Mari was nervous about going to a restaurant, but she kept reminding herself that she would be with Mike. He chose a quiet dimly lit restaurant. It was romantic, but more popular with an older, elderly crowd rather than dating couples. They had a glass of wine and once again Mari made comparisons to the past. Charlie would have automatically ordered an expensive bottle to share. With their relaxed conversation, she felt comfortable with the man she had only known for five months. Just the fact she was sitting in public was a miracle compared to the girl she was in the hood.

When they left the restaurant, before Mike helped her step up into his truck, he pulled her into him and kissed her. Confused about what she wanted, she thought of sleeping in the room next to him. A part of her wanted more than to just sleep with him. She just didn't know if she could survive saying goodbye if they became lovers.

Mike parked in the driveway and turned to face her. He amused her by how careful of a driver he was. Everything with Michael Bassett was about safety. She blushed because she imagined he would also practice safe sex. If he noticed her blush, he said nothing.

"Thank you for dinner. It was lovely." She sounded like she went to finishing school which she didn't.

"I could ask to walk you to your door, but I'm going your way. Instead, I'll ask if you want to go for a walk on the beach with me."

She smiled and answered by leaning over and kissing his cheek. The air was a little cold so she grabbed her hoodie.

Mike laughed as she was putting it on. "I haven't seen you wear that in a while. Can you believe I've almost missed it?"

She smiled. "If I put the hood on will you kiss me before pulling it off."

"I'll kiss you with or without the hood. Come on, let's hope we don't find any teens we know doing the same thing we're planning to do."

"What are we planning to do?"

"Kiss on the beach."

His smile was gorgeous.

The morning after their date, Mike walked down the stairs to head out for coffee and almost ran right into Mason. Anna had decided to stay with Mari and texted him while they were walking on the beach. As a result, he and Mari slept in their own beds. It disappointed and relieved him, because he wasn't sure how many nights he could spend with her in his arms without wanting a lot more from her.

Mason held out a cup of coffee for Mike. "It's not Rick's, but I promise it's good."

Mike nodded and took the cup as he wondered what the older gentleman wanted to talk to him about.

"Sit, please." Mason gestured Mike towards the table.

Mike sat. "Did my daughter tell you about me and my wife?"

Mike shrugged. "A little." He wasn't sure what he meant. He knew they were both on their second marriage and they had met here at The Point.

"We had a relationship when we lived in different states. For personal reasons, we settled for a long distance relationship for about nine years."

"Nine years!" Mike couldn't imagine why they continued for so long.

"Except for two to three weeks here every summer."

"Why are you telling me this?" Mike didn't want to presume.

"Just remember, nothing is impossible if you find yourself facing a long distant relationship."

Shocked that he was encouraging him. "Are you telling me, you would support me, if I had a long distance relationship with your daughter?"

"I would be blind if I didn't see what you have done for my Maribelle. She hasn't been this happy since she was..." He didn't answer, but shook his head instead as if he didn't want to talk about the past.

Mike assumed he was thinking of before the fire. Mike admitted, "She makes me happy too."

"Don't let the distance deter you?"

"Why did it take you so long?" Mike asked still finding it hard to conceive how they continued so long apart.

"Many reasons, but our children were a factor."

Mike nodded and wondered if Anna was a factor. "My daughter is upstairs sleeping. I hope you don't mind."

Mason smiled. "I look forward to meeting her. Mari showed me the headlines. I wish I had confronted the one who impregnated my daughter at fifteen. The difference was he was only sixteen, and she had encouraged him. You are a good father and that's a quality I admire."

"Takes one to know one." Mike added before he excused himself to take his walk.

Mike walked by the beach on his way to The Landing. His body tingled remembering their walk the night before. Being with Mari made all his pressures evaporate. Could he just follow Bryan's lead and leave Turner? Would all his worries go away? There was still the problem of Cole. Why did that kid make him uncomfortable? His answer was because of the crap he pulled that Christmas when Bryan brought Sam to Maine.

Mike avoided his responsibilities for a few days. He had to face the long drive back. It had been a week since he had jumped in his truck to go to Anna. Michaela was four days old and had only had a few minor setbacks. Anna was busy producing milk, but in between she was running around with Cole and Sam as if she had never had a baby except for the oversized shirts she wore.

He had woken with Mari pressed against him. After Anna first night in Mari's house, they went back to sharing a bed. Anna slept too late to notice what room either of them woke in. It was becoming harder and harder to not cross the line to intimacy. One sign from Mari she was ready, and Mike would be completely prepared. He felt himself respond to just that thought and realized he felt like a teenager which instantly worried him. Anna and Cole were teenagers.

His phone interrupted his musing, and he answered the call from one of his guys.

"Chief?" the voice said.

"Yeah, what's up?" Mike suspected it wasn't a social call.

"Things are hell. Schlosser is making a mess of everything. Is it true they asked you to leave?"

"What?" The shock hit him.

"The whole town, thinks you're on a disciplinary leave. The protesters are all walking around like they won."

"Won, what? Jesus, no. It's a family leave, my daughter needed me. I'll see about being back next week."

It was Friday, and he had a surprise planned for Mari the following night. He didn't want it to be goodbye, but it would be. If he drove all day Sunday, he could start sorting things out on Monday morning. He hated leaving Anna and Mari, but at least they would have each other. He felt the disappointment course through him at the thought of Mari.

As if his day couldn't get any worse, Shelby called him as he was walking back with their coffees. Why was everyone calling so early and ruining what should be a perfect summer day at the beach?

At least she cared since the purpose of her call was to check on Anna. "She's okay. She's busy with the whole milk business. She really wants to do this for the baby."

"And she won't change her mind?" Shelby sounded concerned.

"We signed the paperwork. She would never do that to Tim. Shel, he is so happy. It's amazing! Even with her being so tiny, they never stop smiling. Anna would never hurt them. She is back to being herself."

"When will she come home? George agreed to let her come back."

Mike didn't know if he felt relief or anger now they wanted her. "I don't know. She needs to stay close to the baby. She will probably have to start school here. The baby could be in the hospital for all of September. I'm driving back in a couple days. Things are going to shit at the firehouse."

He still didn't know if he wanted her returning to that same high school at least now the Catholic school would be an option. Maybe he'd look into it next week when he was home again.

Shelby surprised him when she said, "You know I miss her."

"You should call her and tell her then. Shel, I gotta go."

He said the last bit as he walked into the house and Mari was waiting for him. He rolled his eyes. "Just checking on Anna. Apparently, George will allow her to live with them now that she isn't pregnant." His words came out with a lot of pent up anger. He couldn't even deal with what he learned about his job. He should tell her he was leaving instead he let her hug him and help dissolve the anger.

Everything was happening so fast and he just wanted to enjoy the day. "Can you play hooky today so we can go to the beach?" He flashed his smile.

"I could arrange that."

Knowing he had to leave he felt a boulder in his gut, but said nothing. He just couldn't yet. Leaving this time seemed more permanent than ever.

Anna woke to a phone call from Shelby. She needed to pump anyway. Every time she wondered why she was doing this torture she looked at her picture of her tiny cousin. She had seen her a few times when she went to bring the milk. One night, Tim and Amy took a drive to pick it up. Anna suspected that the nurses threw them out of the NICU. They were there all the time except to sleep.

Psycho Shelby was too happy. She went on about missing her and then she said, "With your dad coming home, you'll be on your own."

Alarm bells went off. She didn't know her dad was leaving. "Did he say when he planned to arrive in Turner?"

"He said something about leaving. When you are done with this milk stuff, you'll come and live with me again."

Alarm bells went off in her head. All she could think was, hell no!

She called Sam. "Do what you need to do. Now!"

"Are you sure? There will be no going back for you."

"I don't want to go back."

Sam laughed. "Dee thinks Mike should copy my dad. What does she mean?"

Anna had never told Sam, her dad and Mari were friendly. Apparently Dee was playing matchmaker. If her dad could find happiness with Mari, Anna would be happy, but her number one concern was to ensure she could never go back to Turner. She wanted to stay in Maine and be Cole's girlfriend.

Sam said, "Okay but I hope my dad doesn't kill me and his sister!"

Sam hung up, and she put the damn suction cup to her tit and turned on the machine.