5 more minutes, she thought looking at the clock for the umpteenth time that day. Eliza Hanover was not normally a clock watcher, but today signaled the last day of the horrible job that had been a necessity for the past 4 years. She got her degree 2 weeks ago, and had finally accepted a job offer in Seattle. It had taken her almost 4 years to get the 2 year RN degree, but she had done it. On her own. As a single parent. Now, she was getting the hell out of dodge, otherwise known as Phoenix, Arizona. She had stayed and gone to school here to keep her 6 year old daughter, Alice, near her paternal grandparents. It wasn't their fault their son was a piece of shit excuse for a man. But now she had to move on and do what was right for her. And that meant moving somewhere new and not being known as the poor waitress who was left by her husband for a porn star. Being cheated on hurt no matter what, but it was even worse to discover your husband was a cheating bastard by seeing it in the tabloids. There were pictures taken of the two of them at a club opening in LA, when he was supposed to be in Denver for a business meeting. That was five years ago. When the divorce was finalized and the dust settled, Eliza knew she had to do something to support herself and her daughter. So she decided to finally go to nursing school.

Eliza glanced at the clock again. Finally, 3 o clock. I'm so outta here. She quickly took off her apron and grabbed her purse and keys. Nobody here gave a shit about her anyway, and she left without a word. Cranking up her car, Eliza smiled broadly as Def Leppard began blasting from her stereo. It was just what she needed to end her last day in Arizona. She was on her way to pick up Alice from school, it was her last day of kindergarten, and then they were off to the airport. All of her stuff had already been sent ahead of them, a friend from high school offering to have it set up in their apartment before she arrived. Her brother ran a trucking company and was going to pick up her car from the airport on his next shipment and bring it to Seattle for her. In the meantime, she would rent a car when she got into Seattle. There was no way she was driving all that way with a 6 year old.

She pulled up to the elementary school, seeing her daughter waiting patiently next to her teacher. She honked the horn and the little girl looked up, a grin widening across her face, showing off perfect little dimples. Her auburn hair was no longer up in the pretty French braid it started out in that morning, instead it was blowing softly across her face in the breeze. Her steel grey eyes lit up with excitement and with a final hug to her teacher, she was running to the car, where Eliza was now waiting with the back door open. Eliza was thankful that Alice looked like her and not her father. He hadn't even seen their child in 3 years, when his half assed attempts of visiting their daughter trickled down to nothing. No, Alice was a spitting image of Eliza at that age, other than the hair color. Eliza's was lighter, a coppery orange version of a true red, versus Alice's darker almost brunette auburn color. But their eyes were the exact same shade of steely gray, set against pale, creamy white skin, courtesy of Eliza's Irish heritage. They both had the same splattering of freckles across the bridge of their nose that became more prominent in the summertime. Eliza buckled Alice into the booster seat and got back into the driver's seat, heading towards the airport.

"Are you excited to go to Seattle?" she asked, glancing at Alice in the rearview mirror. "We get to see Auntie Laci and meet her husband."

"Boys are icky Mom." Came the response from the backseat. "But I'm glad I'll get to see Aunt Laci. I miss her."

Laci Henderson, now Fourtner, had been Eliza's best friend since 6th grade. Eliza had met her ex-husband, James, their junior year of high school. He was in college and with his bad boy ways had immediately ensnared the attention of a young Eliza. They had gotten engaged right after Eliza graduated high school, much to Laci's dismay. She was adamant that he was bad news and lo and behold she was right. However, the younger Eliza didn't know what the older now did, and when she was twenty, she married James. She now suspected that he cheated on her multiple times during their 3 year marriage, but she was unable to see it at the time. 14 short months into their marriage, Eliza had gotten pregnant with Alice. Once the baby was born, James became more and more distant, never wanting to be around the baby. It was obvious now that things did not go as he planned, and Eliza should have known after 6 months without sex that he was getting it somewhere else. Laci was the first one Eliza called when she found the tabloid. Laci was immediately comforting, never once saying "I told you so." She came out to Arizona for a few weeks, saying that since her husband was out fishing anyways, the least she could do was be there for Eliza. Strangely, in the 6 years that Laci had been married, Eliza had yet to meet her husband, Matt or Mike, was his name. He was a fisherman on that reality show, but Eliza hadn't had time to watch TV since school started. She was looking forward to meeting him, Laci seemed very happy with him. Plus, he gathered some of his fisherman buddies to help her move in, which immediately granted him points in her book.

Laci bounced impatiently on the balls of her feet, looking out the window yet again. Eliza had called her about 15 minutes ago, saying she was leaving the airport. She should be here any minute, and some of the boys were still here putting the finishing touches on the rental.

"Laci, chill. She'll be here soon." Mike called to her from the living room, where he, John, and Josh were setting up the flat screen TV on the wall.

"I know, I know. I just haven't seen her in forever and she hasn't met you yet. God, Alice must be so big now. She wasn't even 2 when I saw her last." Laci rambled, before looking over at Mike. He was giving her the Chill the fuck out look and she smiled apologetically at him.

"Dude, she's never met you Mike?" Josh piped up. "Isn't that a little strange?"

"Nah, I was fishing the couple times she visited and then after the divorce, she didn't have money to come visit. She was going to nursing school." Mike explained. He may not have met her, but Laci had filled him in over the years about her best friend.

Laci suddenly opened the front door, the sounds of a car and Queen's "We Will Rock You" filtering into the apartment. "She's here!" she exclaimed excitedly, running out to greet her.

The men slowly followed, not wanting to be rude in the woman's own home. As they stepped outside, they were greeted with the sight of the two women hugging each other tightly, the rental SUV pulled haphazardly across the two spaces in front of the apartment.

Josh Harris was not normally one to be caught doing manual labor on a Friday night if he was home in Seattle. But there he was at some random chick's place at 6pm on a Friday night, helping make sure Mike got laid later. Mike's wife Laci had some friend moving to Seattle and for the past few days, he, John Hillstrand, and for a few hours, his brother Jake had been enlisted to help unpack the girl's apartment. She obviously had a small child, looked like a girl from the stuff he'd been unpacking. He was surprised to learn that Mike had never met her, and was about to ask some more questions, when Laci shot out of the door like a bat outta hell. He heard Queen floating in through the open front door and looked at John with a shrug. At least the girl had good taste in music.

As he stepped out of the door, he noticed Laci hugging a tall redhead. She pulled away from Laci and Josh got a better look at her. She was smoking hot! Her hair was a weird orangey red color that seemed to suit her pale skin. She was wearing a tight fitting pair of ripped jeans and a dark green tank top. She had "pin up girl" heels on that accentuated her amazing legs. The woman was definitely a looker. She let out a little girl that looked like a smaller version of her who immediately hugged "Aunt" Laci.

"Hey, I'm Mike, Laci's husband." Fourtner introduced himself to the woman. "It's nice to finally meet you. Oh, these are some friends of mine, John Hillstrand and Josh Harris." He pointed to each man with the introduction.

"Hey, I'm Eliza. Nice to meet you guys. And thanks for helping with my apartment." She said with a smile, walking around to the trunk and starting to get some bags out. She even walked sexy, Josh thought to himself.

"Damn, that is one fine piece of ass." John whispered, elbowing Josh. "Let's go help her with her bags."

Josh couldn't agree more. Once they helped her get her bags in the house, Laci and Mike started to leave, giving the small family some time to settle in. Josh was the last one left, and finally worked up the nerve to say "If you want I can finish setting up the TV and cable so you guys can watch something later."

Eliza smiled brightly, walking into the kitchen. "That sounds great." She called out. "I'll make you dinner while you are doing that." Josh couldn't believe his good fortune.

Eliza rummaged around in the kitchen for something to make. Thankfully, Laci had stocked up her cabinets and fridge with all the essentials. She set about making some baked chicken and rice, glancing into the living room to see Alice watching Josh intently. He was kind of cute, and looked to be around her age. Eliza had not dated since her divorce, concentrating fully on her daughter and school. But now, she was done with school and what better way to settle into a new town than to have a little fun. Maybe she could convince him to take her on a date. She watched Alice scoot closer to Josh, and could see them talking. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but all of a sudden both Josh and Alice started laughing. Eliza went back to cooking, pleased with the fact that her daughter seemed to be getting along with him.

45 minutes later, the cable was working and dinner was done. "I'll make the table for you. I put everything up, so I may know my way around this kitchen better than you." Josh joked, appearing in the doorway. He casually leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen, shooting a grin in her direction. "Alice is washing up for dinner."

"That would be great. And thanks again for all your help." Eliza couldn't help but be shocked at how well this was going. He seemed so comfortable here, and didn't shy away from interaction with her daughter. Not to mention she was completely comfortable in his presence.

The three of them proceeded to have a nice, relaxed dinner and Josh excused himself when he heard it was time for Alice's bedtime. They exchanged numbers and he promised to give her a call the next day and show them around Seattle. Yes, Eliza thought to herself after he left, a smile on her face, things are definitely looking up here.