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The sun is rising when Cleo comes downstairs to start her shift. Like every morning that week, Heyward has already prepared a coffee for her, and he's busy frying something in the kitchen. If her nose doesn't deceive her, it's bacon. Her mouth waters at the smell.
"Good morning, Boss."
He turns to flash her a big grin. "Good morning Miss Cleo."
It's funny to think that Pope warned her about how grumpy his father could be. He's been nothing but a ray of sunshine where she's concerned, and she delights in teasing Pope about it to this day.
"Do you need any help?"
"I'm good." He says, turning back to the pan. "I'll call you when it's ready."
"Sure thing." She slinks out of the kitchen and into the shop. The fishermen haven't bought in the latest catch yet, but instead of standing idly by, she picks up a cloth and gets to cleaning. She doesn't think that Heyward would be angry with her if she didn't work every second of her shift, but she wants to do everything she can for the family that has already given her so much. She could never repay the kindness they've shown her, but she can do everything she can to make sure that Heyward's Seafood remains the best fishmonger in town.
She's wiping the table when Heyward pops his head in. "Hey, breakfast is ready."
She follows him into the kitchen where Pope and his mother are already sitting at the table. Pope is heaping eggs onto his plate while Mrs Heyward is pouring herself some coffee.
"Good morning everyone."
Mrs Heyward glances up at her with a warm smile. "Good morning sweetheart."
Cleo's eyes turn to Pope next who is also smiling as he greets her with a quiet, "Hey." She returns the smile as she slides into the seat next to him, and hands him her plate after he offers to serve her.
Heyward joins them too but not before kissing his wife. Pope shifts in his chair and Cleo understands his discomfort -- she reasons that no child wants to see their parents acting all lovey dovey in front of them. She also thinks it's unbearably sweet that after all the years they've been together, Heyward still feels the need to kiss his wife before he starts eating breakfast on a random Tuesday morning.
Embarrassingly, it makes her think of Pope, and how fortunate she is that he takes after such a great man. Not that there's anything between them. She knows better. She's been burnt too many times to even think about going there, but sometimes she lets herself picture what their life would look like together. Not in a growing old together sort of way – nothing in her life has ever been permanent enough for her to think that far ahead – but she does think about how it would feel to hold his hand on a walk on the beach, and she can't help the butterflies that flutter in her stomach at the thought of kissing him.
She wrestles with her feelings, all while knowing that she can't get too attached. Even with the security the Heyward's have afforded her, or perhaps, especially because of it.
She truly believes that Pope is the best man she's ever known. It isn't really a compliment, not given the kind of guys she's had to deal with in her lifetime. But even among the pogues – and she's seen first-hand how they would give up anything, including their life, for each other – Pope stands out to her. She doesn't know whether it's because of his quirky nature, or his beautiful smile, or his awful Bahamian accent, or the fact that despite being too slow when it comes down to fighting people, he's never failed to make her feel at ease when they've teamed up together. She can't pinpoint the exact reason he's so special to her, and that's the scariest part about it.
But she can't afford to tell him how she feels. Not when he's still longing after someone else. At the time, founding the no love club seemed like the perfect way to cheer him up. Now, she doesn't know whether it's the smartest thing she's ever done. Because even if he did like her, he will never say, not while he believes that she's completely off limits to love.
She takes another sip of coffee as she decides to put him out of her mind for the time being. She focuses instead on the friendly chit chat that's currently sounding around the table, and can't help but smile into her mug at Heyward and Pope's interactions. No doubt the Heyward's would take such a mundane thing for granted, but their closeness as a family still amazes her.
She can't believe how far she's come.
There was a time when she didn't know whether she'd make it through the day, let alone survive the night. She's been in survival mode for as long as she can remember, and sometimes it's still hard to believe that she's safe.
She looks around at the people seated at the table with her, and she's struck with a fresh wave of gratitude. She's only known them for a few weeks, but it's the most comfortable she's ever been. She's never known the feeling until now, but she has a distinct feeling that she's home.
She'll never know for certain whether it was God's intention to send her to the Heyward family, but she vows that a day won't ever go by without her thanking him for it.