"Elizabeth," Jack said quietly, putting his arm on the back of the bench behind her. "I know Harrison saw us a few minutes ago, but I don't want to say anything to him just yet."

"I understand. I want things to work out between us, but we don't want to get his hopes up too soon. Just in case."

"Thank you for understanding." He looked over at her, a smile spreading across his face. "Are we really doing this? Seeing where things go?"

She smiled back. "I guess so."

He moved closer, reaching over to brush a strand of hair away from her cheek. "I really want to kiss you again, but I don't want Harrison to see."

She glanced out at the playground. Harrison waved from the top of the slide. She chuckled and waved back. "We'll have plenty of time for that later. Right?" She met his gaze again.

"Right." He touched her cheek, briefly brushing his thumb across her lips.

She shivered at his touch, warmth spreading through her.

"Daddy!" Harrison's voice sounded from the playground. "Watch me!"

Jack and Elizabeth both turned their attention to the little boy, watching as he swung from the monkey bars.

"Wow, good job, buddy!"

Harrison grinned, so proud of himself. He hung there for a moment, not realizing his hand was beginning to slip. Time seemed to slow down as Jack watched him fall to the ground, throwing his arms out to brace himself. He immediately crumpled in pain, sobs coming from his little body.

Jack bolted over to him, Elizabeth on his heels.

"Harrison, I'm right here." He carefully scooped his son up from the ground, noticing he was cradling his left arm with his other hand.

"Daddy," he cried. "It hurts."

"I know, bud." Jack smoothed back his hair. "We're going to get you all taken care of. Okay? We'll make it all better."

"What do you need me to do?" Elizabeth looked on, feeling helpless.

"I need to get him to the hospital. He may have broken his arm." Jack started toward the parking lot.

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"You don't have to."

"I know, but do you want me there?" She put a hand on his arm, stopping his movement.

Tears filled his eyes, and he nodded.

"Give me your keys." She held out her hand. "I'll drive."

"Elizabeth…"

"Please. Let me do this. You worry about Harrison. I'll get us to the hospital."

He reached into his pocket and dropped the keys into her hand. "St. Francis is closest, and I know some of the people in the ER there."

"Okay." She unlocked his car, opening the back door for him.

"Daddy…" Harrison whimpered as Jack carefully put him in his carseat.

"I know it hurts, buddy. I'm sorry. We'll get you some medicine at the hospital, and that will help."

...

"Miss Beth!" Harrison called out as he and Jack stepped out into the waiting room.

Elizabeth stood up from the seat she had occupied for the previous hour, returning the smile that was on the little boy's face.

"I'm getting a cast!" He held up his arm, which was now encased from hand to elbow in a splint and secured in a sling. "I get to pick colors for it."

"Which color are you going to pick?"

"Blue and purple!"

"Very good choices." She ruffled his hair.

"Daddy says we can get ice cream now because I was so good!"

"Oh really? What flavor are you going to get?"

"Chocolate! My favorite!"

"Chocolate can't be your favorite!" Elizabeth put her hands on her hips in mock indignation. "It's my favorite!"

He giggled. "No! It's my favorite!"

Jack put a hand on the small of Elizabeth's back as the three of them started out of the hospital. "Thank you for being here. I deal with stuff like this a lot, but since it was Harrison, it got me all out of sorts."

"How is he?"

"It's a relatively minor radial fracture. I actually see this type of injury a lot with kids at the practice. He'll get the plaster cast in a few days when the swelling goes down, and that'll stay on for about a month."

"Well, I'm glad it wasn't anything worse." She slipped her arm around his waist. "And how are you?"

"Better, now that I know it's not too bad. When I saw him fall on that arm, my mind immediately went to the worse-case scenario." He sighed, relief washing over him. "But he'll be just fine."

"Come on, daddy!" Harrison called out from a few feet ahead of them. "It's ice cream time!"

He chuckled. "See? Not even fazed by this at all."

"We'd better get going." She handed him his keys.

"You'll come with us to get ice cream, right? I'll take you by the park for your car later."

She nodded. "I'll go. Just as long as Harrison doesn't take all the chocolate ice cream," she teased.

"I'll share with you!" Harrison took her hand.

"Thank you for that, buddy."

...

Jack pulled into the parking lot, stopping beside Elizabeth's car. "Well, here we are."

"Walk me to my car?" she asked, not wanting her time with him to end.

He glanced toward the back seat, finding Harrison asleep in his carseat, clearly exhausted by the events of the day. "Okay," he agreed.

They quietly exited the vehicle, walking around to the driver's side of Elizabeth's car.

Jack put his hands on her shoulders, running his fingers down her arms until he could entwine them with his. "I'm glad you were with me today."

"So am I." She gave him a shy smile, taking a step toward him. "I'm off work again tomorrow, by the way."

"Oh, are you? You aren't tired of me after today?"

"Nope." She met his eyes. "Now, are you going to kiss me or what?"

"Bossy." He smirked, leaning in. He kissed her like he had been wanting to since he first saw her at Luke and Viola's house, like he would've the week before if his mother hadn't pulled up. Slow and deep. Releasing the pent-up emotions he had been holding in.

She pulled back, the corners of her lips turning up. "That was worth the wait."

"I agree." He chuckled. "And I look forward to doing that again."

"And again and again…" she trailed off as she leaned in, letting him close the gap as he pressed his lips to hers.

"As much as I would enjoy doing that for a while longer, I should get Harrison home."

"Of course. He's had an eventful day." She squeezed his hand. "See you tomorrow?"

He nodded. "I'll call you later, and we can figure something out."

...

Jack sat up, reaching for his phone when it started ringing. "Harrison, it's Uncle Tom."

"Uncle Tom?" He crawled up on the sofa beside his dad as he answered the video call.

"Hey, big brother." Tom grinned at the screen.

"Hiya, Tom. What are you up to?"

"Not much. Just finishing up an assignment here."

"And where is 'here'?" Jack questioned.

"Mongolia. I've been following some snow leopards. I'm actually calling because I have some news."

"Did you get a cast, Uncle Tom?" Harrison scooted closer to Jack until the camera could see him. "I got one." He held out his arm.

"What happened to you, little dude?"

"I broke it."

"He took a tumble at the playground today; it's just a minor wrist fracture," Jack clarified. "So, what's your news?"

"I'm coming home!"

"Really?" Jack raised his eyebrows. "For how long?"

"At least a month this time. So I'll be there to celebrate a certain little boy's birthday."

"We're going to the zoo!" Harrison excitedly told him. "Daddy's friend is going to show us the meerkats. She works at the zoo. She's really nice."

"Oh, your daddy has a new friend, does he? Tell me more."

"Nope. You can find out more once you're here. I'm not discussing it right now." He shifted. "Have you told mom you're coming home?"

"Not yet. I thought I'd call you first. I wanted to make sure I got to say hi to Harrison before he went to bed."

"Uncle Tom! We got ice cream today, and chocolate is Miss Beth's favorite, too."

"Really?"

"Mhmm." Harrison nodded emphatically. "Except she doesn't like sprinkles on hers. Just whipped cream."

"Hey, Harrison, can you go pick out some PJs and brush your teeth, please?"

He looked at his father, brow furrowed. "But I broke it." He pointed at his arm.

"You can pick out your PJs with one arm." Jack nudged him. "I need to talk to Uncle Tom in private for a minute, bud."

"So, are you going to tell me about this friend of yours now?"

Jack sighed, leaning against the back of the sofa. "It's Elizabeth Thatcher."

"From high school?"

"Yes. But there's not a whole lot to tell. We reconnected a few weeks ago, and we've been spending time together. Mom already knows, so there's no reason to mention anything to her."

"Daddy." Harrison returned to the living room. "I picked space PJs."

"Okay. One minute, bud, and I'll help you change." He looked back at his phone. "I should get him in bed. We'll see you soon, though."

"See you, Jack. Say hello to Elizabeth for me."

...

Elizabeth woke to her phone buzzing on the nightstand.

"Hello?" she answered groggily.

"Elizabeth?" Jack's voice was soft. "Did I wake you up?"

"No." She yawned. "Just relaxing."

"No, I woke you up. Just go back to sleep. I'll talk to you in the morning."

"Jack, no, I'm awake now." She sat up, turning on her lamp. "We can talk."

"I don't know how much longer we can keep us a secret. Harrison keeps telling people that we've been spending time together."

She laughed softly. "That sounds about right. Who did he tell?"

"Tom. And speaking of, he's coming to town for a bit. He said he wanted to be back for Harrison's birthday."

"That'll be nice for you guys to get some time with him." She crossed her legs, getting comfortable. "Oh, I forgot to tell you earlier, I talked with our vet who's on duty the 29th, and she said she'd be happy to talk with Harrison and show him around a bit."

"He'll love that. Thanks for setting that up."

"Of course. He's a great kid. He deserves to have a great birthday."

"I'm really happy he has you in his life now." He lowered his voice. "I'm happy I have you in my life, too."

She smiled, thankful that he couldn't see her blushing. "So am I."

"So…" he cleared his throat, "what sort of shenanigans should we get into tomorrow?"

"Maybe we should just stay in. Let Harrison get some rest."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. You said he likes picnics, right? Why don't I pack us a lunch, and the three of us can have a picnic in your backyard?"

"That sounds great."

"And then maybe after, we can fall asleep on your couch again," she teased.

"A perfect plan. But you know, eventually, I'm going to take you on a real date. Just you and me, getting dressed up, going to a fancy restaurant."

"We don't need to go on a fancy date, Jack."

"We may not need to, but we're going to. Maybe next weekend?"

She grinned. "I'm already looking forward to it."

...

Harrison ran out into the driveway as soon as Elizabeth stepped out of her car. "Miss Beth, what did you bring for lunch?"

She lifted the basket from the back seat of her car. "I brought a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for you, and some sandwiches for me and your dad, and peaches and pears for all of us."

"Strawberry jelly?"

She nodded. "Your dad told me that's your favorite."

"Thank you! Come on!" He took her hand, pulling her to the porch, where Jack had been waiting. "Daddy! Miss Beth brought me peanut butter and strawberry jelly!"

"Awesome. Why don't you go take the picnic blanket out back, and Miss Beth and I will be there with the food in a minute?"

"Okay, daddy." He disappeared into the house, and they heard the back door open and shut.

"Hi," Jack greeted Elizabeth, sliding an arm around her back.

"Hi." She set down the basket, slipping her own arms around his waist. "Nice job getting him to leave us alone for a minute."

"Well, I couldn't very well do this with him watching." He leaned in, pressing his lips to hers.

She smiled when she pulled away. "I don't think I'll ever get tired of doing that."

"Me neither. Now come on. There's an impatient little boy waiting for us." He picked up the picnic basket, leading her through the house.

"How's he doing?"

"He's fine. A little tired. He didn't sleep all that well. He had a hard time getting comfortable with the splint on."

"Poor guy."

"Oh, he's milking it, though." Jack chuckled.

"All ready!" Harrison stood proudly in the middle of the blanket, its corners folded over and rumpled.

"Great job, bud."

...

They stayed outside for a while after finishing their lunch—during which Harrison declared his peanut butter and jelly the 'best sandwich ever.' Elizabeth sat on the blanket, watching Jack and Harrison chase each other around the yard, both laughing hard. Eventually, she joined them, gasping through laughs when Jack tackled her to the ground and Harrison climbed on top of both of them.

"We should, um," Jack lost his train of thought when Elizabeth met his gaze, their faces just inches apart.

"Go inside?" she finished.

"Yeah." He stood, helping her up.

"Can we watch the Europe guy?"

"Sure, bud."

"The Europe guy?" Elizabeth questioned as they settled on the sofa.

"Rick Steves," Jack clarified. "I don't know why, but it's one of his favorite shows."

It wasn't long before Harrison started nodding off. Jack quietly carried him to his room, tucking him in.

"It actually works out nicely that he's napping now," Jack said as he returned to the living room. "I need your help with Harrison's birthday present."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes curiously. "Okay…"

"He's been asking for a dog basically since he could talk. I'm thinking now might finally be the time."

"So what do you need my help with?"

"I'd like you to help me pick one. I'd let Harrison choose one himself, but then I'd risk him picking a tiny yappy thing or a big old thing twice his size."

She chuckled. "Okay. So you want something medium-sized?"

"Preferably." He nodded. "I was thinking we could just look at some of the shelters and rescues around here and see what we can find."

She pulled out her phone, leaning against his shoulder. "Let's see what the options are."

Jack smiled as he watched her scroll through the pictures of available dogs. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm really glad you're here."

She looked up at him, returning his smile. "So am I."