2 Weeks Later…
Jack woke up with the ocean breeze wafting through his open bedroom window. This sort of wake up call was something he was quickly getting used to. The past two weeks had been a whirlwind for him and Harper. Jack was getting used to things at the new fire station and while he was there Harper got to enjoy some special time with her grandparents. When he was off work, he did his best to introduce Harper to all the things he loved about living on the Cape. Cookouts on the beach, sailing, kayaking, and biking to their favorite ice cream place, to name a few.
Noticing the hour, he jumped out of bed, grabbed an old t-shirt and left the downstairs master bedroom. The rest of the house was still and quiet. He walked to the base of the stairs and listened, but there was no sign of movement from Harper's room. School would be starting in just a couple of days, so he decided to let her rest.
With a large mug of coffee, Jack wandered out to the front yard. Being home brought him back to how life used to be growing up. He and his friends would spend hours down at the beach. At night they'd all sit around a fire and play guitar and sing. As he traveled down memory lane, his mind seemed to fixate on the girl whose side he had never wanted to leave. Elizabeth.
"Dad?" Harper's soft voice called out to him from the front porch steps.
"Morning, Honey Bee." Jack smiled at his daughter. "How'd you sleep?"
She shrugged. "Good."
"Glad to hear it. How do you feel about pancakes this morning?"
"Okay, I guess."
"You guess?" Jack walked towards her. "What if I put chocolate chips in them? Does that sound better to you?"
Harper smiled. "Sounds great, Dad."
"Alright! Let's do this!"
Twenty minutes and a very messy kitchen later, Jack and Harper sat outside, each with a nice stack of warm chocolate chip pancakes drizzled with maple syrup and a side of fruit.
"You know I was thinking, with school starting in a few days, we should get the rest of your school shopping done. You wanted to get a few more outfits, right?"
"Yeah, but today?"
"Why not?"
Harper shifted in her seat. "I don't know. I guess today's good."
"Okay…" Jack was unsure why his normally confident 11 year old seemed nervous all of a sudden. After all, it was just clothes shopping. Girls loved that stuff, right?
"Can I try calling Mom before we leave?"
"It's a work day, but sure. Why don't you get dressed and then give her a call. You can use my cell."
"Thanks, Dad." She stuffed the last bite of pancake in her mouth and downed her orange juice. "Breakfast was great. Thanks."
"You're welcome, hon."
…..
Sitting at her kitchen table, Elizabeth checked the online rental property website for a home for her and Dylan. She appreciated her parents letting her live above their garage at such short notice but now, she needed to be on her own. She never really had been. She went from living with her parents to a short period of time in a dorm where they still provided necessities, and then she married Ray.
There was the year she and Ray were going through the divorce, but that felt chaotic and messy. This was her chance to be a single mom, to feel normal and be in charge of her own life. This was where she would prove she was capable.
"Mom? Can we go swimming?"
"Swimming? Like in the ocean?"
"Yeah. We don't have a pool."
"Right." She closed her laptop and looked at her son. He had grown a good inch over the summer and now he needed new jeans. And a haircut. "It's early. Lets go to the barber shop and get you a haircut and then to get you some new jeans and when we come back, we can swim."
"I don't need a haircut, Mom. I want to grow it out some and my jeans are fine."
"You absolutely need new jeans but I guess we can wait a bit on your haircut." It couldn't hurt to wait a few weeks. Especially if it made him happy.
"Why do we have to go today?"
"Because this is Thursday and school starts Monday. I have to go in to work tomorrow so this is the only day we have."
"Fine," he said with a dramatic sigh.
"I can go myself but you might not like the ones I pick out. Plus this way, we can go to Ryan's after."
"What's Ryan's?"
"A bowling alley and arcade. We can get some food and play a few games. Vi and Coop could join us, if you want."
"Can we still go swimming later?"
"Of course."
"Yeah! Let's go."
About an hour later, the boys were happily playing a game of bowling while Vi and Elizabeth were at the table chatting.
"Did you see him yet?" Vi asked.
"Who?"
"Jack Thornton. I heard he's the new fire chief in town. I guess that's why he moved here."
"Well, I haven't had any fires, so no, I haven't seen him." To know that he was doing what he'd wanted to do with his life, made Elizabeth happy, even if she still felt hurt from how their friendship ended.
"At least you know where he works."
"I'm not going to go search him out, Vi. I just got divorced and the last thing I need is another man to control my life. I want to be in control for once."
"You've been officially divorced for over 6 months, and separated from that jerk for almost 2 years. It's okay if you want to get back out there."
"Your turn, Mom!" Dylan told Elizabeth.
Elizabeth stood and gave Dylan a high five. Nice job, Dyl."
She did her best to shake off her sister's words. For all Elizabeth knew, Jack could be as bad as Ray. Years could change a person. Look at her, the years made her untrusting and skeptical. It could have made Jack controlling and mean, even though in her heart, she couldn't fathom her former best friend as anything but kind, thoughtful, and loving.
Elizabeth got ready and then walked up to the lane and threw her ball. She watched as it bounced from side to side. "Thank goodness for bumpers."
…..
Harper led Jack into the fourth, and Jack hoped the last, clothing store at the outlet mall. The talk with her mom must have gone well because she seemed to have a new energy.
"Okay, Honey Bee, what's left?"
"I was thinking I'd get a few new shorts for gym class. Is that okay?"
"Of course! You know, I read that soccer tryouts start next week. You want to give it a try?"
"I don't know." Her gaze shifted to her sandal clad feet. "I'd need stuff if I was going to play again."
"You mean new cleats? I think I saw some back at the shoe store."
"No… not just cleats, Dad."
"Okay, what else?"
"Just… things alright?" She sighed, clearly getting frustrated. "Besides, I was good in Austin, but what if I totally stink here?"
"You were very good in Austin, hon. Besides, you'll never know unless you try."
Harper didn't look up. Her energetic attitude from just moments ago seemed to disappear. "Can I think about it?"
"Decision's totally up to you." Jack felt bad, he hadn't meant to kill the mood. Harper had loved playing soccer back in Texas. He hoped getting her involved here would help her make friends and feel more connected.
"Okay," Harper finally stated. "But just in case I decide to do it, I think I should get four pairs of athletic shorts." Without giving him time to argue, she headed off towards the racks of shorts.
Jack gave her a wave and walked around the store alone, trying to give Harper her privacy. "I don't know that I'll ever understand girls," he muttered to himself.
With four new brightly colored athletic shorts in hand, Harper started back towards her father. She was almost there when she came to a rack of bras in all styles and sizes. She looked around to see if anyone was watching. Confident that she was alone, she carefully took the closest one off the rack and examined it closely.
"A, B, 32, 34… what does all that mean?" She sighed and placed the garment back on the rack.
"Hi!" A bouncy voice said from behind. "Can I help you find anything?"
"What? I um… no thanks."
"Are you in need of a new bra?" The saleswoman asked with a smile. "We just got these in last week. My daughters love them. What size are you?"
"I… I don't know."
"Oh, that's alright. Do you need you measurements done?"
"My what? No thanks. I think I'm just going to get these shorts and go home." The saleswoman headed off to the counter. When Harper turned around to find Jack, he was already walking up to her. "All done," she said, eager to get out of there fast.
"Yeah? Let me see." Jack took the shorts from her. "Nice colors."
"Thanks. Can we go now?" Her voice dripped with attitude and impatience.
"Harper, what's up?"
"Nothing. I just want to go home now." Her eyes quickly darted to the rack of undergarments and back to the ground.
Confused, Jack looked around. That's when he noticed what particular clothing items they were standing by. "Oh." Jack felt himself break into a sweat. "Did you… um, need one of those?"
"Yes, I mean… just forget it." Harper burst into tears and ran past Jack toward the door.
"Harper, its okay. Wait!"
"Just leave me alone!"
Jack dropped the pile of the clothes on the check out counter and told the saleswoman they would be back. He rushed outside and looked left and right for Harper. Thankfully she didn't get far.
"Honey." Jack walked over to the bench she was crying on. He wrapped his arm around her and she fell into his side. "Harper, talk to me, sweetie.'
"Mom was supposed to help me with this before we moved but, there wasn't time. I called her this morning but she didn't answer."
"I see. Why didn't you tell me?"
"I don't know."
Jack rubbed his free hand over his face. He felt completely out of his element. "Tell you what, we can do two things here. I can give you the money and you can go in and talk to the saleswoman in there and I bet she'd help you." Harper looked up at him mortified. Jack threw his hands up to calm her. "Or we can call Nana. She'll know what to do. What do you say?"
"Nana. Definitely, Nana."
"Alright." Jack leaned in and kissed the top of her head. "I'm so sorry, hon."
"For what?" Harper wiped her damp eyes.
"That I'm not Mom. That you're stuck with just me."
Harper looked up at him. "Dad, you don't need to be Mom and I'm not stuck. I want to be with you."
Jack could feel the sting of tears in his eyes. "Thanks, Honey Bee. I love you."
"I love you too."
Jack stood up from the bench to make the call to his mom. Out of ear shot of his daughter he pushed send. The phone rang twice before she answered.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mom. Are you busy?"
"Not at all. Just watching paint dry."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. We're painting the living room but your father and I can't agree on a color. We're waiting for the samples to dry so we can make a decision. What do you know about the difference between eggshell and egg white?"
"Nothing. Look Mom, I need your help."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm at the outlets with Harper to get back to school clothes and well… there's something she needs that… let's just say I'm not that equipped to help her with. Something that you use."
"Son, you're drifting, just spit it out."
"A bra, Mom. She needs a bra."
"Oh dear!" Charlotte laughed. "I'm on my way."
"Thanks, Mom."
"That's what I'm here for."
…..
Elizabeth headed to school the next day, leaving Dylan with her parents. She had to finish getting her office set up and do some paperwork so that she would be ready for the next week. By mid-day she was ready to go and she headed home to run.
When she came to Hyannis, she started running again. It had been years, but she also had gained a bit of weight since the divorce so it was not only to get back into shape, but also to kill the stress she felt from everything that was changing.
She headed to her parent's to say hi, letting them and Dylan know where she would be and then she walked over to her apartment and changed into shorts and a tank top with her running shoes.
As she jogged over to the beach, she sighed, listening to the waves break and the breezes. She was so glad she was home. The Cape always had a pull on her, ever since she left to go to college. She didn't want to think that it had anything to do with her first love, Jack, but now that she knew he was in town and she thought about him constantly, she thought maybe that was it.
She broke into a run as she approached the water and got into the pace she liked. She ran for a bit and then noticed that she had come to the area where she and Jack and a bunch of his friends had come many evenings after school. Jack and Jesse, one of his good friends, played their guitars and sang. Jack had the most captivating voice, a little raspy, powerful when needed, but mostly just smooth. He really put a lot of feeling into the songs and that made her love him even more. She could listen to him sing for hours. She wondered if he still played.
As she continued, she noticed a cottage with a "for rent" sign on the dirt path off of the beach road. It was cute. It had nice size trees out front that Dylan would love to climb, she was sure of it. It also had rose bushes and a nice cobblestone pathway up to the front. It was white but it had blue shutters and a blue door that really popped. It even had a carport that would be nice in the winter. It looked perfect. She made a mental note to check the online listing when she got home, hoping and praying the monthly rent was doable for her.
She could see them living there already which might turn out to be a bad thing if someone had already rented it or if it was too expensive. It couldn't hurt to check though.
She jogged back toward her house oblivious to the fact that she was being watched from a house nearby.
Jack saw her run by about fifteen minutes before, thinking she looked familiar but mostly he was mesmerized by her long legs and curves. She ran with confidence but also like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. Something about her made him want to know what she was struggling with. Maybe he would plan his next run so that he could bump into her.
