Chapter 1 – Beginnings

Elizabeth Thatcher was born to William and Grace Thatcher and was the middle daughter between Viola and Julie. Elizabeth had grown up accustomed to the finer way of living, but did not desire that way of life. Her father, William, was the head neurosurgeon at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland and her mother, Grace, was a stay-at-home mother who enjoyed the finer things of life. Her two sisters enjoyed going out and spending every penny their father made on clothes, purses, or anything expensive for that matter. Elizabeth rather enjoyed staying home, writing.

Elizabeth had just graduated from Morgan State University with her Doctorate degree in History and her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. She loved teaching and wanted to become a history teacher at a local elementary school in the area. She had wanted to be a teacher since she was little, enjoying school while growing up.

Elizabeth had decided that she would rather move into her own apartment instead of living at home. Her parents, at first, hated the idea and told her no. But as she kept saving her money instead of spending it like her sisters did, her parents eventually came around and agreed to help her find a nice apartment, but nothing too far from home.

Jack Thornton was born to Tom and Charlotte Thornton and was the first born son between him and Tom. Jack had grown up in the lower class and his family couldn't afford much. His father had been involved in the local police department and was fatally shot one day while on patrol. Jack was only ten years old when he died, so he devoted his life being the "man of the house". His mother had been teaching when they were little to help pay for bills and the necessities, but quit teaching once her two boys became grown. Tom, his little brother, was always in trouble and Jack hardly saw him.

Jack had furthered his education by going to the local community college, Baltimore City Community College, where he received his Associate degree in Law Enforcement and Correctional Administration. He had been involved in the Baltimore Police Department for a while, since he was 18 years old, serving in honor of his father. He knew his father would be proud of his accomplishments with the police department. He was currently the Deputy Chief of Police, right under the Chief of Police.

Jack was living in his own apartment with his dog, a beagle, named Rip. Rip was easy going and didn't give Jack any trouble. He had actually found him on the street one day and Rip followed him everywhere he went, so Jack kept him. He loved his easy-way of life and his snoring as well.

A few weeks later, Jack had decided that he wanted to upgrade his apartment to a larger apartment, in case family would come over and stay. He decided to move into a two bedroom apartment that was much larger and newer than his old one was.

About a month after Jack had moved into his new apartment, Elizabeth had finally convinced her parents that this apartment complex would do. It wasn't too far from home and the rent was fairly inexpensive for the Baltimore area. Elizabeth was sold on it as soon as she saw the photos online. Her parents on the other hand hated to see her move out, but they knew she wanted to, so they let her. Elizabeth had gone to the office of the apartment complex and secured the one bedroom apartment with payment of the security deposit and first month's rent. She knew the apartment wouldn't stay vacant for long and she needed to jump at the chance. She was excited to go home and pack up her stuff and move in.

A few weeks later, Elizabeth had noticed that her former tenant hadn't changed his address for a lot of his mail. She was constantly getting his mail more than his own. Some days there would be a bunch of stuff and other days it would be one or two things, but the mail was piling up. One day, she decided to check the name and address and see if she could find out any info on the guy who had lived here before her.

Upon checking one of the newest magazines that came in that day's mail, Cabela's, she looked at the name printed on the back of the magazine.

Mr. Jack Thornton
201 West Franklin Street
Baltimore, MD 21201

"Hmm… Jack Thornton… Wonder where he works at?" Elizabeth said as she walked over to the couch, sat down and pulled out her iPhone to google his name. Scrolling through the results on Google, she stopped mid-way down the second page.

Deputy Chief of Police
Baltimore, Maryland
Mr. Jack Thornton
(410) 555-5689

Elizabeth considered calling the phone number, but hesitated. "Do I really want to call him and bother him with old mail that he probably doesn't even need?" Elizabeth thought as she looked at the number on her cell phone. "No, I'm not calling him. It'd be a waste of time." Elizabeth said as she put her phone down and started into the kitchen to begin fixing dinner.

A couple of hours later, Elizabeth was watching TV and eating dinner when she looked back over at the Cabela's catalog laying across the couch from her.

"Of course, there could be some important mail in that pile that he might need." Elizabeth thought as she continued to look at the catalog. "I know what I'll do. I'll just call the front desk and ask if he works there and see if they know anything about him. That way I don't have to bother him with this." Elizabeth thought as she turned the TV off and headed to her bedroom to go to sleep for the night.

The next day, Elizabeth woke up and fixed breakfast and decided to spend her day cleaning before calling the Baltimore Police Department to see about Jack.

"Baltimore Police Department, front desk. How can I direct your call?" The dispatcher said on the phone. "Yes, this is Ms. Elizabeth Thatcher. I was hoping you could help me with something." Elizabeth said with hesitancy. "Sure Ms. Thatcher. What can I help you with?" The man said back. "Well, I just recently moved into my apartment complex, and I keep receiving mail for a Mr. Jack Thornton. I googled his name and found out he is the Deputy Chief of Police there and I was hoping you might happen to have his new address on file for me to forward his mail to." Elizabeth said as she took a deep breath and held it, waiting for the man to respond. A few seconds went by and the man responded. "Yes, let me get his address for you. Please hold on." The man placed Elizabeth on hold and Elizabeth exhaled. She wasn't sure why, but her pulse had quickened and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears.

"Why am I so nervous? I don't even know Mr. Thornton." Elizabeth thought as she walked around her apartment back and forth waiting for the man to return on the phone.

A few minutes went by. "Ms. Thatcher?" The man said as he returned to the phone. "Sorry to keep you waiting. I had to double check and make sure it was his new address. Wouldn't want you to get your address." The man said with a quick laugh. Elizabeth smiled and laughed. "Alright, his new address is 407 West Franklin Street here in Baltimore." Elizabeth took a quiet gasp of air upon realizing the man was just two floors above her." The man spoke again shortly. "Ms. Thatcher? Did you get the address?" Elizabeth blinked a few times and responded. "Yes, thank you so much for providing me with that information. I greatly appreciate it."

Elizabeth hung up the phone and checked the time. 5:28PM.

"I wonder if he would be home now or not. Oh, why didn't I think of asking the man that before hanging up?" Elizabeth said as she went in the bedroom to check her outfit and hair before gathering up the mail in the corner. She put the mail in a grocery bag and decided to go see if this Mr. Thornton was home.

Elizabeth took the small stairway up two flights of stairs and walked down the narrow hallway until she came to room number 407. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door a few times. She waited to hear if she heard footsteps, but couldn't hear much of anything.

After waiting a few minutes, she decided that he must not be home and turned around to head back down the hallway to the stairs to go back to her apartment. She had just taken a few steps when she heard the door open.

"Hello?" Jack said as he looked out of his apartment towards a brown haired young lady standing in the hallway holding a white grocery store bag. Jack had to make a mental note to take a breath because he was taken back at house beautiful she was.

Elizabeth quickly turned around and froze. This wasn't what she expected this Mr. Thornton to look like. There standing in the doorway was a young man, dark brown hair with a stubbly beard that looked like it had only been growing for a few days. She was taken back by Jack because truthfully, she had expected an older man.

Jack walked out and stood against the door frame towards Elizabeth. He was waiting for her to answer or say why she was there at his apartment.

Elizabeth began to talk, but couldn't find the words.

"What did I come here for? Say something Elizabeth! Don't look stupid!" Elizabeth thought inwardly as her face became a slight shade of pink.

Jack laughed and smiled and Elizabeth soon noticed his dimples.

"Oh gosh, those dimples." Elizabeth thought as she looked at Jack.

"Can I help you, Miss?" Jack said as he looked at Elizabeth, who was still standing in the hallway holding the white grocery bag.

"Thatcher." Elizabeth said with a smile. "Elizabeth Thatcher." Elizabeth said as she stood there in the hallway.

"Nice to meet you Miss Thatcher." Jack said with a sweet smile.

"Oh, please, call me Elizabeth. Ms. Thatcher sounds old." Elizabeth said, giving Jack a smile and laughing.

"Elizabeth." Jack said looking back at Elizabeth. Jack cleared his throat after a few seconds and looked at Elizabeth with his eyebrows up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot that I came here to your apartment. Forgive me." Elizabeth said as her face turned a darker shade of pink.

"I came here to drop off this mail that had been piling up in my apartment. I figured you would want it, you know, in case it was important or something." Elizabeth said as she handed Jack the white grocery bag.

"Oh, thanks! I knew when I moved out that I would forget something! I apologize if it bothered you to get my mail. I'll make sure to go online and change my forwarding address so that you no longer get any of my mail." Jack said as he took the bag from Elizabeth.

"Oh, it's okay. It didn't bother me. Didn't look like there was anything interesting in there anyways." Elizabeth said, before realizing what she said.

"I mean, no, that's not what I meant. Forgive me." Elizabeth said as her face turned another shade red. Jack couldn't help but laugh.

"No, no, I totally understand. Trust me, I'm sure a majority of this mail is junk. I think it's mostly catalogs from what it looks like. Hey, maybe I'll be lucky and get a Victoria Secret catalog in this!" Jack said laughing as he turned around and placed the bag inside his apartment.

Both began laughing and before long, Elizabeth noticed it was getting late and decided to head back to her apartment.

"Well, Jack, it's been nice talking to you. I guess I'll be heading back to my apartment now. Thanks for letting me drop off your mail. Good night Jack." Elizabeth said as she began to back up towards the stairwell towards her apartment.

"No problem at all. I'll probably see you around before long. Good night Elizabeth." Jack said as he walked back towards his door and watched Elizabeth walk down towards the stair well.

Jack had made his way back into his apartment and slowly closed the door, leaning up against it, taking a deep breath.

"Wow! She's gorgeous! Oh, but who am I kidding? A beautiful girl like that probably has a boyfriend. And if she doesn't, I'm sure she doesn't want someone like me." Jack thought as he tried to regain his composure. He decided to head to bed.

Elizabeth had made her way back to her apartment and shut the door when she stopped and took a deep breath, leaning up against it.

"Good grief! He sure was handsome! Ehh, but I'm sure he has a girlfriend. Surely he has to have a girlfriend. A guy that looks like that could have any choice of girls, why would he want me?" Elizabeth thought as she turned the lamp off in the living room and headed to bed.

What both Jack and Elizabeth didn't realize was that after meeting for the first time today, it was destined for them to meet.