Fall, Oak Hills Arizona

Elizabeth pushed through the pain as she rode hard. "Whose idea was it to take this class again?" she asked her best friends, all pushing just as hard as her to finish.

"Me!" Fiona admitted. "Isn't it great?"

As the song finally ended, they were able to slow down and work on breathing normally. Spinning class. She never would have picked it herself, but Fi was a hard person to say no to. Plus, she knew it was ultimately good for her even if her legs felt like jiggly rubber bands at this point.

After cleaning up, the four of them went to Abigail's and got lunch, just like they did every other Friday morning. She didn't know what she would have done without her friends the past few years.

After losing Jack, her husband, she was thrown into life as a single mother of their three children. Thankfully, she worked from home and was paid well for being a best-selling mystery writer. In addition, she and Jack had paid off their home and didn't use credit cards except for emergencies so she was in a good place financially, even if she had to do it alone.

"I'm getting fries!" Faith announced, rubbing her barely pregnant belly. "Baby wants fries."

Elizabeth chuckled. "I miss that."

"Being pregnant?" Clara asked, sipping her water.

"No, pretending that I can eat anything I want because the baby wants it," Elizabeth teased.

"I can," Faith grinned.

Elizabeth didn't miss being pregnant. She was ill for all three kids for the entire pregnancy. However, once they were born, she enjoyed every moment of caring for them.

Now, her oldest Charlotte was fifteen years old, and she could take care of herself and her siblings when it came down to it. Harper, her next daughter was ten and opinionated and moody, acting like a teen which she wouldn't be for a few more years. Thankfully little eight-year-old Tommy was clingy and loved to hang out with Mom.

"Maybe next week we can go to Heights," Fiona suggested.

"I am not climbing a wall, rock or otherwise," Faith said. "But you ladies, go for it."

"I don't do heights," Clara mentioned, "unless you want vomit all over."

"Ew," Fi laughed. "We are eating, Clara."

"Sorry. Just sayin."

"You've been quiet, Elizabeth. Any thoughts on Heights?" Fi wondered.

"I...no. No thoughts."

"Great. Then it's a plan."

"I didn't say I'd go. Just that I didn't have an opinion."

"Semantics. Maybe we can make it a double date."

"Oh no. No more dates from any of you," Elizabeth said in her "Mom Voice." "Nothing good has come of that so I refuse."

There had been one from Fi, one from Faith and one from Clara. They were all disasters. At this point, regardless of how lonely she was, and she was, she'd rather stay alone.

"I'll find someone the old fashioned way. Grocery store or something. If I don't, I'll be fine. The kids will be too."

Oak Hills Community College

Lucas closed up his laptop and headed out the door to his truck. It was old. He got it when his son Anderson was born, eighteen years ago. He kept it running, fixing anything that might need it on the weekends when he had nothing else to do.

His phone buzzed as he started the truck, rolling down the windows because it was five hundred degrees inside. It was fall but it was Arizona.

"Lee, what's up?"

"Luke, hey, just wondered if you want to go get a drink tonight."

"I don't know. I have some paperwork to grade…"

"You have papers to grade and it's the first week of school? Harsh."

"I teach literature, Lee. There are always papers to grade."

"Yeah. I'm glad I never took literature when I was in school. Anyway, drinks?"

"Maybe this weekend. I can do Saturday night. Andy is coming home but he will likely be making out with Mia the whole time."

"Saturday is great. Have fun grading those papers, man."

"Thanks, Lee."

Lucas drove to Tortilla Charlie's to get his Mexican food for dinner and then home, ready to get to work. His house was quiet, as always. He didn't have any dog to greet him, Andy had moved to the dorms so it was just him. Lonely Lucas Bouchard. Single father of one.

Not that he wasn't used to it by now. He'd been divorced from Andy's mom for fifteen years but it'd be nice to share his evenings with someone. Specifically a female someone. Someone to hold hands with, share their day's activity with, hold in his arms as they fell asleep.

He'd tried dating when Andy was around ten but he quickly realized that being a single father took up all the extra time he had when he wasn't at work. So since then, he hadn't shared his evenings, his life with anyone female except his mother and that didn't count.

Now though, the quiet of his house was deafening. He turned on the TV hoping to find something interesting to watch or at least provide a little background noise.

He started grading papers but halfway through, he realized he needed something else. So he grabbed his phone and called Lee.

"Hey, bro."

"Let's go to The Corner Bar. I need to get out of this house, Lee."

"Great! I'll meet you there."

"Perfect."

Elizabeth smiled. She was actually going out on a weeknight without kids. Just her and Fi. She pulled her favorite blue sundress over her shoulders and turned to look in the mirror as she watched it floating perfectly over her curves. She was forty years old, a mother of three, and she was happy with how she looked. There was something to be said for Fi's crazy workouts that she subjected them to.

"Mom! Aunt Vi is here!" Tommy yelled.

"Okay, baby. Let her in."

She took one last look in the mirror, grabbed her purse and stopped at the girl's bedroom door. "Charlie, I'm headed out."

"Kay, Mom," she said, not looking up from her history textbook. Elizabeth wouldn't complain that her teen daughter was actually doing her homework. "Have fun."

"I will. Thanks, hon."

After hugging her sister, Tommy and kissing the top of Harper's head, she walked out the door, just in time for Fi to pull her fancy SUV into the driveway. Fi's husband Michael was a super successful surgeon which allowed Fi to stay home with their daughters and drive that SUV.

"Hey, Fi. Mike doesn't mind watching the girls tonight?"

"Nope. He loves his girls. When I left he was sitting at their table, drinking tea and wearing bows in his hair."

Elizabeth laughed. Jack used to let Charlie paint his nails. He was a great father. It was hard to believe it had been almost seven years since he had passed.

"Thinking about Jack?" Fi knew her so well. They'd been friends since grade school and Elizabeth didn't know what she would do without her.

"Just...yeah. He was a great dad."

"He was."

"I'm lonely, Fi," she admitted. "I miss everything about having a man in my life."

"Maybe you'll meet someone soon. You never know."

"Maybe." She wasn't sure she wanted to meet someone at The Corner though. It seemed like asking for trouble. Especially someone that was there on a weeknight. Didn't that mean they didn't really care about their job the next day? Although she was going on a weeknight herself.

As they walked in, she was pleasantly surprised at how slow business seemed to be, even at dinnertime.

"Let's sit at the bar," Fi said, walking up and taking a seat, her slim figure catching the eye of a few men. Elizabeth joined her, balancing her purse on her lap.

"Hello, ladies," the young bartender greeted, grinning. He was cute but probably 25. Way too young. "I'm Cody. What can I get you?"

"Maybe an appetizer?" Fi said, looking at Elizabeth.

"I'd love Hot Wings with Blue Cheese," Elizabeth said.

"Um okay. Since I want Michael to kiss me tonight, I'll stick with nachos, no onion," Fi said.

"And to drink?" Cody asked.

"I'll take a chocolate martini," Fi ordered.

"Frozen margarita, extra salt," Elizabeth told him.

"You got it."

Lucas and Lee wandered into the bar and ordered a pitcher of beer and some hot wings and then walked over to the dart board.

Elizabeth didn't notice the men but Lucas had absolutely noticed Elizabeth. That blue sundress, showcasing her gorgeous curves. Her curly hair pulled up so he could gaze at her bare neck and shoulders. "Holy cow," he muttered as he shot looks towards the bar to keep her in sight.

"Someone catch your eye, Luke?" Lee teased.

"Huh? No."

"It's your turn."

"Right, yeah." He threw his dart and it hit the outer ring of the board.

"Luke," Lee laughed. "Blue dress?"

"Yeah."

"Just go talk to her."

"Nah, she's with someone."

"So. Nothing wrong with saying hello or giving her your number or buying her a drink."

"Are you sure you don't mind? I mean…"

"Go. Luke, it's been a very long time since your divorce. You should get out there again."

He should. He wanted to. He wanted to get to know the woman in the blue dress with the margarita in her hand.

Before he knew it, his legs were taking him to the bar again. Elizabeth felt someone sit down next to her.

"Hello," his smooth voice said.

She looked at him. "Hi," she said, her cheeks blushing.

"I'm Lucas."

"Elizabeth."

"Do you come here often?" he asked, getting a giggle in return.

"Nice pickup line," she told him, sipping that icy margarita.

"It wasn't….it was a bad excuse for a question...I'm rusty at this." It was his turn to blush, his neck getting hot.

A second guy walked over and handed him a beer, patting his shoulder.

"So, to answer your question, no, not often. You?"

"No. I'm here with my friend, Lee. He asks me more than I come. I'm usually working."

"You work nights?"

"No. Well... I guess yes and no."

Elizabeth wrinkled her nose, which was too adorable, and sipped her drink. "I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"I'm a literature professor at Oak Hills. I work during the day in class and grade papers at night."

"Ah. That makes sense."

"What do you do?" he wondered.

"I'm a writer."

"Anything I'd know?"

"Well…."

"Elizabeth," Fiona interrupted. "I'm sorry. Angie is sick. I need to get home."

"Okay. No problem." Just then Elizabeth's hot wings arrived.

"Blue cheese?" Lucas said, noticing her choice. "I love blue cheese."

"Me too."

"Cody, can we get a takeout box?" Fi asked him.

"It was nice meeting you," Lucas said as the two women got up to leave. "Maybe…"

"I'm sorry, we need to go," Elizabeth told him, hurrying out the door.

"Darn it," he muttered, sipping his beer. He didn't even get a chance to give her his number. Or get her last name or what types of books she wrote or if she even wrote books.

"She left?" Lee asked as he wandered back over to the dart board again.

"Yeah, her friend had an emergency."

"You at least get her number?"

"No."

"Maybe you'll see her again."

"I don't even know if she lives nearby or anything. I don't have her last name."

He shook his head at himself. There was something about her that made him absolutely hope she would somehow show up wherever he was soon.