Andrew was caught off guard by the sudden frantic knocking at his door. Glancing at the clock as he passed by, he wondered who could possibly be bothering him at this hour. Swinging open the door, he was surprised to see Carrie.

"Carrie, what's going on? Is everything alright?" he asked, immediately concerned. She had a strange look about her, and she looked like she was frozen; cheeks rosy, and the tip of her nose bright red.

"I made a decision today, Andrew," she said simply, as she pulled him close and kissed him.

* * * *

"Nick, where are you going?" Brian demanded.

"What part of this do you keep missing?" Nick asked, exasperated.

"The part where this makes sense," he shot back. Tension was a little tight between the two of them.

"I am going to New York, Brian. I'll be back in a few days," Nick sighed, hoping that he would just let it go.

"He's going to find Cairo," Lacey said softly, from the porch above them.

"Lacey," Nick warned.

"What?" Brian asked, confused.

"Brian, honey, the last time she was seen was in New York. He's going there to find her, it would appear," she said.

"Lacey, you don't know everything that's going on here," Nick protested.

"Yes, I do. I know you've had her tracked throughout the country for the past two years, and I know that you stopped that three months ago," she said.

"Lacey, just leave it alone," Nick said, glaring up at the woman who had been there to hold his hand through the darkest hours of his life, who he sometimes wished would just disappear into the ground for a few hours.

"Nick, do what you have to do, but just don't come crawling back her like a wounded puppy expecting us to help you in your misery," Lacey said, and stormed back into the house. Brian shot Nick a look that spoke volumes, mostly about his frustration at being placed between his wife and his best friend.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to piss her off," Nick said awkwardly.

"Ah, don't worry about it. If she's mad at you, just means she's not mad at me," Brian laughed.

"I am so telling her you said that," Nick warned.

"Don't bother, I heard him," she called out. The two men both laughed, and Nick threw his bag into the trunk of the car. With a wave, he turned to open the door to the driver's side when a voice calling out to them stopped them.

"Hey, you must be the new tenants! Welcome to Fletchers'," it called. Looking over, they saw a man running along side a golden retriever. He was smiling, the characteristic of all of the islanders they had met on Fletchers' so far. Brian's dog, standing on the porch with Lacey, immediately perked up and took a made dash for the retriever.

"Brian, can you stop him?" Lacey asked, exasperated. "That little rat will only listen to you."

"Don't worry about it, Maggie won't mind him. It's nice to meet you folks, I'm Andrew Jenkins," he said, bending down to pat his dog on the head.

"Nick Carter," Nick said politely.

"I'm Brian, and up there is my wife, Lacey," Brian said, walking over to rescue the puppy from the curious sniffing of the much larger dog.

"Where ya from?" Andrew asked. "I'm guessing one of the sunshine states, Florida or California."

"We're from Florida…How could you tell?"

"You'll never find someone from a cold part of the country coming to spend part of the winter on this little island. They're all going where you folks are leaving! My girlfriend is a testament to that, she's from Florida as well. She'll be in for a little bit of a surprise when the first storm hits, as I'm sure all of you will be."

"Weather gets pretty rough up around here?" Brian asked, with a shade of concern.

"We've been known to get hit with the occasional storm. The real problem lies when the water gets too rough for the ferry to get out here, so a lot of times, we suffer from cabin fever more than the cold."

"I could see that. Not a very large town, now is it?" Brian laughed.

"Andrew! You dropped your scarf!" a female voice was calling from around the bend in the road. Footsteps trotted up, and a redheaded woman emerged, holding a black scarf in her hands.

"It does you no good on the ground," she laughed, as she flipped it over his head, and tightened it around his neck. "That's much better." Nick, who had made his way into the car, and was adjusting his mirrors, froze as soon as he heard her voice. He could hear Lacey gasp in amazement.

"Brian and Lacey, this is Carrie, a relative newcomer to Fletchers'. They're here vacationing over Thanksgiving and Christmas, I assume."
Nick stepped slowly out of the car, doing everything he could to keep calm and hold himself together. He turned around, and as blue eyes met blue eyes, his entire world ground to a halt.