After bidding Elizabeth good night, Jack lay back in his bed, unable to fall asleep. He was feeling more confused than ever. The evening had been wonderful; he had laughed and smiled more than he had with anybody since Olive.

He had even enjoyed the feeling of her lying next to him, not realizing how much he had missed that sort of presence. And when she had leaned in to kiss him…

He shook his head. He liked her, a lot, and a huge part of him did want to kiss her. But he had stopped the kiss, and he couldn't figure out why. Had it been because his mother turned onto his street at the moment? Or had it been something else? Guilt at moving on from someone he had promised to love for his entire life?

He also wondered how she felt about the whole situation. Clearly, she felt something for him. But did her apologies for falling asleep stem from some sort of embarrassment or discomfort? Would she regret how quickly things seemed to be moving between them? She could be with anybody. Would she really want to be with a widower with a young son?

He pulled the pillow over his face with a groan. "What am I supposed to do?"

Hours later, after a restless night of sleep, Jack rolled out of bed. He was completely exhausted, having spent the night tossing and turning, trying to make sense of his feelings.

"Daddy?" Harrison met him in the hallway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "It's church day?"

"Yeah. What do you want for breakfast, eggs and toast or oatmeal?"

"Um, eggs." He took Jack's hand as they walked toward the kitchen. "Can I have cheesy eggs?"

"Sure thing, bud."

A few minutes later, they both sat at the table, a plate of eggs in front of each of them.

"Daddy?" Harrison said around a mouthful of toast. "We gonna see Miss Beth?"

Jack sighed. "Not today, Harrison."

"Tomorrow?"

"I don't know." He rubbed his temples, a headache beginning to form behind his eyes.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine, buddy. Don't worry." He reached across the table and ruffled his hair. "Finish your eggs, and then you can watch cartoons while I take a shower. Okay?"

"Okay, daddy."

...

"Lee," Rosemary set a cup of coffee in front of her husband. "Do you remember someone in high school named Elizabeth? She was friends with Jack."

"There was an Elizabeth Thatcher. I think Jack's buddy Alex was dating Elizabeth's older sister. Why are you asking?"

Rosemary smiled mischievously. "It seems Jack has reconnected with this Elizabeth. She works at the zoo, and Harrison was telling me he thinks Jack likes her."

"Stay out of it, Rosie," Lee warned her.

"But how great would it be if Jack found love again? Harrison could have a mother."

"Maybe it would be a good thing, but it's his life, Rosemary. Promise me you won't meddle."

She put her hands up. "I won't meddle. I might just give him some nudges in the right direction."

"Rosie, don't push him. It's been a while since he lost Olive, but that doesn't mean he's ready to move on. Besides, you don't even know Elizabeth."

"But you do. And Jack said he had a crush on her in high school."

Lee set down his mug. "High school was years ago. People change. Leave this alone, Rosemary."

She sighed. "Fine. I'm going to wake James up and get him ready to go."

An hour later, they arrived at church, taking a seat next to Charlotte.

"Where's Jack?" Rosemary questioned.

"He took Harrison to the bathroom."

"Charlotte, did you know about this Elizabeth person Jack has been spending time with?"

"Rosemary…" Lee said under his breath.

"Are you talking about Lizzy Thatcher? He says they're just friends, but she was at his house until pretty late last night. I saw her leaving when I dropped Harrison off around ten-thirty."

"I knew something was going on there! Did you know he's already introduced her to Harrison?"

"What are you two talking about so intently over here?" Jack approached the pew, finding Rosemary and his mother deep in conversation.

"Oh, nothing." Charlotte waved him off.

"It didn't seem like nothing."

"Your mother was just telling me about the visitor you had last night." Rosemary gave him a little smirk.

"Ma!" His face reddened. "I told you she's just a friend."

"And I told Rosie that," she assured him.

"I would really appreciate if the two of you would stop talking about my personal life. If there's anything to know, I'll tell you. I promise."

...

"Beth, dear." Grace Thatcher reached out and touched her daughter's hand. "Is everything okay? You seem stuck in your head today."

Elizabeth took a deep breath and smiled, turning away from the window she had been staring through. "I'm fine. Just have a lot on my mind."

"Anything you want to talk about?"

She shook her head. "Not right now. I just have some…things I'm trying to figure out. Good things, I think, so no need to worry."

"Okay." Grace kissed the top of her head. "I'll leave you to your thinking, then. We're going to start a movie in the den if you'd like to join us."

"Thanks, mom. I'll be in there in a minute."

Once she was alone again, she turned her gaze back to the window. All day, she had found herself reaching for her phone before stopping herself. She wanted to talk to Jack, but after he had pulled away when she wanted to kiss him the previous night, she decided to wait until he reached out first.

She was second-guessing everything she had thought. She thought there was a connection between them; she thought the attraction she felt was mutual. He had been the one to suggest they spend time together. He had been the one to introduce her to his son. But now, she questioned it all. Was he not ready to move on? Did he only want to be friends?

She knew they had only been back in each other's lives for a few weeks, and she knew she didn't want to pressure him to move faster or further than he was comfortable with, but her heart was already in deep.

The moment she first saw him at Viola's house, everything she had felt for him over ten years before came rushing back. And the more time she spent with him, the more she fell.

She sighed, resolving to give him more time.

...

Giving him time wasn't easy. It hadn't even been a week since she had last seen him, and she found herself missing him. He had finally texted her Monday morning, a simple 'have a good day.' As the week went on, their communication was limited, just a few sporadic texts here and there. He had made no comments that hinted at wanting to see her again, and she was sticking by her decision to let him take the lead.

By Thursday evening, she was beginning to believe there would never be anything more than friendship between her and Jack, and she was trying to be okay with that. But she still wanted answers. Following dinner at Luke and Viola's, she offered to help with the dishes, finding an excuse to ask some questions.

She finished drying the last plate and put it in the cabinet before turning toward her brother-in-law. "Luke, has Jack been acting any differently at work this week?"

Luke shrugged. "Not really. Kevin's out this week, so we've been busier than usual, and he asked me the other day what childcare we have for Aaron, but I haven't noticed him acting any different."

"Why are you asking that?" Viola questioned.

"No reason." She cleared her throat. "I should probably get going. Thanks for dinner." She kissed her nephew on the forehead. "Bye Aaron. I'll see you soon, okay?"

Viola followed her to the door. "Elizabeth, I know there's a reason you were asking about Jack."

She sighed. "Promise you won't mention anything to Julie?"

"My lips are sealed." She pretended to zip her lips. "Now, what's going on?"

"Well," she sighed. "He and I were hanging out at his house Saturday evening, and we accidentally fell asleep while we were watching TV. I left right after we woke up, because his mom was bringing his son home, but before she pulled up, we…" she wrung her hands together. "We almost kissed. But he pulled back, and I don't know if I was pushing him too much or what. I've barely heard from him since then, just a few words here and there, 'good night,' 'have a good day,' things like that."

"Well, from what Luke said, it sounds like he's just been really busy lately. Maybe he's just waiting for things to slow down at work."

"Maybe. Or maybe he thinks things are moving too quickly and he's regretting what happened. Or, what almost happened, I guess. I mean, he said he had a nice time, but maybe he changed his mind after he had a chance to think about things."

"I think you need to talk to him. Stop speculating about what's going on or what he's thinking and just get an actual answer from him." Viola gave her arm a gentle squeeze. "I saw the way he looked at you that night at dinner. I think you're overthinking things."

"I don't know…"

"Talk to him," she reiterated, pulling her sister into a hug. "I'll see you soon."

"Thank you, Vi."

...

Jack squinted into the light, trying to make out the dark shape in front of him. It moved closer, coming into focus, and he realized that it was a woman. "Olive?" She looked just as he remembered her, dark eyes gleaming, sandy blond hair falling in waves down her back.

She took a step toward him, a smile on her face. "Hello, my love."

He pulled her into his arms, tears rolling down his face. "I've missed you so much."

"I miss you, too, but I don't have long."

"What?"

"Shh." She put a finger to his lips. "Just listen. I'm so proud of you, Jack. I know it's been hard, but you have been there for our son when I couldn't, and I'm so grateful. You are the very best dad I could ask for him to have."

"Olive…"

She put her hands on his cheeks. "I love you, Jack. I want you to be happy. Let yourself be happy. For me, for Harrison."

"I can't…" he gasped, a sob catching in his throat.

"I know all of your excuses. But listen to me. You could love her, Jack, if you let yourself." She leaned in, softly pressing her lips to his. "Tell Harrison I love him."

She gave a small wave as she backed away, back into the light.

"Olive!" he called out, running toward her. "Olive!"

She was gone, but another figure appeared at his side. A hand slipped into his, warm and comforting.

"Jack."

He turned to see Elizabeth standing there; it was her hand squeezing his gently. Harrison stood on her other side, his little hand in hers.

"Daddy, come on! We gotta see the meerkats now!"

He glanced around, realizing that the blinding light that Olive had disappeared into was gone. They were standing in the middle of the zoo. A quiet roar sounded from the lion in the exhibit to their right.

"Come on, Jack." Elizabeth gently tugged on his hand, giving him a smile. "The meerkats are waiting."

He woke with a start, his face sticky with the remnants of tears. He flexed his hand, his fingers feeling empty, as if her hand had actually been in his.

He rolled onto his side, looking over at the picture of Olive that lived on his nightstand. "Thank you, sweetheart."

...

Jack looked out at the playground, watching as Harrison came down the slide.

"Hey."

He turned to find Elizabeth standing next to the bench, a cup in each hand. "Hey." He moved over, making room for her. "How did you know I was here?"

"Luke said you weren't working today, and I know you said you like to bring Harrison here as much as you can, so I suspected you might be here." She shifted from one foot to the other. "I, uh, brought you a smoothie. I was making one for myself, and I ended up making too much." She held out one of the cups.

"Thank you."

She handed it to him and took a seat. "So…I think we need to talk."

"Look, Elizabeth, if you're uncomfortable about what happened the other night, we can just pretend it didn't happen."

"That's not it." She shook her head. "I thought you might be regretting it. I mean, we had a great time together, or at least I had a nice time. But then I didn't hear from you for almost a week, aside from the very generic texts here and there."

"I'm sorry about that. Things have been crazy at work, and my mom hasn't been able to watch Harrison like she usually does. It was all I could do to get him fed, bathed, and in bed before I fell asleep myself. I kept meaning to call you, but I was just exhausted. I was going to call you later today, though, after I spent some time with Harrison."

"Oh. Well, if you're ever in a bind like that again, I can watch him."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. As long as I'm not working." She reached over and took his hand, squeezing it gently before releasing it.

When she let go, he found himself feeling the same emptiness he had felt when he woke from his dream that morning, already missing the feel of her warm hand in his.

"I do a lot with our camps and group field trips, plus I babysit Aaron quite a bit, so I have a lot of experience with young kids. And Harrison and I seem to get along."

"Well, thank you." He cleared his throat. "So, you aren't uncomfortable about what happened the other night?"

"No. Is that part of the reason why you didn't call?"

"Yes, if I'm being honest. I'm not lying about how busy I was this week, and how exhausted I was, but I also was worried about how you might be feeling after everything. I mean, it's only been a few weeks since we started talking again, and…"

"I wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, I was a little disappointed."

His eyes shot up, meeting her gaze. "Disappointed? Why?"

"Because I thought we were going to…Never mind." She shook her head. "It's stupid."

Jack knew exactly what she was talking about. "Elizabeth, if my mom hadn't pulled up…I wanted to—I want to." He touched her cheek, leaning in slowly.

Just as his lips brushed against hers, a little voice interrupted them. "Daddy, what are you doing?"

He pulled back, letting out a breathy chuckle. "Nothing, bud."

"Oh. Okay. Hi, Miss Beth." He gave Elizabeth a little wave.

"Hi, sweetheart."

Harrison turned back to Jack. "Can you push me on the swing, daddy?"

"Sure." He looked over at Elizabeth. "We'll continue this in a few minutes?"

She smiled and nodded. "You bet."