Nathan and Gracie arrived back at the Inn before lunch. In fact, Elizabeth, King and Mr. Kendrick were all sitting at the table, chatting and the adults, sipping coffee.

"Hi there," Nathan said, offering his hand to Mr. Kendrick. "I'm Nathan Grant."

"Roger Kendrick. Pleased to meet you, mate."

"You too. Welcome to The Inn on the Water."

"Its charming, if I do say so myself." However, Roger was keeping his eyes on Elizabeth. Apparently he found something charming and it wasn't just the Inn.

Elizabeth blushed and stood, squeezing Nathan's hand as she headed to the kitchen. "Nate, would you like coffee?"

"No, thank you."

He followed her into the kitchen though. Elizabeth was a bit embarrassed at Mr. Kendrick's attention to her. He must be 35 at the oldest. He obviously had no idea how old she was.

"Bess?"

She smiled up at him. "I love that you call me that."

"Yeah?"

She kissed his cheek and started cleaning. "Yes. You know what else?"

"What?"

"I love you."

"If my guest wasn't sitting about ten feet behind us, I'd show you what I think about that," he whispered, trailing his fingertips, from her neck, down her back, making her senses come alive.

"King? Why don't you show Mr. Kendrick to his room?" Elizabeth suggested when she noticed the quiet from the table.

"Sure. Right this way, sir."

"Well, thank you, young man." He patted Kingston's shoulder. "And thank you, ma'am. For a wonderful breakfast."

"You're welcome," she said with a nod.

She turned back to scrub another pan but the moment Roger was out of sight, he gently turned her chin upward and made good on his promise and she readily returned his kisses. "I love you too, Bess."

She hugged him around the waist, her cheeks pink. "What am I going to do with you?"

"I can think of a couple things."

"Nathan Grant," she scolded playfully. "The things you say."

"Maybe I just like seeing your cheeks turn a pretty pink color."

"Ahem," Gracie said from the table. "I'm going to walk to the bookstore. See you later?"

"Gracie...are you okay? With Jude leaving?"

"Um...I need to go." She quickly walked away, trying to hide her emotions.

Elizabeth saw though. She gave Nathan a kiss on his cheek. "I'll give her a few minutes and then I'll go find her."

"I forgot she was there and she told me she was fine with us. I feel bad."

"Its not your fault, Nate."

"I just...I want her to be okay with me."

"She's probably just missing Jude and her Dad. She'll be just fine."

Gracie wiped her cheeks as she walked in Pages, a charming little bookstore in town.

She sighed. Bookstores were the best. Even though while at home, she didn't have a lot of time to read, here, she had time, especially now that Jude was gone.

"Welcome to Pages," a pleasant, elderly woman said from behind the cash register. "Let me know if you need help finding anything."

"I will, thank you."

She wandered along the far wall where the classics lived. Pride and Prejudice, her favorite. Little Women. Anne of Green Gables.

"You always did love the classics," Elizabeth said from behind her.

"Yeah. You did too."

She picked up Pride and Prejudice and opened it, loving the feel of it in her hands. "There's something about holding such a timeless love story in your hands, you know?"

"Especially when you're experiencing love yourself?"

Gracie looked at her mom and nodded. "Mom, I'm so happy for you."

"So then why are you crying, love?" Elizabeth asked, wiping a tear from Gracie's cheek.

"I guess, all of the sudden, I realized that our lives are separate now. You're here and you have a house of your own and a job and a boyfriend...I'm all the way in Henderson. With my own job and boyfriend. Until I saw you with him today, completely happy and in love….I always thought maybe you'd come home."

"This is my home now, Gracie. I know you know that," she told her, pulling her into her arms.

"I know. Sometimes….sometimes I just need my mom, you know?"

"Yeah. And sometimes I need my daughter. Like right now. I was missing home so much lately and you and Jake being here…it helped me to know that we are all going to be okay. Including me. I'm going to be fine and…"

"You have Nathan and King now."

"But I will always need you and Jake. Don't forget that, love."

"I won't." She hugged her tighter. "I think you should marry him, Mom."

"Well, dear, he has to ask first. Plus, I'm in no hurry."

"Why not? You love him."

"Yes, but I want to get to know him better first. I don't want to rush."

"Life is short, Mom. Losing Dad taught me that."

It taught Elizabeth that as well. "Yes but marriage is for life, Gracie. If I'm going to marry someone again, I need to make sure there is no doubt that we are supposed to be together."

"You don't feel that for Nathan?"

"I love him. Very much. I just…I'm older than him."

"Mom, no offense, but why in the world does it matter how old you are…when you are how old you are?"

Maybe it didn't matter. "I don't know, dear."

"I'll answer that. It doesn't matter. You can't possibly be that much older."

"Alright, enough about me. Let's talk about Jude."

"Let's not. Let's just make plans for our trip to London."

The next day, Jake and Tara went to London and Elizabeth started her day as normal at the Inn. However, after her conversation with Gracie the day before, her mind was constantly on her future and whether or not that future was here with Nathan and King.

She was 98% sure that it was, but she needed some assurance. Who better than Nathan to give that to her?

King, however, was the first to join her for breakfast. "Hey, Elizabeth."

"Hey, Kingston."

"What are we making?"

"Well, Mr. Kendrick is here, so not eggs."

"Maybe fruit and toast? With coffee?"

"Sounds perfect."

Nathan and Mr. Kendrick walked down together, chatting about some work that Nathan was going to do for him.

He looked up at her and winked as they sat down. She blushed and smiled at him. She definitely could take seeing that crooked, handsome smile every morning.

She stayed in the kitchen during breakfast once they were served and kept her hands busy. Finally, King took Maverick for a walk on a leash, hoping that would get out his extra energy so he wouldn't run off and Mr. Kendrick decided to walk to the bookstore. That left a few moments for them to talk.

"So…what's on your mind, Bess?"

"You. And me."

"Yeah? What about you and me?"

He leaned back against the counter and looked at her, picking up on some emotion he couldn't quite face.

"I'm older than you, Nathan."

"Bess, we've talked about that. Why does it bother you so much?"

"It really doesn't bother you?" He took her hand and led her to his office off the living room. "Nathan, I should…"

"You should let me tell you what I'm going to tell you," he said patiently.

"Sorry."

He stopped and softly kissed her lips. "No need. I just need you to listen to what I'm going to tell you. Fair enough?"

"Yes."

She took a breath and waited as he pulled a file from a locked drawer. "So, yesterday, I started something that I think we need to chat about. I was going to do this when we sat by the fire tonight, but why wait?"

He gave her the file folder and she opened it.

"An adoption application?"

"Yes. Remember when we first started dating…we kind of had this same conversation. You weren't sure whether a relationship was a good idea because of our age difference and because Faith and I wanted more kids."

She nodded. "I remember."

"Bess, I want to start that process but I need to know if you want your name added to it." He put the folder aside and took her hands. "I need to know if it should be left blank in the spouse section or if it should say Elizabeth Grant."

She inhaled sharply. "Are you proposing?"

"No. Someday I want to, when we are both ready. I want to go through the process with you but I need to know if that's something you want too."

"So my age…."

"Doesn't matter one little bit."

She only saw acceptance and love and sincerity in his blue eyes. Those feelings rushed into her heart and then poured out in tears. "I want it to say Elizabeth Grant."

He nodded and held her for a long few moments. "I'm so happy you said that."

"I'm happy you asked."

The next few days were filled with sightseeing in London for Tara and Jake and then the day following that they walked around Beesands. Gracie read and spent time with Elizabeth, making sure to call Jude every night as promised.

Gracie and Elizabeth's mother/daughter trip to London was wonderful. They saw Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle. They took various walking tours and had "high tea" and then took a double decker bus around the city. By the end, neither wanted to leave but they went home anyway, promising to go again soon.

The day before they were set to leave for home, Elizabeth, Gracie and Tara went to the pub for lunch, giving Jake a chance to speak with Nathan.

Nathan of course invited him in, shaking his hand.

"Can we talk?"

"Of course. I'm guessing it's about your mom."

"Yeah." Jake sat at the table and folded his hands. Then unfolded them. Then folded them again.

"Take your time. Did you want some coffee?"

"Sure."

A few moments later, Jake spoke. "I didn't like the idea of Mom moving here, to be honest."

"You were worried?"

"Yes. She had been here once. Just once and then she wanted to move here? Alone of all things." He shook his head. "I saw how much it meant to her to start over somewhere new. To kind of move past everything and start fresh. I guess the cop in me will always want to protect those I love."

"I understand."

"I'm going to be a father, you know."

"Yes."

"I already feel so protective of him and I haven't even met him yet. My Dad taught me to be a good man. He taught me how to have patience and to give my sister and my mom love and make sure they know that they are important."

"I'm sure you also do that with Tara," Nathan mentioned.

"Yes. I am so grateful that he taught me those things."

"You are a good man, Jake. You have to be after having Jack and Elizabeth for parents."

"I appreciate that. I just…I can't protect Mom like I want to. She's too far away from here and she's so independent. I'm ready to pass the torch."

Nathan chuckled. "Your mom doesn't need protection. I mean honestly, I've never met a stronger woman. However, I am happy to take that torch and I will protect her, maybe without letting her know that's what I'm doing."

Jake nodded and smiled. "I appreciate that."

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I love her. I never thought I would find someone again but then your mom showed up. I want to ask her to marry me in the next few months. I would love your blessing to do that."

Jake held out his hand and the two shook on it. "It's yours."