Ocean Eyes

Comfort

By the time Ryder emerged from the back room, the sunset had passed. The sky was a dark blue, not night but dusk. The velvety color of the sky did little to call the rolling of Ryder's stomach.

Her eyes were red and raw but Jim made no comment. He simply told her Sarah was with someone in the kitchen and that the outdoor supplies needed to be tidied up. It was times like that when she remembered why she was so fond of the old man. He never asked questions, not when she had first showed up for a job- the antisocial and guarded teenager of whose grandfather had been his best friend. He didn't push to find out about her mother, didn't make any comments when she had come to work especially bitter.

Instead, Jim would pat her on the shoulder and ignore it. For that, she would be eternally grateful.

However, all warm feelings towards him soured as she realized just who Sarah had took into the kitchen. Paul Lahote emerged, looking every bit the handsome man who had swept her off her feet. His hair was tousled, his cheeks red from the warmth of the kitchen and a jolly smile etched on his face. He held a paper bag in his hands, no doubt filled with Sarah's famous peanut butter cookies.

Sarah stood next to him, her long silver hair tied back and her worn jumper covered by a dirtied apron. She was smiling and Ryder saw in her eyes immediately that she approved of Paul. Jim too, when he easily fell into jokes with Paul, seemed completely on board with her romance.

Ryder wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and hide.

Paul's imploring eyes found her instantly and he broke out into a smile. It didn't matter that he had seen her only a day prior, or that she'd sent him a text a mere hour ago. Seeing Ryder would never lose the magical quality, the pull on his heart and the airiness in his head. Then he noticed the redness in her eyes, the sorrow in her gaze.

Paul wanted nothing more than to run up and hug her but he knew she didn't want that. As she stood up slowly and made her way over to them, he held her eyes steadily, forcing himself not to cajole her into hating him. She wanted to be independent and he knew that.

Ryder smiled softly as she joined the three. Paul reached out, intertwining his fingers with her in a reminder that he was there for her. "I see you've met Paul." Ryder gained courage from the act of affection, straightening her back and pretending that her face wasn't red and blotchy.

"We have." Sarah smiled widely and again, Ryder sensed that Paul had blown the older woman away. "You made a good choice, Ryder."

"You're being too kind, Mrs. Benson." Paul grinned and Sarah cooed. He turned to Jim, who looked almost as in love with the teenager as his wife. "Your store is very nice, Mr Benson."

"Oh, Paul, call us Jim and Sarah." Jim chortled. Ryder smiled, happy that the three were getting along but anxious, as her siblings should be there soon and Paul had shown up out of no where.

"Paul, what are you doing here?" He looked down at her, surveying her slowly to make sure she was okay before smiling softly.

"Sam is building Emily a new gardening shed for her birthday. We're all helping out so I came here to get some wood."

"Oh." Somehow Ryder was relieved, knowing that he didn't have a radar for all of the times she was at her weakest. Still, she allowed herself to hug him, to get enveloped in his warm arms and his musty smell. Jim and Sarah teased them, calling them lovebirds, but Paul kept her close. He didn't take her hands off her for a minute, his arm thrown around her shoulder or wrapped tight around her waist, his hand laced in hers or resting on the small of her back. There were no other customers and so they stayed like that, anchored together and talking with Sarah and Jim. The two looked at them with knowing eyes, laughed about how they too had been so young once. Ryder found her rock in Paul and she clung to him, her memories of Carter pushed away as his arms wrapped around her.