A/N: Thank you for the reviews and follows. This chapter is a bit lighter than the previous one. Lizzie, Abby and Red spending some time together. I hope you enjoy. Remember this is AU.

Chapter fourteen

It was the next day. Both Red and Lizzie had had a restless night. Lizzie had decided not to just sit around the house. It was a nice and warm day. Living at he beach was great and with weather like this she was going to enjoy herself. After a relaxing morning at the house, she grabbed her stuff to spend the afternoon outside. Jethro happily followed her.

Red was on his way to Lizzie. He wanted to spend time with her. Abby was with him also. She was excited about seeing Jethro again. Though they wouldn't have time to talk, being near her was enough to give him some peace of mind. He wanted to spend an entire day with Lizzie, just the two of them. He yearned for that, but he knew it wouldn't happen for quite some time yet. However he was going to try to spend as much time with her as possible. He just hoped Lizzie would be at home.

Just like the day before, when Red and Abby arrived at Lizzie's house there was no one there. They went in search of her on the beach. It was warm with the sun shining brightly. He was glad he brought sun lotion with him. When they found Lizzie he would put some on Abby. After quite a walk Red finally spotted Jethro and where Jethro was, Lizzie would be near. Jethro was running through the waves chasing what seemed to be a black lab. He wondered where the other dog came from. When he looked further up the beach he saw Lizzie, but she wasn't alone. There was a man standing next to her, much to close even. She even appeared to be laughing at something he said.

"Miss Lizzie." Abby yelled as soon as she saw Lizzie. She ran over to Lizzie as quickly as her short legs could take her.

Lizzie heard her name and turned around. She saw Abby running up to her. Looking past Abby she saw Red observing her. She couldn't see his eyes, the sunglasses and the distance hid them from her, but from his posture she could see he was tense.

"Is that your daughter?" The man Lizzie was talking to asked.

She'd just met Paul. His dog had run up to Jethro which had ended up with the two dogs chasing after each other. Paul had started a conversation with her. She wasn't blind, Paul was clearly interested in her. She kept the conversation polite, making sure she wasn't giving him any ideas. "No, she's not my daughter."

Lizzie crouched down to catch Abby in her arms. Laughing she lifted the cheerful girl in her arms. "Hi sweetie."

Abby put her arms around Lizzie's neck and kissed her cheek. Red was now only a few steps away from them. He'd taken his sunglasses off to observe the stranger. He looked the man up and down. He was a slender man, same height as Lizzie with dark black curly hair. He still thought the man was standing too close to Lizzie. He gave the man a cold, calculated look which he knew would be enough to chase the man away. It did the trick. The man quickly said his goodbye to Lizzie, put his dog back on the leash and left.

Lizzie sat Abby back down on her feet and watched Paul walk away quickly. She looked at Red and raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?" She asked.

Red shrugged. "Nothing. He probably had somewhere else to be." He put the bag he'd brought with him on the sand. Jethro was now next to him, barking at him to make sure he got a greeting.

"Right." She turned to Abby who was sitting on the blanket, trying Liz's sunglasses on. "Well, don't you look pretty." Lizzie said. Abby looked pretty in her purple dress. The sunglasses she was trying were way too big but it made her look adorable.

Abby was already distracted by Jethro who was standing next to her. The dog was towering over her, but gently licked her cheek which made Abby laugh loudly. "That tickles." Both Red and Lizzie laughed with Abby. Red was happy to see Abby laugh again. It was something that he'd missed lately. Being with Jethro and also Lizzie did her a lot of good. Maybe he should have brought her to meet Lizzie and Jethro earlier. But then again, Lizzie wouldn't have been ready for that yet. It was also good to see and hear Lizzie laugh. It was another beautiful sound he'd missed. He looked her up and down. She was wearing blue shorts which with a white short sleeved shirt. Her flip flops were in the sand, next to her blanket. She looked beautiful.

Lizzie felt a bit uncomfortable under Red's stare. He wasn't even trying to be subtle. He stared at her with that gentle look in his eyes, the one that made her go soft inside. She didn't quite know how to act when he looked at her like that. She quickly turned to Abby.

"Do you want to go play with Jethro?" Lizzie asked Abby.

Before Abby could answer, Jethro barked his agreement. "Yes."

"Come, I brought a tennis ball. Jethro's loves to chase it."

Abby immediately took Lizzie's hand. Jethro was already waiting impatiently for them, his tail wagging wildly. Walking up to Red, Lizzie placed her hand on his arm. "Why don't you relax for a while? I'll watch Abby."

"Are you sure?" Red asked. He was glad for the offer but didn't want her to feel obligated.

"Yeah. No problem."

He smiled. "Thanks. Let me put some sun lotion on Abby first, okay?" Red grabbed the sun lotion from the bag. Abby patiently stood in front of him and let Red rub the lotion on her shoulders and arms. To be sure he also put some lotion on her face. When he was ready he stood up and looked at Lizzie. "Wanna go next? I promise I won't miss a spot."

"I'm sure you won't." Lizzie laughed. Jethro barked again to make sure he wasn't forgotten. Abby grabbed her hand and quickly dragged her towards Jethro.

Red smiled as he watched the two walk away. He watched them play with Jethro for a few minutes. He enjoyed hearing both their laughter. He lay down on Lizzie's blanket and decided to rest his eyes for a moment.

TBC...