Come the Rain

by Kadi
Rated: M

Disclaimer: It isn't my sandbox. It is my favorite place to play, however.

A/N: As always, thanks to the amazing beta deenikn8 and the wonderful twin kate04us.

Chapter 1

It was raining; one of the rare downpours that would settle over the city for a day or two. It would leave the pavement steaming while humidity would hang oppressively in the air. Then the rain would start, and when it inevitably stopped, the air would be just a little cleaner and the city would seem bathed and new again. It never lasted for very long, but the rain did occasionally arrive.

Sharon used to love a good rainstorm. She liked to watch the clouds roll in, build and darken. She would stand and watch the lightening streak across the sky, mesmerized by the flashes and patterns. She would stand on her balcony until the first drops fell and let the breeze wash over her skin while she enjoyed the anticipation that built with the crackle of energy on the air.

Those first, fat drops of moisture would chase her inside. She would back into the apartment and stand with the door open until the downpour began to splash inward, threatening her rugs. It would be a night for curling up with a book and a glass of wine. Perhaps she would even light a few candles and enjoy the rumble of thunder while she relaxed in a hot bath.

Tonight she let the storm wash over her. She stood with her face turned toward the sky and let the rain beat down on her. It soaked her hair, left it hanging in sodden curls that were plastered to her neck and shoulders. Her dress clung to her body, the material cold and uncomfortable against her skin. She disregarded it, along with the chill that was seeping into her bones.

Sharon opened her eyes and stared at the city beyond her balcony. The rain came down in sheets, like a wall separating her from the rest of the world. Just as it had separated her from the fading sight of taillights as they disappeared into the distance.

All she could think of now was just how much she hated the rain. It was raining when he left her.

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"I see that you are all packed." The observation was made as her gaze swept the room. Gone were the books that lined his shelves, the pictures that had adorned his walls. There were boxes stacked neatly along one wall, and as she had passed it, she noticed many more were already filling his car. The rest would be shipped; he was taking with him only what he needed while he waited for the moving van to arrive.

"Yeah." A hand passed over his hair. In the last few years it had grown more silver than the salt and pepper it once was. He supposed that was to be expected, considering how close to sixty he was getting. "I taped up the last box a little while ago. The van gets here tomorrow, everything is labeled and ready for the movers." Andy walked over to the bar that separated the kitchen from the small living room. "Except for this one." He took a small box from it and carried it back to her. "It stays with you."

"Oh?" Sharon turned slowly. The small house suddenly seemed so large with everything packed away. He had donated or given away the furniture that wasn't going with him. His recliner was tagged for the movers, and she almost smiled at that. Of course he wouldn't leave that behind. She watched him set the small box on a stack of other cartons and took a step closer. While she projected a sense of casual curiosity all that she could really feel was the building ache at the back of her throat and the tight clenching in her stomach. She leaned toward the box and peered inside.

"I found some things when I was packing," Andy explained quietly. "A couple of books, a sweater, and a few things that were in my laundry." He managed a weak smile as he nudged a carefully folded scrap of silk that was tucked beneath her sweater.

"Mm," she folded her arms around herself. "I wondered where those had gotten to. I should have known." As she inspected the contents of the box, her brows lifted at the sight of a familiar blue t-shirt. Sharon reached into the box and fingered it gently. "This is not mine," she said softly.

"No," Andy took her hand. "But it always looked better on you." It was the faded, old LAPD t-shirt that she always managed to confiscate after they made love. It wasn't as though she did not have a few of her own, acquired over the years of her long career. Still, she seemed to like his best. Andy drew her close; he let his arms slide around her body. "You'll just have to bring it with you," he rumbled quietly, "when you drive up in a few weeks."

She laid her hands against his chest. "Yes." He hadn't voiced it as a question, but she could see the doubt in his gaze. "I need to see this cottage that has stolen your heart." The home that he would be living in now, that was so very far away; several hours by car, half that time by plane.

His son was living in Sacramento now, and with Nicole and her husband moving to just north of San Francisco with their children, he was feeling more distant from his children than he ever felt during the years his access to them was limited. Now that his relationships with them were stronger, the miles apart seemed insurmountable. With Nicole expecting a baby in the spring, it was understandable that he would want to be closer.

He was eligible for his pension, and how much of his time with his children had been sacrificed over the years for the sake of his job? His drinking? There were any number of excuses and reasons that were just not worth the lost time and memories. He worked very hard to rebuild those bridges, to strengthen those bonds. It was just so hard to find issue with his choice to retire. How could she? She was proud of the work that he had done to grow closer to his children again. She was proud of him for putting them first; before his job, before his friends, before even her. No matter the ache, the pain of loss that tried to take root inside of her, despite her attempts at the contrary, Sharon knew that he had made the right choice. He wouldn't be the man that she had come to care so very much for if he had not chosen his children.

It wasn't as if he would be idle either. They could take Andrew Flynn out of the LAPD, but he was still a cop at heart. When he first began entertaining the thought of going north, he explored job opportunities around both Sacramento and San Francisco. What he found was a small coastal community several miles north of San Francisco with an opening in their local police department. A former LAPD homicide detective with a good record was an enticing prospect for a little town that was losing their Chief of Police to retirement. It was busy work; the most stressful thing that town had to worry about most days was which teenager was throwing eggs at some poor curmudgeon's house. It was mostly paperwork. Sharon would find that endlessly amusing if it weren't for the fact that it was so far away, and that she was losing one of her most experienced officers.

She was losing a lot more than that.

"Not my heart." His hands slid into the thick curtain of her hair. He tipped her head back and looked down into her eyes. He watched the shifting hues of her irises, the way emotion played in the lighter shades of green and gold. His thumbs stroked the line of her jaw, and the familiar curve of her cheek. "You know, that invitation is still open, it's not too late." He spoke quietly. His voice was thick and rasping in the quiet room.

A sad smile curved her lips. "I know." Her hands curled around his wrists. She leaned into him. Sharon knew that she didn't have to tell him again that she couldn't leave. She couldn't join him. That he asked her to meant so much. They had been talking about moving in together when the news of Nicole and her husband's move north had come. Rusty was enjoying dorm life. Her nest was once again empty, and it seemed only natural that the relationship that had started after her divorce would progress to the next logical level.

Her life was in Los Angeles, however, as was her career. It was where she had raised her children, and it was where they came to when they were home. It was where Rusty was, even if he was a few miles away. She still saw him often. Her adopted son dropped by almost constantly; it was only his physical address that had changed. She could retire so easily, and yet she wasn't ready to take that step. The very idea of leaving behind everything that she knew had filled her with such overwhelming panic, she simply couldn't do it.

No matter how badly it hurt.

"I will see you in a few weeks," Sharon said instead. It wasn't meant to be an end, this move. They both knew better, however. Absence did not always make the heart grow fonder. Miles of separation did not always bode well for the parties involved. He knew her schedule, knew only too well how busy the never-ending stream of cases that would come her way would keep her. It would be that much more chaotic without him. She would need to hire a replacement, and that thought filled her with a deep, terrible ache. "You will have to show me around."

Her voice hitched and he felt it in the answering tightness of his chest. "I'll be back down before the holidays," he promised. They would be moving back and forth between the two locations, just as often as they could. That was the promise they made, and yet, it wasn't nearly enough. He wasn't leaving her; he was only leaving the city.

"Yes." Her teeth scraped across her bottom lip. "You should really go now if you are going to make it to Morgan Bay before midnight." Her hands stroked down his arms. She offered him a watery smile.

"Yeah." Now that it was upon him, the idea of leaving wasn't so easy. He lowered his head and let his lips hover for a moment. He felt a tremor run through her. His hands slid down her back and he gathered her close. Her mouth shifted beneath his, her lips parted. When he tasted salt mingled with her usual sweetness, he realized that the moisture pooling in her eyes had given way to tears. It wasn't meant to be goodbye. It was only his geography that was changing.

So much had already been said. Sharon drew back, even as his thumbs swept over her cheeks, smoothing away the tears she tried so hard to hold back. She walked with him to the door and waited as he locked it behind him. She was silent as he loaded the box of her things into the backseat of her car. She leaned against the driver's side door and took those few, silent minutes to regain her control. When he stood back, she smiled brightly up at him. "Call me when you get there?" Sharon shook her head. "No matter how late."

"I'll call." As often as they could stand. He leaned in and kissed her again. "Go home, Sharon." His eyes lifted toward the sky. "Before the bottom falls out."

"Hm." She shrugged. "I like the rain." Then she smiled at him, because he knew that too, only too well. Sharon drew a breath and stood straighter. "Okay, off you go." If they were doing this, then it needed to be done now. The longer they lingered, the harder it would be. "Key." She held out her hand for it. She was dropping it by the realtor in the morning. Her fingers closed around the cool metal when it dropped into her hand. She held it tightly; let it bite into her palm.

"Bossy." He hesitated for a moment. Then Andy reached for her again. His hand cupped the back of her head and he drew her to him. He kissed the top of her head and turned away. "Don't be too hard on Provenza. He's not good at playing by himself."

Sharon rolled her eyes at that. "Who is going to stop him from being too hard on me?"

He laughed as he walked around his car, with far more levity than he felt. He looked up again when the first drops of rain hit the hood of his car. "I'll call you," he promised again.

"I know you will."

Their gazes met, held. Finally he folded himself into his car. Sharon drew her bottom lip between her teeth when the engine started. As it left the driveway and started down the lane, the rain began to fall. Soon the heavy sheets of rain were obscuring her view of the fading taillights, and soaking through the sweater and jeans she wore.

The rain she loved suddenly felt cold… she no longer welcomed it.

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She let the shower warm her again. Afterward, with her wet things in the laundry and wrapped in a thick robe, Sharon curled on her sofa with a cup of tea. Beneath the robe, she wore the t-shirt, and as she drew her legs beneath her, she lamented that she could only just make out the scent of his cologne. It was fading, but time would do that. How long had it been since they were last together?

It started out well enough, although, these things always did. One of them made the trip at least once a month, her to him, or him to her. It didn't seem to matter. In hindsight, it was mostly Andy coming to her. She was seldom able to get away for an entire weekend. Too many times plans changed at the last minute and it was necessary for her to stay in the city. He came to her instead, but lately that had changed. He was too busy to get away, spending weekends with his step-grandsons to give Nicole and her husband a break as they neared her due date.

She could claim that she couldn't get away, and logistically that was true. Something had changed, and what that was exactly, she couldn't name. She didn't feel the same drive that she had in the beginning. Sharon no longer found the same satisfaction in a job well done. She still approached it with the same fervor that she always had, but she found it all so very lacking now.

Rusty thought that she was depressed. There was sadness there, surely, but it wasn't that. Her priorities had shifted. They had changed. It wasn't necessarily that her enjoyment in her work was lacking, it was that something else integral to her life was missing. Or rather, someone else.

The only question that remained was what to do about that? Her life was in Los Angeles, and now his was in Morgan Bay.

Wasn't it?

-TBC-