CHAPTER TWO

NEXT MORNING

Lucy shuffled into her yellow and white kitchen as she rubbed her wrist. Checking in her refrigerator, she was reminded that she needed to buy food. Because of the accident, they had ended up being in Seattle for an entire week. She hadn't done any shopping before she left and now she had Flynn living in her house.

Flynn.

Her... "husband."

He had naturally started asking questions about their married relationship and Lucy was going to have to stay on her toes with the answers. She worried about lying to him, but what else could she have done? Flynn needed someone to help him until he got better, and she, without hesitation, had immediately stepped forward and took him home with her. She had to remind herself that she'd made the right choice, but the magnitude of it was getting to her. She took her boss home with her and was now telling him they were husband and wife.

She turned to peer down the hallway at his closed door, wondering what she was going to do with him there all day with his questions.

"Stay on your toes, Luce," she muttered to herself as she took some eggs out of the refrigerator.


Ten minutes later, the door opened to Flynn's room. Lucy heard his footsteps as he came into the kitchen. He was barefoot in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

He smiled sleepily. "Good morning, Lucy."

Lucy blinked. His dark hair was rumpled and he needed to shave. Add in the sleepy smile and the word handsome started to do the rhumba in her head.

She snapped out of it and put four slices of toast into the toaster as she replied, "Good morning, have a seat." She gestured to the kitchen island that had two wooden stools on either side of it. He eased into one as she asked, "How did you sleep?"

He lazily raked one hand through his hair, "The meds knocked me out, so I guess I slept well."

"Good," she gave him an easy smile.

Flynn noticed her dark hair was up in a loose, haphazard bun, and that she was wearing a light-blue robe. When she stepped over to the refrigerator, he could see that the robe stopped at her knees, revealing her smooth legs and her feet were in plush hot-pink house slippers. She looked downright kissable.

"What's for breakfast?" he asked.

Lucy brought out grape jelly and butter and set it on the island in front of him.

"Scrambled eggs and toast." she replied as she pulled open a cabinet, took out two red plates, two red mugs and set them on the island. "Hope you like it because it's all I have."

"It smells great," he smiled again.

"Oh, I had all your client calls held, so they won't disturb you."

"Thank you." He leaned his elbows on the island. "I take it that it's not the busy time of year. What is it that I do?"

She took the skillet off the stove and placed some eggs on each plate just as the toast popped up, "You own a property management company with Rufus. Flynn & Carlin Property Management Incorporated. Does that sound familiar to you?"

He shook his head, "No."

Lucy continued, "You have three offices in California," she counted off on her fingers, "San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco. You're currently expanding into Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. This time of year is when you work towards getting new clients. You've successfully found three in Seattle, so you're doing well." She put two slices of toast on each plate and set one in front of him.

Flynn, noticing that she said, 'you're doing well,' instead of, 'we're doing well,' replied, "That's good to know." He picked up a knife and spread butter and jelly on his toast.

Lucy poured coffee into the two mugs. "I'm going to the market this morning, is there anything that you would like to have?" She set the decanter back on its warming plate and took a seat across from him.

"I'm not picky," he replied as he took a bite of his toast, "Or am I?"

Lucy softly smiled at his talking with food in his mouth and shook her head no.

They ate in silence. Glancing over at her, he saw that her bun started slipping. He watched as she put her fork down and pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, letting the dark waves fall over her shoulders. Gathering her shiny hair, she pulled it all to the top of her head again, twisted it, and expertly wound the scrunchie around, securing a new, tighter bun. She was adorable. He cleared his throat and ate some more of his eggs. "Good breakfast. Is this one of the reasons why I married you?" he asked, grinning.

Lucy eyes shot to his. "For breakfast?" She mentally tried to anticipate his next question.

"How did we meet?"

She took a sip of coffee as her mind raced. "At the office. You interviewed me and hired me as your executive assistant." She ate some of her eggs.

He raised his eyebrows, "Am I a good boss?" She gazed up at him. "You can be honest with me," he added.

She was thoughtful. "Honestly?... You're the best boss I've ever had."

"But not the best husband," he surmised.

"We..." Lucy began, trying to think. "We both just needed time apart from each other. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're not the best husband."

"Do you need more time?"

Her cell phone rang in her bedroom and she jumped to answer it, relieved to escape. "I should get that," she muttered.

Flynn sighed and finished his breakfast.

Fifteen minutes later she stepped back into the kitchen. Flynn saw she was completely showered and dressed in a t-shirt, jeans and sandals and her hair was loose and damp.

"I have some errands to run," she announced, moving quickly through the room. "You should take it easy today and relax." She grabbed her purse from a peg near the kitchen door. "Make yourself at home. I'm speed dial number two on your cell, so call me if you need me, but I should be back in a bit."

Knowing Lucy was evading him again, Flynn crossed his arms over his chest and replied, "sure, Lucy."

Giving him a quick, nervous smile, she slipped out the kitchen door.


Flynn took their plates and mugs off the island and placed them in the sink. He began washing them as he thought about her little house. He could see why Lucy liked it, but the place needed some work. He had noticed that his bedroom door and the front door squeaked, the bathroom sink leaked, and there was a new ceiling fan still in a box gathering dust in the corner of his bedroom. He figured the fan was more likely for her bedroom because there was already one in his.

He wondered how Lucy would take his fixing things around her house and not resting. If she gave him an earful, he would at least have her talking to him and maybe he could find out more about their strained relationship and figure out how to mend it.


THREE HOURS LATER

She had been out for three hours, but unable to think of another thing that could keep her away, Lucy finally went home.

Entering through her kitchen door, she immediately saw that the dishes had been cleaned and put away. She set her cell phone and one grocery bag on the island and heard a noise. Her eyebrows knitted as she heard the sound again. It was metal clinking against metal. Walking toward the sound, she found that it was coming from the bathroom. She stepped over to it and there, lying under the bathroom sink, was Flynn.

"What are you doing?"

"Fixing the sink," he replied matter-of-factly.

She rolled her eyes, "I see that, but you don't have to do that."

"It needs to be done. And it was something I could easily do," he replied, sliding out from under the sink. "I also hung up the ceiling fan in your bedroom."

"You what?!" she exclaimed as she stepped out of the bathroom and went down to her bedroom. The fan was completely installed and she softly gasped.

Flynn came up behind her and flipped the light switch, "See?" he smiled proudly, as he leaned against the jamb.

She saw the dark wood fan blades begin to whirl and a warm light shined through the glass globe. She was impressed.

"You found the ladder?" she asked shocked.

"They're usually kept in the garage," he responded flatly.

"You should be resting, not being Mr. Handyman."

He saw the concern on her face, "I don't mind doing things for you."

"But I mind if you push yourself too far."

He smiled, "I like it when you worry about me." He gently took her hand with the injured wrist, "and I want to thank you again for taking me in."

She saw the sincerity in his eyes as his thumb began to rub the back of her hand, and she pulled it out of his grasp.

"You're welcome. Now don't suddenly paint my house, although it needs it." She turned toward the door, "There are more bags in the car that I need to bring in-."

"I'll get them," he volunteered, and went off to her white Honda Accord.

Flynn brought in the bags and set them on the island. Lucy took out items as Flynn went through the bags, too.

"You don't have to help me," she said, trying to get rid of him.

"I want to," was his simple reply, knowing she was trying to get rid of him.

Lucy carried a box of cereal over to the refrigerator and went up on her toes to place it on top. In doing so, she accidentally knocked over a box of crackers as she tried to maneuver the cereal box next to it. Flynn came over and easily righted the box, then took the cereal from her and set it next to the crackers.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

"Being short can be challenging," he winked.

Lucy grinned and rolled her eyes as he removed a gallon of chocolate ice cream from the bag and was instantly hit with a sharp memory flash...

~There was an office conference room decorated with blue and white streamers and balloons. People were sitting around the large table in the center of the room, laughing and clapping as a smiling Lucy set a plate with vanilla cake and chocolate ice cream in front of him. ~

Flynn stood there staring off into the distance. Concerned, Lucy asked, "Flynn, what is it?"

"This is my favorite ice cream. I think I remember you bought it and a vanilla cake for me at the office for…my birthday."

"That's right! That was for your birthday this year! You remembered something, that's great!" She went over and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her, warmly hugged her back and kissed her cheek. Lucy quickly stepped out of his arms and nervously cleared her throat. "Let's hope you remember more soon," she mumbled as a blush rose to her face. She quickly continued to put the food away as he watched her.

"Thank you for getting my favorite ice cream."

She placed a bottle of dish liquid in the cabinet under the kitchen sink as she replied, "It happens to be my favorite, too."

"The brand or the flavor?"

"...Both."

Flynn smiled, "I would love to remember everything that we have in common."

"What if we don't have anything in common?" Lucy asked the question before she knew what she was saying, but a part of her wanted to know what he thought.

Flynn frowned as he took a loaf of wheat bread and placed it inside the red wooden box on the counter that had Bread stenciled on it in white letters. "For one, we share the love of expensive chocolate ice cream." Giving him a wry smile, Lucy placed some tin foil in a drawer. He closed the bread box and continued, "Two, even though I don't remember yet, I feel we have plenty of things in common." He leaned against the island. "You're a smart, intelligent woman and I'm sure you would have never agreed to marry me if we had nothing in common. And three," he held up three fingers, "in speaking to you and getting to re-know you these past couple of days, I know there is something strong between us."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked, wanting to hear more.

"Because I believe if you were really angry with me, you would have never brought me home with you. At most, you would have just hired someone to care for me and put it on my tab."

They gazed at each other for a couple of beats. Lucy's cell chimed. Flynn saw the text that lit up on the screen.

Are you coming to our BBQ tomorrow? -Jiya

"Jiya wants to know if you're coming to the barbeque," he announced. Lucy picked the phone up from the island and started to type a reply. Curious, he asked, "Are you?"

"I'm telling her no."

"Why?"

"Because you're not well."

"I'm fine. Unless your wrist hurts too much..."

Surprised, she asked, "You want to go?"

"Were we both invited?"

"Yes, but…"

"But you don't want me to go," he stated flatly.

"That's not what I was going to say," she leaned against the counter, eyeing him skeptically. "These two love playing games and karaoke. If you really want to go, it starts at noon tomorrow."

"I have a feeling I like those things, too," he smiled as he wagged his eyebrows.

She shook her head and chuckled softly, "Okay, I'll tell her we're coming."