Present Day

The shop bell announcing a customer's arrival surprised Cidney. She figured with all the rain not many people would be venturing into floral shops.

"I'll be with you in a minute." Cidney continued working on a flower crown she was assembling. "Feel free to look around. Bouquets are in the back if you want something already put together. Or if you're here for a wedding I have a portfolio here on the counter."

Skye observed the shop's owner as she made her way deeper inside. Cidney didn't really strike her as Ward's type. Cidney seemed more the artsy type, which wasn't what she would of pictured if she'd only read the file without images. The woman in front of her had long red hair that was up in a messy dutch braid, she had a hoop in the cartilage of her left ear and two studs in her right, sleeves of a purple flannel pushed up to elbows of her freckled arms; the paint on her nails was chipping, and she wore a delicate silver ring on each hand. From Skye's view she looked a little shorter than herself. Nimble fingers flew as she assembled her project and her eyes shined with a look that probably made teachers wary of her. High cheek bones, not nearly as sharp as Ward's, gave her an almost fairy look and a smile played gently on her lips giving her a friendly charm.

"Thanks…I'm actually just exploring." Skye's eyes wandered around the shop

"Aren't you a brave soul! Not many people would explore in the rain." Cidney smiled at her.

"Well I just moved here. Figured I should get the lay of the land."

Cidney began filling the crown with greenery, "Where ya from?"

"L.A" Skye wandered closer to the counter.

Cidney let out a low whistle "Long drive. What brought you from sunny LA to the dreary east coast?"

Skye leaned against the counter "Looking for a change." Skye twitched when she heard Ward's instructions in her ear, "Besides I thought it was time to see more of the states."

"Well I hope you took the scenic route. There isn't much in the middle states."

Skye laughed, "Well I wish I had met you sooner. Then maybe the drive wouldn't have been so boring."

Cidney let out a laugh and shook her head, "Gotta do your research before you start traveling. I'm all for being spontaneous and just seeing where the road takes you but it's nice to have some views along the way."

"Can't say I disagree with you."

A lull fell over the conversation and another customer entered. Skye immediately recognized Jeffery Wilson as he made his way to the back with the bouquets. He made his selection carefully and came up to the front. Cidney laid her work down to assist him.

"I think Mrs. Wilson will like that one." Cidney commented taking the flowers.

"She always loves your bouquets, Cidney" Wilson turned to Skye, "Who's your young friend?"

"This is…I'm sorry I never got your name."

"Skye" Wilson took her hand and shook it.

"Well my name is Jeffery Wilson. And this pretty young lady is Cidney Allan and she's the best florist in town" Cidney blushed at the compliment.

"It's nice to meet you both."

Cidney handed Wilson his bouquet "Skye just moved here from LA."

"Well now! Are you here for school or family?"

"No.." Skye shook her head, "Just thought it was time for a change."

"Where are you staying?"

"I'm living out of my van."

"Cidney here used to live out of her van. Put herself through school while living in it and then she worked while traveling and saving up for this place." Wilson smiled approvingly. "This young lady is one of the hardest workers I've ever seen."

"Mr. Wilson! I don't think Skye wants to hear all of this." Cidney declared blushing.

"I'm sorry Skye." Wilson apologized "I'm a lonely old man who likes to brag on the woman who is like the daughter he never had." Cidney pursed her lips and he laughed, "She's too modest to do it herself. You've come to the right place, Skye. You can have no finer friend than Cidney." He leaned over the counter and kissed Cidney's cheek, waved the bouquet with a florish and made his way to the door, "Enjoy the day ladies."

Skye laughed when the door closed, "You have friendly customers."

Cidney shook her head smiling; her cheeks still pink "Only Mr. Wilson is like that. But he's my best customer."

"I can see that."

"When I opened this shop three years ago he told me he'd be my number one customer because he liked small business owners. Every Thursday like clockwork he'd come here and buy a bouquet for his wife. When I started doing weddings I did their niece's and after that Mrs. Wilson would have me come every week to put flowers around their home."

"Are you close to them?"

Cidney smiled fondly, "They treated me like their daughter. Even paid my hospital bills when I got in a car accident…wouldn't take no for an answer. Mrs. Wilson passed away last year…and every Thursday he comes here and buys a bouquet like you just saw. Doesn't matter if it's raining, snowing or if a flash flood is coming. He always brings his wife flowers on Thursday night."

"Wow…can you imagine having someone love you like that?" Skye marveled and she saw pain flash through Cidney's eyes.

"A wonderful feeling…" she answered absently.

Skye heard Ward in her ear again, "So how long did you live in your van?"

Skye watched Cidney gather herself together, "I started when I was sixteen…ran away from foster care…no one really bothers looking for a kid nobody misses and I ended up in small town in Florida. You know those towns where everyone knows everyone?" Skye nodded, "Well that was this town. A mechanic there helped me out. Taught me everything he could about cars and I worked for him for a while and got my high school diploma. After that I went to Notre Dame where I got a double major then I took a year off to work and went to Boston on scholarships for my Masters. Then I just saved as much as I could until I could open this place. Now I just use the van for my deliveries."

Skye looked at her in wonder, "You did all that living out of your van? Did you work too?"

"Yep. Made a lot of friends on the dorms so I could shower there. I worked a lot of odd jobs and during grad school I became a graduate assistant and they paid me for that. Lived out of the van until the summer after my first year of grad school and moved into an apartment for my second year."

"Must have felt weird after living in van for so long."

"Oh yes. It took a lot of adjusting."

"Why'd you move into an apartment? I mean if you liked living in your van and you were trying to save why bother?"

"Did it for a guy. Took him two years to convince me to live in an apartment." She confessed, "After I got my Masters I traveled the country picking up work where I could and ended up here."

"Guess the guy didn't work out?" Skye heard Ward clear his throat in her ear.

"No…" Cidney paused twisting her ring absent-mindedly. Skye watched so many emotions pass over her she instantly regretted saying anything related to Ward. Slowly Cidney pulled a cart over with bouquets that complimented the flower crown and placed it with them and wheeled it to a refrigerator.

Skye heard Ward telling her to wrap up the conversation, "Those are beautiful" she indicated the flowers."

"Thank you." a small crack in her voice, "They're for a wedding tomorrow." Cidney cleared her throat and turned back to Skye

"A wedding on a Friday?"

Cidney nodded knowingly "Bride decided on an outdoor wedding too and I don't think the weather received the memo."

"An outdoor wedding in April?" Skye continued the gossip, "Seems a little early in the year."

"April showers bring May flowers. But she wouldn't listen."

Skye smiled at her but noted the pain in Cidney's eyes still lingered "Well I should probably get out of your hair since you probably have more arrangements to put together."

"It was wonderful to meet you Skye. I hope you'll come by again soon."

"I will." Skye made her way to the door when Cidney called her

"Do you like hole in the wall restaurants?"

"Yeah they're my favorite."

"Well I don't feel like cooking tonight and I hate eating alone so how about you come back here at eight and we can grab some dinner?"

After Ward's instructions, "I'd like that."

"Great! I'll see you later."

"See ya." As the door closed Cidney turned her back to the shop and let out a shaky breath. She'd spent years trying to forget about Grant and now so many emotions were pressing against the walls she'd built up. A single tear slipped down her face and she quickly wiped it away, "Get it together." She whispered.

…..

Ward watched as she wiped the tear but turned away when Skye hopped into the passenger seat of the surveillance van. The team returned to the Bus to prep for that evening's surveillance but Skye let her feelings be known when she pulled Ward aside.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

"Skye focus on the mission." Ward started to push by her

"Do you think I can't see it? You may not talk about your feelings Ward but every time her name comes up I can see it hurts you. At first I thought she was going to be horrible! I thought that she did something to ruin everything but she's amazing. And when she talked about you? I don't think I've ever seen anyone's eyes look so pained…she looked so broken I.."

"I broke her heart!" Ward interrupted. "Okay? It was me. It was my fault… I hurt her and I regret it every day." His breathing was ragged and he was shaking with the anger he felt.