Chapter 2 – Coffee
The next few weeks went by and Elizabeth had been busy gathering up supplies and getting things ready to start teaching her class at the local elementary school. She had just heard back from the principal of the elementary school about her new job teaching third grade history. She was ecstatic to say the least. She couldn't wait to start teaching.
Elizabeth came home one afternoon after being at the school all day working on organizing her classroom. She was walking in the front door of her apartment complex with her hands full when she accidentally ran into a man coming out of the front door. That man was Jack Thornton.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Elizabeth said as her stuff went all over the floor of the apartment complex lobby.
Elizabeth looked up and made eye contact with Jack and they held eye contact for more than a few seconds. They both noticed the spark in each other's eyes.
Elizabeth looked down and started reaching for the items on the floor as Jack reached down and started helping her.
"I'm so sorry about this…" Elizabeth said again as she continued to gather the items strewn all over the floor in front of her.
"Don't worry about it. We all have accidents." Jack said as he handed the items he collected to Elizabeth with a quick smile.
Elizabeth looked up and saw Jack smiling at her with those dimples again.
"Good grief. Those dimples! Keep it together Elizabeth!" Elizabeth thought as she looked back at Jack and smiled.
"Well, again. I apologize. I had my hands full and just couldn't see where I was going. That's my fault though. I'm always a klutz." Elizabeth said with a short laugh.
Jack smiled and laughed back at Elizabeth. Even though she had her hands full when she ran into him and was embarrassed, he couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. She was breathtaking.
Jack reached for Elizabeth's hand and helped her up. Again, they both looked in each other's eyes for a few seconds and noticed the spark again.
"Well, I guess I better get this stuff to my apartment and get these things organized." Elizabeth said as she stood in front of Jack in the lobby.
"Yeah, I need to head into work. I'm working nightshift the next week while one of the guys is on vacation. One of these days I hope to take a nice vacation. I know I could need one." Jack said as he smiled at Elizabeth.
"Oh, I know how that is. I'd love to take a vacation but just haven't had the time. Now with me teaching school, I probably won't get a decent time for vacation until the holidays."
"Oh, you're teaching? Where at?" Jack asked curiously.
"Yeah, I just got a new teaching job at Callaway Elementary teaching history to third graders." Elizabeth said with a smile. Jack could tell she was proud of getting her new job.
"That's great. Being a teacher is one of the noblest of professions. My mother was a teacher when my brother and I were young."
"Oh really? What grade did she teach?" Elizabeth said with eagerness. She wanted to continue to talk to Jack.
"She taught second grade – English." Jack said as he pulled out his cell phone and checked the time. "I'm sorry, I need to head to work or I'll be late. As much as I enjoy our conversation, I hate to cut it short." Jack said as he put his phone back in his pocket and handed Elizabeth the rest of the items that he collected from the floor.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be good if you were late to work." Elizabeth said with a quick smile as she reached up and put a strand of loose hair behind her ear.
Jack began walking to the front door but paused momentarily. He turned around quickly and walked back up to Elizabeth.
"Would you want to grab some coffee in the morning with me? I'll be getting off work around 6:30 in the morning and I figured you'd be up early due to school." Jack asked as Elizabeth stood in front of him.
"Are you sure? You would probably rather have your sleep! I'll be up a little bit earlier to get ready for school, but I can meet you if you feel up to it. I normally don't have to be at the school to teach until around 8:00, so 6:30 would work for me."
"That sounds great! And don't worry about me getting enough sleep, I'll be fine." Jack said with a huge smile.
"Do you know the place called Abigail's Café?" It's not far from here. And she has delicious muffins and scones! And homemade too!" Jack asked.
"That sounds great! I've never been there but I'm sure I can find it with my GPS on my phone! I'll see you there around 6:30." Elizabeth said as she watched Jack begin to head out the door.
"6:30. See you then Elizabeth." Jack said as he walked out the front door and headed to work.
Jack walked out to his truck and jumped in the driver's seat. He couldn't stop smiling.
"I can't believe I actually asked her out for coffee! And I can't believe she agreed! I thought for sure she would shoot me down." Jack said with a smile as he put his truck in reverse and headed for work.
Elizabeth had made it up to her apartment and turned the TV on before fixing a quick and easy dinner. The smile was still on her face.
"Wow! He asked me out to coffee! Unbelievable!" Elizabeth thought as she began to fix a salad.
"But don't get your hopes up – it is just coffee." "But, he wouldn't ask me if he wasn't interested, would he?" Elizabeth thought as she reached for a bowl in the cabinet. "Stop doubting yourself Elizabeth! You are a young, pretty, professional girl who is looking for a relationship. Let's just see how tomorrow morning goes!"
That night, Elizabeth spent hours trying to pick out her outfit for her coffee date with Jack. Even though she had to keep telling herself it wasn't technically a "date".
After going through numerous outfits and undecided, Elizabeth sat down on her bed and let out a deep breath.
"I have all these clothes and no outfit to wear for 'just coffee'". Elizabeth thought as she reached for her phone sitting on the end table. It was still early in the evening, so she knew someone who would be able to help her. This girl knew fashion.
She pulled up her contact list and sent a quick text.
"I need your help in picking out something cute to wear for a morning coffee date in the morning. Think you could help me real quick?" Elizabeth typed the message and hit send.
A few minutes went by and Elizabeth had hoped she would say yes.
Ten minutes went by and Elizabeth heard her phone chime.
"OMG! Yes! I'll be over shortly! Like, 20 minutes! See you then! xoxo".
Elizabeth laughed at her response and went to the living room to tidy things up before she arrived.
About twenty-five minutes went by and Elizabeth heard her doorbell ring. She went to the door and opened it.
There stood Mrs. Rosemary Coulter. Rosemary had been her best friend since they were little. Rosemary came from the LeVeaux family, who was like Elizabeth's family and was very well-off. She had actually just gotten married to Mr. Lee Coulter, who owned the local sawmill in town. Lee and Rosemary were such a great couple and Elizabeth was happy for her.
"Elizabeth! I'm so glad you texted me! You know me and fashion go hand in hand! Just show me your closet and I can help! By the way, who's the guy?" Rosemary said with a large smile as she walked in to Elizabeth's apartment.
Elizabeth smiled back and led the way to her bedroom closet.
"Rosemary, he's just a regular guy. He lives here in the apartment complex and he asked me this evening to go to coffee with him early in the morning. I'm not even sure if this will turn into a relationship or not. I just wasn't sure what to wear and I know how you are with clothes." Elizabeth said as she led Rosemary to her closet.
Rosemary got to work fast. She started pulling numerous outfits out of the closet for Elizabeth to try on and after a while, Elizabeth was kind of regretting asking Rosemary to come over to help because she blows everything way out of proportion. But she was grateful with Rosemary's help.
Elizabeth tried on the last outfit and came back into her bedroom to get Rosemary's opinion. Elizabeth was tried and she had to get up earlier in the morning. She was hoping this would be the last outfit.
Elizabeth took a deep breath as Rosemary looked on.
"Spin around for me." Rosemary said.
Elizabeth spun around and looked back at Rosemary, waiting for her to say this was the outfit.
"It looks….Perfect!" Rosemary said as she jumped up and grabbed Elizabeth's hands.
"I'm so excited for you and I can't wait to hear about your date! You'll have to text me and let me know how it goes!" Rosemary said with a smile.
Elizabeth laughed and shook her head slightly.
"Rosemary, it's not a date. It's just grabbing coffee."
"Grabbing coffee is a date in my book!" Rosemary said as she headed out the front door to head home for the night.
"Thanks again for helping me Rosemary! I appreciate it!" Elizabeth said as she hugged Rosemary before she left.
Elizabeth shut the door, locked it, and headed to bed for the night. She only hoped she could sleep due to the nervousness she was feeling about the next morning with Jack.
The next morning, Elizabeth's alarm went off sooner than she thought it should. She tried to hit the snooze button, but she knocked the alarm off her end table and put her pillow over her head to muffle the sound. After a few minutes, Elizabeth sat up and jumped out of bed, realizing she would be meeting Jack within the next hour or so. She looked at the clock – 4:45am. It was still early, but she didn't mind. She wanted to get up and get the day started.
She ran to her closet and picked up the outfit that was hanging from the night before with Rosemary. She took a quick shower and began getting ready. She curled her hair and then put on her outfit and then applied her makeup. Her outfit was perfect.
Elizabeth took a step back and looked in the mirror. She couldn't believe it. She looked beautiful.
Her hair was cascading down her shoulder and was curled loosely. She had swept it to one side, so it hung over her chest, almost down to her waist. She hadn't noticed how long her hair was until now.
She had picked out a pair of white skinny jeans that had holes at the kneecaps and showed off her long legs. Her shirt was a dark red sweater that was perfect for the colder weather that covered one shoulder but hung off the other shoulder, revealing her dark tan shoulder.
Rosemary had picked out a pair of boots that were ankle height and a brown-creamish color. Rosemary had also picked out a silver watch to accent and one of her purses that was grey with cream circles all over it.
She was certain Jack would probably fall out of his chair when she came in the door at the café. She couldn't wait to see his expression. If she wasn't nervous before, she was nervous now.
She looked back at the clock and saw it was 6:15. She needed to leave now if she was going to get there at 6:30. She still had the find the place with her GPS. She picked up her purse and phone and headed out the door.
Jack had worked all night and was anxiously awaiting meeting Elizabeth for coffee. He couldn't control his excitement. The only downfall to being so excited was that time seemed to slow down.
He looked at the clock – 11:53pm. He knew he had to get his mind off of how anxious he was for 6:30 to roll around. He tried to keep his mind off of it. He looked at the clock again – 1:23am.
"Ugh! Come on!" Jack mumbled under his breath as he pulled out his phone to find something to do to pass the time.
Within an hour, a call came in for a domestic disturbance, so that gave Jack something to do to kill time. When he left his office, he looked back at the clock – 2:33am.
A few hours went by with the domestic disturbance call and Jack made his way back to his desk. He was ready to leave for his coffee date with Elizabeth. But, did he dare look at the clock? He slowly turned his head and looked at the clock for what would be hopefully the last time – 4:57am. Perfect. His shift ended at 6:00am and it would take him roughly 20 minutes to drive to Abigail's café from the police station. He decided to spend the last 30 minutes of his shift getting ready and changing clothes. He knew Elizabeth wouldn't want to see him in his uniform.
Before Jack knew it, he was in the bathroom changing clothes. His nerves were getting the best of him. Jack had stuffed his clothes in his duffle bag and got aggravated when he pulled them out and they were wrinkled.
"Great! I didn't plan to have wrinkled clothes." Jack thought as he tried to shake the shirt and shorts to get rid of the wrinkles. "This will have to do." Jack thought as he began changing clothes.
Jack changed from his police uniform to his outfit that he picked out the day before. He wanted to impress Elizabeth, so he had actually gone the day before and purchased a new outfit.
His outfit was simple but sleek looking. He had a tight fitting shirt that was black and grey peppered together that had five buttons down the chest. He decided to leave one unbuttoned for good measure. He had a pair of black dress pants that was accented by black dress shoes. And he couldn't forget his watch. He took a step back and looked in the mirror and liked the way he looked. Very sophisticated looking.
Jack clocked out and headed out to the parking lot and jumped in his truck. Now time seemed to be speeding up. The clock read 6:07am.
"Dang it! I hope I can make it there in time and not show up late!" Jack thought as he put the truck in reverse and stomped the gas. The tires let out a small squeal as he pulled out onto the main drag and made his way through the numerous red lights towards the café.
Jack made it to Abigail's café before Elizabeth did. Before going inside, he pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time – 6:24am. As he walked in the door, he looked up and saw Abigail was setting everything up for her morning customers. She was getting the coffee ready.
"Hello Jack! What are you doing here so early?" Abigail asked as she picked up the coffee pot and brought a single coffee mug his way.
"Good morning Abigail! I'm meeting a young lady here this morning. I'm actually earlier than I thought I would be. I rushed to get here because I was afraid I would be late." Jack said as he sat down at the table.
"Oh, a young woman? Do I know her?" Abigail asked as she sat the coffee mug on the table and started to pour the coffee for Jack.
"No, I don't believe so. She said she hadn't been in here before, so I hope she is able to find the place." Jack said as he reached for the coffee mug. He was excited to have coffee with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had been driving around town looking for Abigail's café. She was getting annoyed with her GPS on her phone. She plugged in the address she found online, but for some weird reason, the building it took her to was an empty lot.
"Great! Now what do I do?" Elizabeth thought as she continued to drive around looking for the small café. She looked at the clock on the dash – 6:25am. "I have to meet Jack in five minutes and I definitely don't want to stand him up!" Elizabeth said as her nerves grew worse.
After driving for another minute or two, Elizabeth decided to stop at a gas station and ask if they knew where she could find Abigail's café. She was getting desperate, even though she didn't like to stop at gas stations to ask for directions.
Elizabeth walked in to the gas station and spoke to the cashier behind the counter. The cashier had told her that the café was only a few minutes away on Cash Street. She wrote the directions down and ran back out to her car. She pulled out of the gas station and headed for the café. She looked at the clock – 6:31am.
"Ugh! I'm late!" Elizabeth yelled as she pulled off onto Cash Street.
Jack looked at his phone again for what seemed like the millionth time. 6:33am. He was hoping she would walk in the door any second now.
"I hope she didn't stand me up." Jack thought as he put his phone back in his pocket. "No, no. She wouldn't do that. She seems too nice of a person to do that." Jack thought as he sipped on his coffee.
Elizabeth finally found Abigail's café and parked her car. She grabbed her purse and phone and headed for the door. She paused before she went in to gather her thoughts and calm her nerves. She walked in the door and the bell overhead dinged.
As she walked through the door, she saw a young man sitting towards the center of the café with his back to her. She slowly started to walk up to him and proceeded to sit down at the table. Her pulse quickened as she sat down. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Jack had been sipping on his coffee and heard the door ding behind him. He heard the slow shuffle of feet behind him. His pulse quickened as he looked out of the corner of his eye and saw a dark red image. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves.
Elizabeth reached the table and was getting ready to sit down, but Jack stood up before she had a chance to. She looked at Jack and noticed he was very well dressed and very handsome. She smiled as Jack looked at her.
"Good morning Elizabeth." Jack said as he stood and held the chair out for Elizabeth.
"Good morning Jack." Elizabeth said as she sat down in the chair and placed her purse in her lap.
Jack took his seat back and looked at Elizabeth. She was breathtaking. Truly beautiful. He smiled at Elizabeth and his heart was on fire for her.
Abigail walked over and placed another coffee mug down on the table in front of Elizabeth and filled up Jack's coffee mug. She looked back and forth at both of them and waited to take their order. She noticed both were looking at each other and didn't notice Abigail standing there.
Abigail cleared her throat and Jack looked up at Abigail and smiled.
"Abigail, I'd like you to meet Ms. Elizabeth Thatcher." Jack said as he smiled at Elizabeth.
"Ms. Thatcher, it's very nice to meet you." Abigail said as she smiled at Elizabeth and shook her hand.
Elizabeth smiled back. "It's very nice to meet you to Abigail. You have such a beautiful café. And Jack here has told me about your homemade breakfast breads and muffins. I'm very anxious to try them."
"Well, I'll go get you both some fresh breakfast breads and muffins. Be right back!" Abigail said as she walked off towards the back of the café.
Elizabeth smiled and looked back at Jack who was drinking his coffee.
"So…" Elizabeth said as she reached for her coffee mug in front of her.
"So…" Jack said as he sat his coffee mug down and admired Elizabeth in front of him.
"Thanks for meeting me here so early, especially without sleeping first." Elizabeth said with a small quaint laugh.
"Oh, it's no problem. I always stop off here on my way home, just not so early." Jack said as he took another sip of his coffee.
A few seconds passed of silence and Elizabeth fiddled with her fingers under the table.
"So, how long have you lived here in Baltimore?" Jack asked.
"Well, I've actually lived here my whole life. Born and raised here. My parents still live in the area, but I just moved in my apartment a few weeks. I like it here very much. It's such a great little city and there is always so many things to do." Elizabeth said as she took a sip of her coffee.
"What about you?" Elizabeth asked.
"Well, I'm the same way. Grew up here and have lived here my whole life. My mom still lives in the area, but my brother moved away. I haven't heard from him in a while though. He's always in trouble." Jack said with a quick smile, but Elizabeth could see the disappointment he had for his brother.
"You said your mom was a teacher?" Elizabeth asked as she pulled out her phone to check the time.
"Yeah, she taught second grade English, but quit once my brother and I were graduated from high school." Jack said.
A few seconds of silence passed again.
"What about you? What does your parents do?" Jack asked as he took the last sip of his coffee.
"Well, my father is the head neurosurgeon at John Hopkins Hospital and my mother stays home. She stays busy though going out shopping or going to small tea gatherings during the week." Elizabeth said as she heard Abigail behind her.
"Here we go guys! Enjoy! And I'll bring you some more coffee." Abigail said as she placed the tray of breakfast breads and muffins in front of Jack and Elizabeth.
"Thanks Abigail! I appreciate it!" Jack said as Abigail left to grab another pot of coffee.
Elizabeth reached for a blueberry muffin and took a quick bite. DELICIOUS!
"Wow! These are really good!" Elizabeth said as she covered her mouth with her hands and continued to eat the muffin.
"Yeah, no one holds a candle to Abigail's baking!" Jack said as he reached for a Danish and began eating.
Before long, Elizabeth and Jack began talking and hit it off. Elizabeth noticed it was getting late and she had to leave for school. She hated leaving with such great company.
"Well, I guess I better get going to work. Again, thank you for taking time out of your sleeping schedule to have breakfast with me! I really appreciate it!" Elizabeth said as she took one last sip of her coffee and grabbed her purse.
"Same here. I'll walk you to your car." Jack said as he stood up and helped Elizabeth out of her chair.
"After you." Jack said as Elizabeth walked in front of him.
"Goodbye guys! Don't be a stranger!" Abigail yelled as they walked out the front door.
"Thanks again Abigail!" Jack said as he waved goodbye to Abigail.
Elizabeth walked towards her car and took the keys out of her pocket to unlock the car.
Jack watched her walk up to this car but couldn't believe it was hers. He didn't think it was hers until he saw the keys come out of her pocket and unlock the doors.
Elizabeth was driving a black BMW 335i Coupe that was black with tinted windows and a killer body style.
"Wow! Is this your car?" Jack asked as Elizabeth turned around and saw Jack's reaction to her car.
Elizabeth laughed. "Jack, trust me, I didn't pick this out. My father purchased this for me when I graduated high school. I feel like it's too expensive and I would have rather him purchased something less fancy."
Jack laughed and looked at the ground.
Elizabeth stood against the door of her car and was waiting on Jack to say something before she left.
Jack looked up at Elizabeth and smiled.
"I hope you have a great day today at work. Again, thanks for meeting me for coffee." Jack said as he watched Elizabeth sit down in her car.
Jack shut the door and watched as Elizabeth started the car.
Right before she put it in drive, Jack squatted down to the window and smiled at Elizabeth.
"I was wondering…Would you be interested in hanging out later on this week? Maybe come over to my apartment one evening for dinner?" Jack asked as he watched a smile form on Elizabeth's face.
Elizabeth was screaming inside. She couldn't believe he had asked her for dinner – and at his place!
"I'd like that." Elizabeth said as she smiled at Jack.
"Good. Hang on one second before you leave. Let me go get something." Jack said as he jumped up and ran towards a white Chevrolet Silverado 1500 truck sitting across the parking lot from her.
She wondered what he was doing. Before long, Elizabeth watched as Jack ran back towards her car and squatted back down to the window.
"Here." Jack said as he handed Elizabeth a small white card. It was his business card. She took the card and looked at it.
The logo of the Baltimore Police Department was at the top and in the middle it read:
Baltimore Police Department
Mr. Jack Thornton
Deputy Chief of Police
O: (410) 555-5689
C: (410) 547-2563
Elizabeth looked up at Jack and waited for him to explain.
"I want you to have my card, you know, in case you would need anything. Don't hesitate to call my cell day or night, anytime. Feel free to call me later in the week to schedule our dinner together." Jack said as he stood up and smiled.
"Thanks Jack." Elizabeth said as she smiled and put her car in reverse and headed towards the school.
Jack threw his hand up and waved bye and watched the taillights of her BMW fade out of view.
Jack walked back to his truck and was truly amazed at his short time with Elizabeth. As he sat in his truck, he heard his phone ding and pulled it out of his pocket. He looked at the screen and saw a text from a number he didn't recognize.
"Thank you for everything. Here's my number in case you would need it.
- Elizabeth"
Jack smiled and responded back.
"Your welcome. And you shouldn't be texting and driving. :P
- Jack :P
He sat his phone down and headed home to get some sleep. He smiled as he drove home and realized he was in love with Elizabeth.
Elizabeth had sat her phone down as she pulled out of a gas station and headed towards the school to teach. She loved her time with Jack and was thrilled to see him again. She couldn't wait. She smiled as she drove to work and realized she was in love with Jack.