A/N: And so we continue and bring in someone new. For those still hanging in there. Thank you. I really appreciate it. And also the glasses had to be in the fic. Spader looks so hot with his glasses.
Chapter ten
"Where are we going, uncle Ray?"
It was Sunday and Red was on his way to Lizzie. His trip with Lizzie yesterday hadn't turned out as good as either of them had wanted. After Lizzie's blow out they'd cut their trip short. Her words had hurt him. They had thrown him off balance and it ended up with him not responding. Which made her even angrier. So they'd headed back to the car. After a tension filled car ride back to her house, Lizzie had almost thrown herself out of the car as soon as he'd parked it.
What little progress they'd made was all gone now. They were back at the beginning or maybe even worse than that. After a restless night he realised he couldn't keep his two worlds apart any longer. Lizzie deserved to know more and she deserved more of him. He had to make an effort to close the distance between them again.
"We're going to a meet a friend." He looked at the little girl sitting in the car seat in the back. He smiled. No matter how tough his day was, seeing her always brought a smile to his face. She was such a sweet girl.
"Is he nice?"
"Yes she is. And she has a dog."
"Really?" The idea of a dog excited the little girl. "What's his name?"
"Jethro." Red parked the car at Lizzie's house and looked to the back seat. "He's big, so you have to be careful, Abby."
With a serious look in her eyes she nodded. Red smiled again. He got out of the car and helped her out of the car too. With her hand in his they waked to the front door. He'd been used to walking in through the back door, but he felt that it wouldn't be appropriate this time. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. After a couple of minutes the door was still closed and he heard no movement inside the house. Maybe she was out for a walk with Jethro.
"Come, let's go find her." Red said. Hand in hand they walked around the house and onto the beach. After a short walk he spotted Lizzie and Jethro.
Abby saw the dog too. She let go of Red's hand and ran as fast as she could towards the dog. She slowed down as she saw how big the dog was. But her curiosity was bigger than her apprehension. A few metres away from Lizzie and Jethro, Abby came to a stop. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the Big Dane. The dog was bigger than she was.
"Can I touch him, Miss?" Due to her excitement Abby rushed her words. She was completely focused on the big dog.
"Sure. I'll let him sit down first and then you can touch him. But be careful." Jethro was a friendly dog, but sometimes a bit too enthusiastic. However she'd noticed that he was very gentle around kids. She ordered Jethro to sit down and he immediately did so. Standing next to her dog, Lizzie held her hand out for the little girl with curly blond hair. The girl looked familiar but she didn't know from where. "Now hold out your hand for him so he can sniff you."
Abby did as she was told and carefully let Jethro sniff her hand. She looked up at Lizzie who nodded at her. Given permission Abby carefully put her hand on the dog's head and started petting him. Proud of herself she grinned.
"Look at me Uncle Ray!" She yelled at Red. Her yell startled Jethro who immediately jumped up and bumped into Abby causing her to fall into the soft sand. Then Jethro saw a familiar person and immediately ran to him.
"You okay, sweetie?" Lizzie asked the little girl as she lifted her back up to her feet.
Abby nodded. Then she saw her uncle and quickly ran to him. That's when Lizzie looked up and saw the man the little girl called uncle Ray. She sucked in a breath and took a step back. There was Red with Jethro and the little girl around him. As always he was casually dressed. But what surprised her was that he was wearing glasses, something she hadn't seen on him before. She'd seen him wear sunglasses, but never regular ones. She was taken aback by it and her heart seemed to skip a beat. Those glasses looked really good on him, far too good. For a moment it made her forget that she was mad at him. She stood still and just looked at him.
"Hello, Lizzie." Red greeted her. He tilted his head to the side and watched her watching him. Clearly she was surprised.
A tug on her hand prevented Lizzie from staring at Red any longer. Looking down she saw the little girl standing beside her with a big smile on her face. "Your dog is really big." Apparently Jethro's size was something Abby couldn't stop talking about.
"Abby." Red called out before Abby could run over to Jethro again who had walked away from them. "Can you come here please?" Abby immediately ran towards her uncle. "Did you say hi to my friend Lizzie?"
The little girl shook her head. Dutifully she held her hand out to Lizzie who shook the small hand. "I'm Abby."
"Hi, Abby. I'm Lizzie."
"You're pretty." Abby said. "Can I play with Jethro?" Her attention quickly went back to the dog.
"Sure. But be careful." Lizzie watched Abby walk up to Jethro who sat down again to let the girl pet him. "She called you uncle." She focused back on the man in front of her.
Red took a step closer to Lizzie, wanting her closeness as well as needing it. "She's my brother's daughter. She's the reason why I've been preoccupied." Red looked from Lizzie to Abby. He hadn't expected Lizzie and Abby to meet each other so soon already, but Lizzie's outburst had sped things up. He'd wanted to introduce them to each other when Lizzie and he had worked things out. But then again, Lizzie had never been predictable. The next bit he was going to share with her still caused him much pain. "My brother passed away a couple of months ago. They need my help." He said, the pain in his voice undeniable. He looked away at Abby again and smiled at his niece who was now sitting next to Jethro who was lying in the sand.
TBC...