About a month after they returned from Seattle, Jack took a night off and joined Elizabeth and her parents for dinner.
He arrived at her house around three pm, thinking he'd need to find her spare key but she opened the door. "Good afternoon, Jack."
"And you, sweets." He walked in the door, kissing her as he walked past her.
"What are you making?"
"Pot roast over parmesan spinach polenta and garlic roasted asparagus. Oh, and cherry chocolate cheesecake for dessert."
"Oh my word. All of that sounds amazing."
"I hope they like it."
"It sounds perfect, I'm sure they will."
Elizabeth ran the vacuum over the living room rug and then went to straighten and clean the bathroom while Jack seared the pot roast and made the house smell so good her stomach started growling.
She walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bag of popcorn and put it in the microwave.
"Don't you think that might spoil your appetite for dinner?"
"Nope. Old wive's tale. Nothing will stop me from eating your dinner, babe," she said with a smile, kissing his heart shaped lips. "Besides, I can't watch a movie without popcorn and you can help me eat it."
"Movie, huh?"
"Yeah. Batman Returns. It's my favorite of the series."
"Spiderman, Batman. What do you think of The Avengers?"
She grabbed his hand and led him to her entertainment center. He laughed.
"This clinches it. You are the perfect woman."
"Oh yeah? Why's that?"
"Superman, three different versions. Four Spiderman movies. Four Batman, The Avengers. X-men. Thor and Captain America."
"So I like action movies," she said with a shrug. "Always have."
"Me too. Tom never wanted to watch with me."
"I always locked myself in my room and watched them. Lights out, curtains drawn."
"Didn't you get scared?"
"Yeah. I like being scared during a movie. Especially when I have a very very handsome boy sitting next to me to protect me."
"Mmm. Happy to hold you in my arms and keep you safe."
She laughed and turned to put the DVD in. "I'll get the popcorn." He watched her walk off to the kitchen, missing her when she was out of sight.
He sighed and sat down in the middle of the couch to wait.
"Alright. Popcorn is ready," she sang as she sat next to him.
"For the new house, porch swing, fireplace, and open concept. I think being able to see the living room from the kitchen and vice versa would be good once we have children."
"Deal," she told him, hitting play on the remote.
…..
"Well, Jack, this meal was delicious," William told him.
"Thank you, sir."
"Is this the type of meal you will serve at your bistro?"
"I may put pot roast on the menu. I'm toying with the idea of putting typical home cooked meals as the chef's special once a week."
"And the rest of the time?"
"Steak, Burgers. Lobster bisque. Scallops, oysters. Then my partner Lee specializes in Italian cuisine. So he wants his butter sage gnocchi, spinach ricotta ravioli and a vegetarian lasagna on the menu."
William nodded. "How long before you open?"
"About five weeks. We got our liquor license and the renovation is almost complete. Next week we will order our menus and start interviews."
"Are you doing that while still working at the diner?" Grace asked.
"My last day is tomorrow. Then I will be free to finish and finalize details."
Elizabeth could see his excitement in his eyes and in his words.
"Do you think you'll do any catering? I do various office events throughout the year."
"We hadn't thought of that but I'll speak with Lee. He would probably go for it."
As they ate their cherry chocolate cheesecake, Grace asked, "What made you fall in love with cooking, Jack?"
"Well, my dad always had me help him in the kitchen. So once he passed away, it was my job to cook for my mom and brother. Even once my mom married Bill, I still cooked. Then, I went to culinary school and I knew it was exactly what I needed to do. It was my dream, along with having my own family."
Elizabeth's hand found his under the table and squeezed.
"When I met, Beth, I knew she was it. Who I was waiting to meet all those years. There was no question that she would complete me and fill my heart."
"Aw, babe. That's very sweet." He kissed the top of her hand.
"I mean it. I love you."
"I love you too."
If he thought she was ready, he would ask her to marry him right then but he was going to wait until the Bistro was up and running, like they agreed. However, he did have the ring ready and waiting in his top dresser drawer.
…..
After her parents went home, Elizabeth sat up on the counter, legs crossed, watching Jack clean her kitchen. She offered to help but he asked her to sit up there and watch him so she did.
"This wine is gooood," she said with a giggle. She had one full glass and now she was working on her second.
"Maybe you should stop, Beth. You're words are a little slurred."
She sipped again and laughed. "I'm good. Plus, I'm not going anywhere until tomorrow afternoon."
He moved next to her to put the clean plates in the cupboard. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. "You have really nice hair," she told him, flirting.
"Thanks."
"And your eyelashes...amaaaaaazing," she said, drawing the word out.
"Beth," he said, chuckling.
She put her glass down and pulled him over in front of her. "Your lips are shaped like a heart," she told him, tracing them with her index finger. "Perfect for kissing." She leaned in and claimed them with a long, deep kiss.
He sighed and pulled back. "Sweets, I think you need to go to bed and I need to leave."
"You could stay," she suggested, slipping down off the counter, standing very close to him.
"Uh, no. I can't." He washed the last dish and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you. Get some sleep."
"You stayed before, remember?" She slipped her arms around his neck. "We slept on the couch…toooogetherrrr." She kissed him again and giggled.
"Night, Beth. I'll text you tomorrow."
"Fine. Tomorrow then."
"Love you," he said, putting his coat and boots on and slipping out the door.
"Love you too," she said quietly.
….
The next day, lunchtime
Elizabeth walked into the diner and immediately looked at him laughing with his friend in the kitchen.
She walked over to a booth and sat down, removing her coat.
Jack walked over a minute later. "Hey, how are you this morning?" he asked, kissing the top of her head before sitting down across from her.
"A bit loopy and my head hurts. I took some aspirin."
"That's good."
"How many glasses of wine….?"
"You almost finished two by the time I left."
"I don't usually drink like that."
"I know. Don't worry about it."
"I mean…I don't really remember exact details but did I ask you to stay?"
"Yeah," he said with a chuckle. "You were pretty convincing."
"That's the reason I don't drink much. I can't handle it. Things might pop out of my mouth….or I might do things…."
"Beth, it's alright. I had a clear head. As hard as it was to leave, that's what I did."
"Thank you for being such a good man."
"I know what's important to you, Beth. I won't ever do something to take advantage of that."
She nodded. She was embarrassed. But she felt really fortunate that it was Jack that was with her and not some random date. Not that she had random dates.
"How is your last day going?" she asked, changing the subject.
"Bittersweet, I guess. I mean, I'm ready to move forward but I'll miss this place. Miss seeing you here everyday."
"We will still see each other," she reminded him.
"Yeah, but this is where we met. It will always mean a lot to me."
"So maybe we can come here to eat sometimes."
"Yeah."
"I was looking at houses online in Cambridge. I found a couple that I think are affordable."
"But do they have a porch swing, a fireplace, open concept, and a two car garage?" he asked, ticking the items off on his fingers.
"Maybe if you come over sometime soon, I can show you."
"I'm not sure when I'm going to have time. Lee got an apartment in Cambridge and he offered to let me stay with him for awhile. To be closer to the Bistro."
"What about your apartment here?"
"I guess what I'm saying is I'm not going to be in the city anymore."
She nodded. "I guess we won't be seeing much of each other then."
She got up and put her coat on. "Beth, sweets, wait…"
"I need to get to work."
"You didn't eat anything."
"There is a cafeteria."
He stopped her, gripping both of her hands. "Hang on. You just told me not five minutes ago that we will still see each other. I'm only moving to Cambridge. It's like twenty miles. It's not Jupiter."
"If this is going to work, Jack, we need to make time."
"If? This is going to work. There is no "if" about it."
"So what do we do?"
"We alternate driving to see the other. We talk on the phone. We FaceTime."
She nodded and gave him a hug. "This is your dream, Jack. I understand that you have to shift priorities. I'm sorry I reacted that way. It was selfish of me."
"This is my dream but the other part of my dream is making a family with you. Nothing is going to take that away. I promise."
"I love you," she told him, kissing him quickly.
"I will call you tonight. I get off at eight. I love you too."
….
At 8:35, Jack arrived at Elizabeth's house with Shrimp in tow. He was on his way to Lee's apartment but decided he could spend some time with Elizabeth before going up there.
He knocked on the door which caused Shrimp to bark. "Not the brightest, are ya, boy?"
Elizabeth opened the door and gave him a smile. "Hey."
"Hi. I brought Shrimp. Hope that's alright."
"Of course. Shrimpy and I are buds, aren't we?" she asked, kneeling down. Shrimp licked her hand and woofed. "Well, come on in. I ordered pizza."
"Ordered it? Remind me to make that for you soon," Jack told her.
"Ooo, you should have gourmet pizza at your Bistro."
"Hmm. We don't have a pizza oven."
"Could you add one? I'm thinking pizza with oysters or something crazy like that."
"Its an interesting idea. I'll talk to Lee."
"Cool. Pizza is on the counter if you want to grab some and then we can look at the houses on my laptop."
He grabbed a slice and a bottle of water and joined her on the couch.
"So I found these on my friend's realty site. She is an agent and told me how to search. So this one is cute. It has a fenced in yard for Shrimpy, a porch, two fireplaces, three bedrooms, and it says open concept."
"Garage?"
"Yep."
"Wow. That's the price?" he asked, pointing.
"Yeah. It's a new build in a subdivision."
"That's more than I was looking to spend."
"But if we are buying a house together, we can afford this."
"I think we need to talk about how much money we will potentially be making together before we look for houses." She told him her annual income and he raised his eyebrows. "Let's say we buy a house and have a baby and you decide not to work anymore. We need to have a home that I can afford on just my income. Right?"
"True. But there's something I haven't told you yet."
"What's that?"