Jack Thornton drove along the Atlantic Coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The top of his red 2016 Jeep Wrangler was down to take advantage of the warm summer's sea air. It felt good to be home. Especially after all that had happened the past few years.

He was on his way to Hyannis, his hometown. His whole childhood happened on these beaches not to mention his first love, though he had been too much of a scaredy cat at the time to do much about it. Falling in love with his best friend had never been a part of the plan. She had been truly something though, in his eyes anyway. Someone Jack never felt he deserved to have by his side.

It had been a while since Jack had even let the memories of that unexplored love occupy his thoughts. Something about the sky blue hydrangeas he'd been passing for the past hour or more brought it all back. Her blue eyes, wavy, nutmeg brown, curly hair, a smile that would make the angels jealous. But that was a whole other life ago now. He had been so young then. His whole life ahead of him.

When Jack graduated high school, he left his quiet hometown to pursue his dream of becoming a firefighter, like his father. He went to the University of Texas in Austin for a degree in fire science. There he met Ashley Newman, a blonde haired beauty in the interior design department. They married right after graduation and settled down in an Austin suburb. Life was good. Before long they had a beautiful little girl, Harper. She had Jack's dimples and green eyes and her mom's long blond hair. They were happy or at least that's what Jack thought.

Everything changed one day when Jack came home early to surprise his wife. Ashley had been complaining for a while that his work at the fire station was keeping him away from them too much. He didn't like it, but she was right. The station had been down a man for months by that point and with Jack trying for a promotion it just seemed right to step up as much as possible. All the men were pulling extra duty.

That night, Jack had just been awarded his dream job. A promotion to chief of the Austin City Fire Station. He planned a sleepover for Harper so he could surprise Ashley with a night all to themselves. Reservations at their favorite restaurant and everything. The surprise was on him unfortunately. He came home to find his wife with another man. To make matters even worse, the man was his friend Troy, from the fire station. It was a total betrayal.

For a year, Jack fought with Ashley to give their marriage another try. In his mind, marriage was for life. At the end of that year however, their divorce was made final. Ashley was done. One thing worked out for Jack in all of the chaos, he was granted primary custody of their daughter, Harper. Ashley had taken a new job with a high-end hotel chain that would have her traveling more often than not, giving her less time for parenting. Jack swore to himself that he would do whatever it took to give Harper the life she deserved.

That was why they were moving back to the Cape now. It had been well over a year since the divorce had became final and it was time for a change. Initially Jack stayed in Austin for Harper's sake, thinking it was best to keep her near her friends and her mother. But with Ashley gone so much and Harper being 11 and about to go into middle school, it seemed like the perfect time to move back home. Here they'd be closer to Jack's parents and the local fire department, which had a chief opening, which would be less demanding on them.

Jack looked over to the front passenger seat. Harper's blond hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail with only a few loose strands blowing in the open breeze. She looked tired from the long day's of drive. They'd been driving for two days now, with a short stop over at Jack's brother Tom's the night before.

"How are you doing, Honey Bee?" he spoke sweetly, breaking the silence.

Harper shrugged. "I'm okay." She shifted in her seat and looked out the window more. "It's really pretty here."

"It is. I think you're going to love living here."

"Maybe. I've always liked visiting."

They were about an hour out from the house. Jack handed her the iPod. "Your turn again, pick something for us to listen to."

"You sure?" she giggled. "You don't like my music."

"I do too! Just… in moderation."

"Alright. No complaining! You're asking for this."

"Just put something on with a beat. That's the best kind of driving music."

She smiled, "Okay, Dad, here it goes." She hit play and music by Katy Perry started streaming through the speakers.

Jack reached over turning up the volume as they drove. He knew if the music was loud enough, Harper would start singing along. He loved listening to her beautiful voice. She'd always loved to sing, but since the divorce she'd hardly sung at all. Only in church on Sunday mornings was Jack lucky enough to hear her. He understood it. Jack hadn't lifted up his guitar much either in a while. This road trip seemed to do the trick though for Harper. His heart had been overjoyed listening to her sing more and more over their 2,000 mile journey. This move was the right decision. He knew it in his soul. Their future was here.

An hour and a half later, after an impromptu stop at Jack's old favorite diner for ice cream sundaes, they pulled into the driveway of his childhood home. Now his new home. The modest 2 story home with its cedar shingle siding and its uninterrupted view of the ocean looked like a Cape Cod postcard.

Jack put the Jeep in park just as Harper jumped out, running straight up the little hill from the drive towards Papa Tom and Nana Charlotte who were waiting by the Adirondack chairs in the front yard.

"Harper Girl! Oh, we've missed you!" Tom said picking up his granddaughter.

"I've missed you too, Papa!"

Jack walked up the hill misty eyed at the sight before him. Tom put Harper down and she moved to Charlotte receiving a similar greeting.

"Welcome home, son." Tom hugged him hard. "We're glad you're here."

"Thanks, Dad. So am I." Jack hugged his father tight then stood back. "You sure you're ready to give up this place?"

"More than sure. The upkeep is too much for us. We're not spring geese anymore you know?"

"It's spring chickens, isn't it Dad?"

"What's your point?"

"Nothing, Dad." Jack laughed.

"Anyway, this is perfect. The condo we've just bought suits us well and this place is a great for you and Harper to start over."

"Well, we appreciate it."

"We wouldn't have it any other way, Jack." Charlotte hugged and kissed her son. "That moving truck got here yesterday. We got some men from the church to come unload everything so you wouldn't have to pay for it another day. Feel free to rearrange however you'd like, of course. It's your home now. Any of the furniture or boxes we didn't know what to do with went into the garage."

"That's great. Thanks." Jack put his arm around Harper. "What do you say, Honey Bee? Ready to check out our new home? Then we can get some pizza."

Harper looked over at the house and then to Jack. "Okay Dad. Let's do this."

….

Elizabeth Thatcher made a grilled cheese sandwich for herself and her 11 year old son Dylan.

"Grilled cheese again, Mom?"

"Sorry, bud. I made tomato soup too." Well, she poured it out of the can into a pan and heated it up, but it worked.

Dylan picked up his spoon, prepared to take a bite but Elizabeth cleared her throat. "Blessing first, Dylan. You know that." He put his spoon down and bowed his head.

"Dear God, thank you for this meal, even if we already had grilled cheese twice this week." He kept an eye on his mom who cleared her throat. "Thank you for Mom and Grandpa Will and Grandma Grace too. Amen."

"Dylan Christopher," she said, shaking her head.

"What? Three times. Can't we have pizza some night like normal people or hot dogs?"

"You know what? You're right. Let's get pizza tomorrow."

"From Pete's?"

"Where else?" she smiled.

"Can we watch a movie too and have popcorn?"

"Sure."

"Can Aunt Vi and Cooper come over?"

"Ok. And before you ask, yes, Coop can stay over."

"Awesome! Thanks."

Elizabeth picked up her now almost cold grilled cheese and took a bite after dipping it in the soup. There was something comforting about the simple meal. She never claimed to be a chef but being unable to make her childhood favorites for most of the last twelve years made it all the more comforting.

When Elizabeth graduated from high school cum laude she'd earned a full scholarship to Harvard where she studied Elementary education. While in college, she met and married Ray Wyatt, her now ex-husband. At first he was sweet and kind, making her easily fall for him. So in her junior year, they married and after graduation, she became pregnant and had Dylan. A few years in, things changed. Ray was not typically a violent man, his words were his weapons, tearing her down any chance he got, including her cooking.

He was a smart lawyer, winning lots of cases over the years. Then he was hired to defend a high profile client and after six months of trials, he lost big. And then he lost his job. His job had paid for their expensive home and other things such as a cook to make him more "edible" meals. Her job as a third grade teacher couldn't begin to cover those things.

Once he realized that, he started drinking and his mental abuse got worse. He even controlled her clothing choices, making sure she dressed extra conservatively so that no one else would possibly be attracted to her. They eventually lost their house and when things got to their worst, Elizabeth decided to leave him, not just for her sake, but Dylan's as well.

She filed for separation and eventually moved away from Washington D.C., heading back home to Hyannis in Cape Cod. She tried staying in the city as long as she could for Dylan but it was too much. Ray's lawyers dragged the divorce proceedings out for over a year. Draining all Elizabeth's patience and resources. Her divorce may have only been finalized for 6 months, but she'd been out of the marriage for years.

Currently, they've lived in her parent's fancy garage apartment for six months, living off what was left of her savings, the divorce finally finished, and recently she had been hired as Principal for Hyannis East Middle School.

Now, she had freedom to make grilled cheese and tomato soup whenever she wanted or spaghetti and meatballs or get pizza with Dylan. Life was looking up.

.…

The next day Elizabeth and Dylan met her sister Viola and her son Cooper, who was eight, at Pete's Pizza. The boys immediately started chattering and Elizabeth and Vi followed suit.

Clara, Pete's wife came over to say hello and take their order. "Elizabeth! It's great to see you."

"You too, Clara. How's business?"

"Great. Busy. This must be the week for seeing old high school friends."

"Why, who else did you see?" Elizabeth asked, curious.

"Jack Thornton. Yesterday, he came in."

"Jack's in town?" Elizabeth asked, almost choking on the words.

"Yes, he just moved here yesterday, from Austin I think he said."

"ORDER UP!" Pete bellowed from the kitchen.

"I've been standing here gabbing and I didn't take your order. What would you like?"

"Large deep dish pepperoni and side salad with ranch please," Vi ordered for all of them.

"Coming up," Clara said, slipping her notepad in the pocket of her apron and walking away.

Elizabeth let her mind wander back sixteen years to high school graduation. She and Jack had known that their friendship was at a crossroads. The University of Texas and Harvard were nowhere near each other. They had been best friends since freshman year and Elizabeth had fallen in love with him almost immediately. She never told him though. She was brainy and awkward and definitely not his type so she didn't see the point.

That summer after their graduation, they hung out just like always, but that August, they went separate ways. He said he would write and she believed him, but…

"Beth? You okay?"

"What?"

"You look upset. Is it because Jack is back in town?" Vi wondered.

"I'm not upset. I'm fine."

"You should find out where he's living."

"Why?"

"Because he meant a lot to you back then."

"We were friends, I thought." Friends keep promises and he broke his and didn't keep in touch.

"You loved him, Beth."

"Past tense, Vi. No use in bringing up the past."

However it had been brought up now and the past was exactly what would occupied her mind for the next few weeks.