Present Day, Hidden Lake, Michigan
Elizabeth Thornton sat in her screened in porch and stared out at the water, a serene, peaceful feeling in her heart. This was where she and her husband of thirty years, Jack, had lived and raised their family.
Now they were grandparents of four girls, one of which sat with her now.
"Gran, tell me how you met Papa. Please?"
"Well, Lizzie, my dear, it's a long story."
"I'm only ten, Gran. I have time." Elizabeth chuckled.
"Very well. It all started many years ago. Thirty two to be exact."
….
32 years before, Hidden Lake Community College
Jack Thornton checked his watch as he jogged to his classroom. Late again. It was something he had always struggled with. It had driven his wife nuts that he was always at least ten minutes late, even to their rehearsal for their wedding.
It hadn't gotten better over the years either. When Fiona passed, their boys were three and five and so he had to manage not only his own time but theirs as well. Thankfully his brother Tom lived nearby and helped him out constantly.
Ten years later, he was approaching forty and raising two teenage boys. Ones who were starting to notice girls and cared about their hair and clothes which meant constant fighting over the bathroom and less time in general.
Jack entered his classroom about five minutes late. He taught at the community college five nights a week. He had been the Beginners Art Course instructor for the past fifteen years. He loved it.
It paid the bills and gave him weekends off to get things done at home.
He looked at the students scattered around the studio. Everyone was staring at him so he sat on the edge of his desk. "One thing you should know and remember about me is I'm notorious for being late. I apologize in advance. That being said, I rarely cancel a class so if I don't send out an email, just come to class and get to work."
He stood up and smiled. "Now, let's get started. My name is Jack Thornton. You can call me Jack or Professor. Whichever. We are all adults so that's fine. Does anyone have prior art experience? Whether its calligraphy, pottery, sculpture, doodling on your notebook?" The class laughed. "That's right. Doodling is still creative and could be considered art. We have all doodled so that means we have all had a tiny bit of experience."
Elizabeth Thatcher sat in the class, already annoyed. Being late was so inconsiderate. She had paid for this class and didn't have all the time in the world. Didn't he care about anyone else?
She sighed. The thing that perhaps distracted from his inconsiderate behavior was the fact that he was exceedingly handsome. Good hair, long eyelashes that framed his gorgeous green eyes and his smile. Good heavens!
"Miss? Your name?"
She startled when she realized he was standing right in front of her. "Huh?"
"Your name."
"Um….Elizabeth." Did he have to stare at her like that? Now her cheeks were on fire.
"Well, Elizabeth, what do you hope to learn in this class?"
"Learn?"
"Yes. This is an art class so I'm assuming you have a goal in mind?"
"No. Not really."
"May I ask why you are here if you don't expect to learn anything?"
"I'd rather not say."
He smirked and nodded. "Alright. Maybe next time."
Jack walked to the next row and continued to gather information from his other students.
However, his mind was on the shy and beautiful brunette, Elizabeth. Blue eyes behind those cute glasses. Nice smile. Student. Yes! His student. He couldn't date her! Thankfully the class was only eight weeks long. Then, his goal would be to get to know her. Somehow.
Elizabeth slipped out of class at precisely 8:15pm when it ended.
She texted her best friend, Rosie. "U better be glad I love u."
"I am, lol. How did it go?"
"I'm not going back. I tried it. Not doing it again."
Rosie called her. "Of course you are. One class is hardly giving it a shot."
"It was an hour and fifteen minutes of pure torture, Rosemary."
"Torture? I'm the drama queen in this friendship. Not you."
"First time for everything."
"What happened?"
"First, the teacher was late!"
"Oh my. Doesn't he know how much you hate that?" she teased.
"Apparently not."
"How early were you, Beth?"
"Not too."
"How early?"
"Only twenty minutes."
"And how late was he?"
"Five minutes."
"So if perhaps you hadn't showed up so insanely early, it might not have seemed so horrible that he was late."
"That's beside the point."
"What else happened?"
She got in her car and locked the door, immediately turning the air conditioning on. It was late July and insanely hot in Hidden Lake.
"Well?"
"He asked me what I want to learn in the class and what my goal was."
"And that was so horrible because…."
"I hate being the center of attention, Rosie. My cheeks turn bright red."
"Beth, you need to give it a shot. Its twice a week for eight weeks. It might be worth it."
"He's so cute, Rosie. Like so very very cute."
"Aha! We get to your real reason for wanting to quit. I can't think of anything bad about sitting in a room and staring at a cute teacher."
"I'm just not….I'm not a dater. I don't know how to act. I'm clumsy and boring and a nerd. Who would want to date that?"
"First of all, my sweet Beth. You are not boring. You entertain me everyday."
"Very funny."
"Second, nerdy goes along with smart and hard working and capable. All you need to do is act like yourself. Third, no one says you need to date the man. Just stare at him."
"But what if I want to date him?" she wondered quietly.
"Well, then you need to keep seeing him. Starting with twice a week."
….
Jack arrived home about 9pm. Thirteen year old Isaac was on the couch watching a movie. His brother, fifteen year old Jonah was in the recliner texting on his phone.
"Hey, guys."
"Hey," Isaac responded.
"Jonah."
"Yeah."
"Can you please put the phone down for a minute?"
He sighed and put it in his lap.
"Thank you. Please do the dishes."
"I will."
"Now. Its 9pm. What have you been doing for the last hour since Gramps dropped you off?"
"I don't know." Jack knew Jonah had been texting more than likely the whole time he had been in class. Raylinn Stanton had caught his attention and took up a lot of his time.
"Dishes."
"Fine." He picked up his phone and texted again.
"Raylinn will survive for the twenty minutes you need to do your chores."
Jonah stood and shoved his phone in his back pocket and shuffled off to the kitchen.
"Isaac, bud. Time for bed."
As usual, his quiet, responsible son shut off his movie and stood up.
"Night, Dad."
Jack stopped him as he walked past. "You alright?"
"Sure."
"I was thinking that tomorrow we could head to the shelter."
Isaac's eyes lit up. He had wanted a dog for the last six months since their last dog, Charlie, had passed away. They had grown up together and Isaac missed him badly. "Thanks, Dad."
"I love you, son."
"I love you too."
As difficult as life with his boys sometimes was, he was proud. They were all in all well behaved.
He headed into the kitchen to dry the dishes for Jonah.
"Why is it we don't have a dishwasher again?" Jonah asked.
"We do. And you're good at it too."
"Funny, Dad."
"I thought it was." He picked up the dish towel and dried a plate. "So, we are heading to the shelter tomorrow."
"Finally replacing Charlie?"
"Yeah. I think a dog will be good for us."
"I guess."
"You don't want a dog?"
"I don't know. It will be fine. I think Isaac needs a dog though."
Isaac was a kind, sweet kid but he was shy and didn't make friends easily. He would rather stay home and watch movies or play video games than go to a friend's house.
He really seemed lonely and that was the main reason Jack decided on a dog.
The other reason was selfish. Jack was lonely too. Maybe they'd get two dogs.
…..
Elizabeth walked into her third floor apartment in downtown Hidden Lake. She loved it. It was decorated to exactly her taste and she kept it spotless. Everything in its place.
She headed to the kitchen to make herself a cup of tea and then to the bedroom to complete her nighttime routine.
She sighed twenty minutes later as she slipped into bed at exactly 9:30. She set her alarm for 6:00 and turned off her light, pulling her eye mask on and turning on her side.
She fell asleep quickly, as usual. Her dream consisted of a certain hunky Art teacher with dreamy eyes and dimples who happened to look great in a t-shirt and jeans. Really great.
When she woke up the next morning, she realized she was definitely going to be in trouble if she kept going to class.
She grabbed her phone and texted Rosie. "Do u think there is a rule the college about dating your student?"
She got up and showered, got dressed in what Rosie called her "power suit", grabbed her laptop bag and purse, and headed out the door.
She drove to The Village Cup for coffee and a blueberry scone as she did every day. She walked in at precisely 7:00 and got back in her SUV at 7:15. Traffic wasn't bad so as she drove the twenty miles to Ann Arbor where her office was, she listened to her book and tried not to think about a certain guy.
"Morning," she said to her secretary, Florence.
"Morning, Miss Thatcher. You have two messages. One from Mr. Thatcher confirming your ten o'clock meeting at Hilltop Credit Union. The second is from Mayor Stanton. She has a question about your audit report."
"Thank you, Florence."
"You're welcome."
Being one of the top CPA's in Ann Arbor had its benefits. Not only was she well paid, she was respected. Thatcher & Thatcher Auditors was one of the largest in the city. That being said, it had its drawbacks too. Like being in high demand and never taking a vacation. Well, not in the last five years anyway.
"I'll take one this year," she told herself. "I deserve it."
….
Jack and Isaac wandered through the pet shelter. "Dad, how am I supposed to choose?"
"Close your eyes and point?" As they walked down the last row again, Jack saw the one he wanted. "What about this guy, Isaac?"
"He's cute. And his paws are huge."
"He will probably be pretty tall."
"Let's get him." Isaac put his hand up to the cage and was rewarded with a lick and a tail wag.
That was how Duke became a member of the Thornton household.
"So he is yours, bud. That means you are responsible for house training, cleaning up the backyard, feeding him."
"I will." Jack was sure he would. "Dad?"
"Yeah."
"Why don't you ever go out?"
"Out where?"
"Like anywhere. On a date."
"Oh well, school takes a lot of my time."
"You don't work weekends."
"No but I like to spend time with you guys."
"We would be okay if you met someone."
"I know you would. Where is this coming from?"
"Just wonder what it would be like to have a mom. I don't remember mine so it would be like starting from scratch."
"To be honest, up until recently, I haven't really thought about it much."
"What changed?"
"I guess I met someone in one of my classes and she made me feel something again. It surprised me."
"Is she pretty?"
"Yeah. She is."
"Then I say go for it."
"Maybe I will, Isaac. Maybe I will." In eight more weeks anyway.