Elizabeth heard the doorbell early Saturday morning. Jack had a key so she knew it wasn't him. Who visits a closed B and B at 6:30 in the morning?
Ginger barked and ran ahead of her to the door. Elizabeth gave her soft head a pat and opened the door. "Bree?"
"Beth. Can we come in?" she readjusted her sleeping three year old in her arms.
"Of course, yes. What's going on?"
"I got fired. That meant I couldn't pay the rent I was already late on so we got evicted."
"Take a seat on the couch, I'll get you some coffee."
"Aunt Beth, can I have milk?" her six year old son, Xavier, asked.
"Of course, bud. I'll be right back."
Bree laid Tate down and told Xavier to watch him. She smiled as Ginger hopped up on the couch as if she was guarding the boys.
Bree walked into the kitchen and gasped. "Beth, this is gorgeous."
"Yeah, Jack did a pretty awesome job."
"How is lover boy?"
"He's wonderful but tell me what happened."
She took the now full coffee mug from the Keurig and set it in front of Bree at the island. Then she offered her cream and sugar and poured a plastic cup of milk for Xavier.
"Actually, let me get their sippy cups. Otherwise you'll have milk all over."
A few moments later the boys had their milk and were watching a cartoon on the TV so Bree headed back to the kitchen.
Elizabeth was making something that smelled delicious. "What are you making?"
"Sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast croissants. I make things that I may want to serve on the menu for the B and B and Jack taste tests them for me. Now I have three more tasters which is good since I'm pretty sure Jack's biased."
"I'm not biased, Beth," he told her as he walked in the kitchen, an adorable smile on his face.
"Uh huh. I don't believe it." He walked over and gave her a kiss. "Morning."
"Morning, beautiful."
Bree smirked as she watched the couple in front of her. "Ahem."
"Right, um, Jack, this is Bree. Bree, Jack Thornton."
"Bree from Atlanta?"
"Yeah."
"So those were your boys on the couch."
"Yep. Xavier and Tate."
"Its good to meet you, Bree. Beth talks about you all the time. I'm glad you were able to visit."
"Yeah, well, I sort of don't have any other options. I lost my job and our condo so we drove here."
"Oh, well, we need a secretary at the station. Can you type and use a spreadsheet?"
"Yeah. I kind of need to figure out what to do with the boys and where to stay before I can get a job."
"Well, you are staying here," Elizabeth told her.
"I can't, Beth. You are trying to get a business going here."
"There is no question, Bree. We don't open for like two months. There is a room ready for you that has a bed for you and we can put an air mattress in there for the boys. Plus, I will watch the boys while you work."
"Beth."
"Listen, Bree, you are here now and you need a place to stay. I know if I was in your position, you would do the same, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would."
"Then stay here."
"Okay but I'm going to help you with chores and things around here. I'm not staying for free."
"You are staying for free until you are on your feet. I will let you do dishes if you insist."
"I insist."
"Well, I'm going to go up and work on the bathroom." He gave Elizabeth another kiss and nodded to Bree before walking up the stairs.
Bree raised her eyebrows and smirked at Elizabeth. "So you weren't kidding."
"Nope."
"Your kids are going to be so adorable."
"Stop. I am so glad you are here, Bree."
"I wish things were different. If I could have just somehow made things work with their dad…."
"He abused you, Bree. There is no making things work. You deserve so much better than him."
"But he made good money. We would have a place to live if…"
"Bree, come here." Elizabeth opened her arms and hugged her best friend. As soon as she was in her arms, Bree started crying hard. "Shhh…it's okay. You are safe, you have food, and a place to live."
Jack came rushing into the room then. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Just having a rough day," Beth told him. "Who should she call about the job at the station, Jack?"
"Me. I'm hiring and you are hired, Bree."
"You don't have to do that, Jack."
"Hey, I have a job opening and you said you can type and use Excel. Can you talk on the phone?"
Bree laughed, wiping her cheeks. "Yeah."
"Then you are hired. You can start Monday if you want. Are your things in your car?"
"Yes, but you don't have to get them, Jack."
"No point in trying to stop him. Jack is going to help you no matter what," Elizabeth told her.
"Then you are perfect for each other."
"I agree," he said with a wink as he walked out the door.
…..
Around lunch time, Jack took a break and took the boys and Ginger outside to toss the ball around.
Elizabeth couldn't help but watch him through the kitchen window. He was so sweet with them, chasing them around the yard, picking each of them up and spinning them around, hearing their giggles.
"He'll make a good dad," Bree mentioned.
"Yeah. I think so too."
"Have you guys talked about that?"
"Some. Mostly just that we both want to have a family one day. Not specifically that we want one together."
Bree couldn't help but be a little jealous. She hadn't had time to find a good man to talk to, let alone date. Being a single mom limited her exposure to eligible men. Maybe things could be better for her and the boys here in Maple Hills.
Someone rang the bell at the front. "I'll get it," Bree offered.
She walked to the door and opened it. "Hi."
A cute young policeman stood at the door, looking momentarily confused. "Um, I was looking for Jack or Beth."
"Oh, sure. I'm Bree. I'm staying here with Beth. Come in."
"I'm Mike Hickam."
"Nice to meet you, officer."
"Just Mike."
"Okay." She led him into the kitchen. "Beth, Mike Hickam is here."
"Hey, Mike," she said, turning from the window. "Jack is outside playing with the boys."
"Who's boys?"
"Mine," Bree told him, receiving a nod from Mike.
"I'm going to go talk to Jack, if you don't mind," he told them.
"Sure."
This time it was Bree that watched out the window. "He seems nice," she said quietly.
"He is. He's a great guy."
"And cute."
Elizabeth laughed. "Yes, true."
"Is he married?"
"Nope. Maybe you should ask him to come over for dinner."
"Maybe I should." What did she have to lose?
When he and Jack came in with the boys and Ginger, Bree took a chance. "So, Beth and I are making dinner tonight if you don't have plans."
Mike looked at her for a brief moment and nodded. "I don't have plans. What time should I come?"
"Seven?"
"I'll be here."
"Great."
…..
Mike did not know what had happened this afternoon but he was pretty sure he had been asked out on a date. Well, asked over for a date. He was glad Bree had done it because he couldn't have done it on the spur of the moment like she had. It probably would have taken him weeks to get up the nerve.
Now, he was struggling with what to wear to dinner. He never cared before. Clothes were clothes. He was a police officer first so his uniform was a staple. Then, he usually went home and stayed there. On the off chance he was asked to go somewhere, he just pulled a clean shirt from the closet and added jeans.
Tonight though, it seemed more than a t-shirt and jeans type of night. So he chose a white button down and a pair of black dress pants and it felt like he was heading to church.
He was running out of time though so he stayed with those choices, grabbed his car keys and left for the B and B.
He stopped at the grocery store and grabbed two bouquets of flowers, one for Beth for having him over and one for Bree for asking him over. His mom had taught him to be a gentleman and that flowers always brought a smile to a woman's face.
He took the price stickers off and walked up to the door, ringing the bell.
"Hi," Bree said, coming to the door in a black sundress with large pink and white flowers. She looked lovely.
"Good evening, Bree. You look really pretty."
She smiled and a light pink hue showed up on the apples of her cheeks. "Thank you, Mike. You like nice too."
He walked in and shut the door and then offered the bouquet of wild flowers to her. "These are for you."
She hesitated and then took them. She didn't smile right away and that made him think that maybe she hadn't meant for this to be a date after all.
"I thought this was…I mean, I'm pretty bad at…they can just be friendship flowers. If this wasn't a date," he said quietly.
She smelled the flowers and looked up at him. "I'm sorry. No one has bought me flowers in a long time. It just stunned me for a minute." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "This was a date, you were right. Thank you for the flowers."
"You're welcome." He followed her into the kitchen and handed the other bouquet which were daisies to Beth. "Thanks for dinner, Beth."
"Oh, these are really pretty, Mike. Thank you, and you're welcome."
"Mooooooom!" Xavier yelled as he ran in the room.
"Xavier, please don't yell. Inside voices."
"But, Mom! Tate stole my Lego and that made my whole building tip over!"
"Listen, we have company. We can get your Lego back later."
Xavier looked up at Mike. "Hey, you're that police man that was here earlier!"
Mike squatted down and smiled at the boy. "Yep, that's me."
"Cool. Hi!"
"Hi."
Tate walked in and headed straight for Mike. He stood about six inches from him and waved his little chubby hand.
"Hi. I'm Mike. What's your name?"
"Tate," he whispered. Then Tate decided he was shy and turned and hugged Bree's legs.
She smiled and picked him up. "Hi, sweetie. Boys, let's wash our hands and go sit at the table so we can eat dinner."
"Can you help me wash my hands, Mike?"
Xavier asked him, grabbing his hand and pulling him to the bathroom, not giving him a chance to answer.
"Sure, bud."
Mike lifted him up so that he could reach and helped him pump soap onto his hands. When they were done and dried off, Xavier pulled him to the dining room and climbed up on a chair. "You can sit by me," he told Mike.
"Alright."
Mike spent the evening helping Xavier with things, listening to the talkative little guy chatting with everyone and occasionally catching Bree's eye across the table. He didn't think this was how a date was supposed to go. He hardly had any time to get to know Bree at all.
His chance came later when it was time for the boys to go to bed. Jack and Beth insisted that they would put the boys to bed so Bree and Mike could chat.
"Would you like some coffee or tea, Mike?" she asked him.
"I'll take tea. Is there peppermint?"
"Yep." She put the tea pod into the Keurig and turned back around. "I'm sorry about tonight. This wasn't what I wanted."
"Its okay. I'd like to try again, though. Maybe we can go to dinner somewhere."
She nodded and smiled. "I'd like that."
They took their tea out to the porch swing and sat down. "Tell me about you, Bree."
"What would you like to know?"
"Everything."
"Okay, well, I was born in Kentucky but when I met the boy's father, he moved us to Oregon."
"How'd you end up in Atlanta?"
"My husband was abusive. It started pretty much from the beginning. You're probably thinking I'm stupid for staying with him."
"Of course not."
"In hind sight, I can't be upset with myself for staying because I wouldn't have both of my boys right now. Anyway, I left him when I found out I was pregnant with Tate. I knew if we stayed, Tate would be in danger too. So one day when he was out, I packed quick and drove away. We drove for days and days. I found a lawyer in Chicago to file for divorce. That pretty much took all my money so I found waitressing jobs so we could have food and a place to stay. But then when Tate came, I couldn't work so we got evicted. I sold my car and used a bit of the money to fly us to Atlanta where I applied for a secretary job and secured us a tiny apartment. Thankfully there was a kind neighbor who was willing to watch the boys for next to nothing. Eventually I saved enough to move into a condo with two bedrooms and that's where we stayed until recently. When I got fired from my job, we got evicted again and now I'm here."
"Bree."
"I'm sorry. You said you wanted to know everything. I thought if we are going to be something, you and me, I need to be honest."
He took her hand and held it, very gently. It felt so good to have someone care. She had been craving that feeling, the touch. "Bree, I don't know what to say."
She took her hand from his. "I don't blame you if you think we are too much baggage." She stood and went to the railing, facing away from him. "I mean, a poor, divorced, single mom with two loud kids and more problems then anyone else. That's a lot for even me to handle."
He stood and walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She sighed and hugged him back. "That's not what I was going to say."
"No?"
"No. I'm willing to give this a shot if you are. I mean yeah, our first date wasn't really a date and Xavier talks a lot, but there is something about him that pulls you in. You are a strong woman, Bree. Its obvious from the lengths you've gone to protect your boys. You deserve the best of everything."
"That's sweet of you to say."
"It's the truth. Now, I want to take you to dinner. How about tomorrow night? We can get all dressed up and head to Burlington to an Italian restaurant there."
"I don't really have dressy clothes."
"You're wearing a dress now."
"Its Beth's."
"See if you can borrow it again. Or wear jeans. I don't care. Let's just go out."
She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Sounds fun."