger could make contact with her skin, a loud horn sounded.

“That’s the bus,” Lucy said. She licked her lips, wondering what might have happened if the bus hadn’t interrupted them, and gave Tim one last look. He sensed that she was as desperate for his touch as she was. Without a word, though, she bounded out of the guest house and into the pouring rain. Tim stood, watching her until she disappeared behind the front of the house. Tim finished making the bed and began to clean up the cleaning supplies they had used to give the guest house a good once over. He looked around the place. It would be perfect for him.

Closing the door tightly behind him, Tim raced for the house. He slipped in the French doors at the back of the house. Lucy and Alex were standing in the kitchen, both soaking wet just from the short walk from the bus into the house. Lucy was trying to wrangle Alex out of his soaking wet jacket. They were both laughing hysterically as water dripped from every inch of their clothes and body.

“My feet are squishy!” Alex squealed, stomping around in the kitchen and making squishing noises with his sneakers. Lucy roared with laughter. Hearing it made Tim smile and pretty soon he was laughing right along with them. While Lucy tried to catch her breath, Tim pretended to be a monster, chasing after small, wet children. Alex loved the little game. With each step he took, his shoes squished even more. Tim chased him around the kitchen and living room, leaving little puddles everywhere.

“We need to get you out of those wet clothes,” Lucy said to her son through her laughter as Tim scooped him up in his arms and began running circles with him around the island in the kitchen.

“Can we have a pajama party tonight?” Alex asked as Tim put the boy back down. “Have dinner in our pjs and watch a movie? You know, like we used to do in New York.”

“Sure,” Lucy said with a smile. She helped him finally take off his coat and his shoes. “Why don’t you run upstairs to your room and pick out the pajamas you want. I’ll be up in a minute to help dry you off.”

“Ok, mommy! Can Tim stay, too?”

“Tim has to go home and see Genny and Tyler.”

“Actually,” Tim interjected. “Tyler is with his dad tonight and Genny told me she has a teacher thing at school. And I texted Genny earlier about staying at the guest house. She was really happy that I’ll have a real bed to sleep in.”

“Wait, Tim’s staying in the little house outside?” Alex asked excitedly.

“He is. But just for a little while. Tim’s going to go back home in a few months,” Lucy explained.

“To California?”

“Yup, to California,” Tim said. A small twinge sounded off in his back as he said the words. Tim ignored it.

“Well, he’s not going to California today,” Alex surmised.

“No, I’m not,” Tim assured him.

“So, you can stay for our pj party!” Alex shouted, racing up the stairs.

Lucy began to pick up Alex’s discarded wet things from the floor. She pushed her own wet hair out of her face. Tim grabbed a roll of paper towels off the counter and began wiping up some of the water from the floor.

“You don’t have to stay,” Lucy said to TIm.

“Do you not want me to stay?”

They both stopped what they were doing to look at each other.

“No, I do want you to stay. I just…I don’t want you to feel obligated.”

“I don’t feel obligated,” Tim assured her, stepping closer to her. “I want to be here.”

“Ok.”

“Ok.”

Lucy could feel the chemistry between them. It was as if an invisible string was pulling them towards each other. It both excited and terrified her.

“But you’re wet,” Lucy stuttered, trying to focus on her words rather than what would happen if she put one foot in front of the other to get closer to him. “You can’t stay in those wet clothes. And I don’t have anything that’ll fit you.”

“I’ve got a go-bag in the backseat of my truck. It’s a habit when you’re a cop to always keep an extra set of clothes and things you might need. I can stay in the guest house tonight and get the rest of my stuff from Genny’s tomorrow.”

“Ok, good.”

“I might even have an extra set of pajamas in my truck,” he said with a wink. “You know, for the pajama party.”

Lucy didn’t know how to responsd. She felt flustered. He was clearly flirting with her. It wasn’t the first time and she liked it. Only she knew it was dangerous territory.

“I’m going to go help Alex,” she finally said.

Before he did something they would both regret, Lucy bounded up the stairs.

Hours later the rain was still falling from the sky in droves. The wind howled, gusting so intensely that it shook the house. Alex was asleep on the couch with his head in Lucy’s lap. He was in a matching set of dinosaur pajamas, which he picked out very specifically. A kid’s movie about dinosaurs was playing on the TV. Tim sat on the other side of the couch with Alex’s feet in his lap. A blanket was laid over the boy. Three empty bowls with remnants of melted ice cream were on the coffee table in front of them. Tim glanced away from the TV that he wasn’t really watching and over at Lucy. She looked away sheepishly. She had clearly been looking at him.

“Look, Lucy, I…” Tim began, speaking quietly so as not to wake up Alex.

“Tim…” she said at the same exact time.

They both chuckled nervously.

“Go ahead,” he prompted.

“No, you go.”

As Tim opened his mouth to speak, the TV and lights suddenly went off. They were left in complete darkness.

“The wind must have knocked the power out,” Tim said. He reached for his phone and turned on the flashlight feature. Lucy did the same.

“I don’t have much battery left,” she announced, looking at the screen of her phone. “But I do have candles…somewhere”

“I’ll help.”

Gently, Lucy lifted Alex’s head off of her lap. She placed a small throw pillow under his head as Tim maneuvered Alex’s feet off of his lap. The boy stirred, but didn’t wake up. Using the flashlights on their phone to guide them, Lucy led the way into the kitchen. She rummaged in a few cupboards before finally finding the one where she had stashed the candles. She pulled out a package of a dozen tall candlesticks. She handed it to Tim before looking back under the cupboard and finding four decorative candlestick holders that held two candles each.

“Do you have a lighter?” Tim asked.

“It’s on top of the refrigerator,” Lucy answered. “So Alex can’t reach it.”

Tim admired what a good mom she was.

“I’ll get it,” Tim offered, realizing that due to her height, Lucy would need a stepstool of some kind to reach the top of the refrigerator.

Tim walked over to the refrigerator and saw the lighter pushed near the back. He grabbed it and brought it back to the counter where Lucy was already placing the candlesticks in the holders. He ignited the lighter and set it against the wick of one candle. It caught immediately and Tim repeated the action with the other candles in the candlestick. The kitchen immediately began to glow. Lucy picked up the candlestick holder, which now had two glowing candles on it, and was about to bring it to the other side of the room so that they could better light up the space. When Tim saw her, it took his breath away.

“You’re so beautiful,” he said. The words tumbled out of his mouth before he even knew what he was saying. Her skin glowed in the candlelight. Dressed in sweatpants and a baggie T-Shirt with no makeup on, she looked perfect.

“Oh,” the word escaped her lips in a whisper.

Tim shook his head, trying to clear his mind. “I’m sorry. I…I shouldn’t have…just the glow of the candle and…”

“It’s ok,” Lucy assured him. “It’s nice for a woman to hear every once in a while.”

“You deserve to be told that every day,” Tim stated.

Lucy knew she was fairly attractive. She had had plenty of men tell her that before, sometimes crudely so. But hearing it from Tim was different. The way he looked at her so intensely, Lucy knew he meant it. And that both excited and terrified her.

Looking away from him, Lucy continued on her task of bringing the candlestick to the other side of the room. She was suddenly self conscious of her attire and very aware of her son sleeping just a few feet away on the couch.

As a slight awkwardness hung in the air, Tim lit more candles and Lucy returned to retrieve another candlestick holder. With only the glow of the candles in the room, Lucy didn’t see the toy truck on the ground as she walked. She tripped over it and would have fallen down if Tim’s arms weren’t suddenly around her, steadying her. When she caught her breath she realized he had his arms around her waist and their faces were only inches apart. She had her hands on his chest, able to feel the muscle underneath his thin, black Tshirt.

“I really want to kiss you right now,” Tim whispered.

Lucy’s head was spinning. “I…I wouldn’t stop you.”

But Tim didn’t bridge the small gap between them because he knew if he did, there was no turning back. He had told himself he wouldn’t start something with Lucy and he had meant it. It wasn’t fair to her or to Alex or to Tim. And somehow he knew if he pressed his lips against hers, he would never want to stop kissing her.

Reluctantly, TIm backed his head away and took his hands off of her waist. She placed her hands on the kitchen counter, steadying herself. Her heart was racing.

“I like you,” Tim said simply. “I think we both know that.”

“I like you, too,” Lucy replied.

Tim smiled. It felt good that he wasn’t the only one feeling intense emotions.

“But…” he began.

“But you’re leaving in five months to go back home and I’ve had a lot of changes in my life recently and…”

“And starting something just doesn’t seem like a good idea,” Tim finished.

“You’re right,” Lucy agreed even though it pained her to do so.

“So…I…I don’t have to stay in the guest house if it’s too awkward or…”

“No, we’re both adults. I think we can just be friends. Anything else isn’t worth the risk of one of us getting hurt and I have Alex to think about…”

“Yeah, right,” Tim said. “Friends.”

“Friends,” Lucy agreed.

They both finished setting up the candles around the house and walked back into the living room. They stood at opposite sides of the couch. Lucy bent down and stroked Alex’s hair while he slept.

“Do you want me to help you carry him up to bed?” Tim asked.

“That would be great, thanks. Luckily he’s a very heavy sleeper. Nothing wakes this kid up.”

Tim slipped one hand under Alex’s torso and the other at his knees. He lifted the boy with little difficulty. Holding a candlestick in front of them, Lucy led the way upstairs. Tim gently lowered Alex into his bed. Lucy tucked his sheet and blanket over him and kissed his forehead. As they left the room and went into the hallway, she kept his door slightly ajar.

“I don’t want him to get scared if he wakes up since there’s no electricity. I think I’ll just sit out here for a while and see if the lights come back on.”

“I can wait with you,” Tim offered.

“I wouldn’t want sitting on the hard floor to mess up your back.”

“It can’t be worse than the couch I’ve been sleeping on,” Tim said with a smile.

Lucy smirked. “Ok.”

She placed the candlestick holder she was still holding in the middle of the hallway. She sat down with her back against one side of the wall and Tim sat against the opposite wall.

“We seem to find ourselves on the floor a lot,” Tim remarked.

“I guess we do.” There was another awkward pause, something they normally didn’t feel with each other. It was as if admitting they had feelings for each other had, but deciding to do nothing about it had broken the magic bubble they had created.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” Lucy asked.

“About…what?” Tim replied, wondering what else there was to talk about. Unless Lucy had changed her mind and thought that pursuing whatever it was that was between them was worth the risk.

“About the job the chief of police offered you. You haven’t said anything about it since that night at the arcade.”

“Oh, right,” Tim said. That hadn’t been what he thought Lucy was going to talk about. “I don’t know what to tell him.”

“If you’re not ready to go back to work…” Lucy began.

“That’s just it. When I left LA I was angry because I knew I was ready to go back and my commanding officer wouldn't let me. Now I have the chance to do something and I don’t know if I’m ready. How can both of those things be true?”

“Because humans and our thoughts and our emotions are complicated. You probably did feel ready to go back to work in LA, but that doesn’t mean you were ready. It’s only been two weeks since that day.”

“Yeah, but I feel different. I feel…rested. I feel…content.” He almost added that it was Lucy who was helping him to feel all of those things.

“Well, then maybe you should consider the offer. And, listen, I’m not trying to push you either way, but maybe this would be a good first step in getting your toes wet before you go back to LA diving head first.”

“It might be,” Tim agreed. “And I’ve been called out on duty to enough gun accidents to know how important gun safety is. It would be a good fit for me.”

“And it might give you more of a purpose out here instead of just helping me fix up my house. There are only so many projects that need to be done.”

Tim laughed. “I like helping you fix up your house.”

“I know and I’m very appreciative, but...”

“But you have a point,” Tim finished.

“Just…don’t do it because I think you should, Tim. Do it because it’s the right thing for you.”

“You’re right. I’m going to go talk to Chip tomorrow and give it a try. Thank you for being a good friend,” Tim said.

“Right…friend…” Lucy said as she trailed off.

Before Tim could respond, the lights came back on.

“Well, that was short lived,” Lucy said, blowing out the candles.

“Too bad. I thought we might have had to eat the rest of the ice cream so it wouldn’t all melt,” Tim commented with a smile.

“Speaking of ice cream. I should go clean up downstairs.”

“I can help.”

“No. That’s ok. I got it.”

Tim got up off the floor and reached his hand out to Lucy. She took it and he helped her to her feet. He didn’t let go of her hand.

“Thank you for inviting me to the pajama party,” Tim said.

“You’re welcome.” Lucy glanced over at her bedroom door. She could invite him to stay over. She could finally answer the question that had been plaguing her for days - what would it be like to kiss him and more? But they had decided it wasn’t worth the risk.

“I should go,” Tim said.

“I can give you an umbrella for the walk back.”

“Thanks.”

Tim finally dropped her hand and they made their way back downstairs. Tim mentally prepared himself for a lonely night in bed.

Chapter Text

That next morning, after they had admitted their feelings for one another, but had decided to just stay friends, TIm was unsure of exactly what he was supposed to do since he was basically living in Lucy’s backyard. Thankful that his back wasn’t hurting, Tim decided to just go with their normal routine. He stopped by Genny’s to see her before she had to go to work and to pick up his suitcase. She jokingly gave him a hard time about living at Lucy’s and how they were skipping a few steps in their relationship. Tim didn’t tell his sister about his and Lucy’s conversation and decision not to pursue anything.

The rest of the days continued in very much the same routine. Tim would hang out with his sister and his nephew in the late afternoons and evenings and Tim would work around Lucy’s house during the daytime, sometimes seeing her and sometimes not.

It turned out that being friends was harder than either Lucy or Tim imagined it would be. After their initial awkwardness from admitting their feelings had quickly worn off, their natural chemistry became so obvious to them. They could talk about anything and, even though they didn’t always agree on some things, they respected each other’s opinions. They flirted without meaning to and somehow found reasons to touch each other in the most innocuous ways. Their hands would brush or they’d bump into each other in the hallway. He would put his hand on her shoulder or she would touch his arm to get his attention. They didn’t talk about how much they were doing, but it was obvious that they both craved that touch.

Another few days later on one particularly chilly Saturday afternoon, Tim, Lucy, Genny, and dozens of other people found themselves back on the cold bleachers watching a Little League game. Tyler was in the outfield and Alex was playing second base. As Lucy had promised coach Chuck, Alex was a good player. Genny sat between Lucy and Tim and couldn’t help but notice how the two of them would eye each other when they thought no one was looking.

As the batter on the other team hit a ball into the outfield, Genny, Lucy, and Tim all jumped to their feet.

“Catch it!” Tim yelled.

“Eye on the ball!” Genny shouted.

“You got it!” Lucy exclaimed.

Tyler caught the ball, which caused everyone to cheer, and the inning was over.

“I’m going to see if there’s any hot coffee left at the snack bar,” Genny said, rubbing her cold hands together. “Anyone want anything?”

“I’ll take something warm,” Tim said.

“I’ll come with you,” Lucy offered.

A warm drink sounded perfect and Lucy had to admit that she didn’t want to be sitting next to Tim alone. Things had become strange between them since they admitted they had feelings for each other.

Climbing down off the bleachers, Lucy and Genny passed a small table next to the dugout where the orange and watermelon slices sat that Lucy had brought. It was so cold that none of the kids were really touching the fruit. Going to stand in line at the concession stand, Genny turned to Lucy.

“What is going on with you and my brother?”

“What? What do you mean?” Lucy replied.

“The chemistry between you two is obvious.”

“We’re just friends.”

“Well that’s a shame because you two look like you were made for each other.”

“It’s…complicated,” Lucy muttered.

They approached the concession stand. The woman running the stand said she was out of coffee, but she did have plenty of hot chocolate. Genny ordered three. Lucy took two of the full cups as the woman handed them to her and she turned to head back to the bleachers. That’s when Lucy spotted Ashley talking to Tim. She was in a bright pink North Face jacket that of course hugged her curves in all of the right places. Lucy looked down at her own worn out sweatshirt and Jeans she was wearing. As Genny paid for the hot chocolates, Lucy watched as Ashley touched Tim’s hand and laughed at something he said. Lucy had this sudden image of pushing Ashley down the bleachers. She shook the thought from her head. Ashley had every right to talk to Tim. After all, Lucy and Tim were just friends.

“Come on, our team is up to bat,” Genny said.

Hurrying back to their seats, Genny made a point of stepping over Tim so that Lucy would have to sit next to him. Ashley was still there and was slightly perturbed that she had to move a little so everyone could take their seats. Lucy handed one of the hot chocolates she was holding to Tim and he thanked her.

“Hey Genny,” Ashley said.

“Hi Ashley,” Genny replied politely.

“It’s nice to see you again…Lola,” Ashley said, turning to Lucy with a fake smile.

“It’s Lucy,” Tim said before Lucy could say anything.

“Right, of course. Sorry. I was just reminding Tim about the school’s carnival fundraiser tomorrow. We could really use all of the help we can get setting up.”

“We’ll all be there to help,” Genny said. “Just like we signed up to do during the last PTO meeting.”

“Well, I just wanted to double check. Despite how cold it is today, the weather is looking perfect for tomorrow. I guess that’s New England for you. So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow around 9:00?” Ashley said, looking straight at Tim.

“I’ll be there,” he stated.

“Great. And don’t forget the offer still stands that if you want to go out sometime, I’m available.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Tim said.

“Perfect. See you tomorrow!”

As Ashley strode away, she bumped into Lucy’s arm, causing her hot chocolate to spill on her sweatshirt. Ashley didn’t stop to apologize.

“I’ll get some napkins,” Genny offered, standing and walking away.

Lucy looked down at the stain on her shirt. She could feel the wetness soaking through the fabric. A wind blew and she shivered.

“It’s too cold for you to be in a wet sweatshirt,” Tim said. “Here.”

He quickly pulled his sweatshirt over his head and offered it to Lucy.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“You’ll freeze.”

“And so will you,” Lucy replied. “You’re not used to this New England weather. You’ve got thin LA blood.”

“My blood is just fine, thank you. And I’ve got a spare jacket in my truck.”

“Of course you do,” Lucy said.

“A cop’s gotta be prepared.”

“Thanks,” Lucy said, taking Tim’s sweatshirt. She took hers off and immediately put his on. It was a little big, but it smelled like him. She took a moment to close her eyes and let the scent intoxicate her.

“It looks better on you anyway,” Tim said with a smile. There was that flirtiness again. Lucy smiled.

“Thank you,” she repeated. “Really.”

“You’re welcome.”

They stared into each other’s eyes and that familiar pull of wanting to kiss the other person came to both of them.

“Go Alex!” Genny shouted as she climbed back up the bleachers with napkins in her hand.

Lucy tore her gaze away from Tim and focused on her son. He was up to bat. He gave a little wave back at Lucy before heading to home plate. Lucy clapped her hands.

“You got this, Alex!” She shouted, trying to keep her cheeks from turning pink. She was supposed to be watching her son play baseball, not flirting with the very attractive man who just entered her life. Friends, Lucy reminded herself. They were just supposed to be friends.

*****

At 9:00 the next day, Lucy pulled into the parking lot of the school with Alex in the backseat. Even though he had grumbled about going to school on a Saturday, he got excited when he found out most of his classmates would be there. Lucy noticed that Tim’s truck was already in the parking lot as was Genny’s minivan. Dozens of other parents and teachers were milling around. The school was on a large piece of property including a big field where the students normally had recess and outdoor phys-ed class. The goal, Lucy had learned from Genny, was to transform the field into a small carnival with a few traditional carnival games, a bouncy house or two, a makeshift dance floor with a DJ playing kid-friendly music, carnival food like corn dogs, cotton candy, and popcorn, and the plan was even a few small rides that were rented from a traveling amusement park company. Tickets would be sold to raise money for the school’s library. All in all it was a good cause and Lucy was happy to help.

As Lucy got out of the car with Alex in toe, Ashley got out of her pristine looking van. She was dressed in skinny jeans and a V-neck black, silky shirt, looking more like she was going to a club than working on putting together a kid’s carnival. Lucy looked down at her ripped jeans and old t-shirt that had brown stains from when she stained the pergola on it. Much like she had the day before, she wished she had put a little more thought into her outfit. But then Lucy berated herself. That wasn’t who she was. She was practical and certainly didn’t need to dress up to set up a kid’s carnival just to impress a guy. A guy she was only supposed to be friend with anyway.

“Thank you everyone for coming!” Ashley exclaimed, ushering everyone to gather in a large circle. “We’ll have some parent volunteers watching over the kiddos at the craft table while the rest of us have assigned projects to work on. Let’s make this year’s carnival the best one yet!”

“Gag me,” Genny said, coming up behind Lucy. “She is way too chipper.”

Lucy stifled a laugh. “How long have you known her?”

“Since I had her daughter, Cora, in kindergarten. She’s actually a very sweet and bright little girl, but her mother is a serious handful.”

As Ashley started passing out assignments to the adults, Tim walked over to where Genny and Lucy stood.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself,” Lucy replied.

Genny looked from Tim to Lucy. They were both staring at each other, clearly mesmerized by each other’s presence.

“I’m going to go get the kids settled at the kid’s table,” Genny announced, gathering both Alex and Tyler and leading them over to some tables set up in a grassy area.

“How was your meeting with Chip?” Lucy asked.

“It was good. We went over the curriculum for the gun safety class. It’s all easy enough stuff. My first class is on Monday.”

“And how do you feel about that?”

Tim nodded. “Good. Like you said, it’ll be nice to dip my toe back in. And I even talked to Grey.”

“Your Sergeant back in LA?”

“Yeah. He thinks it’s a good first step too.”

“I’m glad you’re being open about it,” Lucy said.

“I think I have you to thank for that.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Ashley strode over to them. Lucy couldn’t help but notice that she stood very close to Tim.

“Tim, thanks for coming,” Ashley said with a big smile. “You’ll be working with me on painting the backdrop for the pin the claw on the crab game and the mermaid photo booth.” She turned to Lucy, her smile dissipating. “And you will be working with Ben and Tom on putting out trash barrels and setting up tents and putting down the dancefloor. Do you like to dance, Tim?”

“Trash?” Lucy murmured under her breath.

“I can do all that,” Tim offered. He glanced over at the two men Ben and Tom that Ashley had pointed to. They were both moderately attractive, thirty-something year old men. From where he was standing, Tim could see that one was wearing a wedding ring. He couldn’t see the other man’s hand. Tim didn’t much like the idea that she’d be spending the day with them. “Sounds like heavy lifting.”

“I’m more than capable of doing some heavy lifting,” Lucy remarked.

“I know you are,” Tim told her. “I just…”

“Well, if Lucy is fine doing it, then it’s settled,” Ashley interrupted. “Now, come along, we have a lot of painting to do! I’ve got the paint cans in my van if you’ll follow me.” Ashley began walking away towards her vehicle.

“If you need help…” Tim began to say to Lucy.

“I got it,” she assured him.

“I know, but the offer still stands.”

“Thanks,” Lucy said. “I better go find some garbage cans to wrangle. Have fun painting with Ashley.”

Tim wanted to say something in response, but couldn’t think of anything. He would have much rather been putting up tents and trash cans with Lucy than spending the next few hours painting with Ashley.

“Hey!” Tim called out to her. Lucy turned to look at him. He wanted to ask her to be his date to the carnival, but then he wondered if that was weird. Was it kosher to take a date to a school’s fundraiser? “Will I see you tonight? At the carnival?”

“If you’re lucky,” Lucy replied with a smile before turning to continue walking away.

“Hey Chen,” Tim called out again. When Lucy turned this time she had a smirk on her face. He had never called her that before and she kind of liked it. “Save me a dance.”

Lucy didn’t respond. Instead, she just walked away, dreaming about what it would be like to be in his arms.

Chapter Text

“Mom, let’s go!” Alex yelled outside of Lucy’s bedroom door.

“I’m coming, bud,” Lucy called back. She heard his feet on the steps as he made his way downstairs.

Lucy looked at herself in the mirror. She had bought the emerald green dress months ago on a whim one Saturday afternoon when she was still living in the city while Alex had been at baseball practice. The dress was more than she would normally spend on her wardrobe, but she had loved it from the moment she tried it on. It had cap sleeves and a V-neck that showed a little skin, but wasn’t inappropriate. The dress hugged her at her waist and fell to just below her knees, flaring out at the bottom. When she had bought it, she imagined one night dancing in it and watching it twirl. Standing in her bedroom, she wondered if it was maybe a little too fancy for an elementary school carnival, but she didn’t care. And somehow she knew Ashley would be showing up in something even fancier, not that that should matter to Lucy.

“Mom!” Alex shouted up the stairs.

“Coming!”

Fastening one more bobby pin so her hair stayed in place over one shoulder, Lucy grabbed her purse, slid her feet into a pair of nude strappy sandals that had a little bit of a heel and left her bedroom. She walked down the stairs to find Alex standing with his hands on his hips.

“What took you so long?” He asked.

“Sorry, honey.”

“We’re going to be late!”

“It’s ok, the carnival is all night long. We have plenty of time.”

Alex pulled something out of the pocket of his Jeans.

“I made this for you,” he said, handing whatever it was over to Lucy. She inspected it carefully. It was a bracelet made of string and small seashells. The shells weren’t evenly spaced and the string was neon green, but it made Lucy smile.

“Oh, honey, I love it.”

“We each made one today at the craft table,” Alex explained. “The lady in charge said to give it to someone special. So I chose you, mom.”

“That’s very sweet,” Lucy said, willing herself not to cry. “Would you help me tie it on?”

“Sure!”

Lucy placed the bracelet around her wrist and let Alex take the two strands to tie them together.

“Just like you’re tying your shoes,” Lucy coaxed.

Alex did his best to tie the strands together. His little tongue popped out of his mouth as he worked.

“Done!” Alex announced triumphantly.

Lucy wasn’t sure how sturdy the knot was, but it would have to do.

“Good job, bud.”

“Thanks. Can we go now?”

“Ok, ok, we’re going.”

Lucy took a quick peek out the french door leading out to the backyard. The lights in the guest house were off. As she made her way outside, Lucy noticed Tim’s truck was gone. She was slightly disappointed that he hadn’t specifically asked her to go to the carnival with him, but that’s what they had decided, wasn’t it? They were just going to stay friends. She hadn’t seen him all day since he had left to go paint with Ashley. Lucy felt a twinge of jealousy enter her brain and she tried to shake it off.

Climbing in the car, Lucy drove the couple of blocks over to the school. The parking lot was already beginning to fill up. As she drove around to find a spot, she saw Tim’s truck. It was always easy to spot with the California license plate.

“I see Tyler and Miss Bradford!” Alex exclaimed, excitedly pointing from the backseat.

“Let me park the car first,” Lucy said.

After she had parked the car, Alex hopped out. Reminding him to be careful in the parking lot, they made their way to where Genny and Tyler stood, standing in line for one of the bouncy castles. The boys exchanged greetings.

“This carnival looks amazing,” Lucy commented as she looked around. Just as Genny had said there would be, there were food stands, games, another bouncy castle on the other side of the field, some small carnival rides, and the dance floor with the tent Lucy helped construct right over it. When she had left after helping out for a few hours in the morning, the whole carnival hadn’t seemed that impressive. But, with lights flashing and the sounds of kids having fun, it really looked great. Lucy had to hand it to Ashley that she had coordinated a great event.

“Every year it seems to get bigger and bigger,” Genny stated.

When it was the boys’ turn to go into the bouncy castle, they took their shoes off and climbed inside. Genny and Lucy watched them jump.

“I’m so happy Alex is fitting in here so well,” Lucy commented.

“He’s a good kid,” Genny replied.

“Thanks.”

“Tim told me about how he came into your life. He was lucky he found someone as caring as you.”

“I’m the lucky one,” Lucy said as she watched her son enjoy himself.

“Speaking of lucky ones,” Genny said, elbowing Lucy in the side. Lucy turned to see why Genny was nudging her. Tim walked up behind them and Genny conveniently stepped a few feet away, giving them some space.

“Hi,” Tim said.

“Hey,” Lucy replied.

“You look…you look…wow,” Tim complimented, looking her up and down. He had seen her in everything from her oversized pajamas to work clothes to her professional clothing, but nothing had prepared him for the green dress she wore.

“I take it that’s a good reaction?” Lucy said with a smile.

“A very good reaction. You look beautiful.”

“Thank you.”

“DId I ever tell you green is my favorite color?”

“No.”

He leaned in a little closer to her. “That’s because it just became my favorite color after seeing you in that dress.”

Lucy felt a shiver go up her spine. She had to admit to herself that she had worn the dress for him and clearly it was working as intended.

“Tim, I…”

“Oh, there you are!” Ashley exclaimed, walking up to the two of them. As Lucy had predicted, she was wearing a short, black dress that accentuated all of her curves. She completed the outfit with spiky black heels that even Lucy had to admit made her legs look amazing, but were totally impractical for walking around a carnival. Ashley put her hand on Tim’s arm and didn’t remove it. “We’re having a little trouble getting the beautiful mermaid backdrop we painted earlier today to stand up. Think you could help?”

“Of course, no problem,” Tim answered.

“Thanks,” Ashley said as she began to walk away. “Oh, and nice bracelet, Lucy!”

“Alex made it for me,” Lucy said quite proudly, lifting up her hand for Tim to get a better look.

Tim smiled. “I love it. He did a nice job.”

“He did.”

“Only it looks a little loose,” Tim remarked. “May I?”

Lucy nodded. Tim gently took her hand and brought her closer to him. He undid the loose knot that Alex had done. His fingers brushed against her skin. For a moment he landed on her pulse and could feel her breath was quickened. Tim expertly took the two ends of the string and tied them together, taking more time than he really needed to.

“Thank you,” Lucy stuttered as Tim finished his task.

“Tim!” Ashley called. “We wouldn’t want that backdrop falling on anyone, would we?”

“I better go. But don’t forget you owe me a dance.”

“I haven’t forgotten,” Lucy assured him as he finally let go of her hand.

As she watched him go, Lucy wasn’t sure what it was that they were doing. Hadn’t they decided to just be friends? Why was he flirting with her? And why had she gotten all dressed up for him? Lucy’s head felt like it was swimming. She and Tim were due for a serious talk. But it would have to wait, because Lucy needed to concentrate on her son and making sure he had the best time possible.

A little over an hour later, after Tyler and Alex had gorged themselves on popcorn and cotton candy and had gone on every carnival ride twice with Genny and Lucy trailing just a few feet behind them the entire night, they came to the mermaid photo booth that Tim had helped Ashley paint. They had done a nice job. The mermaid looked great and with a few dress up props lying around, it was a fun area to get a nice picture. Lucy looked around for Tim. She hadn’t seen him since Ashley had stolen him away to fix the photo op. As she looked around, she finally did see him. He was on the dance floor. Tim had his hands on Ashley’s hips and they were swaying to whatever song was playing. They were clearly involved in conversation. Ashley threw her head back and laughed at something she said and Lucy could swear she put her arms around Tim’s neck a little tighter.

“Lucy, hey,” Genny said, trying to get her attention. “The boys want to go back to the spinning cups. Is that ok?”

“Yeah, fine,” Lucy said, tearing her eyes away from Tim. She was angry, sad, and hurt all at the same time and yet, she had no right to be. The man had told her he had feelings for him and she had turned him down. He had every right to dance with whoever he wanted, but that didn’t stop the feelings from coming on strong.

Hours later, as Tim walked behind Lucy’s house towards the guesthouse, he noticed the French doors to her kitchen were open. Just the screen remained closed. She must have opened it for the nice breeze, Tim thought, but to him it also felt like an invitation. He didn’t like how they had left things at the carnival. They had promised each other a dance and yet when Tim went to look for her and Alex, she was nowhere to be found. Then Ashley had flagged Tim down and asked him to help her take some of the games and food stands down after most everyone had left.

Tim approached the house and saw Lucy standing in the kitchen. Her back was to him, but she was pouring herself a glass of wine. Alex was most likely already in bed asleep. Tim watched as Lucy brought the wine glass to her lips.

“Hey,” Tim said through the screen.

Lucy jumped and whirled around, some wine sloshing over the rim of her glass. She immediately put her glass down on the counter and grabbed some paper towels.

“Sorry,” Tim said, letting himself in. He closed the slider behind him, but kept some distance between him and Lucy.

“You’re home earlier than I expected,” Lucy commented, wiping the wine up from the floor. “Not that I’m keeping track of the hours you keep.”

“I just helped Ashley dismantle some things,” Tim explained.

“I bet that’s all you did,” Lucy said under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Did you need something? I was about to head up to bed.”

“No, I just…I thought we were going to have that dance. I looked for you, but…”

“Alex wasn’t feeling that well after his third ride on the spinning cups so we left,” Lucy explained.

“Oh. Is he ok?”

“He is now.”

“Good,” Tim replied. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to spend any time with you. I…”

“Look, you can dance or date or hook up with anyone you want. Just make sure Alex doesn’t see. I don’t want women paraded around here like…”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Tim interrupted, putting his hand up. “I have no intention of parading women around here. I am not that kind of guy. And I’m not dating or hooking up with anybody, including Ashley.”

“Well, that’s not what it looked like on the dance floor.”

“So you did see us.”

“Everyone saw you,” Lucy stated.

“She asked me to dance. I don’t even really remember saying yes to her when she pulled me out there.”

“Yeah, because you clearly couldn’t have stopped her if you wanted to.”

“Regardless of what it looked like, nothing is going on between me and Ashley,” Tim insisted.

“I bet that would be news to her.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve declined her advances to go out on several occasions. It was just a stupid dance. One that I didn’t even want to be a part of!”

“Maybe it was a stupid dance to you. I’m not sure she got the memo. But you know what? It doesn’t matter because you’re free to do whatever or whoever you want.”

“Is that jealousy I hear?” Tim questioned.

“Why would I be jealous?” Lucy countered.

“I don’t know,” Tim replied, throwing his hands up in the air in frustration.

“Why don’t you just do everyone a favor and ask Ashley out?”

“She’s not my type,” Tim mumbled.

“She’s every guy’s type. Blonde, beautiful, tall, intelligent, a nice body. Heck, even Genny said her kid is sweet. Do I need to go on?”

“Yeah, well, maybe my type is more brunette, short, beautiful, and sexy as hell even though she doesn’t always know it.” Lucy looked away from him. She took a long sip from her wine glass. Tim began to walk closer to her. “Look, there is nobody I want to date except you. And I know we already discussed this and we decided that getting involved wasn’t worth the risk of us getting hurt when I move back home, but…”

Before Tim could finish his thought, Lucy put her hands on either side of his face and pulled him towards her. When their lips first made contact, Tim felt frozen. It took him a split second to remember to kiss her back. But when his brain finally caught up to what was happening, he responded to her kiss with fervor. He brought his hand to her cheek and reveled in the feeling of her lips against his. She tasted like wine and it intoxicated him.

The sudden sound of a cell phone chiming made them jump apart. Tim immediately missed the feeling of her. Lucy looked away from him sheepishly.

“Ah…sorry…” he said, taking his phone out of his pocket. It was a text from his sister. He read it to himself quickly.

‘If you go out with Ashley and hurt Lucy, I will hurt you.’

Tim quickly shoved the phone back in his pocket. He would deal with that later.

“No, I’m sorry,” Lucy said. “I don’t know what came over me.” She paused and looked him in the eye. “Actually, no I won’t apologize. I have been wanting to do that basically since you arrived in this town and seeing as how it didn’t seem like you were going to make the first move, I had to do it. So I’m sorry, not sorry.”

Tim smirked. “Trust me, no apology is necessary.”

“So…” Lucy prompted. She thought about inviting him upstairs to her bedroom, but knew that would be wrong. She didn’t want to just jump into bed with Tim, as appealing as that sounded. “What do we do now?”

There was a long pause between them. Neither knew exactly what to do or say. But then Tim decided he was going to step up. If she could be brave enough to kiss him, he could be brave enough to take the next step. He took a deep breath and smiled.

“Do you want to get dinner sometime?”

“Yes,” Lucy answered quickly.

Tim was surprised at her quick response. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Lucy repeated. But then she began to think about what that meant. “No, uh…”

Tim was taken aback by her sudden change. He went from ecstatic to deflated in an instant.

“Ok,” he said, taking a step away from her.

“No, no, it’s just…we need to do this the right way.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, we both know you’re leaving in a few months. We both know that whatever happens between us is temporary. So I think we need to agree as two intelligent, consenting adults that when you do leave, there won’t be any hard feelings. We need to just see this as two adults who want to get to know each other and enjoy spending time together while you’re here without any hope or promise of a future. There can be no someday in our relationship.”

“Got it. I’ll erase the word someday from my vocabulary.”

“And Alex can’t know. I don’t even know what he understands as a seven year old about dating, but I don’t want him to think that you’re going to be sticking around so no talking about dating in front of him. No PDA.”

“I got it.”

“And if it becomes too much for either of us…if we start catching deeper feelings or something…we’ll…we’ll put a stop to it.”

“Deal,” Tim said even though he was afraid he had already caught deeper feelings for the woman standing in front of him.

“Ok, good,” Lucy replied.

“So,” Tim said, followed by a brief pause. “Do you want to go out on a date?”

Lucy smiled. “Yeah, I do.”

“Good. How about Friday night?”

“I’ll have to find a sitter for Alex.”

“We can ask Genny. Trust me, she’ll be glad to do it. She’s been trying to get me to ask you since we first met at the baseball game.”

“Well, if she’s able to, then I look forward to Friday,” Lucy said.

“Me too. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

Tim turned to walk back out the French doors.

“Hey, Tim,” Lucy called out after him.

“Yeah?”

“I’m really glad you didn’t ask Ashley out.”

“I knew you were jealous.”

“Maybe just a little,” Lucy said.

Smiling, Tim closed the doors and retreated to the guest house.

Chapter Text

The week seemed to go by at a snail’s pace. Lucy tried to focus on seeing her clients and giving them her undivided attention, but she found her mind constantly wandering off to thoughts of Tim. She wanted to kiss him again. To taste his lips and feel his arms around her.

Tim was having the same trouble concentrating. His first gun safety class went well. Chip even asked him back the next day to talk to a bunch of new recruits about what they could expect in their rookie year as a police officer. It certainly wasn’t like the police work he did in Los Angeles where gangs, drugs, and weapons were prevalent around almost every corner, but he enjoyed being back in a police station.

During the times they weren’t working, Tim and Lucy continued to work on the house. They had made so much progress, though, that there weren’t as many things to work on. Tim started painting the exterior of the house so it would be all one color while Lucy and Alex had started a small vegetable garden in the back near the pergola. On so many occasions, Tim had sat back and watched in awe at how good of a mother she truly was. He hoped he would be half as good of a father someday.

Alex and Tyler had a baseball game Wednesday night. Lucy and Tim sat with Genny in the stands, cheering for the boys. By this time, Lucy had asked Genny to watch Alex so she and Tim could go on their date and Genny was ecstatic. Anyone with working eyes could see there was a spark between Tim and Lucy. They sat just a little bit closer to each other on the bleachers and neither of them could stop smiling. Ashley came over at some point to say hello, but Tim quickly dismissed her politely. Genny was pretty sure even she got the hint that something was going on with Tim and Lucy.

After what felt like an eternity, Friday evening finally arrived. Lucy dropped Alex off at Genny’s at 5:30. So happy to be hanging out with his new best friend, Alex didn’t know where his mother was going and he didn’t care. He was just happy to be able to try playing Tyler’s new video game. Genny offered to keep Alex overnight, but Lucy insisted that it wasn’t necessary. She was extremely interested in spending the night with Tim, but she didn’t want to rush into things. Genny told her to call if she changed her mind.

Upon returning home, Lucy tried on every dress in her closet, which admittedly, wasn’t many. She finally settled on a little black dress. After all, a woman couldn’t go wrong with that, right? It was sleeveless and had a high neckline, but the back of it scooped down low to her mid-back. It fell straight down just above her knees. Lucy took out the only pair of high heels she owned out of her closet and put them on her feet. She prayed they weren’t going to be doing a lot of walking because she wasn’t sure how long she would last in them. Leaving her hair down and her makeup a little heavier than usual with a dark, smokey eye and red lips, Lucy made her way down to the living room just in time for the doorbell to ring. She went to the front door and opened it. Tim was standing in a black blazer and black pants with a dark blue button down shirt.

“Wow,” he said, looking her up and down. “You look stunning.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said, blushing just slightly. “You’re looking very handsome yourself.”

“Thanks.”

“You came to the front door,” Lucy noted.

“It felt a little weird coming in the back for our first official date. And, these are for you,” he said, handing Lucy a dozen red roses.

“They’re beautiful. Thank you. Let me just put them in water and then we can go.”

“Sounds good.”

Lucy brought the flowers into the kitchen and grabbed a vase from a cupboard.

“So where are we going?” She asked as she filled the vase with water.

“One of the guys at the station recommended a place by the water.”

“By the water? Fancy,” Lucy said, returning to where Tim stood just inside the doorway.

“A guy’s gotta make a good impression on the first date,” Tim stated.

“So far, so good,” Lucy told him.

“Good. Then let’s go.”

As they made their way to Tim’s truck, he, of course, opened the door for her. They shared casual conversation on their way to the restaurant about how the painting of the house was coming and about how Alex’s team was doing in Little League. When they arrived at the restaurant, a waitress seated them outside with a view of the beach and ocean. The sun had almost set, casting a magnificent glow over the restaurant.

“This is beautiful,” Lucy said, looking around.

“Yeah, it is,” Tim replied, staring directly at Lucy.

She smiled at him as they sat and ordered a glass of wine.

“So, how’s it been spending some time this week at the police station?” Lucy asked.

“It’s been good. I mean it’s only been a few days and I’m only there for a few hours, but it’s nice to be back with other police officers. Chip runs a good station.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Any anxiety coming up for you after what happened?”

Tim shook his head. “No. I think it’s actually helping me heal. But, our last two weeks of the gun safety course include going to a range and taking some practice shots.”

“Does that worry you?” Lucy asked, concern in her voice.

“I haven’t heard a gun go off since I was shot.”

“That might be difficult to be around that sound,” Lucy said.

“Yeah, it might be.” Tim smiled and shook his head a little. “I don’t know how you do this.”

“Do what?”

“Get me to open up to you. My mandated shrink in LA tried for multiple sessions to get me to admit what I just admitted to you.”

“You have to find someone to trust. Someone who you know won’t judge you. And here is your safe space. You know you won’t be in jeopardy of losing your job if you tell me the truth.”

“You are my safe place,” Tim stated. “You bring out the best in me, Lucy Chen.”

She smiled. The waitress brought them their glasses of wine and took their food order. Lucy ordered the sea bass while Tim went for a steak.

“Tell me about your family,” Tim prompted. “You never talk about them.”

“There’s not much to tell,” Lucy told him. “I was an only child. My mother immigrated here from China when she was a little girl. She met my dad, which was quite a scandal in the family because he wasn’t chinese. My grandparents never had much of a relationship with them once my mom announced that they were getting married.”

“That’s too bad,” Tim said.

“Yeah,” Lucy said with a sigh. “It was a different time back then.”

“Were you close with your parents?”

“My dad and I were pretty close. My mom and I had our differences,” Lucy admitted. “She wanted me to get married and start a family. Don’t get me wrong, she was happy I became a therapist, but I think she thought I would give it up to raise a family.”

“Where are your parents now?”

“They died in a car accident about ten years ago,” Lucy said.

“I’m so sorry.”

“I had just moved to New York and my mom wasn’t happy about that. We hadn’t really been talking when I got the call about the accident.”

“That must have been tough.”

“It was. I’d like to think that even though I didn’t do the whole family thing in the way that she would have wanted, that she’d still adore Alex.”

“I’m sure she would,” Tim assured her. “He’s a great kid. And you are a fantastic mom. I have a feeling she’d be very proud of you. Any mother would be.”

“Thanks. What about your family? Besides Genny, that is?”

“Well, my dad was a real son of a bitch. He died about a year back. He used to…I don’t know how to explain it…test me.”

“Test you? What do you mean?”

“Like, when I was a kid he would drag me out to the middle of the woods with only a compass and tell me to find my way home. Told me it was the only way I’d ever learn anything important.”

“That’s horrible.”

“Yeah. I learned about what kind of man I didn’t want to be from him.”

Lucy reached across the table and put her hand on his.

“You’re nothing like him,” she assured Tim.

“Thanks. My mom is a good woman. She put up with his crap for way too long. But when Genny and I got older, she finally got out of the relationship. I think she stayed for us.”

“Are you close with your mom now?”

“Not as close as I should be. She lives in Florida in a little retirement community.”

“You should call her,” Lucy suggested.

“I should.”

“Tell me more about your life in LA,” Lucy prompted.

“What do you want to know?”

“I don’t know. Are you one of those guys who goes surfing every weekend?”

Tim chuckled. “No. I hate the beach.”

“How can you hate the beach?” Lucy exclaimed with a little laugh.

“All that sand. All the dead bodies.”

“What dead bodies?”

“Do you know how many dead people and decaying body parts there are out there in the middle of the ocean?” Tim countered.

“And yet you brought me to a restaurant on the water,” Lucy pointed out.

“Oh, I like looking at the beach from afar,” Tim explained.

Lucy laughed. “It’s funny because Genny told me that before she became this big powerful business woman, Ashley worked her way through college as a lifeguard.”

“Add that to the list of reasons why she and I would never work.”

“And what else is on that list?” Lucy asked.

“The number one thing on that list is that I’m totally interested in somebody else.”

“How interested?”

“Very interested,” Tim said. He went to lean over the table to kiss her when the waitress arrived with their food. Sheepishly, Tim sat back down. Their second kiss would have to wait.

As they both began to eat, Tim noticed a younger couple sitting a few tables away from them. The woman had her head bowed a little and seemed to be cowering in her seat. The waiter took away an empty beer glass and whiskey glass from the table while handing the man another shot.

“Is everything ok?” Lucy asked, noticing that Tim was noticing something.

“Yeah, I just don’t like the situation going on behind you.”

“What’s going on behind me?” She questioned without turning around. Lucy didn’t want to bring attention to them.

“Maybe nothing. Or maybe a guy getting a little too drunk and scaring the woman he’s with.”

“Should we do something?” Lucy asked.

“It’ll probably blow over.”

The minute Tim said the words he saw the man lunge across the table and slap the woman across the face. She cried out, practically falling off of her chair.

“Hey!” Tim yelled, jumping up from his chair. Lucy did the same.

As Tim approached the man’s table, the man picked up one of the steak knives at his place setting.

“Knife!” Lucy called so Tim would be aware that the man had a weapon. Tim was unarmed. He wasn’t used to being in that situation.

“This doesn’t concern you, man,” the man warned. His speech was slurred and he wobbled a little as he took a step closer to Tim with the knife outstretched in front of him. The woman was still in her seat, gripping her cheek and crying.

“Put the knife down,” Tim ordered.

“Shut up!” The man yelled.

“I called 911,” a waiter said from behind Tim.

With the sound of the waiter’s voice, the man with the knife became distracted enough for Tim to rush at him. He tackled the guy, easily getting the knife away from him. Lucy kicked it out of reach from anyone and went over to the scared woman while Tim managed to flip the man onto his stomach and got his arms behind his back. Lucy began to console the woman while they waited for the police to arrive.

A few moments later, the police arrived and soon after the man was being led away in handcuffs all while Lucy was holding some ice cubes wrapped in a cloth napkin to the woman’s face. Lucy had noticed bruising on the woman’s arms. Some looked like they had been there for a while.

“We’ll need your statements,” one of the police officers said to Tim.

“Yeah, of course,” Tim replied, accustomed to the procedure.

“Ma’am, you’ll have to come downtown and give a statement,” another officer said to the woman.

“I don’t…I can’t…” the woman stuttered.

“I’ll go with you,” Lucy offered. She gave Tim an apologetic glance that they would be cutting their date short. He nodded at her, completely understanding. One of the many things he found so attractive about Lucy was how much she wanted to help people.

“Alright then,” the second officer said. “Let’s all get going.”

“I’m sorry about ruining our first date,” Lucy said as she walked by Tim.

“Just means we’ll have to have a really good second one.”

Lucy smiled and Tim watched her leave.

Chapter Text

Lucy had returned home late the night of her and Tim’s first date. She had stayed at the police station with the distraught woman from the restaurant whose boyfriend had assaulted her. Lucy learned that the woman had been a frequent victim of domestic abuse. With Lucy’s counseling, the woman finally decided to press charges and Lucy found her a place to stay at a local shelter. Tim had offered to pick up Alex from Genny’s and bring him home, but Alex begged to have a sleepover with Tyler so Lucy agree to let him stay. Tim returned to the guest house behind Lucy’s house alone.

It was well after two in the morning when Lucy had texted Tim that she had arrived home. She wasn’t expecting a response, but he texted her back immediately from where he was laying on the bed in the guest house, unable to sleep. She had half a mind to ask him to come over, but she didn’t. She needed sleep and they needed to slow things down.

Later on that morning, after only a few hours of sleep, Lucy woke up later than usual. The clock told her it was already 8:13. Alex had a game at 9:00. Swearing under her breath, Lucy quickly hopped out of bed. She checked her phone and saw that Genny had texted.

‘I’ll bring the boys to the game. Just bring Alex’s baseball gear.’

Thankful to have such a good friend, Lucy forced herself to take a deep breath. She glanced at herself in the mirror and saw her face was smeared with makeup. She silently berated herself for not taking it off the night before. Quickly hopping in the shower and scrubbing her face with some makeup remover, Lucy got dressed quickly in a pair of Jeans and an old, plain gray t-shirt. She went into Alex’s room and grabbed his baseball bag as well as his uniform. She jogged down the steps and almost screamed when she saw someone in the kitchen.

“Sorry,” Tim quickly said, realizing how shocked she was to see him. “I should have knocked, but I didn’t want to wake you and the back door was unlocked, so…”

“No, it’s fine,” Lucy said with her hand over her rapidly beating heart. “I just wasn’t expecting anyone.”

“I made breakfast,” Tim said, showing her two things wrapped in aluminum foil. “Egg, sausage, and spinach wraps. I figured we could take them to go. And I thought maybe we could go to the game together.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said with a smile. “That was very sweet of you. And yes, I’d very much like to go with you.”

“Good. And I was always hoping that we could have a first date re-do. Maybe tonight?”

“I wouldn’t want to ask your sister to watch Alex two nights in a row.”

“She won’t mind,” Tim said quickly. “Trust me.”

“Still…”

“I’ll talk to her about it.”

“Ok,” Lucy agreed. “But for right now we better get going. I need to make sure Alex has time to change into his uniform and everything before the game.”

“I’m right behind you.”

Lucy grabbed her car keys and the sandwiches and headed for the door.

“Wait!” She exclaimed, stopping in her tracks. “I forgot the orange slices and watermelon. I never had a chance to cut the watermelon. And…”

Tim held up a large tupperware container that he was holding.

“It’s all set. I did it this morning.”

Lucy almost dropped the breakfast sandwiches on the floor to wrap her arms around him and kiss him, but she restrained herself.

“How did you…what time did you get up?” Lucy asked, truly still shocked that he had gone out of his way to help her. “I know you couldn’t have slept much last night either.”

“I’m used to functioning on very little sleep,” Tim explained.

“Well, thank you. Really, it means a lot. I’m not used to someone else stepping up like that.”

“You’re welcome. And you should get used to it.”

With their eyes locked, they both felt the pull to kiss each other, but they didn’t have time. Lucy looked away first, turning back to the front door.

Heading outside, they both got into Tim’s truck. On their short drive, Tim asked about what had happened at the police station. Lucy explained the woman’s situation and how she had helped. Tim was impressed with how Lucy had handled things.

When they arrived at the field, Alex and Tyler were waiting with Genny in the parking lot. Alex ran up to give his mom a huge hug followed by giving Tim a high-five. Lucy swept him off to go change in the nearby bathrooms while everyone else made their way to the field.

A few minutes later, the game had started and Lucy, Tim, and Genny were in their usual place on the bleachers.

“So, how was the date?” Genny asked.

“Really?” Tim replied with his annoyed big brother voice.

“It was very nice until the domestic violence situation,” Lucy answered with a smirk.

“Yeah, that sounded awful when you told me about it,” Genny commented. “I hope the victim is going to be ok.”

“I think she will be,” Lucy said. “I’m going to follow up with her.”

“She’s lucky to have you in her corner,” Tim added.

“When’s the second date?” Genny questioned. “You know I’d be happy to take Alex anytime.”

“Thank you for that,” Lucy replied. “And thank you for watching him. I know the boys can be a handful sometimes.”

“Nonsense,” Genny said, brushing it off. “They keep each other busy. They might eat me out of house and home, but they were really well behaved.”

“I’m glad to hear it. Well, anytime you want a night off, I’d be happy to take Tyler.”

“I might take you up on that offer sooner rather than later.”

“Of course,” Lucy said.

“I have a date of my own tonight,” Genny announced.

“Wait, what?” Tim jumped in, sounding stern. “Since when? Who is this guy?”

“Would you relax?” Genny replied. “It’s one of the single dads at school. I met him at the carnival.”

“Is that even allowed? You’re a teacher.”

“So?” Genny replied.

“So, he’s a parent.”

“Not one of my students’ parents. He has a daughter in fourth grade and a son in first. They moved here last summer when he got a job nearby. Sadly, his wife died of cancer two years ago.”

“That’s terrible,” Lucy said.

“Yeah. So this is casual, you know. It’s his first time going out with someone since his wife died and it’ll be my first date since the divorce. Tyler was supposed to go to his dad’s tonight, but he has to go out of town on business. So…”

“We’d be happy to watch him,” Lucy said.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to ruin whatever plans you two may have had.”

“It’s fine,” Lucy insisted. “The boys will love it and our second date can wait.”

“I guess,” Tim mumbled. “I just wish you would have told me sooner. I could have run a background check on this guy.”

“Let’s just watch baseball,” Genny suggested, getting to her feet to cheer on the team.

Later that night, Tim and Lucy sat across from each other at a round, outdoor table. Tyler and Alex were nearby playing on a playground. The music from a jazz band played around them. A dozen food trucks were parked all around. The remnants of the Vietnamese food Lucy and Tim had consumed was on the table as well as what was leftover from the chicken fingers and fries that the boys had ordered.

Tim watched Lucy as she watched her son and Tyler. Although she didn’t want to smother them by being too close as they played, she wanted to make sure they were safe. She watched as Tyler came down a slide while Alex made his way across a set of monkey bars.

“The boys are having fun,” Lucy commented, turning her attention to Tim.

“They’re not the only ones.”

“I know this isn’t the second date you were hoping for.”

“Well, we could count this as our official first date.”

“Mm…last night was, for sure. It’s a better story for…” Lucy had to stop herself before she said ‘the grandkids.’ She had made the rule about not talking about someday and there she was about to ruin it on their second date. For a brief moment, though, she could see it. She could see them raising a family and sitting on the porch of their house watching their grandchildren play. Lucy immediately wiped the image from her mind. Not only had she only known Tim for only three weeks, but he would be leaving. There was no future for them and that included grandkids.

“A better story for what?” TIm prompted.

“Just a better story. That’s all.” Lucy averted her eyes back to the boys. They were both swinging beside each other. “And this was a good idea, this food truck night.”

“Yeah, there was a flier about it hanging on the bulletin board at the police station. Seemed like they would have some good food. And it doesn’t hurt that there’s a playground and carousel for the kids.”

“That’s one thing I miss about New York. Food on every corner of every variety.”

“Yeah, LA has some good mobile eateries too.”

Alex jumped off his swing and didn’t quite land on his feet. He fell onto the wood chips below. Lucy nearly jumped out of her seat, but Alex started laughing. He dusted himself off and hopped right back onto the swing.

“I like seeing you in mom mode,” Tim commented, tearing Lucy’s attention from her clearly fine son.

“And what exactly is mom mode?” Lucy asked with a chuckle.

“Just…watching out for the boys and always knowing the right thing to say and do.”

“Trust me, moms don’t always know the right thing to do or say. We make it up as we go along and hope we don’t screw up our kids too badly.”

“Well, you’re a really good mom.”

“Thank you. You’re a pretty good uncle.”

Tim shook his head. “I wouldn’t exactly say that. It’s tough living so far away.”

Lucy nodded, being reminded again that Tim lived across the country.

“Do you want kids of your own someday?” Lucy asked.

“Honestly? I thought I would have had some by now. Isabel and I talked about it, but she was so busy going undercover all the time that the timing was never right. And I’m grateful for that now. Things would have been a lot messier if we had kids when we split. And she was in no place to take care of another human being.”

“You’re going to be a really good dad someday,” Lucy complimented.

“Thanks. What about you? Do you want more kids?”

“If I met the right person…yeah, I would. I didn’t like growing up as an only child. Do you think you’ll ever get married again?”

“If I met the right person,” Tim said, staring directly into Lucy’s eyes. “I believe in marriage. I believe two people can be right for each other and can commit to building a life together and fight to make it work.”

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out for you the first time.”

Tim shrugged. “I also worry that I have a dangerous job and I could be potentially opening up another person to the horrors of that job.”

“That’s a kind thought. But don’t close yourself off just because you’re afraid you might hurt somebody someday.”

“I thought we weren’t supposed to talk about someday,” Tim said.

Lucy rolled her eyes. She glanced back to make sure the boys were ok. They were still swinging.

“You do realize that you don’t have to keep turning around. I can see them from where I’m sitting,” Tim said. “And they’re perfectly fine.”

“I know. It’s just…”

“Mom mode.”

Lucy smiled. “Mom mode.”

“Well, right now they’re waiting in line to use the spinny thing with their backs towards us, so…”

“So…”

Tim leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. It was only their second kiss and it may not have lasted as long as either of them wanted, but it was sweet and perfect. When they pulled away, Tim was happy to see that the boys had paid them no attention.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the first kiss after the carnival,” Tim stated.

“Only since the carnival?” Lucy teased.

“Ok, so maybe since the minute I saw you in the parking lot at the baseball field and I helped Alex find his shoe.”

“What was your first impression of me when you saw me that day?” Lucy asked.

“That you were beautiful and I wanted to know what your hair looked like.”

Lucy laughed. “My hair?”

“Well, you had it in that tight bun,” he explained as he leaned over and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I wanted to know how long it was and what it would be like to run my fingers through it.”

“Well, maybe if you play your cards right, you’ll find out about that second part.”

“Oh, I definitely plan on finding out.”

“Oh, really?”

As Lucy leaned in this time to kiss him again, they both jolted apart when they heard the sound of running feet.

“Mom, can we go on the carousel?” Alex asked, having no idea what he had just interrupted.

“Yeah, Uncle Tim, can we?” Tyler added.

“Of course,” Lucy answered, giving Tim a smile. Kissing would have to wait.

Chapter Text

Lucy ran through the hallways of the hospital. There was no one around. She was the only one there. And everything was white and sterile. Too white. There was no color. Rounding the corner into a hallway, she sprinted towards his room. When she got to the doorway, she could see him. He was on a gurney, bleeding from a hole in his chest. Bright red blood, the only color in the room, was pumping out of him, soaking the white linens on the gurney and was dripping onto the floor. No one was there to help him. Lucy opened her mouth to yell, but no words came out. She tried to enter his room, but she couldn’t. It was as if there was an invisible wall that she couldn’t penetrate.

“No!” Lucy screamed, sitting up in bed. She looked wildly around. She was at home in bed. It had been a nightmare. A nightmare where Tim had been shot and she could do nothing about it because she couldn’t get to him.

Lucy pushed her matted hair away from her face. Her body was covered in a thin film of sweat. Her sheets and blankets were tossed every which way. It had definitely been a tumultuous dream. And Lucy didn’t need a dream interpreter to know what it meant. He was a cop. His job was dangerous. He had already been shot once and there was always a strong likelihood that it could happen again. And she lived across the country from him. If they broke their rules and talked about someday and tried to make a relationship work once he returned home to Los Angeles, she would never be able to get to him on time if he was injured. The thought of that broke her heart.

Lucy leaned against her headboard, letting her body and her mind calm down. Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths.

She was falling for him. That much was clear. It had been ten days since they had taken the boys out to the food trucks. That had been their last official outing together. But seeing as how he was living in her backyard and was still helping her with some home renovations, they did spend some time together. But things had been hectic. Tim had been going to the police station more and more to help with things here and there. Lucy had taken on more clients who had been referred to her. Tyler had the flu for a few days so Tim stayed home with him so that Genny could continue to work. And of course they were trying to keep their relationship a secret from Alex so there was no PDA when he was around. But that didn’t mean they weren’t able to sneak in a stolen kiss from time to time. But in the back of her mind, Lucy kept thinking about how he would be leaving and she kept reminding herself not to fall in love with him, but that was difficult when he was such a good man.

Sighing, Lucy looked at the clock. It was 5:13. Knowing she wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, she got out of bed. She put her hair up in a messy bun and took a quick shower before changing into black leggings and a tunic-length light blue shirt with pink stripes running across it. She brushed her hair, letting it naturally curl at the bottom before retreating downstairs. She was still thinking about Tim and wondered what would happen if she walked the couple of yards across her backyard to the guest house, but she shook that thought away. She had just told herself that she needed to stop falling for him. Finding her way into his bed wouldn’t solve that problem.

So Lucy decided to focus on something else - baking.

When Tim woke up, his clock read 7:12. He smiled, thinking about Lucy. She had been the first thing he thought of every morning for almost a month, including well before they had gone on their first date. Tim’s smile disappeared, though, when he realized that that meant he had only five months left on his leave. That meant only five months left with Lucy. Initially, when Grey had told him the news, that amount of time had felt like an eternity, but now it felt entirely too short.

Getting out of bed, Tim showered, shaved, and threw on a pair of Jeans and a navy blue Tshirt. He left the guest house and headed towards the French doors in the back of the main house, hoping that he and Lucy might be able to sneak in a few minutes of alone time before Alex came downstairs. Seeing Lucy in the kitchen, Tim just watched her for a moment. He felt like he could just watch her forever and never get tired of the sight. When Lucy turned away from the oven, she saw him in the doorway. She beckoned for him to come in and he did.

“Good morning,” Tim said. “It smells amazing in here.”

“Fresh baked blueberry muffins,” Lucy told him, taking the muffins out of the muffin tins and placing them on a platter.

“You made muffins? This morning? What time did you get up?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” Lucy explained. “So I decided to bake.”

“Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, I just…had a lot on my mind.”

“Anything or anyone in particular that you were thinking about?” Tim asked flirtatiously, walking over to her.

“Maybe,” Lucy teased.

“Where’s Alex?” Tim whispered, his face extremely close to hers.

“Still upstairs,” she breathed.

“Good.”

Tim wrapped his arms around her and pulled her towards him. He crashed his lips down to hers and he kissed her longingly. Her hands roamed his back and his tangled in her hair. They kissed like they couldn’t get enough of each other. It certainly beat the quick kisses they had been exchanging for most of the week.

When Lucy heard Alex’s footsteps on the stairs, she reluctantly disentangled herself from Tim. Hoping her cheeks weren’t too flushed, she ran a hand through her hair to straighten it out and busied herself by grabbing a plate from the cupboard.

“Hi mom, hi Tim!” Alex greeted as he plopped down at the kitchen table.

“Hey, bud,” Tim said, ruffling Alex’s hair.

“Is Tyler feeling better?” Alex asked. “I miss him at school.”

“He is,” Tim answered. “He’ll be going back today.”

“Yay!” Alex cheered.

“I made muffins,” Lucy told Alex, putting a plate with three muffins in the middle of the table. She dished out three smaller plates in front of each chair.

“Yes! Best day ever! My best friend is back and mom made her special muffins!” Alex exclaimed.

Tim laughed, seriously impressed by how excited a seven year old could get over the simplest things.

“I’ll get the coffee,” Tim offered, putting his hand briefly on Lucy’s back as he walked by her. It was a movement Alex didn’t even notice, but it made Lucy smile.

The three of them sat down to eat their muffins. Alex chatted about the after school sports program he was going to be in that afternoon and Lucy listened intently as he jabbered on about soccer and something called hula huts. Tim sat back and realized how much he liked waking up to breakfast with a family.

When breakfast was over and Alex had brushed his teeth and Lucy had given him his lunch, the bus pulled up. Lucy watched Alex get on the bus from the front door and waved goodbye to him. When the bus was out of sight, she went back into the kitchen where Tim was doing the breakfast dishes.

“You don’t have to do that,” Lucy said.

“You baked. I can clean.”

“Thank you.”

“So, I am leading a study group session with a bunch of new recruits today at the station, but, if you don’t have any clients this afternoon, I thought we could…”

“It’s Tuesday. I don’t take clients on Tuesdays so I am free this afternoon. And I have an idea for our official third date.”

Tim dried his hands on a towel hanging from the handle on the oven door and walked over to where she was putting the muffins in tupperware. He put his hands on her waist and she turned to him.

“It doesn’t happen to include a bed and a lot less clothes, does it?” He asked.

As much as Lucy wanted to say yes, she knew, based on her dream, that she had to pump the breaks just a little.

“Ah…I…I just…”

“I’m sorry, “ Tim said, sensing her hesitation. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

“No, you didn’t. I just need more time. I mean, technically we haven’t even made it through a date by ourselves yet.”

“You’re right.”

“Maybe today, date number three, will be our lucky day,” Lucy said with a smile.

“Let’s hope so. What did you have in mind?”

“I think I’ll keep it a secret for now.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhmm…I have some errands this morning and you have your study session at the station. But Alex won’t be getting home until four thanks to his after school sports so how about I swing by the station to pick you up at twelve?”

“A secret date. I like it. I’ll be there.”

“Good.”

Looping an arm around his neck, Lucy stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

At exactly 12:00, Lucy pulled her car into the parking lot of the police station. Tim was waiting outside for her talking to a young, blonde woman. When he saw Lucy’s car, he gave the woman a high-five and climbed into the passenger side of her CRV.

“Hey,” Tim said as Lucy backed out of the parking spot she had pulled into.

“Hey. How was your study session?”

“Good. I think the new recruits are ready for the exam next week.”

“Is that who you were talking to?” Lucy asked. “One of the new recruits?”

“Yeah, that was Peyton.”

“Mhmm.”

Tim glanced over at Lucy. “She’s 22 and engaged. And, for the record, I am not that guy. I am a one woman, never cheated on any relationship I’ve ever had kind of guy.”

“Good to know,” Lucy commented. “For the record, same for me.”

“I’m glad that we got that cleared up,” Tim said. “And since we’re talking on the record and I brought up relationships, maybe this is unfair of me to ask since I’ll be leaving eventually, but…”

“But you want to know if we’re exclusive?”

“I wouldn’t blame you for seeing what other fish there are out there in the sea who actually live in Connecticut,” Tim admitted. Even though the thought of Lucy seeing another man made his blood boil, Tim also had to give her that chance. He was, after all, going to be leaving.

“I’m not interested in any other fish in the sea,” Lucy said. “And I believe in being exclusive. I’m not one to date around.”

“Ok, good. You know, it’s too bad I am leaving in a few months because we are really good at communicating.”

Lucy let out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, too bad.”

Tim realized his comment brought down the atmosphere in the car. He hadn’t meant to keep bringing up that he would be leaving.

“So where are we going on this third date?” He asked, trying to bring up the mood.

Lucy pulled into a small park and parked the car on some grass.

“This is just part one,” she said.

Tim looked around and saw one, beaten up, old food truck sitting across the field. A big red sign painted on the side said Tacos.

“I asked around about the best taco place in the area. I know LA is famous for their good tacos. I was warned this place might not look the greatest, but that they’re the best in town.”

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Tim said, getting out of the car. As they walked across the field, Tim grabbed Lucy’s hand. She smiled at him. It felt good to be out in the open together. After waiting in a short line, they each ordered and found a picnic table in the shade nearby. Tim took the first bite.

“Well…” Lucy prompted.

“I’d give it a solid B plus,” Tim said.

“I’ll take a B plus!” Lucy exclaimed.

Tim picked up the taco and held it out to her. Lucy wrapped her lips around it and bit down. Cheese, lettuce, and other toppings began to spill onto the picnic table and Lucy and Tim laughed.

“Someday I’ll have to take you to the best taco place in LA. It’s right down the street from Mid-Wilshire.”

“Someday?” Lucy questioned.

“Right. I’m not supposed to use that word.”

An awkward pause hung between them.

“Let’s just finish lunch and move onto part two,” Lucy said.

Tim nodded. He needed to stop saying the wrong things. They ate the rest of their meal mostly in silence. When they walked back to Lucy’s car, they didn’t hold hands.

It was a short, somewhat awkward drive, to their next destination. Tim was a little surprised when they pulled up to a huge warehouse. He had no idea what they were doing there.

“This isn’t the part where you’re secretly a serial killer and you drag me to your lair to kill me, is it?” Tim asked.

“You’ll just have to go in and find out.”

Lucy got out of the car. Tim followed her. When they approached the door, Tim saw where Lucy had taken them. There was a sign on the door. ‘American Paintball’

“Paintball?” He asked excitedly.

“Well, I figured shooting at each other would be a fun third date and I thought maybe having a paintball gun in your hand and shooting it would be good practice before having to pick up and shoot a real one in front of your gun safety class.”

Tim didn’t know what to say. No one in his entire life had ever put so much thought into something just for him.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Did I overstep? I…” Lucy began, suddenly very worried that her idea wasn’t such a good one.

“No, no,” Tim assured her, putting his hand on her shoulder. “This is incredible. You are incredible for thinking of it.”

“Ok, good. I don’t want to push you if you’re not ready.”

“Oh, I am always ready to shoot paintballs at somebody. But you better watch out, I’m a pretty good shot.”

“We’ll see,” Lucy said with a smile. She went to open the door.

“Hey,” Tim said. “Thank you for this, really.”

“You’re welcome,” Lucy said, standing up on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly. “Now, come on, I want to see how cute I look in the gear.”

Tim laughed, knowing full well that she would look amazing.

Chapter Text

She was so beautiful. That’s what Tim thought as Lucy twirled in a circle in the middle of the dancefloor. She was in her green dress, the one she had worn to the carnival. Looking around, Tim could see the rides, the games, and the concession stands. But that wasn’t right. The carnival had been weeks ago, hadn’t it?

“Tim,” Lucy called seductively. “Dance with me Tim.”

Tim focused back on her, but he couldn’t find her. There were too many people. Tim began to push his way into the crowd, trying to get to her. He heard her call out his name again. But she seemed further away.

“Lucy?” Tim called out, but his voice got drowned out by the noise of the crowd and the music. All of a sudden Ashley popped up in front of him.

“Care to dance?” She asked.

“No, I’m looking for Lucy.”

Tim tried to step around her, but no matter which way he stepped, Ashley was still in front of him.

“Tim!” Lucy’s voice rang out again, but this time fainter.

“Lucy!”

“Tim! Tim!”

Tim’s eyes sprang open. He was looking at the ceiling of the guest house. It had been a dream. A very strange dream that felt incredibly real.

“Tim!” Lucy yelled. There was a pounding on the door. It had been a dream, but the knocking at his door was very much real. And Lucy was calling his name. Wearing only a pair of boxers, Tim jumped out of bed and swung the door open.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

Lucy looked him up and down. She focused in on his bare chest and couldn’t stop staring.

“Ah…I…ah…” she stumbled. Her brain couldn’t focus. Never before had she been left speechless by just looking at a man before, but here she was, unable to form a coherent thought because his pecs and his abs and everything about the man was just perfect.

Tim would have smiled and made a snarky comment about her ogling him if he wasn’t so concerned about why she was knocking on his door at six AM.

“Is everything ok?” Tim asked. “Is it Alex?”

“He’s fine,” Lucy managed to say while she was still staring at him. She wasn’t sure she had actually seen a man up close in person who was in quite as good of shape as TIm was.

“Lucy,” Tim said, snapping his fingers.

Lucy abruptly looked up at his face again. She blinked a few times, shaking her head.

“Sorry. Sorry.”

“I appreciate the admiration and at another time I will happily take off my clothing with you, but what is going on? You’re scaring me.”

“I got a call from one of my contacts at the NYPD,” she explained, her brain and her mouth finally connecting once more. “A client I had been working with there before I moved just got arrested for theft. She struggles with mental illness. I had worked with her for months on getting on the right meds and making sure she had a safe place to stay. But, she must be off her meds and she’s giving the police a hard time and she said she won’t talk to anybody but me. They’re going to lock her up if someone doesn’t intervene and jail isn’t the right place for her.”

“Can you do an online call with her?” Tim asked.

“The jail won’t allow it,” Lucy answered.

“So you want to go to New York?”

Lucy nodded. “But I need someone to look after Alex. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important and you don’t have to say yes. You’ve already done so much for me and…”

Tim put his hand on her arm. “Of course I’ll watch Alex.”

“Thank you. He’ll be at school most of the day anyway. The bus will pick him up at 8:10 and he gets home at…”

“I know, Lucy. I’ve been watching you guys do the whole bus and school thing for more than a month.”

“Right. Of course. I have to get on the road. As it is, the traffic is going to be terrible. He’s still asleep, but you should wake him up at…”

“At 7:00. I got it.”

“I already made his lunch and there are bagels in the breadbox for breakfast or sometimes he just likes cereal and…”

“Lucy, I got it.”

Lucy took a deep breath. “Ok. I don’t know when I’ll be back. I’ll text you later when I know more. If I’m not back by dinner…”

“I’ll order us pizza. I’ve got things handled here. You just be safe.”

“I will. Thank you again.”

Lucy turned to head back to the house when she swung back around to face Tim.

“I’m sorry, can I just…”

She reached out her palm and touched his abs. “Wow,” she commented. “You really are the perfect specimen of a man.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He leaned down, quickly brushing his lips against hers.

“Ok, I gotta go.”

“Be safe. And don’t worry about us guys.”

“Thank you.”

As Tim watched her go, he retreated back into the guest house. He quickly pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. Tim made his way through the French doors and into the main house. Lucy was already gone. She had left a cute note for Alex on the counter, which Tim thought was sweet. He began to make some coffee, unable to keep the worry from his mind about Lucy going to New York alone. Of course he knew that she was smart and could take care of herself, but he didn’t like the fact that she would be going into a jail full of criminals. Tim wanted to do anything he could do to protect her, which brought his thoughts to his dream. What did it mean that he couldn’t get to her on the dance floor? Was it a metaphor for when he would go back to LA and he would be so far away from her that he wouldn’t be able to protect her anymore? The thought terrified him.

At exactly twelve o’clock that same day, Tim sat at the kitchen table with a half eaten pastrami sandwich next to him and the coursework binder for the gun safety course in front of him. He was highlighting certain things that he wanted to go over during his next session. As much as she missed the everyday action of being on the streets patrolling Los Angeles, Tim was actually enjoying teaching. His cell phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket, surprised to see that it was Genny considering she should have been in school teaching.

“Hey Gen, what’s up?” Tim answered.

“It’s Alex.”

Pushing back in his chair, Tim sprang to his feet. A million thoughts raced through his mind and none of them were good.

“What is it? Is he hurt? Is he ok?”

“He’s…puking,” Genny answered.

“Oh.”

“He took a few bites of his lunch and lost those bites and his breakfast in a nearby garbage can. I happened to have lunch duty when it happened. The nurse has him in her office now.”

“Lucy’s not here,” Tim explained.

“I know. She texted me this morning before she left for New York. Which is why I’m calling you. I would take him home myself, but my class will be back from recess in seven minutes and…”

“I’ll come get him right now,” Tim said.

“Thanks. And I would bring a bucket for the car ride.”

“Right. Thanks. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Tim hung up and then grabbed the garbage can from next to the sink in the bathroom. He quickly got in his truck and made the short drive to the elementary school. When he found Alex in the nurse’s office, Alex looked pale.

“Hey Tim,” Alex said groggily.

“Hey buddy.” Tim greeted, bending down to take a look at Alex. He didn’t look well. “I’m going to take you home, ok?”

“I might puke in your truck.”

“That’s ok. Come on.”

Even though he was getting to the age where he was too old to be carried, Tim hoisted the boy up. Alex immediately put his head on Tim’s shoulder. Carrying his backpack in one hand and holding on to the boy with his other, TIm brought him out to the truck. It was then that Tim realized that not only did he not have a booster seat for him, but he would have to sit in the front seat, something the small boy shouldn’t do. But Tim had to get him home. He put Alex down in the passenger seat and buckled his seatbelt, pulling it tightly. Tim was determined to drive the slowest he had ever driven in his life.

“Is mommy home?” Alex mumbled. His eyes were closed and his head was against the back of the seat.

“Not yet, bud, but I’m going to take care of you, ok?”

“Ok.”

Tim began to pull out incredibly slowly. He kept his eyes trained on the road and both hands on the steering wheel. He glanced over at Alex when he heard a gurgling sound.

“How are you doing buddy?” Tim asked.

“I think…I think I’m gonna…”

Before he could finish his sentence, the little boy threw up on the floor of Tim’s truck. The garbage can from the bathroom was a few inches to his left.

“I’m sorry,” Alex grumbled.

“It’s ok, bud. Let’s just get you home.”

When they arrived back at Lucy’s house, Tim cleaned Alex up and helped him get into his comfiest pajamas. He did an instacart order for some ginger ale, saltine crackers, and some kid’s pepto bismol. Once he had Alex settled on the couch with the bathroom garbage can right beside him and Alex’s favorite cartoons on the TV, Tim texted Lucy and told her what happened. She immediately called him.

“Oh my God, is he ok?” Lucy asked.

“He’s fine,” Tim said, making his way into the kitchen so that Alex wouldn’t be disturbed. “He’s comfortable on the couch right now. Actually, I’m pretty sure he’s asleep.”

“I’m so sorry you have to deal with my sick kid.”

“It’s ok. The nurse said something’s been going around. She said most kids were good within twenty-four hours, but he can’t go back to school until he’s puke free for a full day.”

“Of course. I just wish I was there with him,” Lucy said, a mountain of regret in her voice.

“I know, but he’s ok. Apparently I make a pretty good babysitter.”

“Thank you again. I’ve got a meeting with my client and a judge in half an hour, but then I’ll be on my way home. Unless you want me to leave now. I can…”

“No, he’s ok. We’re ok. Do what you need to do and drive safely, ok?”

“Ok. Text me if anything changes.”

“I will.”

“And Tim?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Be safe.”

“Bye,” Lucy said.

Hanging up the phone, Tim started to think about how he was going to clean the puke from his truck.

Hours later, Alex was asleep in his bed and hadn’t thrown up since he had done so in Tim’s truck. He managed to eat a few saltine crackers and keep them down and Tim had given him some flattened ginger ale to calm his stomach. As Tim leaned down over him to kiss him goodnight, he could see more color returning to the young boy’s face. He seemed to be on the mend already.

Heading back down to the kitchen, Tim put away the crackers. He looked in the refrigerator and found some leftover lasagna that Lucy had made a few nights earlier. He dishes some onto a plate and heated it up in the microwave. As he stood there waiting for the microwave to finish, he heard the front door open. Lucy came inside.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she responded. “How is he?”

“He’s fine. I just put him to bed with a bucket, of course. But it’s been hours since he’s thrown up.”

“I’m going to go up and check on him.”

“Ok. Do you want me to make you a plate?”

“No, I had some dinner on the road. But thank you.” She squeezed his arm. “For everything.”

Tim watched as Lucy made her way upstairs. He turned around when the microwave chimed, signaling that his food was done. Tim stayed standing as he ate. A few moments later, Lucy returned and Tim put his plate down.

“He’s sound asleep,” Lucy said.

“Good.”

“I’m really sorry about this, Tim.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry about. Kids get sick. Aside from the vomit in my truck, it really was an easy day. He slept for most of it.”

“He puked in your truck? I am so sorry. I’ll…I’ll pay to have it cleaned.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Tim assured her. “I already cleaned it all up. Do you know how many people I’ve had puke in my shop? I’m used to it.”

“Still, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. I’m just sorry I wasn’t here for him, but it helped that I knew Alex was being well taken care of.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“On my drive home I did think of a way I could say thank you,” she said, placing both of her hands on his chest.

“Oh yeah?” Tim asked.

“Yeah.”

She kissed him passionately and his hands instinctively went to her waist. As they made out, his hand slipped down to her butt and Lucy jumped up and wrapped her legs around him. Tim spun her around, plopping her down on the kitchen counter, never breaking their kiss. She opened her legs and he stepped in between them. Lucy reached for the hemline of his shirt and pulled it over his head. She took a moment to admire the view as she had done that morning. Tim caught her eye.

“Are you sure? I don’t want us to rush into this just because you feel like you owe me.”

“I’m sure,” Lucy said and she meant it. Her drive back and forth to New York gave her a lot of time to think. She felt like she had been slowly pulling away from Tim since she had the dream about him bleeding out in a hospital because she was afraid of getting too close to him. And she was afraid that sleeping with him would be a tipping point that she couldn’t get back from, but she didn’t want to be afraid. She wanted to be with him and feel that connection with him, even if it meant she would have to guard her heart a little bit more.

“Good,” Tim said before devouring her with his lips. Her hands roamed his naked chest. His muscles felt better than they looked. As he started to unbutton her blouse, they both heard the unmistakable sound of someone getting sick.

Going from sexy woman ready to be taken to bed to mom mode, although still incredibly sexy in Tim’s eyes, Lucy straightened herself up, buttoned the few buttons that Tim had managed to undo and ran up the steps. Tim needed an extra minute to calm himself down. He grabbed his shirt off the floor and willed himself to not be so turned on.

When he was decent again, he made his way up the stairs. There was a pile of vomit on the floor leading into the bathroom and Lucy was carrying Alex to her bedroom, whispering to him that everything was going be alright. In Tim’s eyes, any hope of making love to her that night was gone. Instead, Tim grabbed a bucket, some all natural bathroom cleaner, and a whole roll of paper towels.

Chapter Text

After his missed opportunity to be intimate with Lucy because Alex had gotten sick, Tim knew he needed a game plan. He wanted to take her out and do something romantic, but it was difficult since they were trying to keep their relationship a secret from Alex. Genny was more than willing to watch him, but Tyler was with his dad for the weekend and Genny had her own second date planned with the dad from school. Tim still wasn’t sure how he felt about that situation, but he had his own things to worry about.

Following a double header of Little League games, which had taken up most of their Sunday, Tim approached Lucy in the kitchen while Alex played with some of his super hero action figures in the living room.

“I have an idea,” Tim said, keeping his voice quiet so that Alex wouldn’t hear him.

“Oh?”

“For our official fourth date.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Tonight. After Alex goes to bed. Meet me in the backyard under the pergola.”

Lucy smirked. “I’m intrigued.”

“Good.”

Tim desperately wanted to kiss her, but he restrained himself. He was hoping that and so much more would come later.

As Lucy put Alex to bed a few hours later, Tim began to set up the backyard. He replaced the folding chairs and tray table that Lucy still had under the pergola and grabbed a much sturdier and nicer outdoor table and two chairs that he had bought for her. He strung some outdoor string lights from the pergola and set the table with one of the candlestick holders they had used the night the power had gone out. Right on time, he got a notification that the food he had ordered was delivered to the front steps. Tim ran to the front of the house and grabbed the two bags. He laid out the sushi on a platter on the table, set the table for two, put a bottle of wine that had been chilling in the fridge in an ice bucket full of ice, and waited for Lucy.

While Tim got things ready outside, Lucy had made sure Alex was asleep before she started getting ready in her room. She wasn’t sure what Tim was planning, but she figured getting dolled up couldn’t hurt. Opening her closet, Lucy took out a dress, still wrapped in a garment bag. She had seen the dress just a few days earlier when she had been shopping at the mall with Alex. He needed new sneakers because his feet never seemed to stop growing. Lucy had seen the dress in one of the store windows. It immediately caught her eye, but she hadn’t taken time to try it on. Unable to get the dress out of her head, she went back the next day in between virtual clients and bought it.

The dress was a forest green. It had sleeves that fell off her shoulders and the front had a criss cross pattern with a slight v-neck. The rest of the dress was tight to her curves. When she had seen it in the mall window her first thought was that Tim was going to love it. As she slipped it on, she hoped her instincts were right. Trying not to rush, Lucy put on some makeup and slipped her feet into a pair of black wedge heels. She put her hand on her stomach, trying to calm her nerves. It wasn’t Tim that made her nervous. It was the possibility of the evening.

Before going downstairs, Lucy peaked in on Alex. He was still sound asleep in bed. She left his door slightly ajar and went down the stairs. She could see the glow from the lights Tim had strung before she even made it to the bottom step.

Tim was standing at the French doors with a single red rose in his hand.

“Welcome to our fourth date,” Tim said with a big smile. He looked her up and down. “You look incredible.”

“Well, someone once told me that green was his new favorite color,” Lucy remarked as she made her way over to him.

“It is.”

“You know, I should have asked you what your old favorite color was.”

“I can’t even think of any other color with you in that dress,” Tim stated.

“That was pretty corny.”

“I know,” he said with a smile. He handed her the rose.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Taking her hand, Tim brought it to his lips and kissed her skin. With her hand in his, Tim led her outside. They kept the glass doors open and just closed the screen door. Lucy looked around the patio.

“You did all this?” She asked, taking in the sight of the lights, the new furniture, and the fancy meal on the table.

“Well, since it can be hard for us to go out to a romantic restaurant, I thought I’d bring the romantic restaurant to us.”

“I love it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Tim pulled out Lucy’s chair and she sat. He sat across from her. He poured them each a glass of wine.

“To a successful and hopefully uninterrupted fourth date with just the two of us,” Tim said, raising his glass.

“To a successful fourth date,” Lucy toasted.

After they each took a drink, Tim pointed out some of the different sushi options and filled their plate. As they both expertly used chopsticks to eat, Tim couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

“You need to stop staring at me,” Lucy said with a sly smile.

“I can’t. You’re too beautiful.”

“I thought you’d like this dress. I bought it for you.”

“It’s not the dress,” Tim explained. “I mean, the dress is incredible, but it’s you. It’s your presence, it’s how much you care about everyone around you, it’s how easy you are to talk to, and it’s a natural beauty that you don’t go around flaunting. It’s everything, Lucy.”

“You are a smooth talker, Tim Bradford. Maybe for our fifth date I’ll wear yoga pants and a paint stained T-shirt and see if you feel the same way.”

“Oh, I would. Also, how tight are these yoga pants because that sounds perfect.”

Lucy rolled her eyes playfully at him. It made her feel good that he wanted her and thought she was beautiful.

“Tell me something good about your week,” Lucy said.

“What?”

“It’s something my mom used to make me do at dinner. Tell her something good that happened that week. I always thought it was silly, but really I think she just did it to get me to open up to her,” Lucy explained.

“I don’t think you and I have any problems opening up to each other. I communicate better with you than any other person I think I’ve ever met.”

“I know, but still. You can think of something.”

“Ok then…” Tim began as he thought. “Something good? Well, a beautiful woman agreed to have dinner with me and came down a staircase in this amazing green dress and…”

Lucy playfully tossed a chopstick at him. Tim caught it, pretending to be shocked.

“Hey!” He exclaimed.

“Tell me something that’s not about me.”

“But most good things recently revolve around you.”

“Tim!”

Ok, fine,” Tim relented. “I went to the gym the other morning and saw this young, muscular guy put down his free weights to help this older gentleman learn how to use the machines. Some of the machines are so hightech now that the old timer just couldn’t figure it out. It just reminded me that there are good people still out there.”

“That’s sweet. And you’re one of those good people, Tim.”

“What about you?” Tim asked. “What’s something good that happened?”

“I got a call from Alex’s teacher yesterday.”

“Oh?”

“She said every Friday she picks one student to get a positive phone call home. She said she gets tired of only ever making negative ones. She told me that Alex was doing really well. That he has fit in just fine and he has lots of friends and he’s really excelling in reading and science.”

“He’s an incredible little boy, Lucy. You should be proud.”

“I am,” Lucy said. “Especially when I think about how tumultuous his first few years of life were.”

“He’s lucky to have you.”

“We need to stop talking about this before I get too emotional,” Lucy said, dabbing at the corners of her eyes with her napkin.

“What do you think of the sushi?” Tim asked, changing the subject.

“It’s excellent.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” Tim agreed. He pointed to one of the dipping sauces in the middle of the table. “Have you tried that one yet? It’s got a bit of kick, but…”

“I can handle spice.”

Tim raised an eyebrow at her. He took his chopsticks and picked up a piece of sushi. Dipping it in the sauce, he leaned across the table and held it out to Lucy. She tantalizingly wrapped her lips around it and pulled it into her mouth. Tim felt his pulse quicken.

“That does have a kick to it,” Lucy stated. “But I think a little spice is good every once in a while.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

They both eyed each other across the table almost like they were in a staring contest. Neither one wanted to be the one that broke the sexual tension first.

“I never said thank you for the new furniture out here,” Lucy finally said. “You did not need to do that.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be very romantic if we were sitting on folding chairs.”

Lucy smiled. “No, it wouldn’t be.”

“You know, someday you could…”

“Someday?” Lucy interrupted.

“Right. That word’s not supposed to exist. But, to be fair, I was going to use it to talk about something you could do someday, not something we could do someday.”

“Alright, I’ll allow it.”

“You could build a nice fire pit out here,” Tim went on. “Get one of those gas ones so you just flip a switch.”

“If I did that, Alex would be asking me for s’mores for dinner every night.”

“I think that’s a perfect idea,” Tim said.

Lucy laughed, rolling her eyes once more. They both took a drink of wine.

“So, I heard you on the phone at the game earlier today talking about a case. Are you helping Chip out with something else?”

“No, it wasn’t Chip,” Tim answered, looking away from her and down at his plate.

“Oh. I’m sorry. I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just…”

“No. It’s fine,” Tim assured her. “I’m not trying to hide anything. I was talking to Angela.”

“She’s your friend from LA, right? The detective?”

“Yeah. She is working a case that includes a suspect I arrested a year ago or so. She was just looking for some information.”

“How did it feel?” Lucy asked. “Talking about an old case? Being reminded of your life in LA?”

Tim sighed. “It felt good to be back in the mix of things out there. I was glad I could help.”

“But you wish you were there in person helping,” Lucy stated.

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, but it’s ok to miss work. It’s a big part of your life.”

“Yeah, it is. For a long time, it was the only part of my life. But it doesn’t feel like that anymore.” He reached across the table and took her hand. “Lucy, with you…I feel…”

“This seems like we’re entering a dangerous territory,” Lucy interjected, jerking her hand away. She put her hands in her lap and looked down at them.

Tim was slightly taken aback by her comment. He knew he had agreed to certain rules when they first decided to give a romantic relationship a try, but in Tim’s mind, things had gone beyond that.

“I’m sorry, are we not experiencing this same romantic dinner? This same relationship?”

“We are, but I think that’s the problem,” Lucy said.

“I’m…confused.”

Lucy felt confused too and wasn’t sure what she was saying. Perhaps it was hearing Tim talk about his friend in LA that made her remember all over again that he would be leaving her. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to feel things for him, but she knew that would just break her heart into a million pieces when he left.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said. “I think we just need to remember the rules we decided on and…”

“Screw the rules! Lucy, I am falling for you.”

“Then we have to stop this.”

“Are you serious?” Tim asked. “We have this amazing relationship. The best one I’ve ever been in and you want to just stop because…what? You’re scared?”

“Of course I’m scared! Tim, in less than five months you’re going to leave. You’re going to go back to your life in LA and I’m going to be here. Heartbroken with a little boy who is going to be equally as heartbroken.”

“What if it doesn’t have to be that way?”

“Are you offering to stay? To give up your life in LA?”

The question caught him off guard. Not going back to LA and his home at Mid-Wilshire never felt like an option.

“I…I…”

“No, and I wouldn’t ask you to,” Lucy stated, not giving him the time to properly answer her question.

“There’s long distance and…”

“Long distance? Tim, it’s a six hour flight. We’re not talking about taking quick weekend trips to see each other. I have a kid. And you have a job where you work twelve hour days. And yeah, maybe at first we could make it work, but how soon would we get tired of the back and forth? How long do you really think we could sustain that without one of us getting mad at or resenting the other?”

“If we put in the effort, we could make it work. I know we could…”

“And what if you get hurt again? What if you get shot and I’m hours away? What if I need someone here with me and you’re all the way across the country? It’s not going to work. So we’re better off stopping now before we cross a line that we can’t go back over.”

“Stopping?”

“It’s the logical thing to do,” Lucy said quietly although she regretted the words as soon as she said them.

“Ok, fine. I’ll move out of the guest house,” Tim said. He felt defeated. How had everything gone so wrong so fast?

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I can’t see you every day and not want to be with you,” Tim admitted.

Lucy nodded. She understood because she felt the same. She blinked away tears.

“Tim, I…”

A crack of thunder sounded overhead. Surprised, Lucy yelped. Tim looked up at the sky just as the downpour started. The rain came down heavy and fast. They were both soaked in an instant. They both stood and Tim started to gather the things on the table to bring them inside, but then he caught the way Lucy was looking at him. She was standing completely still, letting the rain soak her and everything around them. With her hair plastered to her face and her dress clinging to her even more, Lucy was looking at him like she wanted to devour him. And he wanted to devour her too.

They both rounded the table at the same time. Tim threw his arms around her, kissing her with as much passion as he could muster. She had her hands all over him while their lips and tongues explored. The rain continued to soak them and they just didn’t care.

“Lucy, I…”

“Take me to bed,” she commanded, having to shout over the pounding of the rain.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to…”

“I am falling for you too. And no matter what we do, however we try to stay apart, that’s not going to change. I want to be with you, Tim. Now. Right now. Make love to me.”

Those were the only words he needed to hear.

Chapter Text

Some time later, Lucy sighed contentedly. Her head was resting on Tim’s bare chest with the palm of her hand right over his heart. Their legs were entwined together under the sheet that only covered the bottom halves of them. With one hand Tim was tracing small circles on her naked back with his fingertip. His other hand was buried in her hair, which was still damp from the rain. Tim’s soaking wet clothes laid in piles on the floor all around the bed. The dress Lucy had picked out just for him and had paid far too much for had been kicked somewhere under the bed and she couldn’t have cared less. Lucy felt tired from all of the energy they had just exerted together and yet buzzed all at the same time.

“Now that’s what I call…” Tim began, his voice slow. He was in as dream-like of a state as Lucy was.

“Spark,” Lucy finished.

Tim chuckled. “Yeah, that’s one word for it. I was thinking…spice.”

“Another good word,” Lucy mused. “How about…incredible.”

“Wonderful and mind blowing also come to mind,” Tim added. “I’m sure there are other adjectives, but my brain isn’t actually functioning right now.”

“Same. And I couldn’t agree more with all of those words. We certainly do have chemistry.”

“That’s undeniable.”

The natural chemistry that they had with each other when their clothes were on was more than doubled when their clothes were off. Closing her eyes, Lucy let the rising and falling of Tim’s chest lul her.

“Do you want me to move?” She mumbled, half-asleep. She didn’t want to crush him or make him uncomfortable, especially with his bad back, but she loved being close to him and using his body as a pillow.

“No,” Tim answered. “Do you want me to go?”

That question made Lucy’s eyes pop open. She lifted her head off his chest so she could look into his eyes.

“Do you want to go?” She asked and Tim could immediately see the vulnerability in her eyes.

“No,” Tim answered quickly. “That’s the last thing I want to do. I just thought…with Alex…I…”

“I locked the bedroom door. He’s a pretty deep sleeper and doesn’t usually wake up in the middle of the night. If he does, you could hide in the bathroom.”

“It’ll be just like when I was a teenager,” Tim mumbled.

“Did you hide in many bathrooms when you were a teenager?” Lucy teased.

“I plead the fifth,” Tim responded.

“I think as long as you leave before Alex wakes up, it’ll be ok.”

“Ok.”

“Besides, I like you being here in my bed. I like feeling your arms around me.”

“I like having my arms around you,” Tim told her.

Lucy smiled as she put her head back on his chest.

“It doesn’t bother you that I like to cuddle?” She asked.

“No. Why would it?”

“Chris hated it,” Lucy said and then she immediately regretted it. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I brought him up. I…”

“It’s ok. We all have a past. Chris is a big part of yours. Isabel is a big part of mine.”

“Did she like to cuddle?” Lucy asked. “I’m sorry, is that weird of me to ask? If you don’t want to talk about it, I…”

“No, it’s ok,” Tim assured her. “Isabel wasn’t really a fan of being too close either, especially the more she went undercover.”

“I’m sorry. It must have been hard to see her change.”

“It was.”

“Chris always wanted to get up and take a shower after we had been together,” Lucy explained. “It always made me feel…dirty.”

“You know, the more you tell me about this guy, the more of an ass I think he is.”

“I don’t think he meant anything by it.”

“You have to stop defending him, Lucy. I get everyone is different and has different preferences, but any man who doesn’t want to hold the woman he’s with…there’s something wrong with that and wrong with him.”

He wrapped his arms around her a little tighter just to prove his point.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy said a moment later.

“For defending Chris?”

“No. For the things I said earlier at dinner.”

She lifted her head up once more and sat up so that she could really see him. Tim lifted his torso up, leaning against the headboard. She pulled the sheet up to under her arms and scooched her body back so she was beside him. She turned to face him.

“Lucy, you don’t have to apologize,” he said, reaching his hand out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

“I do. I tried to push you away. I tried to tank things with us because the truth is, I am scared, Tim.”

“I know. I am too.”

Lucy sighed. “What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Tim answered honestly. “But we don’t have to figure it out right now. Let’s just…be happy together in the moment. Let’s just see where this goes.”

“I can try to do that.”

“And let’s have a lot more sex,” Tim added, lightening the mood.

Lucy laughed. “Deal.”

“Have I told you how beautiful you are?”

Lucy ran her hands through her hair. She hadn’t seen herself in a mirror, but guessed that it was starting to frizz. She also assumed between the rain and the love making that she had makeup on her face in places it didn’t belong.

“I’m sure I’m a mess,” she said.

“No. Just beautiful.”

Tim inched closer to her and kissed her. It started long and slow, but eventually he became more ravenous. Lucy put her hand on his chest.

“We need to sleep,” she said.

“Later,” Tim grumbled, covering her body with his.

When Lucy woke up, she was alone. Although she missed the presence of Tim’s body next to hers and would have loved waking up with him, she knew why he left. It was to protect her son. Rolling over, Lucy went to grab her phone from the table next to the bed. She had a text from Tim.

‘Good morning, beautiful. Genny asked me to take Tyler to a dentist appointment this morning and then take him to school. Then I have to go to the station for a little while to help Chip. I’ll see you later today. Thanks for the spark last night.’

Lucy smiled to herself. She was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, but she desperately needed a shower and she needed to get Alex ready for school. She quickly shot a text back to Tim.

‘Good morning. I missed you this morning. I have clients all day and a PTA meeting in the afternoon. I look forward to seeing you tonight.’

Once the text was sent, she sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment. She gave herself just three minutes to remember the night before and relish in how good it truly was. When her three minutes were up, she did her best to push aside those pleasant memories and Lucy put herself into mom mode and got out of bed.

While Lucy was forcing herself to get ready for the day, Tim was walking into his sister’s apartment with a bag of donuts that he had picked up from the local bakery down the street. Genny was in the kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

“Hey,” Tim greeted.

“Good morning.” Genny’s eyes zeroed in on the bag he was holding. “Donuts, really?”

“What’s wrong with donuts?” Tim countered.

“I appreciate that you volunteered to bring breakfast, but could you have brought anything with more sugar? You do know Tyler is going to the dentist this morning, right?”

“I’ll feed him after the dentist,” Tim replied, putting the donuts down on the counter.

“Well, I’m letting him sleep in a little because his appointment isn’t until 9:30. It’s just a normal cleaning and the office already has all of his insurance and my information on file. But if they have any questions, you can always call me or…”

Genny trailed off when she realized Tim wasn’t paying attention to her at all. He was looking at his phone and smiling with a big grin.

He had just read the text from Lucy and was typing his quick reply.

‘Can’t wait’

“Oh. My. God,” Genny said, enunciating and punctuating every word.

“What?” Tim said, alarmed. He looked up from his phone and pocketed it.

“You and Lucy finally had sex last night, didn’t you?” Genny accused.

“What?”

“You did! I can tell by the look on your face.”

“I don’t have a look on my face,” Tim said, immediately trying to relax his face as much as possible. Had he been smiling too much?

“You absolutely do!” Genny exclaimed.

“Whatever look I have or don’t have on my face…it’s none of your business.”

“It is my business. I’m basically the reason you two got together in the first place.”

Tim gave her a skeptical look. “Just drop it.”

“I will not drop it. How was it? Worth staying in Connecticut more permanently?”

“You are my sister and we are not talking about this,” Tim said.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a prude. We are both adults. I’m not going to stop talking about this until you tell me about it,” Genny taunted.

“Fine! Let’s just say we…we have really good chemistry,” Tim finally relented.

“Well, that’s been obvious since the day you two met.”

“Genny, what happens between me and Lucy is private. And…”

“What happened to you and Lucy’s mom?” Tyler interrupted. He was standing in the doorway in his pajamas. His hair was sticking up in every direction and he was rubbing his eyes.

“Nothing,” Tim quickly answered.

“Are those donuts?” Tyler exclaimed, grabbing for the bag Tim brought in. He totally forgot about what he was asking about and solely focused on the sweet things inside the white bag. Genny gave Tim a smirk and finished getting herself ready to go to work.

At 4:30 that afternoon, Lucy found herself sitting next to Genny at long cafeteria tables at Tyler and Alex’s school. Other parents and teachers sat around them while everyone’s kids were in a classroom being watched over by a volunteer teacher. Lucy finally had the opportunity to meet the man Genny had been seeing. He seemed very nice and by the way Genny looked at him, Lucy could tell she was smitten.

The meeting, which had been going on for almost an hour, was just wrapping up. Ashley, the head of the PTA, was up at the front of the room talking about how successful the carnival was. As she mentioned something about how many people loved the mermaid photo booth, Lucy and Genny exchanged an annoyed look.

“Now, we all know that the PTA’s goal is not only to raise money for our school, but also to do good in the community,” Ashley announced. “And I am happy to say that through our coin drive that has been taking place all week, we have raised $742 to be donated to the wildlife rehabilitation center.”

Everyone around the room clapped.

“Not bad for a bunch of change,” Lucy commented quietly to Genny.

“And the kids got so excited counting all of it,” Genny said. “It was a great way to teach coins.”

Ashley continued once the clapping died down. “I will be presenting a check to the center at their annual gala this Wednesday.” Everyone clapped a second time although far less enthusiastically. “Well, unless there are any questions, this meeting is adjourned. I hope to see you all for next month’s meeting.”

As Lucy and Genny went to stand up, Ashley approached them. She faced her body particularly towards Genny.

“It’s too bad Tim couldn’t make it to the meeting,” Ashley said with a big smile.

“Why would he?” Genny remarked. “He’s not a parent or teacher here.”

“Well, he certainly would have been a nice face to look at in the crowd,” Ashley stated.

Lucy scoffed. Ashley gave her an annoyed look.

“I hope you’re finding our town to be a good fit,” Ashley said to Lucy, although Lucy felt like she probably didn’t actually mean it.

“Oh yes, I’ve met some wonderful people,” Lucy replied as sweetly as possible.

“Speaking of wonderful people…”Ashley continued, turning back to Genny. “Genny, do you think you could give me TIm’s number? He was supposed to give it to me at the carnival, but he must have forgotten. I would love to ask him to the gala.”

“He can’t go to the gala with you,” Lucy proclaimed.

“Oh, and why’s that?” Ashley retorted.

“Because he’s coming with me,” Lucy stated.

“You’re going to the gala?” Genny asked, clearly surprised.

This time it was Ashley who scoffed. “It’s been sold out for months,” Ashley remarked. “Before you even moved here. And the tickets are expensive.”

“Then it’s a good thing I have my sources,” Lucy said. “I guess I’ll be seeing you on Wednesday.”

And with that, Lucy turned and began to walk away. Genny was hot on her heels. They headed towards the classroom where the boys would be waiting.

“You got tickets to the gala?” Genny asked. “When? And how? Ashley’s right. It’s been sold out for months and it’s like $1000 a couple.”

“Crazy Aunt Mae,” Lucy muttered.

“What?”

The two women stopped outside of the door to the classroom.

“Apparently my aunt really loved animals and she was a big donor to the center every year,” Lucy explained. “They mailed her tickets about a month or so ago. I called them to tell them about her passing, but they told me to keep the tickets since the donation was already made. I didn’t think anything of it and wasn’t going to go, but now…”

“Oh, now you are definitely going. Do you have anything to wear? It’s the day after tomorrow, which doesn’t give you much time to find something.”

“I’m sure I can find something in my closet,” Lucy assured her, mentally starting to picture the dresses she owned in her head. She had already spent more than enough money on the green dress. Could she wear that one again? Tim certainly seemed to like it. But was it fancy enough for a gala?

“Oh no, that won’t do,” Genny said. “We are taking you shopping.”

“It’s fine. I don’t need a new dress.”

“Yes you do,” Genny insisted. “Think about what Ashley will probably show up in.”

Lucy sighed. “You’re right. I need a new dress.”

“I’ll text Tim and see if we can drop the boys off with him at your place.”

“Speaking of your brother…I suppose I should ask Tim first if he even wants to go to a gala.”

“Oh, he’ll want to go. That man will do anything for you. Especially since I heard you two had a pretty successful evening last night.”

Lucy’s jaw dropped. “He told you?”

“He didn’t have to. I can read my brother like a book. I’m happy that you make each other happy.”

“Well, we were definitely happy last night,” Lucy said with a little giggle.

“Then let’s make him even happier with a killer dress.”

Lucy smiled. “Let’s go dress shopping.”

Chapter Text

With Genny’s help, Lucy picked out the perfect dress for the gala. Unlike when she found the green dress in a storefront window and knew she had to have it, it took them four stores and lots of trying on different dresses for Lucy to find the one she liked. It had long sleeves and was a silver shimmering material that made Lucy sparkle when she moved. It wasn’t Tim’s favorite color, but it made her feel good and it was practically backless, which she thought he might appreciate. Standing in the dressing room at the mall, Lucy could picture herself spinning on the dance floor with Tim. She was also sure that it would get Ashley’s attention and she hoped the woman would be jealous.

But dancing and jealousy would have to wait until the gala on Wednesday. When Lucy returned from the mall, she found Tim in the backyard dishing out macaroni and cheese and hot dogs from the grill to the boys at her new outdoor dining set. He had even made broccoli to go with the meal. Lucy wanted to leap into Tim’s arms the moment she saw him, perhaps because of the memories of making out with him in the rain around that outdoor table, but she restrained herself. Had that kiss happened just last night? Had it really only been less than 24 hours since they had spent the night together?

While the boys ate and talked about what they did in school that day, Lucy and Tim exchanged glances and smiles across the table. At one point Lucy could have sworn Tim was undressing her with his eyes. She was basically doing the same. When the boys were done, TIm volunteered to take Tyler home so that Genny wouldn’t have to go out again. In reality he thought it might take less time for him to do that than to wait for her to pick Tyler up. He promised he would return as soon as possible. To keep her hands busy, Lucy started cleaning up from dinner. Her mind dreamed about what it would be like to show off dancing with Tim in front of Ashley at the gala.

While Lucy cleaned, Alex was in the next room watching TV. Lucy could hear the faint sounds of some cartoon in the background. She hummed to herself as she washed the plates.

“Hey, mom, I’m done with my juice,” Alex said, bringing in his cup. He put it on the counter next to the sink.

“Thanks, bud.”

“Can I have a cookie?”

Lucy nodded. “One cookie.”

“Two? They’re kind of small and I ate all my vegetables.”

“That’s true, I did see that,” Lucy commented. She was secretly impressed that Tim even bothered to serve the boys any type of vegetable with dinner.

“Yeah. All of my broccoli. Yuck. Tim told me and Tyler we had to eat them all.”

“Well, then I guess eating all of your vegetables requires two cookies. Go ahead.”

“Thanks!”

Alex walked over to the closet and pulled a box of chocolate chip cookies out. He took out two cookies and then two more. Putting the box back, he walked over to Lucy with two cookies in one hand and the other two in his other hand.

“And what are you doing with four cookies?” Lucy asked with a smile.

“These two are for you.”

Lucy was overcome with pride at how sweet Alex was. “Thank you. But right now my hands are wet. Can you leave them on my napkin over there?’

“Sure!” Alex responded, dumping the two cookies halfway on the napkin Lucy pointed to. A few crumbs skittered to the floor. “I’m going to go back and watch TV now.”

“Ok.”

“Hey mom?” Alex asked as he popped a cookie into his mouth.

“Yes?”

“Do you like TIm?” He asked her with a piece of the cookie half chewed in his mouth.

Lucy was so taken aback that she didn’t even scold him for talking with his mouth full.

“Of course I like Tim,” she stumbled. “We’re friends.”

“But do you want him to be your boyfriend like Chris was?”

“I…why do you ask?”

“Cause I like Tim. I think he’d be a good boyfriend. Way better than Chris. You’re always smiling around him and he takes time to play catch with me and help me build my Legos and he comes to my baseball games. Chris never came to a game in New York. I’m just saying, if you want him to be your boyfriend, I’d be happy about it.”

“Well, thank you, honey. He is a very good friend. But you know he has to go back home to California, right? And California is very far away. We talked about that, remember?”

“I know. I’m going to be sad when he leaves.”

“Me too, sweetheart,” Lucy said and she meant it more than her son would ever know.

“Does he have to go?”

“Well, Tim lives in California, honey. He’s just here for a long vacation.”

“Yeah, but he could move here. He could just keep staying in the little house in our backyard,” Alex suggested.

Lucy laughed. “It doesn’t exactly work that way, honey. Tim has a job and his own house.”

“He has a job here too at the police station.”

“I know it’s confusing, but…”

“It’s grown-up stuff,” Alex finished.

“Yeah, grown-up stuff. We should just be grateful that we get to spend the time with him that we do.”

Alex sighed. “Ok, well, don’t forget about your cookies.’

“I won’t.”

Alex raced back into the living room. Lucy sighed. She felt like she dodged a bullet in their conversation in admitting the true nature of her and Tim’s relationship, but the conversation also made her feel sad. Every time she thought she was ok with the idea of Tim leaving, then something would come up and it hurt her to think about it all over again.

There was a knock on the back door and Lucy was pulled from her thoughts. She looked over at the French doors to see Tim standing outside. She beckoned for him to come in and he did.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey yourself.”

“I missed you today,” Tim admitted, finally able to say what he hadn’t been able to say earlier when the boys were around. “Where’s Alex?”

“I missed you today, too. He’s in the living room.”

Tim took the opportunity to give her a quick peck on the cheek. He wished he could have given her a proper greeting, but the living room and kitchen were way too close together and Tim didn’t want Alex to see them.

“Here, I’ll help you dry,” Tim said, motioning to the dishes.

“Thanks,” Lucy said as Tim grabbed a dish towel and stood right beside her at the sink.

“You’re welcome. You know, I couldn’t stop thinking about getting my hands on you today,” Tim said quietly.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm. The whole time I was sitting in the waiting room at the dentist's office with Tyler this morning I was thinking about sliding my hands down your body to that one spot that makes you make that little sound.”

Lucy could feel herself blushing. Somehow in all of their years together Chris had never found that spot. Tim found it in just one night.

“I had a hard time concentrating today, too,” Lucy admitted.

“I can’t wait until tonight.”

“And what’s happening tonight?” Lucy asked, giving him her best innocent look.

“I thought…I mean, I figured we were going to…that we could…you know, have a repeat of last night.”

Lucy cracked a smile and Tim knew she was just teasing him. “I’ll text you after I put Alex to sleep. He thinks you should be my boyfriend, you know.”

“Oh yeah?”

“That’s what he told me.”

“Am I your boyfriend?” Tim asked.

“Well, I don’t know if we need to use labels, but I know that for the time you’re here I don’t want to see anybody else so…”

“So, I guess that means you’re my girlfriend,” Tim concluded.

“I guess so.”

Tim wished he could lean over and kiss her.

“By the way,” Lucy continued. “Thank you for watching the boys this evening.”

“It’s no problem. What were you two ladies up to anyway? Genny was very coy about the whole thing when she asked me to watch the boys.”

“I needed to buy a new dress,” Lucy stated.

“Another new dress, huh? For what? Our fifth date?”

“You could call it that. It’s for the wildlife rehabilitation center gala on Wednesday.”

“I’m sorry, the what?”

“It’s a big fundraiser for this center that takes in injured animals from all over the state. I guess they do a big gala every year. They rent out a place and people get all dressed up and there’s fancy food and dancing. My Aunt Mae gave them lots of money over the years so now I have two tickets and Ashley mentioned she was going at the PTA meeting today and she wanted Genny to give her your number so she could ask you to be here date for to the gala, but I said you were going with me and now that I think about it, it was very middle school mean girl drama, but now we have to go to the gala so I was wondering if you would…”

“Yes, I will go to the gala with you,” Tim said with a smile.

“Really? You don’t mind?”

“Do I mind seeing you in a beautiful dress and having you in my arms?” He paused. “Besides, technically, I still owe you a dance.”

“There’s no technically about it. A debt is owed.”

Tim laughed and had half a mind to twirl her around the kitchen, but then Alex bursted in.

“Can I have another cookie?” He asked, having no idea what he was interrupting.

Lucy and Tim had their second sleepover that night and their third the next night. They were both tired from lack of sleep, but were also both extremely satisfied and generally happier. The only thing Lucy did not like was that every morning she would wake up alone. She understood why. Heck, it was her own rule that she didn’t want Alex finding out about her and Tim being together, but she wanted to know what it felt like to actually wake up with him.

When Wednesday evening arrived, Lucy was running late. She had a client who was going through an unexpected trauma so Lucy had squeezed a session with him in at the end of her normal day. Then the bathroom sink in her master bathroom started leaking on the floor. Tim wasn’t home and Lucy didn’t want to bother him so she found herself laying on her back on the bathroom floor trying to figure the leak out. When she couldn’t, despite watching several YouTube videos, Lucy just kept the water off and put a towel underneath just in case. Genny had thankfully offered to take Alex and Tyler home right from school so Lucy didn’t have to worry about him. As she carried an armful of soaking wet towels that she had used to clean up in the initial leak to the laundry room, Lucy’s phone buzzed. As she went to fish her phone out of her back pocket, several of the towels fell to the floor. She cursed the towels at the same time that she looked to see who was calling. It was Tim.

“Hi,” she said into the phone. “I’m almost ready.”

“No, no you’re not,” Tim said. “I can tell by the way you answered the phone. Is everything ok?”

“Yeah, it’s just been hectic around her today.”

“Yeah, same for me.”

“Are you still at the station?” Lucy asked, picking up on some background noise.

“Yeah. There was a dead body found on the beach.”

“What? That’s awful!” Lucy exclaimed.

“I told you the ocean was full of dead people. Anyway, Chip is on vacation and they don’t get many homicides around here, especially on the beach so they asked me to use my expertise and to take a look and I got invested so…yeah, I’m still at the station doing some paperwork.”

“Are you ok?”

Tim liked that she asked. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Was it a…a homicide?” Lucy questioned.

“That part remains unclear until an autopsy can be done. I didn’t see any glaring signs of homicide like knife marks or a gunshot wound. I’ve got a call into some scientists to talk about currents and wave patterns around here. Plus we’re combing through missing persons reports to see if we can figure out who this person is.”

“You’re thinking the body might have just washed up,” Lucy commented.

“There’s a strong possibility. You know, I bet you would be a good detective.”

“I’ve heard that before from some of my NYPD friends. To be honest, undercover work has always fascinated me,” Lucy said.

“That’s a tough gig. But anyway, our victim could have been a person ending their own life or a boating or swimming accident. It’ll be a while before we know more. But I didn’t call to talk about dead bodies with you. I called to say I’m going to be late to the gala.”

“Same,” Lucy said, staring at the pile of towels still in her arms. “Look, you’re already on the other side of town. It doesn’t make sense for you to come all the way over here to get me. Why don’t we just meet at the hall?”

“Are you sure? I feel like I’m not giving you the full date service if I don’t pick you up.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Lucy said.

“Ok. Good. That’ll save me some time. I picked up my suit rental so I have it with me in my truck.”

“You rented a suit?” Lucy asked, surprised.

“You said this is a fancy gala. I didn’t bring a full suit to LA.”

“I’m impressed.”

“Wait until you see me in it,” Tim teased.

“I can’t wait.”

“Alright, let me get off the phone so I can finish what I need to do. I’ll see you soon.”

“Bye,” Lucy said. As she hung up the phone, she looked down at the two towels that were already on the floor. She dumped the rest of the towels on top of them and went off to her bedroom to start getting ready.

Chapter Text

Tim paced on the red and gold carpet just inside the front doors of the fancy country club where the gala was being held. He straightened his bowtie for what felt like the millionth time. He was impressed at how well the rented suit fit him considering he didn’t have time to get it tailored. Tim looked at his phone. Lucy had texted nine minutes earlier that she was ten minutes away. Tim couldn’t wait to see her.

“Tim.”

Tim whirled around at the sound of his name, but he knew by the voice that it wasn’t Lucy. It was Ashley. She was wearing a strapless, floor-length red gown that looked like it was vacuum sealed to her body. As she walked towards Tim, he noticed a slit up the dress that ran all the way to her mid-thigh. The dress was so tight and pin straight that without the slit, Tim guessed she wouldn’t have been able to walk. Her blonde hair was in a fancy up-do, the unnatural curls piled high on her head.

If he were any other man, Ashley might have taken Tim’s breath away. But he didn’t care what Ashley wore and he didn’t care about how she looked. He had eyes for only one woman and he wanted to spend the night with her in his arms.

“Hi, Ashley,” Tim said politely.

“You certainly know how to wear a suit,” she complimented.

“Thank you. You look very nice.”

“Oh, this old thing,” Ashley laughed, running her hands down her sides. “I was surprised to hear that you were coming to the gala with Lucy.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“I just thought we had a connection at the carnival,” Ashley explained. “I was hoping to get another dance tonight.”

“That’s very flattering, but…” Tim began.

“That won’t be happening.”

Tim turned around at the sound of the voice he did recognize. Lucy. When he saw her, he smiled. She was gorgeous. In her showy, but not revealing silver, shimmering dress, Lucy looked perfect. She had pulled some of her hair back away from her face, pinning it back and had pulled it all over one shoulder so that the backless dress could really shine. Tim felt the urge to take a strand of her hair and twirl it between his fingers.

“Lucy, you look lovely,” Ashley said.

“You look very nice yourself,” Lucy commented although it pained her just a little to do so. She walked over to Tim and he immediately put his arm around her waist. It was a not so subtle sign to Ashley that he was with Lucy.

“I’m glad you two could make it,” Ashley said perhaps not so truthfully. “Your Aunt Mae was a huge supporter of the wildlife rehabilitation center. I know her donations will be missed, but as a volunteer member of their fundraising committee, I will personally make sure that this center continues to get the funding and donations it needs.”

“How very noble of you,” Lucy said, working really hard not to roll her eyes. “I plan on continuing to donate in Aunt Mae’s honor.”

“Well, isn’t that nice. Do therapists make that much money?”

“I think it’s time we went into the ballroom and got a drink, what do you think?” Tim said to Lucy.

“Great idea,” Lucy replied. “We’ll see you around, Ashley.”

Dropping his arm from around her waist, Tim took Lucy’s hand. They walked together towards the ballroom. The room was crowded with two hundred others all in suits and fancy dresses. There was a dance floor in the center of the room with a DJ who was playing quiet music while people mingled. Instead of heading to the bar in the back of the room, Tim led Lucy to a quiet corner.

“What are we doing?” Lucy asked.

“This.”

Tim kissed her hard and fast, giving her barely any time to respond. He cupped the side of her face with his hand as the kiss continued. A moment later they both reluctantly pulled away. They knew they were in public and couldn’t just keep on making out.

“That’s better than a drink,” Lucy commented, coming down from the high of kissing him.

“You are stunning,” Tim told her. He took a step back from her and looked her over from head to toe. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

“And you clean up nicely,” Lucy replied. “Very handsome.” She leaned in close to him. “And hot. Extremely hot.”

“You know, we could just go home right now and skip the gala.”

Lucy licked her lips. “As tempting as that sounds, I did not go out and buy a new dress and spend an hour on my hair and makeup to go home. Besides, what fun would tonight be if we didn’t make Ashley just a little jealous?”

“You know I have zero interest in her, right?” Tim assured her.

“I know. And I trust you completely. I just like knowing that I have something she wants.”

“You’re kind of sexy when you talk like that.”

“Just kind of?” Lucy teased.

Their lips met again, but only briefly. Before they knew it, they had to separate. They finally made their way to the bar and ordered two cocktails. They were seated at a table with a few other couples. Lucy recognized one of them as another parent from the school. They made pleasant conversation, but all the while they wanted to be somewhere together and alone. The meal was served a little while later. It was probably the fanciest food Lucy had ever had. Each course was more delicious than the last. When an appetizer was served that included mushrooms, Lucy immediately took them off Tim’s plate. She knew he despised the things. It was crazy just how much she had come to know about him in such a short time.

After dinner some speeches were made by the president of the rehabilitation center. Lucy’s Aunt Mae was even mentioned by name, which made Lucy smile and Tim squeezed her hand. When the food was cleared and the speeches were done, the DJ began to play music that people could actually dance to. Tim immediately got out of his seat and offered his hand to Lucy.

“Care to dance?” He offered.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Pulling Lucy to her feet, Tim led her to the dance floor. The song was upbeat. Tim clasped her right hand in his left and put his right arm around her waist. Holding her close, they began to sway to the music.

“Thank you for coming with me tonight,” Lucy said.

“You’re welcome. I’m quite enjoying myself. It’s fun to play dress up.”

“Do you play dress up a lot in LA? I always imagine that there are fancy parties around every street corner there.”

“That’s not exactly my crowd,” Tim told her.

He spun her around and pulled her back against him.

“Ooh, Bradford’s got moves,” Lucy commented with a smile.

“In more ways than one,” he said with a wink.

“Well, you’ll have to show me some of those moves later tonight.”

“Don’t worry. I plan on it.”

They continued to dance in rhythm with the music enjoying the fact that they could just be together. Lucy was impressed at how good of a dancer Tim was.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you that Alex got invited to a sleepover birthday party by Xavier.”

“He’s the redheaded kid on the team, right?” Tim asked.

“Mhmm. This Saturday Xavier’s moms are going to take the boys right from the game to their house and I won’t have to pick Alex up at ten o’clock on Sunday morning.”

“Oh really? That makes, what? Approximately eighteen hours of free time. And what do you have planned for all that time by yourself?”

“Well, I was thinking I could maybe get my nails done or watch a movie or spend some quality naked time with you.”

“I like that last one,” Tim said, leaning in for a kiss.

“I thought you might say that.”

Tim spun her out again before catching her back in his arms. He brought her upper body down into a dip. As he held onto her, making sure she wouldn’t fall, he felt his back twinge. It was the first time he had felt any pain in his back in days. He had almost forgotten that he had been shot and still had the bullet inside of him, but the pain was an instant reminder of what had happened.

“You ok?” Lucy asked, seeing the change in his face.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

Tim straightened up, bringing Lucy back to her feet. Lucy read his face. She could see that he was trying to relax the corners of his mouth out of the grimace they had been in a minute ago. His brow had slackened. She could see the changes in him instantly.

“You can’t lie to me,” she said softly.

“It’s just my back.”

“We should sit,” Lucy said immediately. “I wasn’t even thinking about your back. I…”

“I’m fine.”

“Tim…”

He could see the look of concern on her face and he appreciated it more than she knew. But he didn’t want to worry her and it had just been a moment of pain.

“Really, I’m fine,” Tim reiterated.

The song that was playing melted into something slow.

“We don’t have to keep dancing,” Lucy told him.

“Nothing is going to stop me from dancing with you,” Tim said.

He pulled her tightly against his body and they began to slowly move to the beat. She tucked her head under his chin, resting her head against his chest. She felt perfectly safe and content being in his arms.

They danced like that until the song was over and another, more upbeat song began. Tim was about to twirl her around again when Lucy put her hand on his chest.

“Let’s take a break,” she suggested.

“Lucy, I’m fine.”

“I have to use the ladies’ room and I could use another glass of wine.”

“Ok,” Tim agreed. He had a feeling she was mostly asking for a break for him, but he was willing to go with it. They walked together over to the bar. Tim got in line to order them both a glass of wine and Lucy went off in search of the bathroom. When she found it and went inside, she saw Ashley standing in front of one of the mirrors, reapplying her bright red lipstick. Lucy started to walk right past her to head to one of the stalls when Ashley spoke.

“You’re lucky, you know. Tim seems like a good guy,” Ashley said.

“He is,” Lucy said. She took another step towards one of the toilets, but then stopped and turned to look at Ashley. They caught each other’s eye in the mirror. “Look, Ashley, I don’t want to do this with you. I don’t want to be a mean girl. We’re not in high school. I didn’t even like the mean girls in high school. We’re both adults. I don’t want to fight over a guy.”

Ashley turned away from the mirror to face Lucy. At first Lucy wasn’t sure what kind of response she was going to get, but then she saw Ashley’s face change just slightly.

“You’re right,” Ashley finally said. “Look, the truth is, I’ve been lonely since my divorce. And we don’t often get a lot of new guys in this town. Especially not ones who are as cute as Tim. And I am used to fighting for what I want.”

“I get it. And you should fight for what you want. Sometimes it’s the only way us women can get ahead.”

“True, but I don’t want to fight another woman to get there,” Ashley said. “Clearly Tim chose you. And you two look good together out there.”

“Thank you.”

“Also, I think my daughter has a little crush on your son.”

Lucy laughed. “Really?”

“It’s silly, of course, but she always talks about how nice Alex is to her at baseball practice. He’s a good kid.”

“Thank you. Your daughter certainly has some spunk. It takes guts to play on a team with mostly boys,” Lucy commented.

“Well, she definitely gets that from me.”

“I can see that,” Lucy said with a smile.

“Look, I hope you two are happy together. I really do. I’ll back off of Tim. You have my word on that.”

“Thank you. And thank you for saying that about us. And I have a feeling you’ll find someone who will make you feel less lonely,” Lucy said. “You’re smart, you’re gorgeous, and you know what you want.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

The two women just stared at each other somewhat awkwardly. Lucy wasn’t sure if she should step up and give the woman a hug, but that didn’t feel right. Not yet anyway.

“Now I really do have to go pee,” Lucy finally said, breaking the tension.

Ashley laughed. “By all means.”

When Lucy was done using the bathroom, she found Tim sitting at their table with two full glasses of wine. She walked over to him and leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“Let’s go home,” she said.

“What happened to making Ashley jealous?”

“Not necessary anymore.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Let’s just say that we have come to a mutual understanding.”

“Wow. What happened in that bathroom?” Tim asked, surprised.

“Are we going to talk about bathrooms or are we going to go home?”

“Home. Definitely home.”

Tim picked up the wine he had just ordered and took a long sip. Leaving it and Lucy’s still full glass on the table, he took her hand and they walked out of the country club.

Chapter Text

When Lucy woke up the next morning, she had a smile on her face. Tim’s arm was draped over her hip and they were sharing the same pillow, their noses only a few centimeters apart. He was still asleep, his chest rising and falling slowly. Lucy studied his face. He looked relaxed and peaceful. It was the first time they had truly woken up together in the morning. She sighed, happily.

Moments later, Tim started to stir. His eyes blinked open and Lucy smiled.

“Good morning,” she said.

“Morning,” he mumbled. “Were you watching me sleep?”

“Just for a few minutes,” she admitted.

He smiled and brushed some hair away from her face. “I like watching you sleep for a few minutes every morning before I get up to go back to the guest house.”

“You never told me that.”

“A man’s gotta have his secrets.”

Lucy nuzzled into him, her head fitting perfectly under his chin, against his neck.

“I’m glad we finally got to wake up together,” she said. “Your sister is a saint for taking Alex overnight and bringing him to school this morning. I owe her big time.”

“She likes having Alex over. She said it keeps Tyler from bugging her.”

“Yeah, but still…I owe her. Maybe I can offer to take Tyler for a weekend so that she and Greg can…”

“Let’s not talk about my sister’s boyfriend,” Tim interrupted.

Lucy lifted her head up to look at him. “You need to get over that. I met him at the PTO meeting. He’s a good guy.”

“I’m sure he is. I just don’t like to think of my sister as being with someone.”

“I like that you’re protective over her, but she is a grown woman Tim with needs and wants and…”

Tim brushed his lips against hers, silencing her. He did not want to hear about his sister’s needs and wants.

“Morning breath,” Lucy said, pulling away from the kiss. “I’ll be right back.”

Lucy got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She grabbed her toothbrush and went to turn on the faucet. That’s when she remembered that she had turned the water off because of the leak in the sink.

“Hey Tim,” Lucy called out as she grabbed a robe from behind the bathroom door. She slipped it on as Tim walked in the bathroom.

“Yeah?”

“The sink started leaking yesterday. I turned off the water, but now there’s no water so…”

“I can take a look later,” Tim offered.

“Are you sure? I can call a plumber.”

“No, it’s fine. I’ll do it. I have to go into the station this morning. But I’ll take a look at it later today.”

“Thank you.”

From behind her, Tim put his arms around Lucy and kissed the side of her neck.

“You’re welcome.”

As Tim began to untie the robe that she had just put on, Lucy stopped him. She didn’t want to, but she had to. She turned to face him.

“I have a client in an hour,” she told him.

“And I have to get to the station,” Tim said with a sigh.

“I’ll see you later?” She asked.

“Yeah.”

Despite the fact that they still both had morning breath, Tim bent down and kissed her.

The next few days remained busy for both Tim and Lucy. He was deeply involved in working with the local police on the body they had found on the beach and Lucy had more clients than ever. Tim and Lucy still managed to spend every night together, although seeing as how exhausted they both were, they spent more time cuddling after Alex went to bed than anything else.

By the time Saturday rolled around, both Tim and Lucy were looking forward to the baseball game being over. The plan was for Xavier’s moms to take Alex, Tyler, and a few other kids from the team to their house for a sleepover. Both Tim and Lucy couldn’t wait to be together for a solid eighteen hours without work or worrying about Alex finding out about them. Tim wanted desperately to be able to kiss her openly in whatever room he chose without worrying about Alex sneaking up on them. And they were both especially looking forward to another morning of Tim not having to sneak out of Lucy’s bedroom before Alex woke up. Not to mention that Tim was excited about the prospect of having Lucy in his bed. The only place they had made love was Lucy’s bedroom. He was hoping to change that.

Tim, Lucy, and Genny were sitting in their usual spot on the bleachers at the Little League field. Ashley had come over to say hello earlier in the game and they had all exchanged pleasantries. Lucy actually felt like there was a chance she and Ashley might actually become friends in the future. Genny had questioned Lucy on what was going on and Lucy admitted that they had both decided to be adults.

It was the bottom of the sixth inning, which, in Little League, was the last inning and Alex and Tyler’s team was down by two runs with a player on second. They already had two outs when Alex stepped up to bat. All three adults sprang to their feet. The rest of the teammates were cheering from the dugout.

“I can’t watch,” Lucy said.

“Yes, you can. He’s got it,” Genny assured her.

“It’s too much pressure,” Lucy continued, feeling physically sick to her stomach.

“He’s got it,” Tim mimicked.

The pitcher threw out the first pitch and it was a strike.

“Keep your eye on the ball!” Lucy called out.

“You can do it!” Tim cheered.

Alex swung at the second ball thrown to him and he hit it. The ball sailed right in between second and third base. The kids standing there looked like they didn’t know what to do. The girl from Alex’s team who was on second base began to run. After dropping his bat, Alex did the same. A boy from the other team in the outfield went after the ball, but he slid in the grass before he got to it. As they cheered Alex on, Tim, Lucy, and Genny couldn’t help but laugh. It was, after all, just seven year olds playing Little League. When both the girl and Alex made it across home plate, everyone cheered. They had won the game.

Running down off the bleachers, Lucy went to give Alex a hug.

“Oh, honey, you did such a good job!” Lucy exclaimed.

“Mom, you’re embarrassing me,” Alex said.

“Sorry,” Lucy said, backing off.

Tim came down from the bleachers and gave Alex a high five.

“Great job, buddy.”

“Thanks! Maybe you can teach mom to be more cool after we win a game.”

Tim smirked at Lucy. “I can certainly try.”

“Well, this mom is very proud of you, even if I am uncool,” Lucy stated, resisting the urge to hug him again.

Alex trotted off to have his post-game huddle with the coach. Tim tapped his finger against Lucy’s thigh three times. It was a subtle gesture that no one else probably even noticed, but Tim wanted to remind her that he was there and that he was thinking of her. He knew it couldn’t be easy to see her little boy growing up and pushing her away.

After a lot of congratulations and giving fist bumps to the other team, everyone began gathering their things. Lucy made sure Alex had everything he needed for the birthday party and spoke to Xavier’s moms. They gave Lucy their cell phone numbers and Lucy gave them hers just in case of an emergency. Thanking them for taking on five boys at once, Lucy went to where Alex stood with his friends.

“Remember to be on your best behavior,” Lucy told him. “And I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?”

“Ok, mom,” Alex said, turning back to his friends.

Lucy felt a little hurt that she didn’t even get a final hug. She watched as the boys followed Xavier’s moms to their minivan.

“Don’t worry,” Tim said, coming up behind her. “I plan on having my arms around you all night.”

“I like the sound of that,” Lucy said.

“Come on, we don’t want to lose any precious time.”

“No, we wouldn’t want that.”

As they headed to the parking lot, Genny caught up with them.

“So, what do you two have planned for tonight now that you are officially kid free?” Genny asked with a teasing tone.

“Don’t start, Genny,” Tim said.

Genny smirked. “You two have fun and don’t forget to stay hydrated and eat something every once in a while.”

Tim rolled his eyes at his sister. Both Genny and Lucy exchanged a smile.

“You have fun with Greg,” Lucy said.

Lucy saw Tim actually cringe and she had to stifle a laugh.

“You know, I’d like to actually meet this man you’ve been seeing,” Tim stated.

“Well, I would invite you two to dinner with us tonight, but I have a feeling you two already have plans. Much like Greg and I do,” she said with a wink.

“Ok, I did not need to know that,” Tim said.

“What? I did say anything,” Genny replied, winking at Lucy.

“We’ll set up a double date soon with Genny and Greg,” Lucy suggested. “But right now…”

“Right. We gotta get home,” Tim said, catching Lucy’s meaning. It didn’t escape Lucy that Tim didn’t say ‘her home.’ That meant he thought of Lucy’s place as his home too.

“Have fun!” Genny called as Tim grabbed Lucy’s hand and whisked her away to his truck.

The minute they got back to Lucy’s house and the front door was closed behind them, Lucy turned to look at him and Tim pounced. As their lips connected, Tim used his body to move hers forward. He placed his hand flat against the door so that when her head hit, it would land on something soft. They made out against the door for a few minutes, their hands roaming each other’s bodies. Soon, Tim’s shirt was off.

“I have an idea,” Lucy whimpered as Tim kissed her neck.

“Oh yeah?’

“Let’s see how many different places in this house we can make love before tomorrow morning.”

“I like that challenge,” Tim growled as Lucy ran her fingers up his bare back.

“I’m thinking…five?”

“Oh, we can do better than five,” Tim assured her with a smile.

“I like your optimism.”

“I just have one rule,” Tim said.

“What’s that?”

“We start in my bed,” Tim stated rather forcefully. Lucy could see he had almost a feral look in his eye.

Lucy raised an eyebrow at him. “Something tells me you’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

“Fantasizing is more like it. I know it’s technically it’s your bed seeing as how it’s your guest house, but…”

“Take me to your bed, Tim,” Lucy commanded.

Tim put both hands on her butt and hoisted her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and, as their lips met over and over again, Tim carried her outside to his bed.

Hours later, Tim found himself sitting up against Lucy’s desk. She was on the floor right next to him, using his thigh as a pillow. They had both completely lost track of time. Tim wasn’t even sure he knew what time of day it was, which was very unlike him. He was usually so regimented and scheduled, but time seemed like the most unimportant concept in the world as he watched Lucy breathe. She had her eyes closed, but Tim knew she wasn’t sleeping.

“That makes…” Lucy murmured.

“Six,” Tim finished for her.

“Six? I thought we were only on five.”

“Well, there was my bed and then against the French doors in the kitchen and then your bed and then the shower and then back to your bed and now your office.”

“Which I’m never going to be able to work in again,” Lucy informed him. “But we did my bed twice. That doesn’t count.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to find some more places. The rug in the hallway is nice and soft. Does my truck count? I’ve had a few fantasies of having you in my lap in that front seat.”

“I see you’ve spent some time thinking about this,” Lucy teased.

“And you haven’t?”

“Hm…maybe a little bit of time.”

“Oh, And that pergola seems pretty sturdy and we know it’s as smooth as a baby’s bottom since we sanded the whole thing,” Tim added.

“We are not having sex outside,” Lucy stated, her eyes snapping open to look at Tim.

“Why? You don’t have any neighbors nearby.”

“I can’t tell if you’re kidding,” Lucy said, searching his eyes.

“Neither can I.”

“I think before we do anything else, we need to eat,” Lucy said.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I can’t remember the last time we ate.”

“What time is it anyway?” Lucy asked with a yawn.

“Way past dinner,” Tim told her. “I think it’s the middle of the night.”

“Then we’ll have to have a midnight snack.”

“I thought that’s what we’ve been doing,” Tim teased.

“You are…”

From somewhere in the house, Lucy heard a phone ringing.

“Ignore it,” Tim said.

But Lucy couldn’t ignore it.

“It could be Alex.”

“Right. Sorry.”

Lucy hoisted herself up and Tim watched her yet again go from sexy mode to mom mode, which he also happened to find incredibly sexy. Lucy found her phone on one of the kitchen counters. Only it wasn’t her phone that was ringing. Tim was right behind her.

“It’s not mine,” she said. She picked up Tim’s shirt that had been dropped on the ground hours before and pulled it over her head so that she wasn’t quite so naked.

The ringing stopped momentarily, but then started up again. Tim followed the sound to his phone, which was on the coffee table in the living room. The caller ID said Angela Lopez. Tim answered.

While Tim was busy in the other room on his phone call, Lucy opened the doors to the refrigerator. They didn’t really have any leftovers so Lucy grabbed the eggs, milk, cheese, and some mushrooms and peppers out of the refrigerator. She started the process of making Southwest omelets.

Ten minutes later, Tim came back into the kitchen. Lucy noticed that he was still holding his phone in his hand, but had hung up with whoever he was on the phone with. Somewhere in the house he had found his boxers and had put them on. Lucy could see a very different look in his than the one he had had when they were naked in her office.

“Is everything ok?” Lucy asked, turning away from the omelets she was making.

“That was my friend Angela in LA.”

“Isn’t it like midnight there?” Tim didn’t answer. He was clearly deep in thought. “You’re scaring me. Was someone hurt?”

“No, no one was hurt. And yeah, it’s like midnight there. But they’re all deep in a case and working around the clock. Do you remember that case she called me about a little while ago?”

“Yeah. You said you had arrested the suspect in the past.”

“I did. Well, now she thinks the case she is working on goes way beyond that one suspect I arrested. She thinks it has to do with a new gang. A whole string of people I and other officers have arrested in the past.”

“Ok. So does she want your help again or something?” Lucy asked. She wasn’t quite sure where the conversation was going, but she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like it.

“She wants me to go back to LA to help.”

Lucy didn’t know how to respond. “Oh.” It was the only sound her brain could think to make.

“It would only be temporary. I wouldn’t be officially returning to work. I wouldn’t be out on the streets. Just helping put some pieces together at the station.”

“For how long?”

“A few days. Maybe a week,” Tim answered.

“What did you tell her?”

“I told her I had to think about it, but I’d get back to her soon. She would need me immediately.”

Lucy paused, collecting her thoughts. “Well, if you feel ready to go back, then I think you should.”

“I just…I don’t want you to think I’m leaving you.”

Lucy walked over to him and put her hands on his chest.

“I don’t think that. And it’s fine. I just want to make sure you’re ready. It’s one thing to be working at the police station here with a new environment and new faces, but it might be harder there where there are reminders of what happened to you and Jackson.”

“I know. What if you…what if you came with me?”

“To Los Angeles? Tim, I can’t. Alex has school and…”

“I know. You’re right. I just…I’m stronger with you around. But you’re right. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“I like that you asked. I just…I can’t.”

Lucy heard the sizzling of the eggs behind her. She went back to the stove and flipped the omelet over.

“Are you sure you’re ok with it?” Tim asked her.

“Yes,” Lucy answered without turning around. “I’m fine. Your friends need help. You need to do what you need to do.”

“Ok. I’m going to go call Angela back.”

“Ok.”

As Tim walked away, Lucy wiped a tear from her eye.

Chapter Text

When Tim got off the phone with Angela, he immediately began searching on his phone for flights. He lucked out in that there were still seats available on a flight that was leaving later that morning. He would have to do a layover at BWI in Baltimore, but it would get him to Los Angeles by the late afternoon LA time. Without hesitation, Tim booked it and sent Angela a text about his flight details. When he went back into the kitchen, Lucy was sitting at the kitchen table, eating an omelet. There was another one on a plate across from her. Tim sat.

“Thanks for making breakfast,” he said.

“It’s too early for breakfast, remember?” Lucy said quite coldly.

“Right, we decided it was a late night snack,” Tim said as he shoveled some food into his mouth. He recalled the conversation he and Lucy had had about food just fifteen minutes prior when they were both still naked on the floor of her office, but his brain was fuzzy with the details. He was both tired from the physical energy they had been exerting and his brain was already going over details of the case that Angela had told him on the phone. Tim ate quickly. He hadn’t realized just how ravenous he was.

“Did you book your flight?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, it leaves in like five hours out of Hartford.”

“Well, that’s at least an hour and a half drive from here so…”

“So…I better start packing.”

“Yeah.”

“Do we need to talk more about this?” Tim asked. He could tell she wasn’t happy.

“Why would we? I get it. You need to go home to do your job and to help your friends. I’m fine, Tim. Alex and I will be fine. And maybe some separation would be good.”

That last sentence took him aback. “Why do you say that?”

“Because maybe it’ll give us some perspective. Maybe it’ll be a reality check that you are really going to leave in a few months.”

“Lucy, I…”

“Do you need a ride to the airport?” Lucy asked, silencing whatever question or statement Tim was going to say. She clearly didn’t want to talk about feelings or their future or what was really going on between them.

“No,” Tim answered. “I don’t want you to have to drive all that way. I know you have to pick up Alex from his sleepover and you should get some sleep. I’ll take my truck and leave it in one of the airport parking lots.”

Lucy nodded. Having finished her late night snack, Lucy brought her plate to the sink. She put the dirty dishes in the sink and then turned back to Tim.

“I’m going to go up to bed,” she said.

As Lucy walked past him to go upstairs, Tim put out his arm. His arm went around her middle.

“I’m coming back,” he said to her.

“Have a safe trip,” was all she said before she brushed him off and went upstairs. Lucy went into the bathroom in an attempt to wash her face and brush her teeth. When she turned the faucet, no water came out. The water was still turned off because the sink still had a leak. Lucy bit her bottom lip to stop herself from yelling out in both anger and sadness.

Three hours later, Tim was stuck in traffic just a few miles from the airport. Even though it was still early, a good two hours before rush hour would begin, some overnight construction had gone late and was causing a backup. Tim glanced at the clock. He still had plenty of time to catch his flight, but the traffic was making him more agitated than he already was. Before he left to go to the airport he had tried to talk to Lucy one more time, but when he had peeked into her bedroom, he saw that she was, indeed, asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he left the house. He thought about texting her, but he didn’t know what he would say. He was only leaving temporarily. He would be back. And she said she was fine with it. Really, she had no reason to be upset or angry. And yet Tim felt miserable that he was leaving.

As his truck crawled down the highway, his phone rang. He hoped it was Lucy, but when he glanced at the screen on his dashboard, he saw that it was his sister. Already connected to bluetooth in the car, Tim accepted the call.

“Hey Genny,” he answered.

“What are you doing?” She asked, accusatory.

“What?”

“You’re going back to LA?”

“Temporarily,” Tim corrected.

“Still. You’re leaving. Just like that?”

“Angela needs help on a case,” Tim explained. “It should only be a few days. No more than a week. Why are you angry?

“I’m angry because I found out about you leaving from Lucy when I texted her this morning to see if you and she were done having sex and if you wanted to meet me and Greg for breakfast before we have to go pick up the boys.”

“So, you’re not mad that I’m leaving. Just mad that I didn’t tell you? I was going to text you. It all happened really fast and…”

“Of course I’m mad that you’re leaving!” Genny shouted. “You can’t just leave on a whim and play with people’s lives, Tim!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Lucy. She sounded devastated this morning.”

“I talked to Lucy about this,” Tim explained. “I even basically asked her permission. She’s fine.”

“Well, she didn’t sound fine to me.”

“It’s not like I walked out in the middle of the night and left a note on her pillow. We talked about it. And I will be back.”

“Are you sure?” Genny questioned.

“Of course I’m sure. My truck and all of my stuff will still be here for goodness sake.”

“Is that all you care about? Coming back for your truck and some clothes?”

Tim took a deep breath before choosing to respond. He felt like his leaving was being blown completely out of proportion and that he was being blamed for something that was completely reasonable for him to do.

“Look, Gen, I am really not in the mood for this. I’m trying to get to the airport and…”

“I want you to think long and hard about something while you’re gone,” Genny interrupted.

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Are you just stringing Lucy along?”

“What?”

“She’s trying to set up a new life here, the best life she can for her and Alex. If you’re just going to come and go or…or leave and never come back at the end of all of this, you need to let her go, Tim.”

“You’re the one who was pushing us together!”

“I know. And looking back, I think I was wrong.”

“Unbelievable,” Tim muttered. “We all knew I was going to leave eventually, Genny. We tried to resist each other. We did, but then we had people like you pushing us to get together and our natural chemistry with each other. But you know what, all three of us, you, me, Lucy…we all knew that I would go back to my job in LA. I never hid that from anyone. And I’m the one who has tried to convince Lucy that we can make this work anyway. She’s the one who keeps pushing me away and saying we can’t do long distance. I’m trying here. So don’t make me into the bad guy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Look, I get that you want to look out for Lucy. So do I. The last thing I want to do is hurt her or Alex. But I need to do my job. I need to help my friends.”

“Ok. Look, I’m on your side, Tim. You’re my brother. You always will be. I love you. I want you to be happy.” Genny sighed. “We can talk about this more when you get back. Have a safe flight and be careful, ok?”

“I will. Thanks Gen. I love you, too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Pressing the button on the screen to end the call, TIm wanted to pound his fists against the steering wheel. He wondered if he should get off at the next exit and turn his truck around and go back to Lucy, but he couldn’t. As he told Genny, he needed to go help Angela and maybe Lucy was right. Maybe a little time away from what had been somewhat of a quick, whirlwind romance would be a good thing.

Trying to put it out of his mind, Tim turned on a sports radio channel. He tried to concentrate on baseball instead of his relationship. Yet, every time one of the hosts mentioned the word baseball, all Tim could think about was how he would be missing one of Alex’s Little League games and it broke his heart.

Sixteen hours later, working off of no sleep and greasy fast food, Tim was sitting in the war room at Mid-Wilshire with Detectives Angela Lopez and Nyla Harper. They were going over details about drugs that had been laced with fentanyl that were killing people all over the city. The drugs had been linked back to a possible new gang that included members whom Tim had arrested previously in his career. But they weren’t just criminals who had taken one ride in the back of Tim’s shop. These were criminals that Tim had gotten to know for crimes like theft, weapons possessions, assault, and drug trafficking. The problem was, no one could find the leader of the group to take down the whole operation. No one was talking. Tim had reached out to some of his CIs and had even gone to see one of the criminals he had previously arrested in the county jail to find out any information, but everyone seemed to be living by the code that snitches get stitches.

“So, we’re back at square one,” Nyla said walking away from the presentation board that she and Angela had already scrawled all over.

“What do you think, Tim?” Angela asked, turning to where he sat slightly behind her. He was staring at the board, but wasn’t really looking. His eyes were glazed over. He was wondering what Lucy was doing in that moment. Had she put Alex to bed? Or was it even nighttime on the East coast? Tim didn’t even know what time it was on the west coast.

“Tim!” Angela practically shouted.

Tim immediately blinked to attention. His eyes focused on Angela.

“What?” He responded.

“Are you ok?” Angela asked.

“I…I think so?”

“Let’s take a break,” Nyla suggested. “I think we could all use some coffee.”

“And some fresh air,” Angela added. “We’ll walk down to that coffee shop down the street. They’re open late.”

“Great, thanks. I’m going to check in with James to see how Leah is doing,” Nyla said, taking out her phone.

As Angela began to walk out of the room, Tim followed. They didn’t speak until they were out of the station and walking down the block towards the coffee shop. Even though it was the evening and the sun would be setting soon, Tim had to admit that it felt good to feel a little sunshine on his skin.

“Ok, so what is going on?” Angela asked.

“What do you mean?” Tim replied.

“What is going on with you? You’re zoning out, unable to focus. It’s not like you. Is it the shooting? Are you having a hard time being back here because if you are, we can…”

“No, it’s not that. I just…I haven’t really slept in…I don’t know. Over twenty-four hours or something. And there’s a lot going on back in Connecticut and…”

“What’s going on in Connecticut? I thought you went out there to spend time with Genny and Tyler and clear your head?”

“I was. I did. I am. It’s just…I met someone.”

Angela stopped dead in her tracks.

“What? You met someone and I’m just now hearing about this. Spill. I want details. Now.”

Tim thought of protesting, but knew Angela wouldn’t allow it. She would get the information out of him one way or another.

“Her name is Lucy. She’s got an adopted seven year old son named Alex. She moved into Genny’s neighborhood around the same time I arrived. She lived in New York previously with a boyfriend who is kind of an ass, which makes sense because he’s a prosecutor.”

“Watch it,” Angela warned. “My husband is a defense attorney.”

“Yeah, and before you met him, we all hated lawyers. Actually, while you were falling in love with him, you still hated lawyers.”

“True. Go on. Tell me more about Lucy.”

“She’s just…good, you know? She’s a great mom. She’s smart. She’s resourceful and funny and beautiful.”

“What does she do for a living?”

“She’s a therapist.”

Angela raised an eyebrow. “A therapist, huh? That’s an interesting match for you seeing as how you’re always so closed off all the time.”

“I’m not closed off.”

“I couldn’t even get you to admit that your back hurt after you had been shot! You’ve got walls up higher than the Great Wall of China.”

“Fine, maybe I can be closed off, but Lucy finds a way to break down those walls. She’s different, Angela. She’s amazing. And it was like…instant chemistry. I don’t think I’ve ever had that with anyone.”

“Well, she sounds perfect. But there’s one important question.”

“What’s that?”

“You told me all of these wonderful things about her, but you didn’t tell me how you actually feel about her. So…Tim, do you have feelings for Lucy?”

Tim thought for a moment before responding. “I do. I’ve fallen for her.”

“Even though it’s only been…what? Six weeks or so?”

Had it been only six weeks since Tim had met Lucy? If someone had asked him before if you could fall for someone else in such a short amount of time, Tim would have said that it was impossible, but it wasn’t.

“Yeah. I don’t know how to explain it,” Tim said.

“What does that mean about you coming back here when your leave is over?”

“I don’t know,” Tim admitted. “We’re trying to figure that out. But all I know right now is that I think I’m in lo…”

Tim was cut off when his phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Genny calling. He didn’t want to have another argument with his sister so he pocketed the phone.

“Look, I just want to help you out with this case as best I can and then go back so that Lucy and I can figure out what we’re going to do and…”

His phone rang again.

“Somebody really wants to get a hold of you,” Angela commented.

“Yeah, it’s my sister.”

“You should answer it.”

This time, Tim did.

“Genny, what…”

“It’s Lucy,” Genny said on the other line. “There’s been an accident.”

Chapter Text

“It’s Lucy, “Genny stated on the other side of the phone. “There’s been an accident.”

Tim felt his legs give out, but somehow he remained standing. He tried to process what Genny was saying. An accident. What did that mean? Was she hurt? Was she ok? Was it a car accident? Was she trying to do some more home repairs and fell? Did someone hurt her? Every possible scenario ran through Tim’s head, but yet he couldn’t form any coherent thoughts. He couldn’t make his mouth ask the right questions.

“Tim, did you hear me?” Genny asked when she got no response. “Tim!”

“Yeah, I’m here.” He went from not being able to speak to having too many questions that he wanted answered all at once. “What happened? Is she ok? Is Alex ok? Where is she?”

“Slow down,” Genny told him. “She was in a car accident. A drunk driver blew through a stop sign and hit the driver’s side. It took the firefighters a bit of time to get her out. Alex wasn’t in the car, thank goodness. I was watching the boys and Lucy was coming to pick him up and…”

Tim breathed a little sigh of relief, but not much. “Genny, is she…”

“She’s at the hospital. I’m here now. They won’t tell me much since I’m not family. Just that they’re working on her.”

“Oh God,” Tim breathed. “Where’s Alex now?”

“Tyler’s dad came to watch the boys at my place. I haven’t told Alex anything. The police were able to see on her phone that I was the last person she called so they called me. Tim, I don’t know…this could be bad.”

Tim could hear his sister sniffling. He was trying to keep his own tears from falling.

“I’m coming back,” Tim stated. “I’ll take the next flight out. If you hear anything, call me.”

“I will.”

When Tim hung up the phone it took everything in him not to drop to his knees and begin to sob. He didn’t know what Lucy’s condition was. He had a six hour plane ride ahead of him during which he wouldn’t be able to get any information about how she was doing. What if he lost her during those six hours? What if their last interaction was her brushing him off when he tried to convince her that he would be coming back?

“Tim…” Angela began, tearing him from his thoughts. She had heard the important parts of the conversation through the phone. “What can I do?”

“Is Nolan working tonight?” Tim asked.

“I think so. But his shift is probably over soon. Why?”

“Because he’s taking me to the airport with sirens blaring. Let’s go.”

Tim began to jog back to Mid-Wilshire, a building that for the longest time had felt like home. Now the person who made him feel more like home than anybody else was in a hospital 3,000 miles away and he didn’t know if she was going to survive.

It was a grueling ten hours before TIm made it back to Connecticut. He had to talk his way onto an already full flight by flashing his badge and making it seem like he was on important police business. Between waiting in the airport for the flight to take off and a delay on the tarmac, Tim felt like he was losing his mind. He did get a text from Genny right before his flight took off that Lucy was alive and awake. Genny hadn’t gotten the chance to see her yet, but things were looking up. Although it gave Tim a sense of relief to hear the news, he wouldn’t be happy until he could see her.

The minute the plane landed, TIm raced to his truck that was still in the long term parking lot at the airport. He sped off, his wheels squealing. Tim committed a few traffic violations trying to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. When he finally did, he burst through the doors and talked to the first nurse he could find.

“I’m looking for Lucy Chen,” he said rather demandingly.

“I’m sorry, sir, you’ll have to wait at the desk and…”

He whipped his badge out of his pocket. “Lucy Chen. Now.”

Tim wasn’t one to abuse his power as a police officer, but he couldn’t wait another minute to see Lucy.

“Of course. I’ll find out what room she is in right away.”

Tim followed the nurse to the nurse’s station and waited impatiently while she typed into the computer. She’s in room 103A.”

“Thank you,” Tim said as he raced down the hall.

“But you need a visitor’s pass!” The nurse was shouting, but Tim ignored her. He would get a visitor’s pass after he laid eyes on her and saw for sure that she was ok.

When he finally got to the room with the numbers 103A written on the door, Tim burst into the room. Lucy was sitting up in bed talking to a nurse who was wrapping a bandage around a rather large gash that had been sewn shut on Lucy’s arm.

“Excuse me!” The nurse exclaimed upon Tim bursting in.

“It’s ok,” Lucy assured the nurse. “That’s Tim. He’s…”

“Her boyfriend,” Tim said, finally feeling the relief of knowing that she was ok. He desperately wanted to touch her.

Lucy felt her heartbeat quicken at just the sight of him. She hadn’t realized just how much she missed him and needed him until she saw his face when he walked in the door. She just wanted him to take her in his arms and never let go.

“But I thought…” the nurse stuttered. “That other gentleman yesterday said…”

“It’s a long story,” Lucy said with a little smile to the nurse. “Can we have a minute?”

“Of course. I’ll come back soon to finish.”

“Thank you.”

As the nurse passed by Tim, she looked him up and down. “You really should have a visitor’s pass.”

“I’ll be sure to get one,” he said and he held the door open for the nurse to leave. Once she was gone, he went to Lucy’s bedside.

“Oh, babe,” he said, looking her up and down. Aside from the gash on her arm, she had some bruising to the left side of her face and a cut above her left eyebrow.

“I’m ok,” Lucy assured him.

He ran his hand through her hair while he looked her over carefully. “You don’t look ok.”

“You should look in the mirror. You look like crap.”

Tim chuckled a little. “I haven’t slept in…I don’t how long.”

“You didn’t have to come back,” Lucy told him.

“Of course I did. Lucy, when Genny called me and told me you had been in an accident, I…I thought the worst.”

“I’m sorry. Mostly it’s just some bad cuts and bruises.”

“DId you lose consciousness?” Tim asked, unable to stop searching her body with his eyes for any more signs of damage. He hated seeing her hurt.

“For a few minutes right after the crash, yeah. The doctors say I have a pretty bad concussion and a few of my ribs are bruised, but not broken. I have some whiplash from the seatbelt, but it could have been a lot worse,” Lucy explained.

“All of that sounds pretty bad.”

“The worst part was waiting for the firefighters to cut me out of there. I couldn’t open the doors and my arm was pinned and the inside of the car was crushed. I was so scared.”

Tim took her hand and squeezed it. “Oh, babe…I’m sorry. That must have been awful. What about the guy who hit you? Genny said he was drunk? Did they catch him?”

“Yeah. He walked away with no injuries.”

“Bastard,” Tim muttered.

Lucy put her hand on his cheek. “Chip came down to the scene and interviewed me this morning. It’s not the man’s first DUI.”

“Yeah, well, it sure as hell is going to be his last if I have anything to say about it,” Tim said.

“I’m just glad Alex wasn’t in the car.”

“Me too. I was so worried. The whole time on the plane back, I kept thinking…you don’t what terrible thoughts kept coming to mind.”

Lucy nodded. “I know. I’m sorry. I wanted to call you, but the firefighters had taken my phone and I don’t even know where it is now and…”

“Don’t you be sorry. I’m just glad you’re ok.”

Tim leaned in to give her a kiss. As his lips met hers softly, the door to Lucy’s room opened. Tim expected to see a nurse or a doctor, but it wasn’t either of those two professions. It was someone Tim wished he would never see again. It was Chris and he was holding a bouquet of flowers.

“So, you are here,” Chris said.

Tim stood up to his full height, facing Chris. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Tim,” Lucy warned.

“The hospital called me,” Chris answered.

“Chris was still listed as my emergency contact on my insurance so the hospital called him when I arrived yesterday,” Lucy explained.

“When I found out Lucy was hurt, I dropped everything and came to see her,” Chris stated. “It didn’t take me nearly half a day to get here.”

“I got here as soon as I could,” Tim spat.

Lucy grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“Chris, I thought you were going home this morning,” Lucy remarked.

“I am. I have to be back for a deposition, but I wanted to bring you these and to tell you that I’m here if you need anything and I can come back to…”

“No,” Tim stated.

“That won’t be necessary,” Lucy said. “I appreciate you coming. I do. I know you’re busy and…”

“I had to reschedule court to be here,” Chris commented. “The judge wasn’t happy.”

“What do you want, a medal?” Tim retorted sarcastically.

“Tim,” Lucy warned for a second time.

“I don’t get it, Lucy,” Chris continued. “What do you see in this guy, huh? Does the fact that he can install flooring and paint a wall really turn you on that much?”

“That’s enough, Chris,” Lucy said.

“Because I could hire someone to do that,” Chris continued. “At least I was here when you needed someone, unlike this jackass.”

Tim stepped forward and had his fist ready to punch Chris in the face, but Lucy still had hold of his hand and she tugged on his arm, stopping him.

“You need to leave, Chris,” Lucy said. “Again, I appreciate you coming. But this doesn’t change anything between us.”

“Well, don’t expect me to show up the next time this guy lets you down,” Chris said. He dropped the flowers on a nearby chair and walked out the door.

Tim was seething. “I should have punched his lights out.”

“And gotten arrested? He’s not worth it, Tim. And he did keep my company last night.”

Tim didn’t like the sound of that. He turned to look at her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here.”

“It’s not your fault. You can’t be everywhere all the time. No one could have predicted that this would happen. I’m fine. It’s you I’m more worried about. You need some sleep and by the looks of it, probably a good meal that doesn’t come from a greasy paper bag.”

“Now that I'm here, I don’t want to leave you,” Tim said. “I want to be here. I want to help.”

“There is something you can do.”

“Name it.”

“Can you bring me my son?” Lucy asked with tears in her eyes. “I’m sure he’s scared and I would really like to see him.”

“Absolutely.”

Tim leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, above where her bad cut was.

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Tim told her. With one final short kiss, Tim was out of the room, ready to do whatever Lucy needed.

Tim spent the rest of the day with Alex and Lucy in the hospital. Lucy cried tears of joy when she saw her son and Alex was happy to see for himself that his mom was ok. For part of the time, Tim had left Alex and Lucy alone. He had wandered down to the cafeteria and had some relatively healthy food. He also called Angela and gave her an update as to what was going on. He told her that he wouldn’t be going back to LA to help her with the rest of the case and she understood.

By dinnertime, Tim could tell that Lucy was fading fast. Her energy level had dropped and he knew she was in discomfort from sitting up all day. Tim was exhausted, but doing his best not to show it.

“What do you say we let your mom get some rest?” Tim suggested to Alex.

“Are you coming home tonight, mommy?” Alex asked.

“Not tonight, sweetheart. The doctors want to keep me here just one more night to make sure everything is ok.”

“Does that mean I’m going back to Tyler’s house?” Alex asked although not as excitedly as he normally would.

“Do you not want to go back?” Lucy asked.

“I like it there, but I kind of want to sleep at home,” Alex answered.

“Oh, honey, but Tyler’s mom is…”

“I’ll take him home,” Tim offered. He didn’t really want to leave Lucy, but everyone needed their rest, him included. “I’ll stay with him in the house and I’ll come back for you tomorrow when the doctors give you the all clear.”

“Are you sure you want to take him?” Lucy asked.

“Of course.”

“Thanks, Tim!” Alex exclaimed.

“You’re welcome, bud. I’ll text Genny and tell her the new plan.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said, stifling a yawn.

Tim wanted to bend down and kiss her to say goodbye, but knew he couldn’t with Alex in the room.

“Ok, then we’ll see you tomorrow,” he said.

“Bye mommy,” Alex said, wrapping his little arms around her as best he could. Tim had a feeling that the movement caused Lucy some pain, but she didn’t say anything.

“Bye, sweetheart,” Lucy said, kissing him on top of his head.

Tim nodded at Lucy before taking Alex’s hand and walking out of the room together.

Later that night, after Tim had picked up pizza for him and Alex and they had watched a movie together, Alex was laying in his bed hugging a stuffed shark tightly in his arms. Tim was sitting in a small chair next to the bed, tucking him in.

“Is my mom going to be ok?” Alex asked as Tim pulled the blanket up to the boy’s chin.

“She is. And she’ll be home before you know it.”

“I heard Miss Bradford say that mommy’s car is totaled. What does that mean?”

“It means it’s so broken that you can’t drive it anymore.”

“Now we don’t have a car,” Alex stated. “How are we going to get to baseball practice?”

“Don’t worry, bud. The grownups will figure it out. We’ll make sure you get to practice.”

Tim ruffled his hand through Alex’s hair. He was about to stand up and say goodnight when Alex spoke again.

“Tim, did you know that Lucy isn’t my real mom?”

Tim nodded, wondering where the conversation was going and how much he should or shouldn’t say.

“I did know that.”

“I don’t remember my real mom very well, but I do remember being scared sometimes with her.”

Those words coming from such a small boy were heartbreaking. “I’m sorry, bud,” Tim said.

“But I’m not scared anymore since I’ve been with Lucy.”

“That’s good.”

“You know how Lucy adopted me?” Alex asked.

“Mhmmm.”

“Do you think you could do that, too?”

Tim was taken aback by the innocent question. “Oh, Alex…”

“Cause you’d be a really good dad and I don’t have a dad so if you just adopted me, you could be my dad and it would be so much fun.”

Tim took a deep breath, trying to work out what he was going to say.

“Alex, you are a very special little boy and I would be really proud to be your dad, but it doesn’t really work that way. And…”

“Ok. That’s ok. I just thought I’d ask.”

Tim could hear the heartbreak in Alex’s voice. Tim didn’t know what else to say. Lucy always seemed to know the right words to use when speaking with Alex, but Tim was at a loss.

“Can you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Alex asked.

“Sure, bud.”

Tim sat back in the little chair he was sitting on as the little boy closed his eyes. Tim couldn’t help but think what it would be like to have Alex as his son and Lucy as his wife. In that moment he made a decision. He would not be going back to LA.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Tim brought Alex to school. The young boy didn’t really want to go. He wanted to go with Tim to the hospital to see his mom, but Tim knew Lucy would be coming home that day. He wasn’t sure how long it would take to get Lucy discharged, though, and he wanted her to have a little peace and quiet when she first arrived home. Tim promised him that he would be able to see his mom soon.

After dropping Alex off, Tim immediately went to the hospital from the school. He actually stopped to get a visitor’s pass at the nurse's station first and when he arrived at Lucy’s room, he found her looking more rested and in good spirits. He wanted to have the important conversation with her about what he had decided, but didn’t really want to do it in the hospital with nurses flitting in and out of the room.

Around noon, Lucy was finally discharged. She had strict instructions to get plenty of rest, to not do any activities that would further injure her ribs, and to watch for any signs like dizziness or confusion due to her concussion. Tim promised the doctor he would keep an eye on her. It was a promise he had no intention of breaking.

When Tim brought Lucy home, he helped her inside and made sure she was comfortable on the couch.

“Can I get you anything?” He asked. “Water? Tea?”

“No, thank you.”

“Are you comfortable? Do you want any extra pillows or a blanket or…is it too warm in here? I can open the windows to let in some fresh air.”

“Tim, just sit with me,” Lucy said, patting the cushion beside her.

“Ok.”

Tim sat down close to her and Lucy leaned back against him. He put his arm gently around her, careful not to jostle her or further cause her ribs any pain. She leaned her head against his chest and sighed.

“It feels good to have your arms around me again,” she admitted.

“Yeah, it really does.”

“Unfortunately I think our quest of how many places in the house we can have sex is going to have to wait until my ribs heal,” Lucy commented.

“That’s ok, I can be patient,” Tim replied, kissing her on top of her head. “Besides, we have a lot more time together.”

“I don’t know if I would call four months a lot more time,” Lucy said. “But hopefully it won’t take me too long to heal and we can…”

“We don’t just have four months.”

Lucy lifted up her head to look at him. “What do you mean?”

“I decided last night that I’m staying,” Tim stated.

“What?”

“I want to stay here with you and Alex.”

“You mean, move away from LA?” Lucy questioned, wanting to make sure she was understanding him correctly.

“Yeah.”

“Quit your job?”

“That’s the general idea.”

Tim was getting the sense that Lucy was not excited about what he had just told her. He had expected her to practically jump up and down, but she seemed confused and possibly even disappointed, which led him to be confused and disappointed.

“You can’t do that, Tim,” Lucy said.

“Of course I can. It’s my decision.”

“You can’t give up everything in your life for me.”

“I’m not doing it just for you,” Tim replied. “I’m doing it for us.”

Lucy began to stand up, but immediately fell back when one of her ribs began to scream out in pain.

“Shit,” she grumbled.

“Hey, take it easy.”

“I can’t have this conversation with you while we’re…cuddling,” she stated.

“Ok,” Tim said, slowly moving his body away from hers. He was still extremely surprised by her reaction. He got up and went to the other side of the couch. “Is this better?”

“Don’t be cute with me.”

“I’m just doing what you asked. I don’t get it, Lucy. In the past, you pulled away from me any time you thought about the fact that I was going to be moving back to LA because you said it would be too hard when I left. And now I’m offering to stay and you’re angry about that, too. What do you want from me?”

“I don’t know,” Lucy answered honestly. “But I do know that if you give up your whole life for me and this doesn’t work out between us, you’ll hate me.”

“Who said this isn’t going to work out between us?” Tim asked.

“Tim, we’ve known each other for barely seven weeks. That’s not enough time to decide to build a life together.”

“It is for me,” he stated. And he meant it. Before meeting Lucy he might not have believed it was possible, but now he could see it all. He could see them having a life together. He could see himself being a dad to Alex and anyone else who might come along. It didn’t matter that it had been less than two months since they had met.

Lucy shook her head. “So…what…you’re just going to quit your job and pack everything up and move in here with me and work at the police station doing gun safety courses and helping out whenever Chip needs you?”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“I’m just getting out of a long-term relationship!” Lucy exclaimed. “I moved here to start a new life with Alex. I don’t know if I’m ready to jump into something this serious this fast.”

“Is this because Chris visited you in the hospital?” Tim asked. Just the thought of Chris made Tim want to punch something. “Do you still have feelings for him?”

“What?” Lucy shouted, shocked at the accusation. “No! I don’t still have feelings for him. I told you, the hospital called him. I didn’t. And I told him to leave the minute he arrived, but he was worried about me, Tim.”

“Yeah, worried about getting in your pants.”

“At least he was there!”

Tim was taken aback. Yes, he blamed himself that he hadn’t been around when Lucy had her accident, but he didn’t realize that she blamed him too.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” Tim admitted. “And I’ll always blame myself for that, Lucy, but you can’t hold that over me like I knew the accident was going to happen and I intentionally went away.”

“I know. I don’t hold it over you. I didn’t mean what I said…I just…it’s been a lot.”

“I know.”

“I don’t want you thinking that you have to stay here just because I had this accident.”

“It’s not because of that. Or maybe it is a little, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the accident and the fact that Alex asked me to be his dad or…”

“Wait, what?” Lucy interrupted.

“Alex asked me last night if I could adopt him. It was innocent, Lucy, but it got me thinking…”

Lucy shook her head. “You can’t just adopt my son.”

“I know that.”

“This is all too much for a seven week relationship.”

“But it doesn’t feel like seven weeks. It feels like I’ve known you my whole life.”

“I…” Lucy didn’t know how to respond. Her head was spinning. “What about the sink?”

“What? The sink? What sink? What are you talking about?”

She wasn’t even sure why she brought up the sink. It just came out of her mouth and she felt like she couldn’t take it back.

“The sink in my master bathroom,” Lucy explained. “The one that has been broken since the day of the gala. The one you said you’d fix. It’s still broken, Tim.”

Tim had completely forgotten about the sink. Even though it had almost felt like a lifetime ago, it really had been only a few days.

“Are you mad at me because I didn’t fix the sink? Is that what we’re really arguing about?”

“No, it’s not what we’re arguing about! But it is another example, Tim. It’s another example that you won’t be there, Tim for me or for Alex. Another time that I need you and you’ll be three thousand miles away. And I hate that that makes me sound like a damsel in distress, because I’m not. I can fix my own damn sink…or at least I can hire someone to fix my sink, but I was counting on you to do it and you didn’t because you weren’t here!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t fix the sink, but this is what I’m saying, Lucy. If I move here, I won’t be three thousand miles away. I can fix the sink and be here for you and Alex. I can be here for every baseball game and every happy memory and I can be here when things go wrong.”

“And what if we don’t work out? What if after a few weeks or a few months this chemistry we think we have goes away and we realize that we have nothing in common and that this was just a quick fling?”

“It doesn’t feel like a quick fling to me.”

“You can’t move here for me, Tim!”

“Fine. I won’t move here for you. I’ll move here for me. Because Genny’s here. Because I’m happy here. Because I feel safe here. Because I can be a police officer and not worry about gangs and getting shot every day on duty.”

“You’ll be miserable without those gangs shooting at you everyday.”

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

“Therein lies our problem.” Lucy sighed. She felt exhausted. “How well can you know someone in seven weeks?”

Tim’s cell phone rang from somewhere inside his pocket. He ignored it at first, but then Lucy began to get up slowly. She grit her teeth as she moved her protesting body.

“Here, let me…” Tim began.

“Just answer your damn phone,” Lucy snapped.

She managed to get herself off the couch with just a little bit of pain and she made her way into the kitchen. Tim pulled out his phone, cursing at whoever it was for interrupting them. It was Angela.

“What?” Tim said into the phone.

“Wow, somebody’s in a bad mood,” Angela said on the other end.

“Sorry, there’s just a lot going on.”

“Well, I’m happy to say that we caught the guys we were looking for and your services are no longer required. At least for now.”

“That’s good news.”

“How’s Lucy?” Angela asked.

“She’s doing ok. We’re…trying to figure some things out right now.”

“Have you told her how you feel?”

Tim could see Lucy trying to reach for a glass in an upper cabinet. As she grabbed one, her rib screamed out in pain and her hand knocked the glass out of the cabinet. It fell to the floor and shattered.

“I gotta go,” Tim said. He dropped his phone on the couch and rushed into the kitchen. Lucy had tears in her eyes as she stared at the broken shards around her feet. Luckily she was still wearing her shoes.

“Here, step over here,” Tim said, offering Lucy his hand.

“I got it.”

“Lucy…”

“I said I can do it.”

Without taking his hand, she took a step away from the broken glass.

“I’ll clean it up,” Tim offered.

“Tim, I can…”

“Would you please just let me help you? You’re hurt. I’m not going to have you down here on your hands and knees picking up shards of glass. Please!” He shouted.

Lucy had never really heard Tim raise his voice. Although he wasn’t yelling at her, she could tell that he meant business.

“Ok,” she whispered, taking a few steps back.

Before Tim went to retrieve a broom and dustpan, he grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator and handed it to Lucy. She thanked him and he set to the task of cleaning up the mess.

“I don’t want to fight with you,” Lucy said quietly. “But I’m asking you to please don’t make any drastic life decisions right now. Don’t give up your whole life for me. That’s too much pressure for both of us right now to make this work. Ok?”

“Ok,” Tim agreed.

Lucy walked slowly back to the couch, taking her water bottle with her.

Later that night after Tim had picked up Chinese takeout for all of them and they had a very quiet, awkward dinner, Lucy and Alex were both on the couch watching a movie. Tim had finished cleaning up the kitchen and then went upstairs to fix the leaking sink that he had neglected since the gala. It didn’t take him long. When he was through, he turned the faucet on to make sure there was no leak. As the water ran, he stared at Lucy’s lone toothbrush on the counter. It made him feel like he didn’t really belong there. He knew it was because of Alex, but Lucy had never asked him to really share her space. Sure, he had slept in her bed every night for a week, but that was all it had been.

They had only really been dating for three weeks. Was that really long enough to know a person? Was Tim being foolish in his willingness to uproot his whole life? And what about LA? What about his house and his job and his friends? What about his family at Mid-Wilshire? They worked together to protect each other. What if he wasn’t part of that equation anymore? What if something happened to Angela or Harper or even Nolan and Tim wasn’t there? Would he be able to forgive himself?

Putting the tools away that he used to fix the leak, Tim went back downstairs and checked in with Lucy. They were barely speaking to each other, but she was recovering and he would never leave her alone in the state that she was in, even if they were fighting. She assured him that she would be ok with getting to bed herself. TIm understood the hint. She would be going to bed without him. Tim retreated to the guest house.

Later on, after Lucy had put Alex to bed, she went into her own bedroom. Her ribs were sore and her head was throbbing. She went into the bathroom and just out of habit, turned on the faucet. She was surprised when water came out. She realized Tim must have fixed the sink while she was spending time with Alex. Lucy grabbed her phone to text him. She typed in ‘thank you for the sink’ and then immediately erased it. She started typing again. ‘Thanks for fixing the sink. Do you want to come up?’ She erased that message as well. She wanted him to know that she appreciated all that he was doing for her and she wanted to feel his body next to hers in the bed. She had gotten used to it being there in such a short amount of time, but it didn’t feel right. Not after the fight they had had.

So Lucy put her phone away without sending any kind of message and went to bed alone.

Chapter Text

Tim slept in the guest house by himself the next night and the one after that and the one after that. Three days went by of the two of them tiptoeing around each other. Tim stuck close to the main house in case Lucy needed anything as she recovered from her injuries, but they barely talked and she mostly brushed off any of his advances to help her do things like cook or clean up or help with Alex.

Tim had thought about their argument a lot. Was it too soon in their relationship for him to change his whole life and move across the country? Would they end up resenting each other? Or was Lucy truly the one he was meant to be with for the rest of his life and moving was the best thing he could do? Those were the thoughts that plagued Tim as he tried to sleep each night. Even his back had started bothering him again on a more regular basis, which he guessed was a sign of stress.

On Saturday morning, Tim had driven over to Genny’s apartment to pick up Tyler. Genny was getting ready for a day out with Greg while Tyler was finishing up a bowl of cereal at the kitchen table. Tim leaned against one of the kitchen counters, staring off into space as Genny came out of her bedroom.

“I’ll be back by seven tonight,” she said to Tim.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Tim mumbled.

“Hey honey,” Genny said to Tyler. “Why don’t you go to your room and find your shoes, ok?”

Tyler did as told and Genny grabbed his empty cereal bowl from the table and brought it to the sink.

“Ok, what’s wrong?” Genny asked Tim.

“What do you mean?”

“You’re moping. And you haven’t even made one quip about me going out with Greg today. So what gives?”

“It’s nothing.”

“Tim, I literally have two minutes before Greg is supposed to be here so spill.”

“Lucy and I are…fighting? No, not fighting really. Just…not talking? I don’t know.”

“What happened?”

“I offered to move here,” Tim stated.

“What?” Genny exclaimed, clearly shocked by the news.

“Yeah. After her accident, Alex asked me if I could be his dad and it got me thinking that I could be really happy here. I mean, you’re here and I really think Lucy and I could have a future, you know. But, she thinks it’s too fast and she thinks I’m crazy so…”

“So you had a fight.”

“Yeah.”

Genny sighed. “I can see it from both sides, Tim. She’s a single mom who just changed her whole life and is trying to do the best for her and her son. The idea of you moving here permanently without knowing what the future holds is scary for her.”

“But no one knows what the future holds. Isn’t that why most decisions we make in life are leaps of faith?”

“You’re right. But also consider that she was just in an awful accident. And a lot has changed in less than a week. You going off to LA unexpectedly obviously caused some feelings and then you having to come back so suddenly and making the decision to move here? Give her time, Tim. Don’t give up on her. And maybe extend the olive branch.”

“What do you mean?”

“The natural chemistry between the two of you shined best when you were doing something you both enjoyed. So…take her out. Do something fun. Try to get back to the way things were when you were happy. Before you were thinking about making big life decisions.”

Genny’s phone dinged. She glanced at it just as Tyler came out of his bedroom with his shoes on.

“I’m ready!” Tyler announced.

“And that’s Greg,” Genny announced. “He’s outside. I gotta go.”

“At some point I’d like to meet this Greg, you know,” Tim said.

“Well, I’d introduce you to him today, but maybe we’ll wait until you’re in a better mood. Have fun today, you too. And thanks for watching Tyler.”

“Yeah, of course.”

After Genny left, Tim turned to Tyler.

“So, I was thinking maybe we could go to the zoo today?”

“Yes!” Tyler shouted. “Can Alex come too?”

Tim’s immediate thought was to say no so that he and Tyler could spend the day with just the two of them, but then he thought about what Genny said.

“Can I invite Alex’s mom, too?” Tim asked.

“Sure. You smile a lot when you’re around her.”

“Yeah, I do,” Tim said as he pulled out his phone. Maybe spending the day out with the boys doing something fun would be just what he and Lucy needed as a reset.

Hours later, Tim and Lucy were sitting beside each other on a wooden bench while Tyler and Alex were playing on an animal themed playground inside the zoo. They had already walked through most of the zoo, seeing elephants, giraffes, lions, and more. The boys had fun making faces with one of the apes and seeing if they could jump as far as a snow leopard. They were having a great time and Tim had looked over to see a smile on Lucy’s face several times, which, in turn, made him smile. Tim was a little worried that all of the walking would be a lot for Lucy’s healing body, but she insisted that she was fine. The bruising on her face was still there, but was starting to heal and the cut on her arm no longer required bandaging.

They had been sitting for only a few minutes, not talking, just enjoying the nice weather and watching the boys play with some other kids when Lucy finally spoke directly to him.

“Thank you for this,” Lucy said. “For inviting us.”

“You’re welcome.”

“It’s nice to be out again. And the boys seem to be enjoying themselves.”

“Yeah. Thank you for coming with us,” Tim said. He realized their conversion was incredibly mundane. It was the equivalent of asking someone about the weather. But it was a start of them communicating again.

“And the weather today is perfect for it,” Lucy commented.

Inwardly, Tim smiled to himself. Now their conversation really did include the weather. It was time to start a real conversation.

“When I texted you this morning, I wasn’t sure that you would agree to come,” Tim said.

“When I got your text this morning, I wasn’t sure how to respond,” Lucy admitted. “But I really wanted to come to the zoo.”

Tim smiled outwardly this time. She was teasing him. And it felt like a small part of them was back.

“Yeah, nothing says romance like the zoo,” Tim commented.

“It is romantic that you invited me and my son out for a day trip. You care, Tim, about me and about Alex and it shows. I don’t like fighting with you. And I’ve missed you these last few days.”

“I’ve missed you too.”

She inched her hand over to his and their fingers interlocked. It was a simple, yet powerful gesture.

“I think we should talk when we get home later,” Lucy suggested.

Tim smiled again when he heard her say ‘when we get home.’ Her home was becoming his home and he hoped it would stay that way.

“I agree,” he said.

Tim squeezed her hand before letting it go as the boys came running at them asking for ice cream cones.

The boy, of course, got their ice cream as well as some souvenirs from the gift shop. After they were done with a full day at the zoo, Tim took them all out to the arcade where they had gone before Tim and Lucy had even officially started seeing each other for dinner and some game time. By the time Tim brought Tyler home at seven o’clock, the boys were exhausted. Genny had had a wonderful time on her day out with Greg. All in all, it had shaped up to be a pretty amazing day. As Tim drove himself, Lucy, and Alex home, he glanced over in the backseat. Alex was asleep. Tim reached his hand over and put it on Lucy’s thigh. She smiled at the gesture.

“It was a pretty perfect day,” she commented.

“It was.”

“It made me feel like we were…us again.”

“Yeah, it did.”

Lucy took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our fight and your offer to move here. And I know what I said before... and the fact is that I am still worried that we haven’t known each other long enough for you to change your whole life, but if you’re willing to take the risk then I think you should…”

She was cut off when Tim pulled into Lucy’s driveway and there was a car neither of them recognized already there. It had New York plates.

“Were you expecting someone?” Tim asked.

“No.”

“Do you think it’s Chris?”

“I…I don’t know. If it is, I didn’t invite him, Tim. I haven’t spoken to him since he left the hospital.”

“Stay in the car,” Tim instructed, his cop senses tingling. It may have been Lucy’s house, but there was no way he was going to let her or Alex get out of the car until he knew exactly what was going on.

Tim kept the engine of his truck running and got out slowly. He tried to see inside of the car parked in front of him, but it was too dark out and the windows were slightly tinted. Tim wished he had his gun with him. As he got closer, the driver’s side door opened. Tim stopped in his tracks ready to fight or do whatever was necessary to protect himself and Lucy and Alex. A man got out of the car. It wasn’t Chris, but it was someone Tim instantly recognized.

“Sergeant Grey?” Tim said, clearly surprised.

“Hey Tim,” Grey replied with a smile.

The two men gave each other a handshake and embraced quickly.

“What are you doing here?” Tim asked. “How did you even know where I was?”

“It’s a long story.”

Seeing through the windshield that Tim obviously had some kind of acquaintance with the man who was standing in her driveway, Lucy turned off the truck and got out. She approached Tim slowly.

“Lucy, this is my watch commander at Mid-Wilshire, Sergeant Wade Grey,” Tim introduced. “Sir, this is Lucy Chen.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, Lucy,” Grey said, shaking her hand.

“And I’ve heard a lot about you,” Lucy replied. “Welcome to Connecticut.”

“Thank you,” Grey said. “I’m sorry for showing up here unannounced. It was my wife’s idea.”

“It was your wife’s idea to come all the way to Connecticut?” Tim asked.

“We are in New York for a few days visiting our daughter at college,” Grey explained. “My wife suggested I come here so that I could talk to you in person.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Lucy said, “but you’ll have to excuse me. My son is in the car asleep and I should get him up to bed, but why don’t we all just go inside?”

“Here, I’ll carry him,” Tim offered.

Grey watched as Tim went back to his truck and expertly took Alex out of the truck. Still sleeping, the boy put his head on Tim’s shoulder as Tim carried him into the house with Lucy leading the way. It was obvious how seamlessly Tim had integrated into the family. He looked like a natural carrying the young boy. Grey followed them as Lucy opened the front door. Tim told Grey he would be right back as he brought Alex upstairs. Lucy stayed in Alex’s bedroom, getting him ready for bed while Tim went back down to talk to his sergeant.

“I can see why you like it here,” Grey commented. He was sitting on the couch in the living room.

“Yeah, Alex is a great kid.”

“I don’t think it’s just the boy.”

Tim shook his head. “You’re right. It’s Alex. It’s this house. It’s Lucy. She’s amazing.”

“Lopez told me a bit about her. She seems to be recovering well from her accident.”

“Yeah, she’s doing well. Can I get you a beer or anything?”

“No, that’s ok,” Grey responded.

“I’m still surprised that you’re here. And frankly confused.”

“I’m sure. Look, Tim, you and I have worked together for a long time and we’ve always been honest with each other. So I’m going to just come out and say it.”

“Ok…”

“I’m retiring,” Grey stated.

Tim had to let that information sink in for a moment. Those were not the words he was expecting to hear.

“Wow,” he finally said. “Congratulations, sir. I have to admit that I’m surprised.”

“Yeah, me too,” Grey admitted. “I’ve been thinking about it for a little while and my wife has been pressuring me some. Taking this trip out here to see my daughter put everything into perspective. I worked a lot of long hours the entire time my daughter was growing up. As it is now, my wife takes a lot of trips to the east coast to see her by herself because I can’t go with her. I don’t want to miss out on that anymore. And I don’t want to miss out on any more time with my wife. Frankly, I’m tired of the job, Tim, and I’ve put in more than enough years.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, sir.”

“Thank you. But I didn’t drive three extra hours just to tell you that part of it.”

“So what did you come here to tell me?” Tim asked.

“I want you to take my job. Watch Commander of Mid-Wilshire, which means you’d be promoted to Sergeant 2.”

Tim wasn’t expecting that. “What?”

“I’ve talked to all the upper brass. They know that you’re ready for it, Tim. You’re the best candidate they have to lead Mid-Wilshire. Now I know technically you’re still on leave, but they got wind of all the good work you’ve been doing with the police station here and how you came back to LAPD to help your fellow officers. They think you’re ready to take on this leadership role now. And I couldn’t agree with them more.”

“Sir, I…I don’t know what to say…” Tim stuttered.

“Some cops work their whole lives for this position,” Grey said. “I know I did. And if you have any aspirations to become Captain, this is the right stepping stone.”

“It would be a good career move. But, I…I don’t know.”

“Well, I’m afraid you don’t have too much time to think about it. I’ve given the department my two weeks. My wife booked us a cruise as soon as she found out I was willing to retire. We need someone to fill my spot before I leave.”

“Of course, I understand.”

“I know it’s a lot to think about, especially considering what you have going on here, but it’s a good job, Tim. Pay raise. More benefits. And you’ll be in charge of the entire division.”

“That’s quite an offer.”

“Think it over.”

“I will,” Tim told him.

As Tim started to think about the offer he had just been given, Lucy came down the stairs.

Chapter Text

Tim locked eyes with Lucy as she stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He wasn’t sure how much of his conversation with Grey she had heard, if any of it. Lucy tore her eyes away from Tim and smiled sweetly at Grey.

“Can I get you anything?” Lucy asked Sergeant Grey. “Water or coffee?”

“That’s very kind, but no thank you,” Grey answered. “I won’t be staying long. And I appreciate you letting me barge in like this.”

“It’s no problem,” Lucy said.

Tim eyed her as she began to tidy up some of Alex’s toys on the living room table. He still wasn’t sure what she had heard or what she hadn’t and he was seeing a side of her he hadn’t really seen yet - polite hostess mode. Tim had a feeling that what she really wanted was for them to be alone so they could talk, but she wasn’t going to be impolite.

“You have a lovely house,” Grey commented.

“Thank you. Tim helped with many of the repairs and cosmetic work,” Lucy explained. “My aunt whom I inherited it from was a little eclectic, so it took some work.”

“Well, it certainly has come together,” Grey said. “Look, I don’t want to keep you from your evening, but think about what I said, Tim.”

“I will, sir.”

“And I’ll need an answer quickly.”

“Of course.”

“Would you like to stay?” Lucy asked. “I don’t have another spare bed, but I could fix up the couch or…”

“No, no,” Grey responded. “I’m still on LA time in my brain and I told my wife I’d be back tonight at the hotel.”

“Thank you for coming to talk to me in person,” Tim said, shaking Grey’s hand.

“Of course. Lucy, it was very nice to meet you,” Grey said.

“It was very nice to meet you as well. Tim speaks very highly of you.”

“As he does of you.”

Finishing their goodbyes, TIm walked Grey to the door. Once he was gone, Tim turned back to Lucy. She was busying herself in the kitchen, sanitizing the countertops.

“Can we talk?” Tim asked.

“Sure,” Lucy responded quickly as she threw away the sanitizing wipe she was using and picked up a magic eraser sponge to start cleaning the stovetop. As she worked on scrubbing some invisible stain that Tim couldn’t see, he made his way over to her.

“Let’s just sit,” he suggested.

Lucy took a deep breath. She was trying to keep her hands busy so her mind wouldn’t explode. She had heard the tail end of what Grey told Tim and from what she could gather, it all just meant that Tim was about to leave her again.

“We can talk in here,” Lucy stated, continuing to scrub.

Tim put his hand on her arm and she stopped cleaning.

“Please,” Tim said quietly. Lucy nodded and she allowed him to lead her over to the kitchen table. She sat. Tim grabbed his chair and pulled it closer to her so that they were sitting knee to knee with nothing between them.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping, but I heard what Sergeant Grey said to you,” Lucy stated.

“What did you hear?”

“That he’s offering you his job. A job that any cop who wants to move up in the department would jump at.”

Tim nodded. “He did say that. But before we talk about that, you were going to say something in the truck when we pulled into your driveway. Before we saw Grey’s car. You said ‘I think you should.’ What were you going to say, Lucy? You think I should what?”

“I…I don’t remember.”

It was a lie. She remembered exactly what she was going to say. She was going to say that she was tired of being scared and that he should move to Connecticut to build a future with her. She was going to say that even in such a short amount of time she had fallen in love with him and she really thought they could work out. But she couldn’t say those things now. Because saying those things would mean he would be giving up not just his home and his career, but the chance to take a promotion he had been working his whole career for. And Lucy couldn’t take that away from him. Because if she did, she knew he would grow to resent her and she would rather be heartbroken that he left her than fearful that he would hate her.

“I think you do remember,” Tim said, putting a hand on her knee.

She met his eyes. “I was going to say that I think you should go home,” she stated as bravely as she could. Her lip quivered as she spoke, but she kept eye contact with him.

“Go home?”

“Back to LA. Go back to your life, Tim. Your job, your friends.”

“That’s what you were going to say?” Tim asked, seriously doubting that she was telling the truth. He had gotten the feeling during their trip to the zoo together and later in his truck that she was going to ask him to stay. He felt like she had changed her mind from the fight they had a few days earlier and that she was willing to take the risk with him. But the words that were coming out of her mouth now didn’t match the way he thought she was feeling.

“Yes.”

“You’re not just saying that now because of the promotion that Grey offered me?”

Lucy shook her head. “I think we both need to go back to our lives, Tim. Me and Alex here and you back in Los Angeles.”

“Do I get a say in any of this?”

“Do you really want to give up this promotion?” Lucy asked.

And the true answer was he didn’t. He had worked his whole career to become a sergeant and becoming a watch commander was a big deal. But he wanted his cake and to be able to eat it too. He wanted to be watch commander and have Lucy at his side.

“Come with me,” Tim said.

“What?”

“Move to LA with me.”

“Tim, we’ve talked about this…”

“No, we talked about you taking a vacation to LA. I’m talking about moving there. To be with me.”

“I have Alex and…”

“Well, of course he’d come too. Look, you could wait for the school year to be done. There’s only seven more weeks of school left. Move during the summer. I can sell my house. We can buy something together. We’ll find something in a nice neighborhood with a good school system. We’ll get Alex on a Little League team. And you can keep seeing your clients online and I can take this promotion and…”

“You’re asking me to rip my child from everything he knows for a second time in months.”

“I know it won’t be easy, but he adjusted well to living here, didn’t he? What makes you think it would be any different in LA?”

“He likes it here, Tim. He’s already made friends here. I’ve made friends here. And we’re still close enough to New York that he can see his old friends and I can still continue some work with the NYPD and…and what will I do in LA if you and I don’t work out?”

“You keep saying that like it’s an inevitability and it doesn’t have to be! What if we don’t ever break up, Lucy? What if this is it for us? What if we’ve both found the person we’re meant to be with?”

“What if that’s not the case?” Lucy countered.

Tim sighed. He wasn’t sure how he was going to get her to see that she was the only woman he ever wanted to be with.

“I’ll give up the promotion,” Tim stated.

“No. You won’t. You can’t. I won’t let you.”

“Then we can do long distance.”

“No. Let’s face it, Tim, this…whatever this was between us…is over. And it’s ok. It’s not like either of us did anything wrong. It’s just the way life goes sometimes. Maybe we just weren’t ever really meant to be.”

“I don’t believe that. Hell, I don’t even believe in fate, but when I’m with you…I believe. I believe my leave of absence from my job came at the same time you moved to Connecticut for a reason. I believe finding Alex’s shoe under your car that first day we met was meant to be!”

“Maybe it was. But maybe not for the reasons we’re trying to make it into. Maybe we needed each other temporarily. Maybe I helped you clear your head and be ready to go back to work and maybe you helped me get over Chris and make this house a home for me and Alex so that we could start this new life here.”

“I just don’t want this to be over.”

Lucy took his hands in hers. “You are a good man, Tim Bradford. And you deserve to have the job you want and someone who’s willing to follow you while you achieve that goal. I’m just not that person.”

Tim nodded. He couldn’t quite believe what was happening. They were breaking up. It was both the most adult, no drama breakup he had ever had and it was also the worst. He knew what she was saying made some kind of sense, but it still hurt. He couldn’t force her to move and even if he did give up his job and move to be with her, he couldn’t force her to be in a relationship with him.

“Ok,” Tim finally agreed.

“So, I guess that’s it,” Lucy said quietly.

“I guess so. I’ll have to leave in a few days since I have my truck back. I can stay at Genny’s…”

“No, you can stay here. As matter of fact, I know this is crazy seeing as how we just broke up, but I’ve missed you these last few nights. Do you think we could…do you think you could…”

“I’d like to hold you,” Tim interrupted, knowing that that’s what she was getting at. “Just one more time.”

A little chuckle escaped Lucy’s lips. This was crazy. They had just agreed to break up and there she was basically asking for him to sleep in her bed one last time. She had certainly never had a breakup like this. And she had never quite felt so heartbroken.

“If my ribs weren’t still bruised, I’d be jumping your bones right now one last time,” Lucy said with a smile.

Tim actually laughed out loud. He felt like crying, but he held back some tears. Without saying another word, they stood and walked up the stairs to Lucy’s bedroom hand in hand. Lucy crawled into bed with Tim close behind. He put his arm around her, spooning her body against his own. They were both quiet as they slowly drifted off into sleep.

When Tim woke up the next morning, he was alone. It wasn’t what he was used to. Usually he woke up early to sneak out of the room before Alex would wake up, but that wasn’t the case this time. It was past seven when Tim woke up, which was much later than usual. Tim got out of bed slowly and checked the bathroom, but Lucy wasn’t there. He grabbed his phone and saw that there was a text from Lucy.

‘A friend of Alex’s in NY invited him to a birthday party. We left early this morning.’

Tim hadn’t heard Lucy mention the birthday party to him at all and he knew that whether it was true or not, she was avoiding him. Tim thought about what he wanted to say in response. He settled on.

‘Drive safely. I hope Alex has fun.’

Sitting on the edge of Lucy’s bed, looking around, Tim knew that that was the last time he would hold Lucy in his arms and it broke his heart.

Getting out of bed slowly, Tim started heading for the door of the bedroom. That’s when he saw a black sweatshirt draped over the back of a chair against the wall in the bedroom. Tim walked over to it and picked up the sweatshirt. It had a blue paint stain on it. It was the sweatshirt Lucy had been wearing the first time he saw her at the Little League practice. The same one he returned to her, which kicked off everything. She had worn it several times since and had gotten blue paint on it the day they had painted Alex’s bedroom. Tim lifted the sweatshirt to his nose. It smelled like her. Wildflowers and vanilla. The scent had intoxicated him when he first met her as it still did in that moment. Without really thinking about it, Tim took the sweatshirt as he exited the room.

Packing his belongings from the guest house was easy. Tim hadn’t brought much with him. He packed his one bag and tidied up the place so that Lucy wouldn’t have to do it when she got back. He wondered what she would use the guest house for. Would she take on a renter? Would it become Alex’s hangout spot when he got older? Or would it stay empty with only the distant memories of Tim having been there once upon a time? The fact that Tim wouldn’t be around to know the fate of the little house hurt him.

When he was done packing, Tim put his bag in his truck and headed for the station. He needed to talk to Chip. As he stopped at a red light, he glanced at his phone, but saw no new messages from Lucy. He had a feeling she wouldn’t message him again.

By that evening, Tim hadn’t heard from Lucy at all. He was sitting at the small kitchen table in Genny’s apartment. She and Tyler had just finished a meal of spaghetti and meatballs. Tim’s plate was still in front of him, untouched. Genny told Tyler he could go ahead and watch some TV. Tyler left the table happily. Genny stared at Tim, but he was so busy pushing a meatball around on his plate that he didn’t know her gaze.

“So, you’re just going to leave things like this?” Genny asked.

Tim looked over at her. “It’s how she wants things.”

“Is it?”

“I offered to stay, Genny. I offered to leave everything including this big promotion behind and she said no. I asked her to come with me and she said no. I suggested we try long distance and she said no. What else can I do?”

“Did you try telling her how you feel?”

“How I feel? I’m offering to move across the country for her! That should tell her something about how I feel!”

“But did you tell her you are in love with her?”

Tim could feel his eyes stinging with tears. He hadn’t told her he loved her. Neither of them had used that word. And Tim wasn’t sure why. He was in love with her, that much was obvious to him. He loved everything about her - her beauty, her intelligence, the fact that she put other people before herself, how she was when she was in mom mode, that she could get him to open up to her like nobody else could, and the list went on. And he loved Alex. He wanted them to be a family, but why couldn’t he say it? Maybe because the last woman he had told he loved her had ripped his heart out and stomped on it over and over again. But wasn’t that what was happening now? Hadn’t Lucy ripped his heart out? Yet he knew her reasons were totally different. She was trying to protect herself and her son. Could he really blame her for that?

“It’s complicated,” Tim finally responded.

“I know.”

“Maybe she’s right. Maybe despite how I feel, it’s better for me just to go back to my life. It’s less complicated.”

“Well, I’m going to miss you,” Genny said.

“Me too. But hey, maybe you guys can come visit this summer.”

“I’d like that. Tyler would too.”

“Good,” Tim said with a fake smile. He loved the idea of his sister visiting, but he still felt like his whole life was falling apart and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Chapter Text

Lucy was not in the mood to go to the grocery store. She hadn’t actually been in the mood to do much lately. It had been three weeks since Tim had left and she woke up everyday with an ache in her chest. She missed him when she tried to fall asleep at night. She missed him when she would walk into a room of the house after being on a call with a client and he wasn’t there fixing something. She missed his smile and his calming presence and the way he interacted with Alex. And she knew Alex missed him too. Alex had been moping around just as much as Lucy had been. A few times after school Lucy had tried to play catch with him to try and cheer him up, but Alex always declined. Instead, he quietly went off to his bedroom. Even Coach Chuck noticed at practice that Alex wasn’t quite himself.

Lucy had gone over it again and again in her mind. Had she done the right thing telling Tim to go back home? Should she have uprooted her and her son’s life again to go with him to LA? Should they have tried long distance? But Lucy had stuck to her guns and kept trying to convince herself that she had done the right thing for everyone involved, even if it made her feel miserable.

Heading to the baking aisle, Lucy stopped in front of the cake and brownie mixes. She was only at the grocery store for one thing - funfetti cupcake mix. Alex’s school was having a bake sale that afternoon after school, which Lucy had completely forgotten about, and that was what Lucy had signed up to bring. Lucy rearranged one of her virtual clients to have time to get to the store, pick up what she needed, get home, bake the cupcakes, and get them to the school on time. Staring at the choices in front of her, Lucy didn’t see any funfetti mix. Scouring the shelves, she shuffled a few boxes around, hoping that a box of funfetti had been shoved behind a box of chocolate chip or red velvet cake. But she was out of luck. No box of funfetti appeared.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Lucy mumbled to herself. She looked at her phone. She didn’t have time to go across town to the other grocery store. That’s when the tears came. She would be letting her son down. Again.

“Lucy?”

Lucy looked over at the sound of the voice. It was Ashley, pushing a grocery cart full of already made donuts, cupcakes, and brownies. Of course she looked like perfection in a dark blue blazer with matching pants over a crisp, white shirt. Lucy had never seen the woman look disheveled. Lucy looked down at herself. She was in an old T-Shirt and Jeans. But Lucy didn’t feel jealous. She just felt sad.

“Hey Ashley,” Lucy said, trying to wipe away her tears.

“Everything ok?”

“I was trying to find funfetti mix for the bake sale, but apparently they’re all out.”

“Ah…well, can I let you in on a little secret?”

“Sure.”

“I never bake the items from the bake sale myself,” Ashley admitted. “Who has time for that? I always buy the bakery items here and put them in my own containers at home.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?” Lucy asked with a little laugh.

“Because you’re trying to be super mom. There’s no shame in getting help every once in a while. And I happen to know that the bakery down the street has excellent funfetti cupcakes. The place is called A Piece Of Cake. Tell Consuelo, the owner, that I sent you and that it’s for the school and she’ll give you a good deal.”

“Thank you,” Lucy said. “Really.”

“You’re welcome. Us moms have to stick together, right?”

Lucy nodded. “Right.”

“And…look, I don’t mean to pry and I know you and I are far from friends, but is everything ok? I noticed you looking pretty down at the baseball game earlier this week and now you’re crying at the grocery store over cupcakes.”

“When you say it like that, I sound pathetic.”

“No, I didn’t mean to make you feel that way,” Ashley said and Lucy knew she meant it. Ashley wasn’t trying to be petty or conniving. “I’m just…I’m concerned. That’s all. But you don’t have to tell me. I’ll just…”

“It’s been a tough few weeks,” Lucy admitted.

“I noticed Tim hasn’t been at any of the games recently.”

“No, he hasn’t. He had to go back to Los Angeles.”

“Permanently?” Ashley questioned, surprised.

“Yup.”

“Oh.”

“I mean, we weren’t even together for that long so…it’s for the best,” Lucy continued. “It’s for the best that we just try to continue with our lives the way they were before.”

“You know, everyone’s always just trying to make the best decisions for them and their family,” Ashley replied. “I knew my divorce was what was best, but it was hard when I was going through it. Knowing it was the best thing to do didn’t make it any less painful.”

“Thank you for saying that.”

“But, if I may…my ex-husband and I dated for four years before we got engaged. I thought we knew each other pretty well. Turns out, we didn’t. I’m just saying that time isn’t necessarily a factor in how well something is going to work out. And what I saw between you and Tim…are you sure splitting up is for the best?”

“I don’t know anymore,” Lucy admitted.

“Look, far be it for me to give relationship advice considering my current status, but if I had a guy who looked at me the way I saw Tim looking at you at that gala, I wouldn’t let him go. Not to mention the fact that he’s gorgeous, knows how to do home repairs, and is great with your son. And I could be way overstepping here, but I’m pretty sure you have some pretty strong feelings for him.”

Lucy felt more tears starting to well in her eyes. Ashley was right. What had Lucy been thinking? Tim was perfect. He was everything she could have ever wanted in a partner and more. And she had just let him walk away. Why? Because of careers and distance? No, it was because of fear and pride. And Lucy was tired of being afraid.

“You’re wrong about one thing,” Lucy said as a tear slid down her cheek.

“What’s that?”

“We’re not far from friends,” Lucy stated. “We are friends.”

Ashley smiled. “Well, as friends, we should get drinks sometime.”

“That would be nice, but I don’t know how much longer I’ll be in town,” Lucy replied. “I think I need to book some flights to Los Angeles.”

In Los Angeles, Tim was sitting at Sergeant Grey’s desk. No, now it was his desk. It had been for the last eight hours. The day before had been Grey’s last shift. They had thrown a retirement party for him in the war room at the conclusion of his day. Tim had smiled and had done all of the things he was supposed to do, but he wasn’t happy. He hadn’t been happy since the morning he had woken up without Lucy in her bed.

Tim had been the commanding officer at Mid-Wilshire for almost an entire shift. Things had gone smoothly. He had made it through his first official roll-call and the day was like every other day. The police officers patrolled the streets, a few arrests were made, and nothing major seemed to happen. Which gave Tim a lot of time to sit behind his desk and think about Lucy. He wondered what she was doing. He wondered if she missed him. He wondered if Alex was still practicing catching ground balls. He wondered if he had made the biggest mistake of his life by not fighting for her.

“Ok, what gives?” Angela asked as she walked into Tim’s office and shut the door behind her.

“Ever hear of knocking?” Tim asked.

“A few hours on the job and you already sound like you have a superiority complex. But I’m going to let that go because I know you’re having a tough time.”

“I’m not having a tough time,” Tim insisted.

“Tim, you’re miserable. You just got handed the best promotion of your career and you’re still miserable.”

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not,” Angela stated plainly. She was the only person who could talk to Tim like that and not have him get offended. “You’re in love and you’re missing the person you’re supposed to be with.”

“She made her choice,” Tim said. “I offered to stay.”

“Maybe you should have demanded it,” Angela suggested.

“I can’t make her want to date me.”

“No, but you could have stayed anyway. You could have made the big gesture by moving there. You didn’t need her permission, Tim. And I have a feeling that she would have come around if you gave her time.”

“So, I was just supposed to give up everything I have here for the hope that she’d come around?”

Angela sighed. “I know it’s not fair. But you have to look at it from Lucy’s perspective, too. Her son will always come first. And I can only say that as a mother who would do absolutely anything for her child. If she thinks staying and breaking up was the best thing for her son then that’s what she’ll do even if it hurts her. But that doesn’t mean you can’t show her that being with you is the right thing for her and her son.”

“It just feels like it shouldn’t be this complicated,” Tim replied.

“It doesn’t have to be. You love her and I’m pretty sure she loves you. You just need to show her that that’s not going to change. And I think the only way you can do that is in Connecticut.”

“It sounds like you’re just trying to get rid of me,” Tim said.

“No. That’s the opposite of what I want. I want you here, Tim. You’re part of this family. But I also want you to be happy. And Lucy, she makes you happy.”

“I think I’m too late.”

“It’s never too late. Look, I’m not saying it’s definitely going to be some fairy tale ending, but you at least have to try, right?”

Tim nodded. He knew he needed to do something. He couldn’t just continue on the way he was going. Tim picked up his phone from where it was laying on his desk. He opened up a new message to Lucy, but then knew that wasn’t enough. He couldn’t just text her. He needed to see her. He needed to show her how much he loved her. Putting his phone back down, Tim ran off to the locker room where he knew he had his go bag waiting.

Late that night, Tim was sticking a final sticky note to the keyboard of the computer at his desk. It had a note on it about a case that needed reviewing for the sergeant who would be filling in for him while he was gone. He had told the upper brass that he had an emergency and would be gone for at least two days so they were sending someone from another division to fill in for him. He didn’t tell them that he wasn’t sure if he would be returning at all. Two days at least gave him time to get to Connecticut and tell Lucy how he felt. He would figure out the rest later.

Throwing his duffle bag over his shoulder. Tim left the office. Angela was still sitting at her desk as he walked by.

“Still here?” Tim asked.

“Wesley picked up Jack from daycare so I am just finishing up some paperwork and hopefully by the time I get home, baby Jack will be bathed and in bed and Wesley and I can enjoy a nice nightcap together.”

“Sounds perfect. Maybe some day soon I’ll be able to say those words.”

“You booked your flight?” Lucy asked.

“Red eye. Leaves in a few hours.”

“Then you better get moving.”

“Yeah. Thanks for the push, Ang.”

“Any time.”

She got up from behind her desk and hugged him. Tim wasn’t sure if it would be one of the last times he would get to see her. Saying their final goodbyes, Tim left the station.

When she was done with her paperwork a good thirty minutes later, Angela tidied up her desk and gathered her things. As she walked down through the front doors, she saw a pretty brunette woman standing at the desk speaking to one of the officers. The woman was holding the hand of a young boy and they each had a small, rolling suitcase with them. Angela didn’t usually pay much attention to what was happening at the desk, but something about the situation made her pause.

“I told you,” the woman at the desk was saying. “He didn’t know I was coming. Can you just tell me if he’s here?”

“It’s our policy not to give out information about our police officers,” the male officer was saying.

“I understand that, but he’s not answering his phone and I came a really long way.”

“I can’t help you, ma’am.”

“His name is Bradford. Tim Bradford. He’s the commanding sergeant and…”

“Lucy?” Angela said. Lucy looked up. She didn’t know the woman who had said her name, but she had an inkling she knew who she was.

“Angela?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, Porter, I’ve got this,” Angela said to the officer behind the desk. She turned to Lucy. “Come with me.”

Rolling her suitcase with one hand and holding the little boy’s hand with the other, Lucy followed Angela up an elevator and to Angela’s desk.

“Thank you for helping,” Lucy said. “We haven’t really been introduced. I’m Lucy Chen and this is my son Alex.”

“I’ve heard a lot about both of you,” Angela said, bending low to shake Alex’s hand. Alex yawned.

“It’s been a long day,” Lucy explained. “Is Tim here?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Oh. He’s not answering his phone and I don’t know if he’s just ignoring me because he doesn’t want to hear from me or…”

“He’s not ignoring you and he definitely wants to hear from you. Lucy, Tim’s on his way to see you,” Angela stated.

Lucy’s jaw almost dropped. “What?”

“He left for the airport about a half hour ago.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“You two either have the best or worst timing in the world,” Angela commented. “Let me see if I can reach him.”

Angela pulled out her phone and called Tim. Within seconds they all heard a ringing from somewhere nearby. Following the sound, Angela and Lucy saw Tim’s phone sitting on his desk.

“He forgot his phone,” Lucy said. “Great. Now what are we supposed to do? I can’t believe I flew my son across the country and Tim’s not even here and I don’t know what we’re going to do because…”

“We’re going to figure this out,” Angela said, patting Lucy on the shoulder. “I’ll send an officer in a squad car to try to find him before he gets on the flight and…”

Angela was interrupted when the elevator doors opened. Tim was standing in the elevator, his duffle bag still on his shoulder.

“I forgot my phone and I’m probably going to miss my flight now, but I…”

Tim stopped in his tracks when he saw Lucy standing there.

Chapter Text

Tim simply stared at her. His brain couldn’t quite process that she was standing there in the middle of Mid-Wilshire. She was supposed to be at home on the other side of the country. He was supposed to be getting on an airplane to go to her and admit his true feelings and get her back. But there she was - standing next to his best friend’s desk staring right back at him. Angela looked from Tim to Lucy and back to Tim again. She was waiting for someone to say something.

“Hi Tim!” Alex exclaimed, breaking the silence. He let go of his mother’s hand and raced at Tim. Tim opened his arms to him and Alex slammed his little body into Tim’s. Tim hugged him tightly as he lifted the boy off his feet.

“Be careful with your back,” Lucy called out.

“Watch out for your back,” Angela said at the exact same time.

The women exchanged a glance and a warm smile. Lucy was glad that Tim had someone looking out for him in LA and she didn’t feel at all threatened by the woman she had just met. She had a feeling that, if given the chance, she and Angela would become good friends.

“You two worry too much,” Tim said, hugging Alex. He finally put the boy back on his feet. His back didn’t bother him at all.

“I missed you,” Alex told Tim. “Mom still sucks at baseball and I need someone to play catch with.”

“Language,” Lucy scolded.

“And mom hasn’t smiled since you left,” Alex continued, ignoring his mother. “She’s sad a lot of the time. But you make her smile, you know. I think she likes you. Like like likes you. And I hope you like her too because I think that would really make her smile.”

Tim met Lucy’s eyes. Neither said anything, but they were each thinking the same thing. Leave it to a seven year old to say the thing that they were both too afraid to say out loud.

“Why don’t I take Alex to look at some of our cool cop cars,” Angela suggested. “You two clearly need to talk.”

“Is that ok with you, bud?” Lucy asked her son. Normally she wouldn’t just let her son go off with someone she had just met, but she trusted Angela.

“Yeah! Cop cars are cool! Can I hear the sirens?”

“I’ll even let you push the button that makes the noise,” Angela told him.

“Yes!”

“Be good!” Lucy said.

Taking his hand, Angela led Alex away. Tim walked closer to Lucy. He still wasn’t quite sure that he had processed that she was there. She wasn’t just a mirage or a dream. She was really there.

“What are you doing here?” He asked her.

“I…I came to see you,” Lucy answered. “To…talk.”

She had practiced on the plane what she wanted to say to him, but those thoughts were suddenly gone from her head. All she could focus on was that he was actually there in front of him. She hadn’t expected to have such a guttural reaction to seeing him. All she wanted to do was to leap into his arms, but a lot of things had to be said before she could do that.

“Ok…” Tim prompted.

“There are so many things I need to say. I…”

Another officer walked by them. Tim recognized the officer and nodded a polite hello. Even though it was late, there were still people working. Being a police officer wasn’t just a 9 to 5 job. Tim didn’t want to continue their conversation out in the open.

“Come to my office,” Tim said, motioning to the small room he had just acquired as his own. Lucy followed him. He opened the door for her and she stepped inside. The first thing she saw was the nameplate on the desk. Sergeant Tim Bradford Watch Commander. She was both impressed and proud as well as slightly scared. What if she had come all that way only for him to tell her that he would pick his job over her? But Lucy knew she had to stop being scared. Being scared is what got her into the mess she was in in the first place.

“This place is exactly as I pictured it based on everything you’ve told me,” Lucy commented. “And Angela is great. She…”

“I don’t want to talk about Angela,” Tim interrupted. He wasn’t about to hop on a plane to fly across the country to talk about Angela and he guessed that hadn’t been Lucy’s plan either.

Lucy nodded. She couldn’t stall anymore.

“I’m sorry,” she said simply. And then she couldn’t stop herself. Words just spilled out of her mouth. Everything she should have said to him before he left, but hadn’t. “I’m sorry for not believing in us. I’m sorry I was so scared that I was willing to throw us away. I’m sorry I let you walk out. I should have told you to stay. That night, in your truck before we saw Sergeant Grey in the driveway…I was going to tell you that I wanted you to stay. But then when we found out about the promotion, I didn’t want me to be the reason you didn’t pursue your goals, Tim. But I’m sorry I pushed you away. I let fear stand in my way of what I truly wanted and I’m sorry. It was all my fault. I ruined us. And I’ll never forgive myself for letting the best man I’ve ever met walk out my door. If I could take it all back, I would. Alex was right, I’ve been miserable without you.”

Tim took in everything she was saying to him. It was everything he had wanted to hear.

“I was on my way to the airport to fly home to you,” Tim stated.

“I know, Angela told me. And she’s right. We either have the best or the worst timing in the world.”

“Yeah.”

“What were you going to say when you got to Connecticut?” Lucy asked. She wanted to hear his words now.

“I was going to go there and somehow convince you that this was worth fighting for. I was willing to do anything. Like move to Connecticut even if you didn’t want me to. Lucy, what we have…I don’t ever want that to go away.”

“Neither do I.”

“And I get it,” Tim continued. “I get why you were scared. We haven’t known each other all that long and I understand that you were trying to look out for you and your son. But, Lucy, I’m all in. I’ve never felt this way about anyone. I feel like I’ve known you my whole life. I want someday with you, Lucy. I want to make plans and have a future and…”

“I love you,” Lucy blurted out. The words erupted out of her like a volcano. She just couldn’t keep them in anymore.

Tim smiled. “I was getting to that part.”

She laughed. “Sorry. Go ahead.”

He stepped towards her and took both of her hands in his. “We have only known each other for two months, Lucy, but I am deeply in love with you. I can say, without a doubt in my mind, that you are the love of my life. You and Alex.”

Tears began to run down Lucy’s cheeks. “I’m sorry I ever doubted us.”

“All that matters is that we’re here now. And we’re going to have a lot of somedays.”

Tim took her into his arms. He hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go. She closed her eyes and breathed him in. She felt happy and calm and it felt so right to be in his arms.

“Tim?” Lucy whispered, her breath tickling his neck.

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me.”

Their lips met instantly. And it wasn’t a slow, sweet kiss. It was passion and love and weeks of heartache being healed that they poured into each other. Tim had almost forgotten what it felt like to kiss her. It was the greatest feeling in the world. It was fireworks and explosions and safety all mixed into one. And Lucy couldn’t have agreed more. Her world went blank when he kissed her. Nothing else mattered.

“Hey Bradford, do you think I could get next Saturday off for…”

Tim and Lucy jumped apart. Smitty was standing in the doorway of Tim’s office, his hand on the doorknob, staring at them. Any other person probably would have excused themselves and shut the door immediately if they stumbled upon two people making out, but not Smitty. Smitty just stared.

“Does nobody around here knock?” Tim exclaimed, exasperated.

“Bad timing?” Smitty asked.

“Not now, Smitty,” Tim warned.

Instead of going away like Tim wanted him to, Smitty took a step into Tim’s office with his hand outstretched toward Lucy.

“Hi, I’m Smitty. I…”

“Get out!” Tim bellowed.

“Fine. We can talk about this later,” Smitty said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Close the door!” Tim yelled as Smitty left the room. Smitty backtracked a few steps and closed the door, taking one final lingering look at Lucy. Lucy buried her head into Tim’s chest, a little embarrassed.

“Please tell me there’s no law about two people making out in a sergeant’s office,” Lucy commented.

“No. But…ah, we should get out of here.”

“I came to LA on a whim. I didn’t even book a hotel. Alex and I…”

“You’re not staying in a hotel,” Tim quickly interrupted. “You’re coming home with me. You and Alex. I’ll fix up the couch for him tonight and we’ll figure out what happens from here. Ok?”

“Ok.”

After Lucy managed to coax Alex away from playing with the sirens of one of the armored trucks in the station’s garage, Tim brought Lucy and Alex back to his house. Seeing as how they were still on east coast time, Alex was exhausted. Alex ate a little of the pizza Tim had picked up on their way home, but began to drift off to sleep at the table. Tim grabbed an extra pair of sheets, a pillow, and a blanket and began to make up the couch while Lucy helped Alex brush his teeth and get into his pajamas.

“Are we going to live here now?” Alex asked sleepily as he laid down on the couch.

“We don’t know yet, honey, we’re going to figure that out,” Lucy answered truthfully. “Would you like to live here?”

“I’d miss Tyler and my new friends,” Alex said with a yawn. “But I miss Tim when we’re at home.”

“I know, me too. But you know what? Tim and I are going to figure everything out, ok? Don’t you worry.”

“Does this mean Tim is your boyfriend then?”

“Yeah, bud, that’s exactly what it means,” Tim said, ruffling Alex’s hair. If he and Lucy were going to do this, there had to be no more secrets. “That is, if I have your permission.”

“Heck yes!” Alex exclaimed, but then promptly yawned.

Lucy pulled the blanket up over him and handed him his stuffed shark from his suitcase.

“Get some sleep, sweetheart,” Lucy said. “We’ll talk more in the morning.”

Lucy leaned down and brushed a kiss against his forehead.

“Tim?” Alex called out as he and Lucy began to walk away quietly.

“Yeah, bud?”

Alex beckoned Tim over. He went back to the boy.

“It’s a secret,” Alex said. Tim bent down and put his ear close to Alex’s lips. Lucy couldn’t hear what he said, but could see her son’s lips moving.

“I hope so. Someday,” Tim responded. He kissed the top of Alex’s head. “Now get some sleep. I’ll make you my famous pancakes in the morning.”

“Yum,” Alex mumbled before his eyelids closed and his breathing slowed.

“What did he say to you?” Lucy asked quietly as Tim made his way over to her.

“That’s our little secret,” TIm answered. “Come on.”

He took her head and they walked off to his bedroom. TIm had pretty much one thought on his mind. It had been too long since he had really had his hands on her and he longed to touch her bare skin, but he could tell by the look on her face that it wasn’t time. Not yet anyway.

“We do still have a lot to figure out,” Lucy said. She sat down on the edge of the bed. Tim sat beside her. “Alex and I have a return flight Sunday afternoon. I need to get him back in time for school.”

Tim nodded. It wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

“I’ll quit my job,” Tim said. “I can be back in Connecticut in a few weeks. Maybe a month tops.”

Lucy shook her head. “No.”

“Lucy, if we’re going to make this work…”

She put her hand on his thigh. “Hear me out. What if Alex and I came here for the summer? Just to start. If he likes it here, if he’s happy here and if things are still as good between us as I know they will be…I’ll sell Aunt Mae’s house and we’ll make the move permanent. What do you think?”

“You’ve put some thought into this,” Tim commented.

“It was a long flight here.”

“What about Alex? I know you said moving him twice in the span of a few months is a big deal and…”

“I think I underestimated him,” Lucy responded. “He’s much more adaptable than I give him credit for. And I know he missed you. This is a good compromise, Tim. It buys us more time. And if Alex is unhappy here, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. But this gives us time to be together and see about starting a life together.”

“Ok,” Tim agreed. “I like the sound of that.”

Lucy smiled. “Good.”

“And while you’re gone for the next few weeks until school is over, I’ll work on making this house a home for you and Alex. I’ll clean out the gym equipment from my spare room and get Alex a real bed. I’ll paint the walls blue. Maybe add a wallpaper border. He likes sharks. I’m sure I can find…”

Lucy felt the tears coming again and she couldn’t stop them. Tim wiped away the tears from her cheeks.

“What is it?” He asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I just don’t know how I ever let you go.”

She pressed her lips against his. She kissed him slowly before the kiss intensified. Soon his hands were in her hair and she leaned back against the mattress. His body followed hers, never breaking their kiss.

“I love you,” Tim said, taking a brief moment to stop kissing her.

“I love you, too,” Lucy replied.

He kissed her again and again and that night they got reacquainted with each other. This time in Tim’s bed.

Chapter Text

That next morning, Tim woke up with a smile on his face and Lucy naked in his bed. He watched her sleep for a few minutes before he got himself up and out of bed. Even though their relationship was now out in the open with Alex, Tim did not want Alex to wake up confused as to where he was and stumble upon them in bed together with no clothing on.

When Tim made his way into the kitchen, he checked in on Alex. The boy was still asleep on the couch. Tim began making his famous pancakes, which stirred Alex from his sleep. When Lucy finally woke up a short while later, she walked into a scene of Tim and Alex eating breakfast together and it made her heart melt.

The three of them spent the next day being tourists. Tim showed Alex and Lucy the Hollywood Walk of Fame and they walked down the beach together. They went out for street tacos and checked out the La Brea Tar Pits and the Santa Monica Pier. By the time they got home that night, Tim had to carry Alex to his bed on the couch and Tim and Lucy spent another night making love.

Before too long it was time for Lucy and Alex to return back to Connecticut. Although it saddened Tim to see them go, he knew it was only temporary. He drove them to the airport and gave Lucy a long kiss goodbye, which made Alex protest loudly, proclaiming that they were both gross. In the back of his mind Tim was thinking that the kid would have to get used to him showing his mother affection.

The last few weeks of the school year back in Connecticut went by quickly. Lucy continued to see her clients virtually while she worked on making the move to Los Angeles. Since she wasn’t sure if the move was going to be permanent, she had to think about what to take with her and what to leave behind. One night while Lucy had Genny and Tyler over for dinner, Genny commented that her lease was up on her apartment and that she wasn’t sure if she was going to renew or look for a house to move into. Things were going well between her and Greg, but they weren’t at the point of moving in together yet. Lucy suggested that Genny move into her house so that it wouldn’t be empty while she was gone for the summer and both women agreed. It was a win win for everybody.

For the rest of the school year, Lucy and Tim maintained their relationship long distance. They survived off video chats, text messages, and phone calls. It was difficult with the time difference and their work schedules, but they made it work. Lucy even live streamed one of Alex’s baseball games so Tim could watch.

The day after school let out, Lucy and Alex were back on a flight to Los Angeles. This time Tim was at the airport waiting to pick them up. When they were all reunited, he gave Alex a big hug and Lucy a big kiss as well as a dozen roses. Alex didn’t complain quite so loudly that time about seeing his mom and Tim show affection.

When they returned to TIm’s house, Lucy saw that he had indeed cleaned out his home gym and turned it into a room for a little boy. The walls were bright blue and had a border with sea creatures, including sharks, all along the top. A twin sized bed was in the corner of the room with a plaid blue and gray comforter. There was a small bureau against one wall and a bookshelf that already had quite a few books and toys on it. Alex loved his room immediately. Lucy gave Tim a proper thank you that night behind the closed doors of his bedroom.

That summer was the best Tim had ever had. He continued to work, getting used to his new role as the commanding officer at Mid-Wilshire. He had come to learn that being the commanding officer meant a lot more paperwork, phone calls, and headaches and less time actually out there on the streets. But it also meant making decisions that affected the whole department, seeing that new rookies were properly trained, and making sure Mid-Wilshire remained at the top of its game, all of which Tim was proud to do. Lucy continued to virtually see her clients and even did a seminar for new police recruits on how to best deal with victims and people they might encounter with mental illness. Alex had fun going to Disneyland and a baseball camp for kids his age, which Tim had found for him. But Tim could also sense that even though they were all having fun and enjoying themselves, there was something missing.

One night in late July, while Alex played on a playground at a park near Tim’s house, Tim and Lucy sat on a bench with empty takeout containers between them. They had found a new Korean barbeque food truck they both really enjoyed.

“So…” Tim said, watching Alex swing. “You guys have been here six weeks already.”

“We have.”

“And what do you think?”

“I like being here with you,” Lucy told him.

“What do you think of LA.”

“LA is…nice.”

“Just nice, huh?”

“It’s growing on me. You have to remember I’ll always be a New York woman at heart.”

Tim smiled. “Alex is getting excited about Tyler and Genny visiting next week.”

“Yeah, he can’t stop talking about seeing Tyler again. He really misses him.”

“Yeah. Genny said Tyler feels the same.” Tim took a deep breath. “Are you happy here, Lucy?”

“I’m happy that I’m with you.”

“But you’re not happy to be living here.”

“I didn’t say that,” Lucy responded.

“You didn’t have to. I see it in your eyes. And Alex’s. I can’t explain, but it’s like you two take strength from Aunt Mae’s house.”

“It is a good house,” Lucy commented.

“It is,” Tim agreed.

“But it’s not like we’ve even lived there for that long…but it does feel like home.”

“And LA doesn’t.”

Lucy sighed. “It doesn’t…yet,” she said. “Tim, I meant it when I said I’m happy with you. It doesn’t matter where we live.”

“I think it does.”

“What are you saying? Do you want me to go back to Connecticut?”

“No! I don’t want just you to go back to Connecticut,” Tim stated. “I’m saying I think we need to go back to Connecticut. Me, you, and Alex.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Our home is there, Lucy. The place that we built together. Literally. We painted every wall. We sanded that pergola. Hell, we had sex against those French doors that we painstakingly painted that rainy Tuesday afternoon.”

“I love those French doors,” Lucy said with a smile.

“Me too.”

“It’s a good house, but…” Lucy began.

“Alex is happier there,” Tim interrupted. “He doesn’t belong in a city like this. He needs a backyard where he can play catch. He needs a baseball field that isn’t surrounded by the smells of a city. And I can tell that you’re happier there, too. And the truth is, so am I.”

“What about your job?” Lucy asked.

“It turns out that being the watch commander isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I miss the streets, Lucy. I miss catching bad guys and really feeling like I make a difference. I know what I do is important. I organize the officers who are out there making that difference and I make sure operations run smoothly. But…that’s not me.”

“So, what do you want to do?”

“Chip called me from the station in Connecticut yesterday. He offered me a job.”

“What kind of job?” Lucy asked, surprised that this was the first she was hearing of it..

“His current division chief, his right hand man and the second in command of the entire station, is retiring. Chip offered me the position. It’s still a high ranking position, but in a station that small, it’s all hands on deck for everything. I wouldn’t just be stuck doing paperwork all the time.”

“But our town in Connecticut isn’t LA. You’re not talking about gangs or shootings every ten minutes. You’re talking about traffic stops and women who have too much to drink at brunch and teenagers hanging out in dark parking lots.”

“I know. And that’s fine with me. I have a family now. Someone to come home to. I don’t want to be shot at every day. I’ve never felt that way before. And I may not be dealing with gangs or daily shootings, but I’d still be out there, on the streets, protecting people. That’s what I want to do, Lucy. That’s why I became a cop. And it’s not like Connecticut is all boring. Who knows, maybe another dead body will roll in with the tide.”

“Let’s not wish for dead bodies in our neighborhood.”

“Right, sorry.”

“Are you sure this is what you want?” Lucy asked. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt suddenly like she was buzzing with excitement. She had tried to enjoy LA and she was telling the truth when she said she was happy wherever Tim was, but the real truth was that she missed home.

“It is what I want. I’ve been thinking about it for a while. I didn’t just make this decision on a whim, I promise you. What do you think?”

“I think…I think we’re moving back to Connecticut.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Tim and Lucy spent the rest of the summer getting ready to move back home. Tim sold his house and gave his notice to the LAPD. A few of his colleagues were shocked that he was leaving, but not the ones who knew him best. Although they would all miss him, they knew he was doing what was right for him. The tightlipped, often emotionless on the outside Tim Bradford was following his heart.

Tim was given a big sendoff on his last day of work. Misty eyed, he said his goodbyes to his closest friends. He and Angela hugged for a solid minute with promises to keep in touch and visit. Lucy, Tim, and Alex piled into Tim’s truck and began their long drive cross country.

When they arrived back in Connecticut, it was a week before school started. They had already sent a moving truck ahead of them with Tim’s belongings, although he hadn’t taken much. By the end of that summer, Genny had decided to move in with her boyfriend Greg, whom Tim still hadn’t met. Tim had his own feelings about her moving in with a man, but every time he brought it up, Lucy rolled her eyes at him.

The first order of business upon arriving back home was signing Alex up for Little League fall ball. Of course they missed the signup deadline by a few days, but this time Coach Chuck didn’t give them a hard time when they showed up at the first practice. He welcomed Alex back onto the team with open arms.

The fall passed quickly. Tim went to work every day at the police station. Some days he was patrolling the streets, other days he was doing paperwork, and other times he was back to teaching the gun safety course to new recruits and the public. He found that he enjoyed all of it, even the more mundane tasks. Because his job was no longer the only thing that fulfilled him. He had a family, which was more important than his job would ever be.

By the time Christmas rolled around, Tim knew it was time to make his family official. On the morning of Christmas Eve, while Lucy was busy making holiday cookies in the kitchen, Tim brought Alex out to the guest house. They had converted it to a home gym. Alex liked going out there with Tim and working out with him.

“I wanted to talk to you, man to man,” Tim said, sitting Alex down on a bench next to some free weights.

“Does that mean this is serious?” Alex asked, bouncing on a yoga ball..

“It’s very serious. But I need to know first if you can keep a secret. Can you do that?”

“Sure!”

“Even from your mother?”

Alex bit his bottom lip. “Mom says I shouldn’t keep secrets from her.”

“Your mom is right. You shouldn’t keep secrets from her, but, this is a good secret and you only need to keep it for a little while. Does that sound ok?”

“Ok.”

Tim reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, black box. He opened it and showed Alex what was inside. It was a solitaire diamond ring.

“Do you know what this is?” Tim asked.

“It’s a ring.”

“It’s called an engagement ring,” Tim explained. “It’s something someone gives somebody else when they want to marry them. I would like to give this to your mom tomorrow. I want to ask your mom to marry me, but I wanted to ask your permission first.”

Alex’s eyes grew wide. “My permission?”

“Yeah. You’re the number one man in her life. Nothing will ever change that. But I’d like to be a part of that. I’d like us to officially become a family.”

“But we already feel like a family.”

“I know,” Tim said with his eyes beginning to mist. “But this would sort of make it official. So, what do you think? Can I ask your mom to marry me?”

“Does this mean you’d sort of be like my dad?”

“Yeah, that’s what it would mean,” Tim answered. What he didn’t tell him was that he had already looked up what he would need to do to officially adopt Alex. He didn’t want to get the boy’s hopes up and there was a lot of legal red tape to get through, but Tim was determined.

“Then, yes! You can ask mom to marry you.”

“Thanks, bud,” he said, pocketing the ring. He leaned over and gave Alex a hug.

“Does this mean you’re going to have a wedding?”

“If your mom says yes,” Tim answered.

“Will I have to wear a scratchy suit?”

“I think your mom will want you to wear a suit. But we’ll make sure it’s not scratchy, ok?”

“Ok.”

“But remember, this has all got to be a secret, ok? You can’t tell your mom. I’m going to give it to her tomorrow as a Christmas present.”

“Secret,” Alex repeated. “I got it.”

“Good man,” Tim said, ruffling his hair.

Tim and Alex walked back into the kitchen. Lucy was just taking a batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven. Another dozen was already cooling on wire racks on the counter.

“What were you two up to out there?” Lucy asked as they came in the French doors.

“Nothing,” Alex answered a little too quickly. “Can I have a cookie?”

“Just one,” Lucy said. “The cookies are for tomorrow when Genny and Tyler come over for Christmas dinner.”

Alex took one of the cookies and shoved it in his mouth.

“Thanks mom,” he said as he started heading upstairs. “Oh, and when Tim asks you to marry him, make sure you say yes cause I want him to be my dad!”

Although his mouth had been full and his voice trailed off as he went upstairs, Lucy got the gist of what her son was saying. She dropped the spatula she was holding. It bounced off the floor sending raw cookie dough splattering on the tile. Tim had a shocked look on his face.

“Clearly we need to talk about what a secret means,” he said.

“Wait, are you going to…were you going to…”

Tim walked over to her and took her hands in his. Although this wasn’t his plan, it was now or never.

“Lucy, you know how much I love you. I love this life we’ve built. You and Alex are my everything. I had this whole plan for tomorrow with everyone here, but nothing has ever really worked on the right timeline with us, so here goes…”

Tim got down on one knee. He pulled the ring box out of his pocket and opened it up. Lucy stared at him, her eyes as wide as Alex’s had been.

“Lucy, I want all of the somedays with you for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

“Yes!” She exclaimed. “Yes!”

Tim immediately got up and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her hard. When they parted he slipped the ring on her finger. She stared at it for a moment and then looked back at him, their arms around each other.

“This may be the best Christmas yet,” Lucy said.

“I plan on having a lot more good Christmases to come.”

“I like the sound of that.”

As Lucy reached up to kiss him once more, Alex came bounding down the steps.

“Can I have another cookie?” He asked. They both broke apart, laughing.

That night Tim and Lucy lay in bed together. Lucy was using Tim’s bare chest as a pillow. She had her hand, palm down, against his chest. She couldn’t stop staring at her engagement ring.

“Tell me your somedays,” Tim said as his fingers played with the long strands of her dark hair.

“What?”

“Tell me something you want to happen someday. Like, someday I was going to ask you to marry me.”

“That’s a good someday.”

“It was,” Tim agreed. “Tell me something you want for our future.”

“Ok,” Lucy said, thinking. “Someday I want more kids and a dog running around in the backyard. Tell me one of your somedays since yours technically already happened.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth,” Tim said. “But…before we get to kids and a dog…someday I want to legally adopt Alex.”

Lucy felt the tears coming fast. One ran down her nose and dripped onto Tim’s chest.

“I’d like that. He would too.”

“That’s what he asked me, you know. That day you showed up in LA and we put him to bed on the couch and he whispered something to me. He asked if I could finally be his dad.”

“And you told him someday.”

“Mhmm. And I plan on making it happen.”

“I know you’ll make it happen,” she said, her heart bursting. “My turn again. Someday you’re going to be chief of police here and I’ll be very proud of you.”

“Someday we’ll make love in this house in more than six places, beating our last record.”

Lucy laughed. “Well, Alex does have a sleepover over Christmas break at Xavier’s again so that someday might come sooner than you think.”

“Thank God for Xavier,” Tim mumbled as he rolled his body on top of hers and kissed her.

“Thank God for Xavier,” Lucy repeated as she gave herself to her new fiance completely.

Chapter Text

Epilogue - 5 Years Later

Lucy sat on a hard, plastic chair in a familiar waiting room. As she waited for her name to be called, she was scrolling through photos on her phone. The most recent photo she had taken was just that morning. It was a picture of her youngest son sitting in his highchair with oatmeal all over his face including in his hair. He had a big smile on his face and a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Lucy couldn’t help but snap a picture of him before she cleaned him up.

Robert Jackson Bradford was two and a half. He had his mother’s dark hair and his father’s eyes. He added a certain love and chaos to their lives that Lucy hadn’t even known she was missing. Alex was an incredible big brother, helping out when necessary and desperately wanting to teach Rob how to play baseball. Tim was an even more amazing father. He was determined to be the kind of father his own father had never been. He was there for every important moment. Lucy couldn’t have asked for a better support system.

Lucy scrolled back in time on her phone even further. She came across the pictures of Alex’s adoption ceremony. This time it was Tim who was legally adopting him. It happened a year after Lucy and Tim got married. After doing all of the necessary paperwork as soon as they wed and letting it go through the court system, Alex walked into the courtroom without a legal father and walked out with one. The pictures of Tim and Alex dressed in matching suits with green ties that matched her green dress made her smile. It had been a very good day. A large picture from that day of Tim and Alex together hung in Alex’s bedroom.

As she continued to look through her camera roll, passing by dozens of shots of Alex at baseball, Tim and her eating at food trucks, and various other random pictures, Lucy stopped at her wedding photos. After getting engaged on Christmas Eve, Lucy and Tim were married that next spring, exactly one year from the day they had met in the parking lot of the little league field. It was a relatively small ceremony with only close friends. Alex was Tim’s best man and Genny was Lucy’s bridesmaid. Coach Chuck who got ordained online performed the ceremony. Angela, Wesley, and little Jack even made the trip. It had been the perfect day and Lucy liked to remember it often. If anyone had ever told her that she would meet the man of her dreams, fall in love, and marry him all within a year, she would have thought they were crazy, but life had a funny way of working out and she had never felt happier.

“Lucy Bradford,” a technician called.

Lucy put her phone away in her purse and followed the technician into a small exam room. The technician took some of Lucy’s vitals before asking her to lay back on the table.

“So, is this your first?” The technician, whose nametag said Gloria, asked.

“No. My second pregnancy. But my third child. My oldest son is adopted.”

“All boys, then?”

“So far,” Lucy answered.

“Will anyone be joining you for your exam today?”

“No, my husband had to work.”

“Ok, let’s get started. This might be a little cold.”

Gloria squirted some gel on Lucy’s stomach. Using the wand of the ultrasound machine, she spread the gel out and began to search the monitor connected to the wand to find the baby. A black and white image of the baby growing inside Lucy popped up on the monitor. Lucy was about five months along and although the image on the screen looked more like an alien than a baby, Lucy was already in love. A thumping sound rang out.

“We’ve got a good, strong heartbeat,” Gloria announced.

Lucy listened to the little thumps and it brought a tear to her eye.

“Do you want to know the sex?” Gloria asked.

“Oh…I…I don’t know. We found out with my last pregnancy, but I don’t think I should find out without my husband here.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what, I can write it down on a piece of paper and seal it in an envelope and then you can decide if you want to find out with your husband. I know gender reveals are all the rage these days.”

“I don’t think we’ll be going that far, but thank you. That would be very kind of you.”

When Lucy’s appointment was finished, she was pleased to know that everything was going well. The baby was growing as it should and there were no concerns. She was told to just keep taking care of herself and to return for her next appointment in six weeks. Lucy had the envelope Gloria had given her tucked safely in her purse as she drove home.

As she walked in her front door, the first thing Lucy heard was yelling. Only she could tell by the tone that it was playful yelling. The sounds were coming from the backyard. Lucy went out back and saw Alex tossing a wiffle ball at Cora, Ashley’s daughter. Alex and Cora were now both twelve. They had actually become close as they got older. They were in most of the same classes together and they continued to play on the same baseball team through the years. Lucy was pretty sure that the young crush Cora once had on Alex was now mutual.

Swinging her wiffle bat hard, Cora made contact with the ball and it went sailing over Alex’s head. Their dog, a large pitbull mix, named Kojo was chasing after the ball with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.

“Homerun!” Cora was chanting as she ran around the backyard. Kojo started playfully barking and chasing Cora as she ran the imaginary bases. The whole scene made Lucy smile.

As Lucy watched, a spectator in her own backyard, Ahley came out of the French doors carrying Rob.

“I thought I heard you come home,” Ashley said. “Rob was just using the bathroom.”

“I did pee pee all by myself!” Rob announced proudly as Ashley put him down. He walked over to his mother and hugged her legs.

“Good job, sweetheart,” Lucy said, leaning down to give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Eww!” Rob declared as he raced off in bare feet to chase after Alex, Cora, and Kojo who were still running around in the grass in circles.

“How was your appointment?” Ashley asked, sitting down at the same outdoor table Tim had bought for Lucy years earlier.

“It was good,” Lucy answered, joining her. “The baby’s healthy.”

“That’s great. Are you ready for tonight?”

“I think so. I know Tim’s excited.”

“He should be. He’ll be great,” Ashley commented as she looked down at her watch. “Look, I hate to run, but Henry is taking Cora and I into the city tonight to see a show and I want to get all dolled up.”

“Of course. Thank you so much for watching the kids.”

“Anytime.”

“You and Henry have been dating for what? Over a year now?”

“Fourteen months,” Ashley told her. “But who’s counting?”

“Any wedding bells in your future?”

“He’s brought it up a few times. But I’m…a little nervous since my divorce. I know it’s been years, but I don’t want to go through that again.”

“I’m going to tell you what you told me five years ago. I saw you two at the gala last month and the way that man looks at you…the way he treats you and Cora. He’s a keeper.”

Ashley nodded. “You’re right. Tell Tim I say congratulations.”

“I will.”

The two women hugged and Ashley shouted for Cora that they were leaving. Lucy scooped up Rob and she walked her guests to the front door. Once they left, Lucy shouted for Alex. They had a few things they needed to do to get ready for the evening.

Later that night, Lucy was sitting in a folding chair in the front row of an auditorium surrounded by dozens of others. She was wearing a new black dress that wasn’t the sexiest thing she ever owned, but it was comfortable and practical. Lucy had to admit that she was a little annoyed that her favorite green dress didn’t currently fit due to the baby belly she was currently sporting, but she knew Tim wouldn’t be disappointed. Alex was on one side of her and Rob was miraculously sitting quietly on the other side. Genny, Greg, and their mixed brood of three kids were next to Alex. Coach Chuck and his wife as well as other police officers and members of the community were in attendance. Tim, dressed in his police uniform, was seated on the small stage in front of them with Chip standing at a podium, speaking.

“I’ve worked for this department in this city for forty-two years,” Chip was saying. “The last eighteen of those years as chief. It’s been my pleasure and honor to serve this great city. I was never sure I was going to get the opportunity to retire because I never felt like I could trust this very important job to anyone else. Much less an outsider.” The crowd chuckled. “But then I met this man. Tim Bradford. I basically accosted him at the arcade five years ago, begging him to teach a much needed gun safety course. He did that and more. And since then I’ve gotten to know Tim. He’s a good man with good values and a good heart. He’s a family man who stands for justice and does whatever it takes to protect the people and community that he loves. He may have started off as an outsider from the big city out west, but he’s not an outsider anymore. I am proud to name Tim Bradford as the new Chief of Police.”

The audience erupted into applause with Lucy clapping the loudest.

“Go dad!” Alex shouted.

“Go, daddy, go!” Rob chanted, mimicking his brother.

Tim smiled at his boys as he stood up and walked over to the podium. He shook Chip’s hand and Chip pinned a new star on Tim’s uniform.

“Thank you,” Tim said as Chip stepped back from the podium in order to give Tim the chance to speak. “It has been truly an honor living in and serving this community for the past five years and I am both humbled and excited to become the new chief. I don’t know if I will ever be as good as Chip, but I promise to work hard every day. I want to thank Chip for asking me that day in the arcade to teach that gun safety course and for giving me the opportunity to prove myself. And I want to thank my family. My wife and my boys and the new little one we have on the way, I wouldn’t be here without your love and support. Thank you so much.”

Tim stepped away from the podium and back to his seat. Lucy had tears in her eyes. Rob hopped right out of his seat and took off for the stage. Before Lucy could stop him he had climbed up the steps and went right over to Tim.

“Hi daddy,” he said.

“Hi, buddy,” Tim replied with a great big smile.

Tim scooped him up and put him in his lap. The entire audience laughed. Rob waved at Lucy with his tiny little hand and she waved back.

“What did I tell you, folks?” Chip continued. “He’s a family man.” The audience clapped again and Rob began waving to all of them as if he were a famous celebrity on stage.

“Hi, mommy!” He exclaimed. Lucy waved to him again.

“Well, before we’re overtaken with cuteness overload, we have one more person we’d like to honor tonight,” Chip announced. “This person has been working to bring awareness to mental illness to the forefront and has been working on better training for our officers as well as making herself available for free counseling to victims of domestic violence and other crimes. I can honestly say that she has changed my view on how we deal with offenders. And she just so happens to be married to our brand new chief. Lucy Bradford, come on up here.”

The audience clapped and Lucy gasped. She had no idea what was going on. Tim stood up, carrying Rob with him. He went over to the set of steps and gestured Lucy to come to the stage. She stood up slowly.

“Go, mom!” Alex exclaimed.

Tim extended his hand out and Lucy took it. He helped her up the steps and he walked her over to where Chip stood with a plaque.

“Thank you for all you’ve done for our community, Lucy,” Chip said, handing the plaque to Lucy. She gave him a quick hug and then turned to Tim.

“Congratulations, honey,” he said, giving her a quick kiss. The entire audience cheered. Lucy wiped tears from her eyes.

“Why is mommy crying?” Rob asked.

“Happy tears, baby,” Lucy responded.

“Let’s get a photo op,” Genny said from her seat. “Alex, honey, jump up there.”

Alex didn’t need to be told twice. He hopped right up on stage and Genny took at least a dozen photos of them all.

When the fanfare had died down, people started mingling and a cake was brought out. Lucy settled the boys in their seats with cake.

“Can you watch them for a few minutes, Gen?” Tim asked his sister.

“Of course,” Genny said.

Tim took Lucy’s hand and brought her over to a quiet corner.

“I’m really proud of you,” he told her.

“I’m supposed to be the one saying that to you,” Lucy replied. “This was supposed to be your night.”

“But it’s so much better being our night. And for the record, this whole thing wasn’t actually my idea. Chip came to me and said he wanted to honor you as one of his last acts as chief. I couldn’t have agreed with him more.”

“Well, it’s very sweet. I was so surprised.”

“Yeah, I made sure not to tell Alex about this surprise,” Tim commented with a smile.

“Good thinking.”

“I just want you to know how proud I am of all of the good you’re doing out there, Lucy.”

“I’m proud of you, too, Tim. It takes a village to keep a community safe and healthy.”

“It does. And, by the way, you look gorgeous tonight.”

Lucy put her hand on her bulging stomach. “I already feel huge.”

Tim covered her hand with his. “You’re beautiful.” He leaned in and kissed her. Even after five years together, he never got tired of kissing her. That’s when they both heard Rob’s voice over the crowd.

“Cake on the floor!” He shouted loudly.

Tim and Lucy broke apart, both laughing. They left their quiet corner to go tend to their family.

Hours later, after the cake had been cleaned up off the floor and Tim had been congratulated by everyone and Lucy gave an interview to a journalist about how important mental health is and how police departments should be working with therapists and mental health experts, Lucy and Tim returned home with a sleeping Rob and a tired Alex. Tim put Rob to bed while Lucy made sure Alex was ready for bed, too. She no longer needed to stand there while he brushed his teeth or to make sure his night light was on, but she still liked saying goodnight to him. And she was pretty sure that even if he didn’t admit it out loud, he liked it too. Kojo jumped onto Alex’s bed and curled up at Alex’s feet as he did every night.

Tim and Lucy met up in their bedroom once the two boys were asleep. Lucy had changed out of her dress and was standing in the bathroom in a lightweight robe, washing her face. Tim came up behind her, putting his arms around her. He placed his hands on her stomach.

“I think he or she is sleeping,” Lucy said, not able to feel any movements from the baby. Lucy yawned. “Which is what we all need to do.”

“Yeah, it’s been a long day.”

“But a very good day,” Lucy added.

“A very good day,” Tim agreed, kissing her on the side of the neck.

With her face clean and free of makeup, she turned around. His arms were still around her.

“There is something I need to tell you,” Lucy said.

“What’s that?” Tim responded, feeling a little confused. It wasn’t like either of them to keep something from the other.

“I had an ultrasound this morning.”

“What?” Tim asked, shocked. He wasn’t angry. Just surprised. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that? You know I like to go to all of your appointments and…”

“I know. But this was just routine and I knew you had a busy day today with it being Chip’s last day and you transitioning to becoming chief. I had to cancel my last appointment last week because Rob got sick and this was the only day they had availability so I wanted to fit this one in. Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad. But, what did they say?” Tim asked. “Is everything ok?”

“Yes, everything is fine. I’m fine. The baby’s fine.”

“Ok, good.”

“But the ultrasound tech was able to determine the sex.”

“What?”

“I didn’t find out,” Lucy said quickly. “I want us to find out together. So…”

She slipped out of his hold, walked out of the bathroom, and went over to the table next to her side of the bed. She slid open a small drawer and grabbed the envelope that Gloria had given her.

“What’s that?” Tim asked, following her into the bedroom.

“Inside it’ll tell us the sex of our baby. We don’t have to open it, but…”

“Open it!” Tim exclaimed.

Lucy laughed. She sat down on the bed and he sat beside her. She opened the envelope and pulled out the paper. It was folded in thirds.

“Take my hand,” Lucy said.

Tim took her hand. She unfolded the paper and they both read the words.

“It’s a girl,” Tim read out loud.

“It’s a girl,” Lucy echoed.

Tim was shocked. “It’s a girl,” he said again. “We’re having a girl.”

Lucy turned her head to look at him. He looked completely shell shocked.

“Are you happy?”

“I’m just…I thought…I assumed we’d always have boys. I don’t know why…I just…we’re having a girl. I’m going to be a girl dad.”

“You are.”

Tears sprang to Tim’s eyes. He hugged Lucy tightly, which, in turn, made her cry.

“I’m so happy,” Tim stated as he continued to cry. “A girl. We’re having a little girl.”

“And you are going to be one hell of a good girl dad.”

“Hell yeah, I am.”

He kissed her, slowly at first and then with more fervor. She reciprocated, letting the paper she was still holding flutter to the floor. Tim undid the belt of her robe, revealing her nakedness underneath. She began to unbutton the buttons on his police uniform.

“Have I ever told you how sexy you are in this uniform?” Lucy practically growled.

He responded by kissing her.

As the sun started to come up, Lucy opened her eyes. She was only centimeters from Tim’s face and he was staring at her. He had a hand on her stomach and he reached over his other hand to brush some of her hair aways from her cheek.

“Were you watching my sleep?” She asked.

“It’s one of my favorite things to do, “ he responded.

Lucy felt the baby move and Tim smiled. He had felt it too.

“The baby is hungry,” Lucy stated.

“I’ll make my famous pancakes. But first I just want to lay with you for a few minutes.”

“Mm…I’d like that.”

She nuzzled her face into his neck.

“Tell me your somedays,” Tim said.

Lucy sighed happily. It was a little game they had played many times throughout the years.

“I don’t have any,” she answered honestly. “You’ve made all of them come true already.”

“I have one,” Tim said. “Someday, when our kids are grown and have gone off to make a difference in the world in whatever way they choose to, we’re going to be here…still in love, just us. Just together.”

“I like that.”

“And maybe still making love against those French doors.”

Lucy laughed. They kissed longingly and both felt at peace because they no longer had to wait for their somedays to come true.