As promised this chapter is a little longer to make up for the shortness of the last one. I hope you all enjoy it!

Thanks again for all the lovely reviews and follows, especially from those of you who are just finding this story! The feedback is incredibly helpful and encouraging.

So, here we are on Chapter 7 already, and even though this AU's Lisbon and Jane are inching towards one another at a pace that I think is believable and in character, things haven't progressed nearly as far as I thought they would by this point in the story. So, let's kick things up a notch, shall we?

Chapter 7

Patrick Jane had had a good day.

As he anticipated, business had been brisk on his first day open. News of his arrival in town had spread amongst the locals and brought a steady stream of clients knocking at his door. It was the predicable mix of curious tourists looking for a cheap novelty experience, one they could tell all their friends about when they got home from their summer vacations, as well as people from town, several of whom were former clients of Kristina Frye interested to see if Jane's clairvoyant abilities was on par with hers. (Based on the number of people who booked return visits for the following week, he'd say he had passed muster with most of them.)

By the end of the day, he had over three hundred dollars in his pocket and a half a dozen appointments penciled into his day planner. Not bad considering the small-time nature of his little operation here. True, it was nothing like the cash he used to rake in during his carnie days, when he'd hold court and entertain a teeming throng of fairgoers packed into a giant tent for twenty bucks a pop. But like he had told Pete when he first arrived in- it wasn't about the money. It was the excitement of holding people in the palm of his hand, having them hanging on his every word, and dazzling them with his apparent insight into their innermost thoughts.

Although if he were being honest with himself, he would have to admit that the enjoyment of what he was doing was starting to wane a bit. Reading people was like second nature to him, far too easy to be truly interesting or challenging anymore. He could meet with a hundred people in a week, but almost every time, after he had read their tells and brought to light whatever information their body language and facial expressions were giving off, he always ended up spinning the same old scenarios, making the same tired predictions. He was giving his customers what they wanted to hear, but boring himself to tears in the process. Like Lisbon had so astutely pointed out the other day, his work was monotonous.

Perhaps his favorite part of the day had been the downtime between visitors which he spent sitting on the worn wooden bench outside his front window, making friendly small talk with the people coming out of the bookshop next door or the market two doors down. He especially loved his interactions with the children he met walking past- entertaining kids on bicycles with card tricks and other slight-of-hand illusions, conjuring coins from behind the ears of toddlers to the amazement of them and their parents. He was always his most natural and at ease around children; he could perform and entertain, but there was no hustle behind it. Just pure fun.

At one point during the afternoon he had poked his head into the bookstore and tried to initiate conversation with his neighbor, Cho, in what was beginning to feel like a futile attempt to get the stoic man to crack a smile or utter more than a few words at a time. But just as he had been during their first meeting, the bookseller was curt and dismissive, immune to Jane's attempts at charming him and too busy with customers of his own to pay him much attention.

But now, just as he was closing up shop and getting ready to leave for the day, he noticed someone lurking around the front of the building and peeking into his front window. He inched forward towards the front of the store and immediately recognized the petite silhouette of his favorite cop turned barista/baker- Teresa Lisbon. Maybe this day was starting to get interesting after all.

He had caught a few glimpses of her here and there throughout the day thanks the café's giant picture windows that overlooked the street they shared. At one point he was pretty sure he had seen her standing and watching him, a discovery that, of course, thrilled him to no end. This little dance they were doing around one another seemed to be picking up tempo a bit, further evidenced by her present skulking around his front window.

He swung the door open and greeted her with his usual mischievous expression. Her mortification at being caught read all over her face; she looked distinctly like someone who wanted to crawl into a hole and die, he noted with great amusement. Maybe he should give her a break, he thought, be gracious and not give her a hard time. However he simply couldn't resist the opportunity to tease her a little and watch the pink rise over her pale freckled cheeks, as he was almost certain it would.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Lisbon. See anything you like?"

"Nope, nothing at all," she replied a little too quickly, straightening herself up and eyeing him confidently.

He leaned against the doorframe and shook his head in mock reproach. "You know, I'm pretty sure there are Peeping Tom laws in place that should protect me from such grievous invasions as this."

"Actually," she began earnestly after a moment's pause, "you're a business owner with a shop adjacent to a public sidewalk. One could argue that you don't really have a reasonable expectation to privacy under the circumstances." She spoke in a serious tone, but the light behind her eyes told a different story altogether. She couldn't keep a straight face for more than a second or two, when she finally broke out into a dimpled smirk.

"Would you like to come in and see the place properly?" he took a step back to make room for her in the doorway.

"Oh no, that's alright. I've got a few stops to make before I head home."

"Ah, well in the that case, mind if I tag along with you for a bit? I'm assuming you're going down to the market, and I have a few things I need to get myself."

"Sure," she smiled back awkwardly. He turned and swiftly locked his door then faced her again as the two of them started walking down the sidewalk together.

"So, you live up on that hill over there?" he asked, nodding towards the steep pine-covered slope behind them.

"Yeah.." she answered warily. "How did you know that?"

"Well, when you said home just now, you tilted your head back and to the right side a bit. It was a very subtle movement, but…"

"…you picked up on it," she nodded as she finished his sentence for him, then paused. "God, you really are good at that."

He shrugged slightly, doing his best to appear modest. At the same time he also didn't want her thinking he was constantly trying to get a fix on her, which he knew she would find more than a little unnerving. So as they entered the market and each grabbed a shopping basket, he decided it was an opportune time to change the subject.

"Well, I suppose with that trek home you have every day, you probably haven't taken the opportunity to explore many of the hiking trails around town."

Teresa eyed him inquisitively. "Um, no, not really," she replied as they headed down the produce aisle and she began inspecting a pile of Bartlett pears.

Not surprising, Jane thought to himself dryly; nothing about Lisbon screamed nature girl. Nonetheless, he pressed on.

"It's just that one of my customers today mentioned some great trails for walking, just south of town up along the cape. Do you know that area at all?"

"No," she answered back, curious but still clueless as to where he was going with this particular line of questioning. She held a piece of fruit in her hand and began to place it in her basket when Jane stopped her, touching her forearm gently. He noted the jolt of awareness that coursed through his fingertips at this first physical contact with her.

"You don't want to buy that one," he interjected. "It's starting to go bad."

"Oh, you're psychic when it comes to fruit, too?" she asked sarcastically.

"No," he chuckled, amused by her defensiveness. "It's starting to go bad," he repeated. "Look, there's a bruise on the side and that little crack there near the stem is starting to turn brown."

"Oh," she responded sheepishly, holding the fruit closer until she noticed the miniscule markings on its surface, then promptly returned the pear to the pile. She grabbed a small bunch of green bananas and held them up as if silently, jokingly seeking his seal of approval. She placed them in her basket, and the two of them rounded the corner and began strolling down the next aisle of the store.

"Anyway, I was wondering… if you'd like to come along with me sometime, on a walk," Jane proposed. "Say, the day after tomorrow, after you're done with work?"

He watched her expectantly. She was now scanning a shelf of marinara sauces, and he got the feeling she was using the task as an excuse to avoid eye contact with him for an extra moment or two before answering, perhaps making him sweat it out a bit? She took a jar off the shelf, put it in her basket and looked up at him, her gaze clear and certain.

"Sure," she replied, with a smile and a nod. "Sounds like fun. Although…" she looked down, regarding the worn, dusty-looking leather oxfords on his feet, "it looks like you might need to find some other shoes to wear before then. Those have certainly seen better days. Do you even own another pair?"

"Meh, these old things have been everywhere, they'll do just fine." Jane answered then raised his eyebrows at her and tilted his head a bit. "Hmm…"

"What?" she asked.

"Well, it seems that somebody's been paying awfully close attention to the way I look and what I'm wearing," he responded with smirk and raised eyebrows.

She answered him with an exaggerated roll of her eyes and resumed walking. He grinned to himself and turned on his heel, then skipped a few steps to catch up with her again.

xxxxx

The rain came down in thick sheets, pounding the glass of his front window and bouncing off the pavement of the sidewalk. It was two days later, the afternoon that he and Lisbon had fixed to go on their outing together and the disappointment Jane felt was palpable. Even if the rain eased up soon, there was no way they'd be walking a trail today.

Adding insult to injury the bad weather, which had begun almost as soon as he had arrived that morning, meant that the downtown was practically deserted. No business had made the day drag on at an excruciatingly slow pace. Even Cho had gone home early, which meant Jane didn't even have the option of going over and browsing for a new book (or aggravating his stone-faced neighbor while he was at it just for the hell of it). By three thirty he had had enough. He put the Closed sign in the window, locked the front door, and sprinted across the street to Minelli's.

The café appeared empty, except for a blonde teenaged boy who was hard at work, placing upturned chairs on the tops of tables as he wiped them down carefully.

"Can I help you?" he asked tentatively as he stopped what he was doing and approached Jane who stood sopping wet near the doorway, drops of water cascading down from his clothes and hair onto the large industrial mat on the floor.

"Yeah, you don't happen to have an extra towel handy, do you?"

"Um, yeah, let me go get one for ya…" the boy began, laughing a bit as he went.

"I got it, Wylie," Teresa appearing suddenly from the door that led to the kitchen. She tossed the checkered dishtowel that was in her hands to Jane, who smiled his thanks and began furiously rubbing his wet curly mop. She laughed lightly at his disheveled appearance then turned to the busboy.

"Why don't you go ahead and take off for the day, Jason. Grace and I are going to close up a little early and it looks like you've pretty much finished up out here."

"Oh, yeah, thanks, Teresa. I actually have to get over to my neighbor's house this afternoon, show him how to set up his Neflix queue," he said with a quirky smile and little shrug, placing the rag he was holding onto the counter. He reached below the register and grabbed his umbrella and messenger bag and headed toward the door. "I'll see you tomorrow, then!" He gave a quick wave goodbye before opening his umbrella, preparing to charge out into the unrelenting downpour.

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Wylie."

"Seems like a sweet kid," Jane remarked after the boy had left.

Teresa nodded. "Yeah, he is. He just started yesterday, actually… You all dry?" she asked with the arch of her brow.

"Yes, I am. Thank you." He handed the towel back to her. "Well…so much for our walk in the woods, huh?"

"Yeah. But I suppose that's why they're called rain checks, right?"

"Definitely," he replied, holding her gaze intently for a beat. She smiled softly, then grabbed the towels off the counter and began straightening up.

"I certainly picked the wrong day to walk to work, that's for sure," he said as he walked towards the windows to look out at the street that was practically awash with water.

"How far away do you live?"

"I'm staying with my friends, Sam and Pete. They live in the cottage up at the campground, about two miles north of town."

"Two miles?" she asked. "You'll catch pneumonia if you walk back in this cold. Wait around a few minutes; I'll give you lift home." Her voice was full of genuine, almost motherly concern.

"You drove to work today?"

"Yep. Unlike some people, apparently, I checked the weather report this morning." Her words were teasing, but her voice remained kind.

Jane smiled sweetly. While he hadn't exactly been angling for the offer of a ride, he was very grateful for it just the same. "Well, I'd very much appreciate a ride, Teresa. Thank you."

At that moment Grace emerged from the kitchen, removing the apron she was wearing and hanging it on the wall peg nearby.

"All done back there. Oh, hi Jane! I didn't realize you were here," she greeted him in her usual sunny manner. "Sorry your date got canceled," she added in a low voice with a sly wink, resulting in a withering stare from her friend. Grace stifled a giggle and gathered her things, preparing to leave for the day.

"Is it alright that I'm taking off now? I want to go over to May's place, check and make sure everything's okay there before I head home." She turned to Jane and added by way of explanation, "I'm house-sitting for a friend who's been out town the past few weeks."

"Sure, get out of here. I'm almost done anyway," Teresa replied.

"Alright, then. Good night!" she bid them both farewell and as she reached the door, she turned to Teresa and mouthed the words have fun, which Jane pretended not to notice.

The next few minutes were spent in comfortable silence as Teresa finished her work and Jane sat by the window, gazing out at the torrential rain outside. Having spent the last few months in the scorching heat of the desert, he savored the sound of the water as it splattered on the windowpanes and splashed up against the curb with each passing car.

Suddenly he heard the light switch being turned off and the room darkened. It was only late afternoon, but the gray mass of clouds that had descended over the town made it appear much later. Teresa joined him by the window, climbing up on the stool next to his and looked out at the street. "Unreal isn't it?" she said softly. "I mean, growing up in the valley we got our share of rain... but it was nothing like this."

Jane looked over at her to see that her face was now suddenly cast in a pensive, almost melancholy expression, like she was a million miles away in a different time and place.

"You're remembering something," he said simply and quietly. "A happy memory, I hope."

"Yeah," she nodded, breathing slightly. She hesitated for a moment, clearing weighing in her mind whether or not she wanted to share what she was thinking with him. After a second or two more, she spoke.

"When I was about nine or ten years old my mom left on a trip for a few days- went back to Chicago to visit family- and my dad was taking care of us kids. He wasn't totally helpless, although I do remember us eating a lot of mac and cheese that week." The two of them chuckled softly at the recollection.

"Anyway, he heard on the weather that there was this huge front coming in, a storm that would last for days- wind, sleet, rain, a huge mess. And he got so excited…he just loved these storms. Whenever he got the chance, he'd drive out here to the coast just to watch them come through… Everyone thought he was a little crazy, which maybe he was."

Teresa smiled faintly before continuing. "So, when he heard about this storm, he just had to come and see it…. We packed a cooler full of peanut butter sandwiches and juice boxes, and he piled me and my brothers into the station wagon, threw our blankets and sleeping bags into the back and he brought us out here to the ocean.

"I remember we were parked on a little bluff overlooking the water. It was so dark it felt like the clouds were about to swallow us. And the rain was beating down on the roof and the wind- it was blowing so hard it shook the car."

"That must have been frightening," Jane offered sympathetically.

"Oh, I wasn't really scared. I mean, my dad may have been a little reckless, but I knew he'd keep us safe." Teresa's face froze briefly at those last words then she continued on gamely. "Anyway, my brothers were terrified. Stan, he was trying to act tough, but I could see he was nervous. And Jimmy and Tommy probably didn't see a thing; they were huddled next to me, cowering under the blanket the entire time."

"What about your dad?" Jane asked tentatively.

She smiled widely, a smile that betrayed feelings of nostalgia, joy and heartbreak all at once. "I remember looking over at him, and he had this huge grin on his face the whole time. Like he was in complete awe of what he was seeing and he was so excited to share it with us…It was the happiest I ever saw him." She paused again, and the edges of her mouth twitched up slightly. She looked down abruptly and reset the look on her face to her usual droll expression.

"My mom was furious when she got home and heard about our little adventure," she added brightly.

"I'll bet," Jane nodded in agreement, trying to keep the tone light for her sake. He could see she was suddenly uncomfortable with the unexpected turn their conversation had taken. Clearly deep wounds from her childhood left her guarded and unaccustomed to sharing this much of herself, and yet she had, probably to her own surprise as much as his. Everyone's walls come down at some point, he thought wryly to himself; he knew that better than anyone.

"So," she began, her voice upbeat as she hopped down from her stool, "are you ready to go?"

"Indeed I am."

She grabbed her bag off the counter and the two of them made their way through the kitchen to the backdoor that led to the parking lot. They stood under the shelter of the small awning over the doorway, which provided them some measure of protection from the pelting rain as she locked up. When she was finished, she glanced up at him, her eyes now wide with child-like excitement at the prospect of what they were about to do.

"Ready to make a break for it?" she asked, practically shouting over the roar of the pounding rain. "Mine's the one over there," she added, pointing to the midnight blue mini SUV parked at the far edge of the lot.

"Ready when you are," he replied excitedly, returning her silly grin as the two of them took their first steps off the stoop in tandem.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he impulsively reached out and clasped her hand in his as they sprinted together across the parking lot. It was only for a few moments, but he marveled at the feel of her slippery fingers holding onto his as they ran across the pavement, not even bothering to dodge the gigantic puddles that lay in their path. He released her hand only at the very moment he had to, when they reached her car and she ran around to the driver's side to unlock the doors for them. It took her a few seconds to do this, and he leaned his head back giddily, enjoying the sensation of the cold water hitting his face and catching a few drops on his tongue. Feeling the click of the mechanism unlocking, he opened the door and leapt into the passenger's seat, quickly closing the door behind him.

He paused to catch his breath, then looked over at her, her face shiny and hair matted against her head, tiny droplets of water trailing down the side of her neck. They laughed together, their breathing still hitched from their brief exertion. Then, their eyes locked suddenly, heatedly, and without giving it a moment's thought, he leaned across the console between them and found her cool wet lips with his own.

She met him halfway.

I know, I know. A kiss in the rain, super cliché. (And, yes, I know that admitting to using a cliché is a cliché, too.) Please forgive me, though. I was re-watching a certain Season 1 episode recently and was inspired to tweak/rewrite its ending scene and use it here. You all know the episode I'm referring to, right?

Thanks again for reading! Let me know your thoughts!