The next day at 1:57 pm, Tess stood in front of Flynn's. She had finally calmed her nerves, having given herself a pep talk as she walked to the bar. It hadn't helped that the night before she hadn't slept well as thoughts of Griff invaded her dreams.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, Tess grabbed the handle and swung the door open.

There were a few more people in the bar today. The two old men were still playing chess and nursing their beer at the table in the corner, as they had been the day before. A pair of well dressed women sat at another table with glasses of white wine and sharing a plate of bruschetta, the bags that told the story of their successful shopping trip surrounded their feet. Jenna stood by a table, talking to an older gentleman to whom she had just delivered a sandwich.

"Hey, Tess, right?"

Tess turned to see Kevin, the waiter, talking to her. "Yes. Kevin?"

"Yup. Griff is back in his office. So, you're working here now?"

"I'm helping out, he seemed a little…overwhelmed with his computer."

Kevin smiled. "Yeah. I don't know how a guy reaches the age of 27 in this day and age and doesn't know how to work a computer."

"We all have our strengths and weaknesses," she said, kindly.

"How long are you going to be in town?"

"Just for the summer."

"Well, if you're interested, we have live music here Friday and Saturday nights, I'm usually here with some friends, if you'd like to join us."

Tess took another look at Kevin. He appeared to be her age and was nice looking guy, but, well, he wasn't Griff. "Thank you. Paige had mentioned the music, maybe we'll come and check it out."

He grinned. "Great, I'll be looking for you."

"Don't you have work to be doing?"

They both looked up and saw Griff standing beside the bar.

Kevin nodded. "Yes, sir."

Griff stepped closer to Tess when Kevin left. "You're late."

She checked her watch, it was 2:02. "Well, actually, I got here before 2:00, but I was speaking with Kevin."

"Kevin can be a bit of a flirt."

"I've heard the same thing about you."

A muscle in his jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. "Ready to get to work?"

"Lead the way."

"Hey Tess!" Jenna greeted her as she rolled silverware in napkins.

"Hey, Jenna, how's it going?"

"Much better now that you're here to take over the computer work and Griff can stop being so grumpy."

"I'll show you grumpy if this place isn't ready for the early dinner crowd," Griff threatened.

The first thing Tess noticed when she entered the office was how clean the desk was. "Wow, where did everything go?"

He picked a banker's box up off the floor and set it on the desk. "I did some sorting. I sorted receipts, liquor inventory requests, food inventory requests, and vacation requests into different folders. That's as far as I got, I know they can be organized even more."

"When did you find time to do this?"

"I, uh, I had trouble sleeping last night."

Tess looked up from the folder she had pulled from the box and met his eyes. His gaze was intense and unnerved her. "I guess that explains why you're so grumpy today."

"I'm not grumpy."

"Mm hm. Tell you what, I'm going to start sorting through the paperwork. What is Mary's system?"

"Mary's system?"

"She had to have some system to keep everything straight."

"Uh, well, she just helped me with data entry, this is all my system."

She smiled at him. "Your system is crap."

"It has worked so far."

"You've made it work. I'll make it work better."

Griff rubbed his chin. He hadn't taken the time to shave that morning and auburn stubble covered his chin. "All right. But remember that this bar is my baby."

"I'm here to help."

"Do you have any business experience?"

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you have asked me that before offering me a job?"

"Yeah, I probably should have."

"Are you starting to regret hiring me?"

"I didn't say that."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know." He ran his hand through his hair. "Just…just don't throw anything away until I've seen it."

"I won't."

He left her alone, closing the door behind him.

Tess took the folders out of the box and set them on the desk in front of her. She sat back in the chair and rubbed her hands over her face. "What have I gotten myself in to?"

Nearly two hours later, a freshly shaven Griff reentered the office dressed in a dark blue suit.

Tess's mind was momentarily wiped blank when she saw him. She knew the old saying about a man in uniform, but as far as she was concerned, the same could be said for a man in a suit.

"How's it going?" He asked.

"It's uh, it's going great. Um, I have the receipts organized by month and day. The inventory requests are organized by when they were requested, what was ordered, what is on back order, and when it's expected in. I'm almost done with the vacations. I'm coming up with a schedule for you to check out, I don't know what you have worked out with your people, but basing it off old schedules, it seems fair."

"Wow. Okay. I wasn't expecting all this. Are you some kind of genius or something?"

"Or something. You have a big date or something?"

"Or something. Why?"

Tess gestured to the suit he was wearing. "You clean up rather nicely."

"Why thank you." Griff straightened the knot in his tie. "I have a dinner meeting with the bank manager. I'm in discussion with the owners of the old house behind this place, I'm hoping to turn it into a brewpub."

"Do you brew your own beer?"

"I do. In small batches for now, I do tastings from time to time to get a feel for what people like. Kevin helps me out, he's really interested in brewing. While this place is a more traditional pub selling traditional drinks and food, the brewpub will sell my beer and artisanal foods."

"That sounds wonderful."

"Thanks, I'm very excited and very nervous about doing this. And you getting me organized will be a big help."

"I'm glad I could help."

He took a step closer. "I want to apologize if I was grumpy earlier."

"You're entitled. You were sleepy."

Griff smirked. "What are your plans tomorrow night?"

"Plans? I, uh, I don't have any." Tess felt a flight of butterflies swarm her stomach.

"I'd like to take you out."

"Oh."

"Oh? Is that yes or a no?"

"It's just an 'oh'. What do you have in mind?"

"Well, I'd like to get you out of this bar and some place where we can share a good meal and chat without troublemaking friends or disrespectful employees interrupting us."

"I…I think I'd like that."

He grinned at her. "Great! Seven?"

"Yeah, sure."

"I'll pick you up at your aunt's house."

"Sounds good."

He looked around the office. "Feel free to leave whenever you feel like you've come to a good stopping point."

"Okay, when, uh, when do you want me to come back?"

He shrugged. "Whenever you'd like."

"Okay, I'll probably put in another couple of hours tomorrow."

He winked at her. "See you then."

"Griff."

He stopped, his hand on the doorknob and looked over his shoulder.

"Good luck. With your meeting."

"Thanks, pretty Tess from Arus." He slipped out of the office, pulling the door closed behind him.

Feeling completely overwhelmed and excited, Tess fell back in the desk chair and let out a quiet squeal. She suddenly felt the need to talk to Cady. She wanted her sister to help her pick out what to wear and to talk about how cute Griff was. But it was too late to call her now.

Paige.

Tess quickly finished sorting the vacation requests and returned all the new folders into the banker's box before hurrying out of the pub.

The bell jangled cheerfully as Tess entered the bookstore. An older woman, obviously Paige's mother, sat behind the desk ringing out a customer. Another half dozen people milled through the bookshelves.

"Can I help you?" Mrs. Turner asked when she finished with her customer.

"Is Paige here?"

"She's in the back room, she should be up in a few minutes."

"Thanks." Tess wandered over to the display of current top sellers.

"Ma, I'm heading out for the night. Mr. Kimball's special order is in the first cabinet, he said he'd be in this evening ." Paige walked right past Tess on her way to the front.

"Thanks, dear, I'll be watching for him. There is someone here looking for you."

"Who?"

"I am." Tess walked over to the counter.

"Tess! How are you? Settling in all right? Ma, this is Dana and Harry's niece who is visiting for the summer." Paige spoke excitedly.

"Tess, it's so nice to meet you."

"And you, Mrs. Turner. I just love your store."

"Thank you, dear."

"Looking for more books on Irish history?" Paige asked.

"Uh , no, thank you, though. Are you heading somewhere?"

"Just home to relax, nothing too exciting. Why? Do you have something more exciting to do?"

"Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Flynn's?"

"No."

Paige looked at her questioningly. "Okay. We can go down to the café. I could eat something."

"Yeah, let's do that. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Turner."

"You too, dear, please feel free to stop in and see us again soon."

"So, what's up?" Paige asked as they stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"I got a job."

"You got a job? You're on vacation."

"I know. It all happened so quickly and all of a sudden I find myself working for Griffin McManus."

"What?" Paige gasped.

"I'm kind of a part-time office manager. I stopped in yesterday for a quick bite when he came charging out of his office asking for computer help. I offered to help and the next thing I know, he's offering me a job and I'm accepting."

"But…but you're on vacation."

"It all happened very quickly."

"Yeah, Griff can be pretty slick like that."

"That's not all."

"What else?"

Tess stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and looked around, almost afraid a reporter would jump out with a recorder. "He asked me out."

"Who?"

"Griff."

Paige's eyes doubled in size. "No."

"Yes."

"What did he say?"

"He asked me if I was free tomorrow evening, I thought he was going to ask me to come in and work, so I told him I was free. He told me he'd like to take me out, somewhere where friends and employees wouldn't interrupt us."

A slow smile spread across Paige's face. "Oh my god! I can't believe this! I thought he was seeing some teacher from the high school."

"A teacher?"

"Oh, no, he's too nice a guy to date two women at once, I'm sure they broke up. What are you going to wear?"

"I don't know."

"Did you pack for a date?"

"Not really, I mean, I didn't come here looking to date someone. I have a couple of skirts and a dress, but…"

"Come on, we'll eat later." Paige turned and led Tess in the opposite direction. "We could go to the mall, but you don't strike me as someone who shops at a mall."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, no, that wasn't meant to be mean or anything. Tess, you're beautiful, you have an amazing figure, and you carry yourself…well, almost regally. You can do better than department store clothing."

Tess felt a stone fall in her stomach. "Regally?"

Paige rolled her eyes. "I know, I can be rather dramatic and romantic, my mother always said that I've read too much and I've blurred the line between reality and fiction. This boutique just opened a few months ago and I've had no excuse to go in here and look around. Unfortunately, no hot Irish guys are asking me out."

Tess smiled as she followed her friend into the brightly lit little shop. "I do like shopping."

"Good, because I like spending other people's money."

"Good evening, ladies, how can I help you?" A middle aged woman sat behind a white desk.

"My friend here has a hot date tomorrow night and needs something scandalous to wear."

"It's a first date, so maybe something classy," Tess spoke up. "I'll save scandalous for date number three."

"Spoilsport," Paige muttered.

The woman stood and walked over to Tess. "You have lovely coloring and a very nice figure. Yellow would suit you well."

"You sound like my mother, she likes the color yellow, but it doesn't suit her and she's jealous I can wear it."

"Mm hm. I think I have a few ideas for you to try. Follow me. What size are you?" The saleswoman led them to the back where there was a rack of pretty sundresses in varying shades. She pulled a dress the color of butter off the rack. "Try this first."

Tess followed her back to the dressing room. "Thank you." As soon as she shut the door behind her, there was a knock. "Yes?"

A blue dress was flung over the top of the door, followed by Paige's voice. "I love the cut of this dress, they have it on a mannequin and it looks great. Try it."

The yellow dress had a cinched waist and a full skirt that fell to her knees. The bodice was embroidered with patterns in the same shade of yellow as the fabric. It was feminine and pretty, but not quite her.

"Let's see!" Paige called out.

Tess opened the door.

Paige shook her head. "Not right. Try the blue."

Between the saleswoman and Paige, Tess was given almost a dozen dresses to try on. In the end, she fell in love with a sleeveless, navy blue dress. The fabric was lace patterned, the bodice fitted, and the skirt full, falling to just above the knee.

"It's perfect," Paige sighed. "If I had your arms, I would never wear sleeves again."

The saleswoman agreed. "That dress was made for you. How are you set for shoes?"

"I don't think I have any that go with this," Tess admitted.

"Oh! I know just the thing!" She whirled around and hurried to the front of the store.

"You're going to leave Griff completely speechless in this dress," Paige said.

Tess turned right and then left in front of the mirror. "Good."

"Here, try these." The saleswoman handed her a pair of mustard colored pumps. "A splash of color to go with the dress, add a touch of fun."

"Perfect!" Paige said. "I never would've thought of yellow, I probably would've gone with black or navy blue."

"You can't be afraid of a little color. We also have a matching purse. Oh! And a great statement necklace as well!"

When the outfit was completed, Tess knew it was perfect. It had been a long time since she had been this excited about a date. The last few dates she had gone on had been arranged and none of them had gone on to a second date. "I'll take it all," she declared.

"Wonderful! Get changed and I'll ring it all up for you."

"You just made her evening," Paige said twenty minutes later as they left the store.

"She made mine! I love this outfit!"

"Still want to go grab some dinner?"

"Sure. I'm too excited to go home right now."

"You'll call me after the date, won't you? I want details."

Tess smiled. "Of course, I have a feeling I'll want to talk."

Paige led her into a frilly little café. "And I'll want to listen."

"Can I ask you something personal, Paige?"

"Sure."

"Did you ever want to go out with Griff?"

"Me? No."

Tess slid into a booth across from her friend. "Why?"

Paige shrugged. "Griff was always just a friend. I love him to pieces, but not in that way. I was only sixteen when he came to town, too young for him."

"Kevin invited me to come and join him and his friends for the live music this weekend."

"Oh, Kevin?"

Her overly casual tone raised a red flag for Tess. "I told him you and I might be in some weekend."

Paige lifted her eyes from the menu. "Sounds like fun. We should."

"Have you known Kevin long?"

"Our whole lives."

"Why don't we go Friday night? Saturday, Aunt Dana and I are going shopping, so I don't know when I'll be home."

"Yeah, sure, let's do that. The music starts at 10:00, we can meet at the bookstore around 9:30."

Declan made his way around the lake and up to the path through the woods. Brina had taken her younger sister shopping. Gideon and Lynnai had told their parents over the dinner table the night before about the baby and the house. They had found out that morning that their bid had been accepted and they were meeting the real estate agent at the house with both sets of parents so they could take them on a tour. It was a beautiful evening and Declan had figured a walk would help.

He couldn't get what Gideon had said to him out of his mind.

"Your gift doesn't define you."

Gideon's gift gave him the ability to empathize with those he's close to at a level that other's could never understand, he was able to get into Declan's mind and understand him better than he could understand himself. He had been thinking a lot about what his brother had said to him.

They had spoken to Tess the day before and she was safe and sound. She was having a great time and making friends. Declan could see no reason to worry about her, and yet he couldn't stop. He was looking for things to worry about.

If Gideon knew how to handle his, and other's, feelings, Declan didn't. It had almost cost him his relationship with Brina and it often left him moody and lashing out. He had to figure out what to do with himself and the existential crisis he seemed to be having. It made him feel selfish and petty, like he was dragging too many people into his problems which really bothered him since he was the one who was usually trying to help others with their problems.

Declan stopped in his tracks at that thought. He had always depended on his gift to give him insight as to what was happening to those closest to him so he had something to think about other than himself, it was just easier that way. Maybe it is time for him to think about himself.

"Your gift doesn't define you."

"What does define me?" He asked the tree beside him.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. The most important things in his life were his relationship with Brina, his family, leading the Voltron Force, and the safety of his plant and its people. That is what he wants to do with his life. If he is going to get out of this rut, he needed to concentrate on what is important and decide where he wanted to take his life.

He knew what the most important thing in the world was to him and it was time to think about himself and what he wants. And he knew what he wanted.