Bucky was downright amicable, and dare she say it? Charming. He brought Jimmy into the café for breakfast after their game of basketball every morning and greeted Elaine with a small, but genuine smile. Honestly, she looked forward to seeing them come in, tired and sweaty but in good, infectious moods.

A week of this went by before Elaine and Bucky really talked again. She always managed to squeeze a few laughs out of Jimmy and to sit with them for a few minutes, but the café was dreadfully understaffed now. Elaine usually couldn't take more than a couple minutes at a time to hang with her adopted little brother, as Jimmy always would be to her. She'd practically been his sister-in-law, so it stood to reason they remained close. They had a shared grief, one which would always bond them.

Bucky stood at the counter, thankfully there were only a few customers left from the morning rush. They talked about Jimmy, and the town. He remarked how different it was than New York City, which was only mere hours south. Everyone seemed to know each other here, how could she stand it? Didn't everybody know her business? She had laughed, gesturing around them, and said, "Well yeah, I'm the only café within twenty miles!" He grinned at her joke and asked if she would come play basketball the next morning, Jimmy had asked him to invite her. She saw through him, figuring it was more like Bucky had asked Jimmy if it was okay if she join. She said she would only be able to get away for a few minutes, but she would try.

Thankfully the next day was slow, and Cathy was available to take a morning shift for once. Elaine couldn't remember the last time she'd jacked her heart rate up like this, but she felt exhilarated. She loved to run but hadn't been able to do much of it since her friend and business partner, Lena, had gotten pregnant with her second baby. Lena just couldn't help anymore. And then Riley had quit to go off to college, Holly got married and moved to Vermont, and Tyler joined the marines after graduation. Small towns sucked at times. Weren't there any teens who liked it here enough to stay?

She managed to score more than a few off Bucky when Jimmy said he needed a break. She collapsed beneath the basket and smiled in victory.

Bucky stood over her in a black hoodie and a loose pair of sweatpants. "Not fair. I didn't play this growing up. You clearly did."

She waved a hand at him. "Excuses, excuses." But she grinned when he wrapped his hand around her wrist to help her up and she flew a few feet off the ground. She yelped in surprise but landed safely against him.

"Trying to scare me?"

He laughed, stepping away from her. "Course not. Just reminding you my skills lay elsewhere."

"I don't think I'm in any danger of forgetting that."

He shook his head, disbelief and pleasant surprise danced across his face. Elaine didn't flinch at who and what he was, and clearly, she knew more than the average person. The coincidence of this woman in this random town having known Natasha was surreal, but Elaine wasn't lying. Not only would he know, for he'd been trained in such things, but she seemed hell-bent on practicing honesty in her life. It was refreshing to be around her. Though she knew the art of subtly, and playing her cards close, she really didn't hide anything at all. Every time he looked at her, she held an unspoken invitation out to him that she was someone he could confide in, if he so chose. He could see clear as day she liked him; he just couldn't bring himself to believe it.

Jimmy seemed to sense the two wanted some time to talk and feigned needing a break more than once.

Elaine mentioned her parents lived in Florida now, and her older brothers had moved away with their wives to have families of their own. She was the only one left besides her grandfather who had dementia and lived in a nursing home an hour away.

"You don't have any other family around here, then?" Bucky asked.

They were walking down the street to cool off. The autumn air was crisp, and the changing leaves painted the Adirondack mountains in fiery hues in the distance. Elaine had always loved being surrounded by the mountains; they made her feel safe. She'd been to Kansas once, the wide-open space had unnerved her, made her feel exposed. She hadn't cared for it. She breathed a sigh of relief when she returned home to the towering mountains surrounding her.

"I have some uncles and aunts scattered around these parts. My dad was one of seven, but I'm not really close with any of them."

"I'm sorry."

"Why? This is where I grew up, it's home. I know everybody. I may not be related to them, per se, but I have plenty of family. Jimmy's parents are practically a second set for me."

Bucky grew somber for a moment. "You said you dated his older brother?" he asked.

"Yes. Jon and I were practically friends since birth. By middle school he had jumped a few grades. He was one of those brainiacs, but yeah. We started dating when we were twelve. Didn't break up 'til ten years later when we realized we loved each other differently than we should."

"Ten years. That's… a really long time."

Elaine gave Bucky a small smile. "He was the only person I've ever had a relationship with."

"I can't quite believe that."

"And why not?"

He shook his head. "Because you're kind, thoughtful, charming. How has there only ever been one man interested in you?"

She laughed and tried to quell her blush. "You forget that we're a population of twenty-five hundred. There just aren't a lot of 'em to go around."

Bucky chuckled. "Right."

"I mean, it's not like there hasn't been anyone. Just none that turned into much of anything."

Bucky nodded, lost in thought.

She recognized the guilt that flashed in his eyes. She hoped he didn't feel like he'd deprived her of Jon, but she didn't feel she had the right to tell him something like that yet. Something told her he wasn't ready for heavy. He was light around her, and if that's what he needed, she would give it.

She touched him arm briefly. "Should we head back?"

"Sure."

Another week passed and a pleasant routine formed for the trio. Elaine was able to have breakfast with the pair each morning. Cathy usually worked mid-afternoons to closing time as she homeschooled her kids in the mornings. She finally told Elaine she needed the money because her husband broke his leg and couldn't work for the next few months. She could take on mornings now, which was wonderful news to Elaine. It felt luxurious just to be off her feet for an hour. She was always working, it seemed.

She hardly knew when it happened, but Bucky had become a friend. She hadn't felt this comfortable talking to another person since Jon, and she had lost him a long time ago.

One Monday morning, Bucky hadn't brought Jimmy to play basketball, and they didn't come for breakfast either. She furrowed her brow but went about her day, trying not to think about how much she missed them. It was quiet, the dinner crowd had dwindled and only a couple sat murmuring to each other in the corner booth, their plates long cleared, but reluctant to leave just yet. That was fine with her, it was half past eight and she wouldn't close for another hour, what with all the cleanup she had left to do. She really needed some new hires; she was getting worn out.

She was just finishing washing dishes when she heard the bell chime. "I'll be right with you!" she called from the kitchen. She dried her hands quickly and smoothed the flyaways back off her sweaty forehead before she went out to greet the late customer.

She gasped in surprise. Bucky stood at the register; a motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm.

"Hey."

"Hi," she breathed. "You, um, didn't come in today."

He nodded and dropped his gaze to the counter. "I have to leave."

Disappointment knifed her in the chest, and she tried to hide it with surprise. "Oh?"

"A friend called. Said he needs my help for a bit. Just wanted to tell you in case you wondered where I'd gone."

Elaine nodded slowly, resting her hips against the counter, and placing her hands in front of her, resting halfway between them.

He took a very deep breath and placed his gloved hand on one of hers. "Thank you."

She shook her head, afraid to move anything else, lest he pull away from her. "For what?"

"For making me feel… normal. Welcome."

"You don't have to thank me for that."

She flipped her hand over beneath his and slid it up to grasp his wrist. He gripped hers in kind, long fingers overlapping, seeming entranced by how slim her wrist was. She could practically hear his thought that it would be so easy for him to break it, and the utter terror the prospect brought him. He warred with guilt and longing, afraid to take something for himself when he felt he had already taken too much from so many people, including her. How could he dare take more?

Elaine could scarcely breathe. She felt they had been weaved within a spell she was afraid would shatter, and that he would leave, and never come back.

He sighed. "There aren't many people in the world that know who I am who would have done the same. I can count them on one hand. I'm very grateful to say you're one of them."

She swallowed and licked her dry lips. "Where…?" she paused when he shook his head slightly. "Or… when will you be back?"

"I don't know if I'm coming back."

"I see…" she whispered.

"Unless…"

"Yes?"

"There's something to come back to?"

She gasped softly. She didn't want him to go, that much she was sure of. And she had always strived to be honest, even when it was hard. "There could be… if you want to find out."

He seemed relieved at her words, and a gentle smile broke through the tension on his face. Still, there was fear in his eyes, he was struggling to reveal how he felt, what he wanted. "I would like to find out…"

She leaned closer to him, keeping his eyes fixed on hers. "Then you'd better be careful so you can."

Gently, he released her wrist to grasp her knuckles. He brought them to his lips and kissed them while he watched her. Her face blushed red as a cherry, and not because her heart was racing from nerves or because of the hot kitchen she was just working in, but from the tentative beginning they had both just made.

He released her hand. "Take care, Elaine."

"You too, Bucky."

When the bell rang behind him, she put her head in her hands and wept. Why, she really didn't know.