The next few weeks were spent building their friendship even more. They met at their spot on the beach. They'd sing and play guitars or just talk. They texted or skyped nightly as well. Officially, they still hadn't gone anywhere in public yet though and Jack wanted that to change. They weren't avoiding it, life was just busy and their kids came first. That was important.

Before his lunch break, Jack sent Elizabeth a text.

"Hey, Blue Eyes."

"Hey."

"Want 2 have lunch?"

"With u?"

"Uh yeah. I won't bite, I promise."

Elizabeth giggled, something she did more regularly since finding Jack again. "Ok. When?"

"I'll pick you up 1?"

"C U then."

He walked inside the principal's office and greeted the secretary, Mrs. Blakely. "Good afternoon. I'm here to see Ms. Thatcher."

"I'll let her know, Chief."

"I'm ready, Florence. Thank you though."

She was dressed in yet another gray suit. She looked amazing but he wondered if it had anything to do with Ray. Was she holding back in what she wore because of his feelings?

"Hey there," he said with a wink.

"Hi, Jack. I'll be back in an hour, Florence."

"Yes, Ms. Thatcher. See you then."

Something about seeing her very handsome friend in his Fire Chief uniform again made her heart beat a bit faster. And made her nervous.

"Elizabeth?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you wanted to drive or me."

"Oh, um, you can."

"Then this is it." He gestured toward a nice black truck, a red and white light on top. He opened the door for her and shut it once she swung her legs inside.

"Nice truck," she told him, once he got inside.

"Thanks. I bought it a few days ago. It was kind of a moving on thing."

"Oooh, midlife crisis?" she teased with a laugh.

"Something like that."

"Oh, Jack, I'm kidding. I didn't mean anything by that."

"It kind of was. The Jeep was Ashley's idea. It's not that I didn't like it, I just want everything behind me and getting rid of that helped get that done."

"That's an idea. Maybe I should try that."

"If you do, I can help you pick something."

"Thanks, but I'm more than capable of doing it." She tried not to take offense, but men were always trying to influence her decisions.

"Of course you are, Elizabeth. I just wanted you to know I could help."

She stared at her hands, feeling bad for getting defensive.

"Hey, Blue Eyes. Let's start over. I wanted us to have fun at lunch."

"I'm sorry, Jack. Thank you for offering to help."

Maybe lunch out was a mistake. This conversation was exactly why she wasn't planning on getting into another relationship. She had a major trust issue under the surface and it went both ways. Her heart not only didn't trust men, she also didn't think they trusted her. She thought she was doing better, and most days she was. Today was just one of those days where she couldn't get out of her own way.

"You know I'm your friend, right?"

"Of course, yes."

"I don't want you to ever think that I'm trying to tell you what to do. I know how strong you are, Elizabeth, and that you can do anything."

"Are you kidding? I was far from strong, Jack. I stayed with an abusive husband for almost eleven years. If I were strong, I would have left him much sooner."

He parked in the lot by the diner and turned to look at her. "I don't believe for a moment that the reason you stayed with him was because you were weak. Abuse is painful and confusing. Whatever your reason was, when you saw the need, you protected both you and Dylan. I'm proud of you for that."

She wiped her eyes and sighed. Then she laughed when her stomach growled loudly. "Guess we better go inside."

He hopped out and opened her door for her. "Come on, Blue Eyes, let's get a patty melt with onion rings." He held his elbow out and grinned at her. She took his arm.

"I'm getting a salad. I've been eating way too much junk lately. Before long I wont be able to fit in my clothes."

"You look perfect."

She stopped and looked up at him. "Jack, the things you say…sounds a bit more than what a friend would say to another friend. And you can't blame the wine this time."

"Sorry. Things slip out. If you want a salad, get one. But if my memory serves me right, you can't resist an onion ring from the diner.

"I'm impressed," he told her later as they climbed in the truck to head back to the school. "You didn't sneak one onion ring."

"Nope." It had been hard but she stuck to her salad.

"What are you and Dylan doing tonight?"

"Movie night. We usually do it on Friday or Saturday."

"Nice. Tomorrow night, why don't the four of us go to Ryan's for bowling?"

"Ok, but we need bumpers, or I'll bowl a zero every frame."

"Fine by me."

….

Saturday night came and the four of them entered the loud, lit up bowling alley. It had been renovated some since they'd been in high school. More flashy lights, new screens and computer systems. Even the snack bar had been expanded to a bar and grill restaurant.

"Let's do boys against girls," Elizabeth suggested as she put on her rented maroon and tan shoes.

"I'm game," Jack said. "Kids?"

"Awesome! I get to beat Mom and Harper?"

"Uh think again, Dyl," Harper said. "Us girls are so gonna beat you." Elizabeth gave her a high five and a wink.

Jack tied his shoes, the ones he brought from home, and then polished his bright green ball with a rag from his bowling bag. Elizabeth watched him and chuckled. "Got something on your mind, Blue Eyes?"

"Nope. Just…nice ball."

"Thanks. I like it. Won me a few tournaments."

"You were in a bowling tournament?"

"In Austin. Firefighters against Police."

"Learn something new everyday," she said, slightly impressed.

Elizabeth stepped up to the computer and entered Harper in as player one. Then she entered B.E. in as player two.

"Who's B.E., Mom?"

"That's me."

"Blue Eyes," Jack told him.

Elizabeth next put in Dylan as player one on their side and Dimples as player two. Harper snorted.

"I'm gonna call you Dimples from now on, Dad."

"Think again or I'll change yours to H.B."

"I don't care, Dimples," she said quietly, a twinkle in her eye.

"Game on, Honey Bee. Game on."

After the boys won the first game, Elizabeth said that dinner was on them, so the two guys headed to the bar to order food leaving Elizabeth and Harper at the lane.

Once they placed their order, the guys sat on the stools and waited. "Having fun tonight, Dylan?"

"Yeah. It's good."

"Are you enjoying the drums?"

"Yeah. Mom isn't though. She only likes me to practice while she's out running."

"Yeah. Drums can get pretty loud. Actually, the cello is too, now that I think about it." He shook his head as if he could still hear Harper practicing in his ears.

"Harper said you play the guitar?"

"Yes. I do. I've played since I was about your age."

"Is it fun?"

"I enjoy it. I could teach you, if you want."

"You could? That would be cool."

"Great. We can ask your mom and see what she says. Though she could probably teach you too."

While the boys were getting the food, Elizabeth and Harper were chatting as well.

"Ms. Thatcher?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I'm sorry that Dylan got hurt when he stood up to Bradley for me."

"That was weeks ago, it's all fine."

"I know, but I'm still sorry."

"Well, he was feeling protective, I understand."

"Why? He barely knew me."

"I'm thinking it was because of his Dad."

"He told me that he wasn't very nice to you."

"That's true. Maybe since he couldn't protect me from the mean things his Dad used to say, he thought he could protect you."

"That was really nice of him," Harper said.

"Yeah. That's Dylan. He's got a good heart."

"My dad is like that. He protects me too."

"I'm sure he does."

"He would protect you too. I mean, if you needed him to."

"Yeah, I know. Your Dad and I used to be good friends when we were teenagers. Best friends, really."

"I think Dylan is my best friend. He told me I can tell him anything."

"Ok ladies! Let's eat!" Jack announced as he set the hot wings, burgers, and sodas on the table.

"And after that, we are gonna win. Right, Harper?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yeah!"

…..

After the second game, which Elizabeth and Harper won by 3 points, the kids hurried over to the arcade room. They quickly started a little air hockey tournament of their own.

"They're getting along nicely," Jack said with a smile.

"Very. I'm grateful."

"Me too."

She caught his intense gaze as he sat across from her.

"Jack, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're looking at me."

"Yeah… we're having a conversation," he grinned. "Generally it's considered polite to make eye contact with the person you conversing with."

"True but…"

"Hey, Mom?" Dylan was walking up to their table.

"Saved by the kid," Jack teased.

"Oh, we're not done talking about this," she sassed and then turned her attention to her son. "What's up, love?"

"Can we have more quarters?"

She reached into her bag and pulled out her coin purse. "Here you go."

"Sweet! Thanks!"

Once he was back in the arcade room, Elizabeth turned her focus back to Jack. "Now, where were we?"

"This has been a good night, huh?"

"Why do you keep changing the subject?"

"Okay, I'm sorry." He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. "You're upset because I'm looking at you."

"Yes. No." She huffed. "Jack Thornton! You can be so infuriating." She tried to fight it but a small smile was forming under her glaring eyes. "Just friends, Jack. Please."

"That's all."

"Then why are you looking at me like that?"

Jack nodded slowly. "You're right. I'm sorry. I guess I'm just really happy to be spending time with you again."

"That's it?"

"That's it." That wasn't it. He was trying, but deep down he felt a strong pull towards this woman. Her son too. As confident as he felt that they could have a future, for now all she needed was a friend and that was it. "I'm sorry. You just mean a lot to me, Elizabeth. I'm really, really glad to be spending time with you again."

"Me too," she sighed. "Jack, I'm sorry. Sometimes the way you look at me. It's like…"

"Like you're pretty, smart and funny?" he grinned.

"Something like that, yeah," she blushed. "Problem is, I don't feel like I'm any of those things sometimes. At work, I feel capable but just on my own. In my own skin I don't always. I'm working on it. It's something only I can do for me. You know?"

"Sure I can't help?" he winked, she glared playfully. "You're special, Blue Eyes. And not just to me. Dylan is lucky to have you as a mom and he knows it."

"Did he say something?"

Jack nodded. "Harper told me that they both felt lucky. They both ended up with the good parent, they say. The one that will always love them."

"I'm glad he feels that way. I'd do anything for him."

"I know you would."

She nodded as she watched the kids. They were laughing and having so much fun together.

"I want you to remember, Elizabeth, I'm here for you. Whatever you need, okay? Day or night."

"Thanks, Jack. For being my friend and coming back into my life."

"Happy to be here."

….

Jack dropped Elizabeth and Dylan off at the cottage just after 9. The kids said a quick goodbye before Dylan jumped out.

"See ya, Mr. Thornton."

"See you later, bud."

Elizabeth stepped out of the truck and walked around to Jack's side. He had the window rolled down.

"Thank you for tonight. We had a lot of fun."

"Thanks for coming. We had a good time too, right, Harp?" Jack asked looking back as his daughter climbed into the front passenger seat.

"Yup. I'd do it again," Harper said as she reclined back in the seat.

"Well, there you have it," Jack laughed. "See you at church tomorrow?"

"We'll be there." Suddenly her phone rang. She pulled it out of her back pocket. "Oh, I should take this."

"No problem. We should be heading home. See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow." Her smiled quickly disappeared as she turned to take the call. "Hello?"

"Elizabeth?"

She swallowed hard. It was Ray's mother. "Hi, Katherine."

"Do you have a moment?" She sounded almost out of breath.

"Sure. Is everything okay?"

"It's Ray. He was just here and he's not doing well."

"Is he drinking again?"

"I believe so. I'm not entirely sure he ever stopped." She sniffed as if she had been crying. "We got him back in rehab but he checked himself out and came here, trying to strike a deal with us."

"What kind of deal?"

"He wanted us to loan him some money and…"

"Katherine, tell me what's going on."

"He wanted us to help convince you to come back. But Beth, it's not wise. He's not well and I…" her voice cracked on the line. "I don't know what to do."

"Oh no, Katherine. I'm sorry."

"I know, sweetie. Look, he's not your problem, that's not why I'm calling. I just thought you should know what's going on in case he shows up somewhere looking for you."

"He doesn't know where I live, does he?"

"He doesn't know your current address no, but he knows you moved back to the Cape. Though I'm not sure how, we certainly didn't tell him. I don't believe you're in danger, but he may cause trouble."

"I understand. Thanks for letting me know."

A few minutes later, after giving Katherine a full update on Dylan, she hung up and walked inside her home.

Dylan now dressed in his PJs came down the stairs.

"Tonight was awesome, Mom."

"It was, wasn't it? I'm glad you had a good time."

He nodded. "Can I watch some TV before bed?"

"One episode of something that's appropriate. Nothing that's going to keep you up all night. Then you can read in bed some, if you'd like."

"Deal." He sat down on the big squishy couch with the remote in hand. "You want to sit with me?"

Her heart melted. "Of course. What are we watching?"

"Doctor Who?"

"Alright. But not if it's too creepy."

"You think most of it is creepy."

"That's because it is!" she laughed. "You pick one and I'll go make us some popcorn. Maybe if I'm eating I won't be nervous about it."

Dylan shook his head with a smile.

Two hours later Elizabeth walked up to Dylan's bedroom door. He hadn't lasted long reading that night. She smiled at her handsome son as he laid there on his bed, a book face down on his chest.

She placed a bookmark in his spot and placed the book on his night stand. With a small kiss on his forehead she whispered, "I love you, Dylan."

Elizabeth closed the door and headed back downstairs. She picked her phone up off the counter and stepped outside onto the deck. The sudden burst of a warm wind wrapped itself around her like a warm blanket. Inside her chest she could feel her heart thundering. The call from Katherine earlier left her feeling a bit lost and scared.

She remembered Jack's kind words from earlier. How he was there for her. Day or night. Quickly she sent a text.

"You awake?" It wasn't long before she received a reply.

"Yup. Just reading. What's up?"

She stared at her phone, second guessing her original thought of confiding the news to Jack. She wanted to be seen as strong, and independent. How was running to Jack at the first sign of trouble going to show that?

"Nothing. Just wanted to thank you again for the fun evening."

"You're welcome. Is Dyl asleep?"

"Yup. We watched his creepy British show before bed and had popcorn. I love it, he's a happy boy."

Her phone rang.

"What, you don't like texting?" she laughed.

"Not when I can hear your voice. So, creepy British TV?"

"Yeah. Julie's husband, Mike, introduced it to him. It's called Dr. Who."

"That's not creepy, that's awesome!"

"It is good, I won't argue, but it's creepy."

Jack laughed. "Maybe a little." There was a long pause. "Elizabeth, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier."

"Jack, its fine. I'm probably being overly sensitive about everything."

"Either way, I want you to be honest with how you feel, okay?"

"I want you to be the same."

"I care about you, Blue Eyes. A lot."

"I know you do." She couldn't help but smile. For a moment, she let herself think what it would be like to be with Jack. Right now she was sitting alone on the couch talking to him. If they were together what might they be doing instead? Would they be curled up on the couch talking and drinking tea? Or would they have turned in early to bed for… She shook all the romantic, intimate thoughts out of her head.

"So what do you think?" Jack's voice brought her back to the present.

"About? Sorry. I lost my train of thought."

"That's okay. I was asking if I could spend a little time with Dylan and teach him guitar. He showed interest when he and I were talking at the bowling alley. Harper has been wanting to learn too. I asked her if she minded sharing some of that time with Dylan and she really liked the idea. I know you can too, so I don't want to take that away from you."

"Oh, I don't know. It's a good idea, and I certainly don't mind. But I don't have a guitar for him to use. Mine's a little, well, girly looking he said. "

"That's okay. I can take care of that."

"How? You don't have to spend money on him."

"I'll talk to Pete and see if he has an extra around. Jesse too."

"Oh, that could work." She tried to relax a bit more. "Looks like I have a little rock star on my hands."

"How do you feel about that?"

"I don't know. Bring on the noise, I guess," she laughed. They talked for another hour about everything and nothing. Never once did she bring up the call from Katherine.

….

Monday rolled around and it was back to school and work. Elizabeth had a meeting in town at the district office in the early afternoon. When the meeting got out around 1:30, she decided to call out for the rest of the day and get some things done around the house. There were still a few boxes that needed to be unpacked.

Harper was standing at her locker at the end of the day. She'd decorated it nicely. A few pictures of the beach, one of her and her dad, and two of her and Dylan making funny faces.

Emily, a girl from the soccer team at the locker next to her glanced over and took notice of the pictures. With a grin she asked, "Are you Dylan sort of together?"

"Dylan? No gross. He's like my brother. Besides, I think my dad would have a heart attack if I started dating now."

"Do you have to wait till you're 16 or something?"

"Well, Dad says 40, but I'm pretty sure he's joking. 16 sounds about right."

Dylan showed up with his Carhartt jacket and his Red Sox hat on. "Ready?" Even though he had his bike today, he agreed to walk home with Harper.

"Sure." She closed her locker and said bye to Emily.

"See you guys later!"

Harper walked next to Dylan as he pushed his bike down the road. They were a heading out of a housing development which was a shortcut from the school to their street. As they hit the main road, Harper asked, "What do you think of the book we have to read for English?"

"I like it. I've read it before."

"The Hobbit? Really?"

"Yeah. My mom read it to me when I was younger and I read it for myself last summer. You'll like it, I bet. There's movies you know? Maybe after we finish the book we can do a marathon movie night."

"I'm up for that! I can even make brownies. Papa taught me this weekend."

"I knew I picked you as a friend for a reason!" he teased. "Wait, your Papa? Not Nana?"

"Oh no." Harper laughed. "All Nana can teach is how to burn things."

"Ah, okay." They laughed together.

A black SUV drove past them then turned around in the next driveway. The two kids thought nothing of it until the vehicle pulled right alongside them and rolled down the window.

"Dylan," a male voice said from inside.

"Dad?" Dylan felt the air leave his lungs. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you and your mom," Ray smiled. "Who's this?" He nodded to Harper.

"A friend from school." That was all the information Dylan was willing to give.

"I see." Ray unlocked the car. "Hop in, son. I can take you home."

Dylan didn't move. Harper looked at him and could see anger and fear in his innocent brown eyes. "He wasn't heading home. We're heading to the library."

"Oh. Plans can change. Come on Dylan."

"Mom's not home either. She has meetings." Dylan prayed he was a convincing liar. "You can go wait at Grandpa's though. You remember where they are?"

Ray shook his head. "I don't really feel like dealing with your grandfather right now. So you're not coming with me?"

"Sorry. I need to be where Mom expects me to be."

Ray rolled his eyes. With a harsh tone he said, "Fine. I'll see you in a bit."

The two kids watched as the SUV drove off. "Thanks." Dylan whispered. "I didn't know what to do."

"Well you weren't getting in that car. I wasn't going to let you." Dylan's eyes were fixed on the vehicle as it drove out of sight. "Come on. Let's get somewhere and call your mom."

Dylan looked at his watch. "She's at home. I'm just gonna go tell her."

"You sure you're safe?"

"Yeah. I just need to talk Mom. Talk to you later?"

"Please. Let me know later that you guys are fine, okay?"

"Sure. Bye, Harp."

"Bye." She watched as Dylan hopped on his bike and pedaled as fast as he could toward home, taking a shortcut through some yards. He was clearly scared. Harper decided to run the rest of the way home. She needed to talk to her dad and fast. She didn't like the look in Dylan's father's eyes when she met him.

"Dad?" she yelled as she burst through the front door of her home.

"Hi, sweetie." Charlotte said from the living room. "How was school?"

"Where's Dad?" She was out of breath.

"He got caught up on a call at the station. He should be home for dinner though." Harper covered her eyes and sighed. "Harper?"

"I don't know what to do…"

"Do you want to call the station? If he's back you can talk to him."

"Yeah. I wanna do that."

….

Elizabeth was in the kitchen pulling out a pan of freshly baked cookies when she heard the front door open.

"Hey, Dylan. I'm in the kitchen. I made your favorite."

"Smells good." Elizabeth nearly dropped the hot baking sheet on the floor. "Hi." Ray smiled.

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "Can't a guy come see his wife and son?"

"Ex-wife," she corrected.

"Do you really want that to still be the case?"

Her stomach flipped. "The divorce is final, Ray. Has been for a while."

"I haven't been myself then lately. I'm sorry. It was a mistake." His tone was so matter of fact. There was no emotion in it. "So. How are you?"

"Fine." Elizabeth did her best to focus on breathing. "You?"

"Been better. I do have a job now though. You remember Clint?"

"Your old friend from law school?"

"Yes. He's overrun with cases right now so he gave me a spot. Not a lot of money yet, but after the first couple cases close, we'll be set."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks. I decided, with that back on track, now it was time to fix this." He gestured to them.

"What is it you want exactly?"

Ray shrugged. "Let's go back to normal. Things were good once, right?"

Mustering all the courage she had, Elizabeth stood tall. "I don't think we'd make each other happy. We didn't then, and won't now."

Ray scratched the stubble on his chin. "You look good. Your hair's different. You never wore it like that much before."

"You told me you didn't like down."

"I guess I was wrong." He stared at her, but she refused to make eye contact. His anger was getting the best of him as he slammed his fist against the counter. "Come on, Elizabeth. Knock this off. I'm here. I'm trying."

"I didn't ask you here! You're here for you. You didn't love me. You loved to control me!"

"See, there you go again! Making crap up in that little head of yours." He took a couple steps closer. She could tell by the way he walked that he had been drinking. He was stiff, trying to hard to appear normal. "Whatever, you know I was good to you before, you stupid …"

"Get away from her!" Dylan yelled as he burst through the door. "I mean it!"

"Stay out of this, kid," Ray yelled. "This is between me and my wife."

"She's not your wife anymore!" Dylan walked closer, Ray stretched out his hand to keep the boy away, a look of fury in his eyes.

"Dylan," Elizabeth tried to sound calm. "It's okay."

"No it's not. This isn't his home! It's ours and you need to leave, Dad," he said looking at his father.

Ray pushed up his sleeve and moved towards Dylan ready to "control" him.

"No!" Elizabeth lunged forward and grabbed Ray's arm. "Leave him be!"

Seeing Elizabeth's cell phone on the counter Dylan grabbed it and ran outside. He was searching for Jack's number when he saw the familiar black truck pull up to the house.

"Mr. Thornton!" Dylan cried out. "My Dad. He's inside."

Jack felt a panic rush over him as he rushed toward the house. "Get in the truck, Dylan. Lock it!"