Well, the house lost power and as Jack predicted, the roads by the river were flooded so he was stuck there with her. They found ways to stay busy because she had bought snacks and they had a ton of board games.
"Yahtzee again, Jack?! This game is not my friend. Let's do Trivial Pursuit next."
"Okay but I'm a genius with old movies."
"Of course you are. What aren't you good at?"
"Quite a few things actually."
"Name one."
"Like getting a date. Honestly, a lot of girls like the uniform but I haven't had a date in awhile."
She could not understand why. He was the whole package. If she didn't need to concentrate on her new business, she'd be jumping at the chance.
"Beth?"
"Yeah."
"What? You look like you have something to say."
"Just that…girls are crazy."
"Meaning….?"
"Meaning, if…I mean, handsome cop, uniform, good with fixing things…I mean why would they not want to go out?"
"You would think so but…I guess living in a small town and knowing everyone limits things."
"Its getting cold in here," she mentioned with a shiver.
"You did it again."
"Did what?"
"Avoided the subject by changing it."
She got up and grabbed the bag of Doritos. "The subject you were dancing around, Jack?"
"I wasn't dancing."
"Yes you were. I wish you would just say what you are feeling!"
"Fine. I think we should go out. To dinner. On a date."
"You and me?"
"Yes, that's what I mean by we."
"We can't."
"Yes we can. Beth, we are way old enough to decide for ourselves if we want to date. I want to date you. No holds barred. You and me."
"Why?"
"Because you intrigue me. You have for a long time. I want to know you and see where it goes."
"We can't, Jack. Or I can't. I'm starting a new business here. I can't have the distraction of a new relationship right now. I need to put all my energy into this business so I don't screw it up."
"What makes you think you'd screw this up?"
"I don't know. It's new and scary, just like dating. I don't want to let my aunt down."
"Agatha never would have set you up to fail. Only to flourish. She knew you better than anyone. Now I think its time for you to be fully upfront with me."
"Meaning?"
"I told you where I stand. Aside of hiding behind the B and B, which by the way I only want to support you in, how do you feel about me?"
"You're not pulling punches anymore."
"You wanted me to stop dancing. This is what you get."
"Let's make a fire. We can talk on the couch."
"Alright." They wandered into the living room and she watched as he built a fire. "There's something comforting about a crackling fire."
"Yeah."
She pulled her legs up under her and held a pillow in front of her. Jack sat down, about a foot away, not wanting to rush her.
"When I was fourteen, I developed a pretty big crush on you."
"Fourteen, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Really, Jack? You were four years older than me. You were graduating and I was a little girl essentially. Telling you would only have embarrassed me and made things very uncomfortable every time you came over to hang out with Jess."
"I guess."
"No, it would have. As the years went by and you went to college, all I could do was think about you. I counted the days until the next major holiday when you came home and I could see you again."
He took her hand, knowing she was probably bordering on embarrassed now. "You don't have to keep going."
She squeezed his hand and let go. "I'd like to. Honesty is best."
"Alright."
"When you went to the police Academy and I went to college, I tried to focus on my studies. It was important to me that I make something of myself. But you were always there, Jack. Always a "what if", a possibility."
"And now?"
"As much as I want to go out with you, right now, I'd like to focus on the B and B."
"Okay. I can support that. I was serious when I said that I'm here for you. As your friend or whatever."
"Thank you. I appreciate that."
He meant it when he said that, but he also planned on showing her what he would be like as her boyfriend too. The trick was just not letting her figure out he was doing that.
…..
The next day, the roads were still impassable so Jack finished ripping out the kitchen. "As soon as we can, we should go pick out your cabinets, light fixtures, and appliances."
"That sounds fun."
"It should be."
"I am supposed to go with Clara to the spa tomorrow morning. Maybe the next day?"
"Well, after work, yes. So maybe seven o'clock?"
"Sure. Seven on Wednesday. It's a date."
He smirked at her. "Oh yeah?"
"Its an expression. You knew what I meant."
"Can't blame a guy for trying."
Elizabeth finished unpacking and started making lists of things needed for each room. It was an extensive list be cause she was going to provide all the normal amenities plus a few extras for each person who stayed.
She then tried to estimate how many people could potentially book rooms and how many of each item she needed to stock.
She did research online while still in Atlanta and had started using a program that used spreadsheets and based on what info you entered, could estimate what your monthly orders needed to be.
She took her tablet from room to room entering pillowcases, sheets, lightbulbs, slippers, robes, duvet covers, and lamps and then in the bathrooms she entered how many soaps, body washes, shaving creams, toothpastes, toothbrushes, towels, and bubble baths she needed.
Then, she researched prices in bulk on Amazon and a few suppliers that had low shipping prices and decided where to order from.
"Closets!" she yelled.
"What?" Jack yelled back from downstairs.
She went down to the now empty kitchen and told him. "I need a large supply closet, Jack. I don't know where it can be but it needs to be able to hold a month's worth of supplies at a time."
"Wow, okay. Um let's look around and see where we might put it."
As they wandered, they noticed some unused space behind the stairwell. If he knocked down the wall, he could use all that space for the closet. "It would be big enough, I think," he told her. "I can put all the shelves and hooks in there that you need."
"Okay. Great. Thank you."
….
The next morning, the roads were finally passable so Jack headed to work at the station and Elizabeth met Clara at the spa.
As they allowed themselves to be pampered, their conversation went first towards the wedding that was coming up soon.
"Are you getting excited, Clara?"
"Yeah. I'm ready. Not to discount in any way my marriage to Peter but we were married such a short time that I almost feel like this is my first wedding. I'm getting the jitters and everything."
"I'm so glad you found my brother, Clara. I'm glad he found you."
"Me too. I'm looking forward to having you for a sister. Even though I already see you that way."
Elizabeth reached over and squeezed her hand. "I feel the same."
As the nail tech's painted their toenails and massaged their legs, Clara switched subjects. "So, Jesse seems concerned that you might have a thing for a certain handsome police officer."
Elizabeth blushed and smiled. "A thing?"
"Yeah."
"What if I do? I am twenty seven. He doesn't need to worry about me, especially with his best friend."
"I know that, but you know your brother. He is protective and all in all, that's a very sweet thing."
"Yes, but kind of annoying at the same time."
"So do you, Beth?"
"Do I, what?"
"Beth, come on."
"If I'm being completely honest, yes I do."
"I'm pretty sure the feeling is mutual for Jack."
"That's what he says."
"You've talked to him about it?"
"Yep. It was awkward but he kept dancing around the subject, putting impersonal pronouns in the conversation and so I just told him to tell me what he felt."
"Wow."
"Of course, he kept saying that I was changing the subject instead of answering."
"You are both so funny. Just say what you mean."
"Are you saying that you and Jesse immediately told each other your feelings before you started dating?"
"Well, no, I guess not."
"Exactly. Do you know awkward it was for me to tell the man I have liked for thirteen years that I still do and that I absolutely want to date him but I don't want to right now?"
"Wait, why not?"
"I need to concentrate on my new business. I can't be distracted and Jack…he's definitely a distraction."
"I respect that but I will tell you one thing and then let it go. Love is going to hit you when you least expect it. You may think that these feelings you have had for so long are strong, but wait until you fall head over heels for him. Wait until you miss him when you don't see him every day and you want to tell him first when something good or bad happens or when you can't wait to just be held in his arms. When those feelings happen, you won't be happy unless you finally give in and stop using the B and B as an excuse."
"It's not an excuse, Clara. It's true. If I start a relationship with him now, every moment of every day is going to be consumed by thoughts of him. I'm not going to be able to concentrate on the things I need to concentrate on. I need to hire a housekeeper and I need to order supplies and I need to make sure all the things that happen every day with every person who stays in the B and B happen perfectly. I can't mess this up, Clara."
"You won't mess it up. You care about every detail and you are smart and independent and driven. There is no way you will fail. All I meant was, you aren't going to be able to resist him for too long."
After their massages and manicures, they went to lunch and then to a movie. Now all Elizabeth could think about was Jack and that annoyed her. Was Clara right? Was it inevitable that she wouldn't be able to resist Jack? That seemed silly. To her, it felt like something she could control.
As she entered the house it was quiet. She knew Jack was at work so it wasn't surprising but it was still deafening. She walked into her bedroom and changed into her comfy clothes and then realized she had no real food in the house. Only snacks. She didn't have a way of cooking anything either so she would need to go grocery shopping and be creative.
First, she located her small crock pot, and then she made a list. Jack had thankfully left her refrigerator plugged in so she could refrigerate things. As she drove to the store, she grabbed items that she could also grill on the ancient barbecue out back. However she then had to buy charcoal so she mentally added that to the list.
When she returned an hour later, she put the ingredients for the chicken gumbo in the crockpot and turned it on after putting it on the small table that remained in the dining room.
Next, she figured out where she wanted to place her roll top desk. Inside the large foyer that would serve as a greeting/reception area. It would be perfect there.
She heard a noise at the door and then all of the sudden there was a beautiful golden retriever standing next to her, her nose in her hand.
"Well, hello, pretty doggie. Where did you come from?"
"Hey, Beth. I see you've met Ginger."
"I didn't know you had a dog, Jack."
"I don't. This is your dog."
"What?"
"I saw her picture in the paper about her owner wanting to rehome her so I called. She's two years old and her name is Ginger. I thought she looked kinda like Hattie."
Hattie was the dog the Thatcher's had when they were kids. Elizabeth had loved Hattie.
"She does look like Hattie. A lot, actually."
"I thought maybe she could keep you company."
"I'm not sure how Bella is going to like having a dog, but I actually was considering having one anyway. Thanks, Jack. That was really sweet of you."
"You're welcome. I'm going to go get her things from the car."
"Well, welcome to Aggie's House, Ginger. I hope your stay is a good one." Clara may have been right. Falling for Jack may turn out to be unavoidable.