Catie wouldn't stop talking about Elizabeth being on their couch when she woke up that morning, making Molly and Bill raise their eyebrows a bit.
"It's not what it sounds like," he assured them but he caught the look between them.
"We're not judging," Molly said. "Now, let's go make cookies, Catie Girl."
"Okay! Bye, Dad!"
Lucas kissed the top of her head and headed to work with Bill. They were heading somewhere that Bill was insisting they go together but he wasn't sure what it was.
"So…where are we headed?" he asked as they drove past town.
"Well, I'm looking to do something different…"
"In what way?"
"Well, there is a place a few miles out of town that would be perfect for Hope Valley Landscaping."
"Like a second location?"
"No, a new location. It's larger and I'm looking to hire a new manager so that I can retire."
"A new manager?"
"Yes, and I'm hiring from within and I'm hoping that you would want the job."
"I've only been here like two months, Bill. Surely there are more qualified people…"
"Nope. No one wants it and no one has a degree in horticulture or has the landscaping ability you do."
"Bill…"
"It's a significant raise in pay and it has a possibility of becoming a partnership in the future."
"Partnership," Lucas repeated quietly. More money, part owner of his own business…it certainly had a huge draw now that Randi was threatening court.
"How do I apply?"
"Consider this your interview."
"Bill, are you sure that no one else wants it? Not even Danny? He has been with you for a long time."
"I asked him, Luke. It's yours if you want it."
And that was how he became a manager. The day had started out with Elizabeth waking up in his apartment with Catie snuggled with her. Now this. He shouldn't have been surprised when Elizabeth showed up at lunch with sandwiches and chips from Abigail's.
"I thought you might want to walk to the park with me?"
"Okay. I didn't expect to see you again today."
"I know…I was hungry and I thought maybe you were too."
"How did you know I didn't bring my own lunch?"
"Getting to know you, I guess."
As they sat down on a bench a few minutes later, he accepted the sandwich. "I have news."
"Good or bad?" she wondered.
"Good. You are looking at the new manager of Hope Valley Landscaping."
"That's awesome, Lucas!"
"Yeah, its good. Maybe I can actually buy you lunch occasionally."
"Does it really bother you that I bring you food?"
"A little. Not as much as it used to."
His wall was cracking more. She could tell.
"I like spending time with you, Elizabeth."
"The feeling is mutual." She took another bite of her sandwich as he stared off at the pond where a swan was floating.
"I meant what I said last night. That I trust you."
"I'm glad."
"So I was thinking that maybe you and I could go riding," Lucas suggested.
"Horses?"
"Camels." She loved that very understated humor that popped up occasionally.
"Funny! I didn't know that you knew how to ride."
"There's a lot of things that you don't know about me, Nurse Thornton."
"Is that a challenge?"
"You up for it?"
"Thatchers don't back down from a challenge."
Lucas knew that he was flirting, and Elizabeth enjoyed seeing a playful side to the man. "I'll go riding with you. I know right where to go."
"Great."The next day
Lucas had never seen anything as beautiful as the valley below them. She had taken them on a trail behind Thatcher Stables that wound up and up and up until they stopped where they were standing, the horses munching behind them.
"What do you think?"
"I…It's beautiful."
"Yeah. Its one of my favorite spots."
Lucas stood there staring into her blue eyes, feeling a feeling, a connection, that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He reached over and took her hand. She smiled at him.
"Will you have dinner with me, Elizabeth?"
"Like a date? Or as friends?"
"A date."
"I'd love to."
He nodded and just stood there, holding her hand and admiring her beauty along with the valley."He asked me out!" Elizabeth squealed to Julie and Faith on the phone that night. "I can't believe it!"
"I knew he would!" Julie said. "Your patience paid off."
She couldn't wait until Saturday, but she would have to because that was three days away. She needed to figure out what to wear.
She saw a text flash on her screen a while later. "What do you think about driving into Nashville?" it said.
Nashville was thirty minutes away, but it had more to choose from as far as restaurants did in Hope Valley.
"I'm game."
"Randi texted."
"Yeah?"
"She wants to meet Catie. Apparently she lives in Kentucky and wants to drive here to meet her."
"What do you think about that?"
"I don't know. Catie sleeps next to that picture every night. She asks me about her mom. I think if Randi wants to meet her and Catie wants to meet Randi…maybe I should allow it."
"Okay."
"What do you think, Elizabeth?"
"It doesn't matter what I think."
"It matters to me. You are my friend." Oh, how she wanted to be fully out of that friend zone she had created.
Elizabeth pushed the call button and called him. "So, I think that you know Randi. If you think that it is a good idea to introduce them, you should."
"I wouldn't let her go off with her. I would have to be there the whole time."
"That's a good idea, Lucas."
"Would you come with us?"
"To meet Randi?"
"Well, just to maybe be my backup?"
"Of course I will."
"Thank you."After they hung up, Lucas' phone rang again. "Mom?"
"Hi, son."
"Hi."
"Randi has been calling me."
"Are you the one that told her all that stuff about me?"
"What stuff? No, son. I don't tell her anything."
"Someone has been telling her. Mom, she wants to meet Catie. She wants a second chance."
"Absolutely not!"
"I told her that but she's threatening to take me to court."
"I'm calling her."
"No, Mom. Please. I can handle her."
"Lucas, she has no right to request anything regarding you or Catie."
"I know that and I told her that."
"I'm sending you our lawyer's number, son. You can't go into this alone without backup."
"I'm hoping that if I let her meet Catie that the court thing will just be a threat and nothing more."
"You're letting her meet her? Lucas…."
"Yes, Mom."
"When? I'll fly down there."
"You don't need to do that. I can handle it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. For once I am sure that I can do something correctly."
"Well then, I'm proud of you."
Hearing those words from Helen Bouchard meant everything. Also the fact that he had courage enough to face Randi…he needed to absolutely thank Elizabeth. She gave him courage and support when he didn't have it himself or didn't know where to find it.
"Thanks, Mom."
"Call me more often, son. Also, I am going to come visit you this summer. I miss my Catie Ann and my Lucas."
"We miss you too, Mom."Later...
"Dad? Where do babies come from?"
He stared at his now six-year-old daughter. "What?"
"Babies. Mrs. Flynn is having a baby in three weeks, she said. How did the baby get in there?"
He had no idea how to answer her except to say, "With lots of love. The mommy and the daddy love each other very much and they come together and make a baby."
"Oh. So you loved my mommy?"
"I did, yes."
"Why didn't she love me?"
"Sweetheart, I really think that she just didn't know how to show it."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. What would you say if I told her that she wants to meet you?"
"She does?"
"Yes." Lucas figured in her own messed up, strange way, she loved Catie. Just not the way she should.
"Can I ask her why she doesn't want to live with me?"
"You can ask her whatever you want, just make sure you listen to what she is saying."
"I'll listen, Dad."
"That's my smart girl."
"She's not going to take me away from you, is she?"
"No, I won't let that happen."
"Are you going to marry Elizabeth?"
"Okay, enough questions, baby girl. Its time for a bath and then stories."
"I think you should marry her. She's really really nice and she's pretty. Don't you think she's pretty?"
"Cates…"
"And she takes care of me and you. She makes you smile."
"Catie Ann Bouchard….bath."
"Fine. Just think about it," she said, kissing his cheek.
"Scoot."He called Elizabeth that evening after Catie was finally asleep. "So she asked me where babies come from."
Elizabeth giggled. "Oh yeah? What did you tell her?"
"That the mommy and the daddy love each other very much and they come together to make a baby."
"Good answer."
"Then she asked why her mommy didn't love her."
"Yikes. What a big question for such a tiny girl."
"I know. I told her that Randi wants to meet her and she seemed to think it was okay but she did wonder if Randi was going to take her away from me."
"Oh, Luke, that breaks my heart."
"Mine too. I don't want her to ever be afraid of being taken away. I'll do anything I have to do to make sure that doesn't happen."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm good at moving around."
"You'd leave? Lucas, you just became a manager at a great job and…I mean I know its early but.. what about me? Us?" She could feel her heart hurting at losing them.
"If she can't find her, she can't take her away."
"Lucas…"
"I'm mostly kidding. I need to stay here to prove myself."
Elizabeth stayed quiet which worried Lucas. "Elizabeth…"
"I need to go, Lucas."
"I'm not leaving."
"You thought about it, didn't you?"
"Yes." He figured he might as well be honest.
"I thought we had something good, Lucas. We were getting closer. I'm going to hang up now."
"Elizabeth, what about Saturday?"
"What's the point?" She was gone.Lucas needed advice but the person most often he went to for support was the one he needed advice about. Now what?
He picked up his phone and called Bill.
"Hi, Lucas."
"Hey. Are you busy?"
"Not really, no. Molly is out so I'm free as a bird. Do you want to come over for a beer or two?"
"I have Catie but I do need some advice."
"Come on over. Bring Catie girl."
"She's asleep."
"She can sleep here too."
So Lucas loaded her up and drove over to Bill and Molly's.
"Dad?"
"Shh babe. Go back to sleep. We are going to visit with Bill."
"Yay. I want to see the kitty."
Lucas carried Catie inside and laid her on the couch, the kitten jumping up and laying next to her.
"Coke?" Bill asked, handing him a soda.
"Thanks."
"What's going on?" Bill and Lucas sat down at the dining room table.
Lucas spilled all about his ex-wife and court and his first date with Elizabeth that may not happen and how stupid it had been for him to blurt that he could just leave.
"I didn't mean it, Bill. I'm not going anywhere. I finally have a job and Catie has friends and I have you and Molly and…"
"And Beth?"
"Yeah. Well, I almost did but she's angry."
"Sounds to me like she needs some reassurance that you are going to stick around."
"How do I show her that?"
"Do it. You stick around. You build that trust by showing her that she matters to you."
"She does matter. She is my friend. One of my only friends and she has been the one supporting me and encouraging me all along. I'd be moving on by now if I hadn't met her."
"Tell her that. And when you do that, take her flowers and tell her that you are sorry."
Flowers. He hadn't bought flowers for a woman in a very long time.
"She likes daisies."
"Maybe I'm not supposed to be with her. She…she has money and I don't. I can't support her when I can't support Catie."
"You are doing just fine with Catie, Lucas. You give her what she needs that's love."
"Am I wrong to want more for her? For myself?"
"Of course not. There's nothing wrong with dreaming. Who knows, maybe soon some of those dreams will actually come true."