Jack looked through the window to the left of the door. He didn't want to rush in if the guy was armed and put Elizabeth's well being even more at risk.

When Harper had called and told him that Dylan's dad was in town and tried to get him to go with him, Jack immediately felt a fierce need to protect the boy, and Elizabeth. He wasn't going to lose her again.

He watched through the window as Ray grabbed her wrists, which in itself wasn't horrible, but then Jack saw Elizabeth wince in pain and bend forward. The man was going too far.

Jack stormed in through the door. "Let her go!"

Elizabeth and Ray both looked at Jack. "Who are you to tell me what to do?!" Ray asked. "Who is this guy, babe?"

"Don't call me that!" She ripped her wrists away from him and stepped back, hitting the counter.

"Come on, Elizabeth, you know that you want to be with me. It's going to be okay. I've changed." Jack scoffed. "Shut up!"

Jack stayed silent but moved closer, trying to figure out some way to get her further away from Ray.

"Ray, you need to go. I don't want you here in my house."

"Then move back home. With me," he said with a softer tone.

"We don't have a home. You lost your job and you lost our home, remember?"

"That wasn't my fault!" he boomed.

"It doesn't matter. I don't love you, Ray. You need to leave!"

"Elizabeth, come on."

"She asked you to leave, Ray. Please respect that," Jack told him, stepping in between Elizabeth and Ray.

"Who are you, anyway? Why are you even here?"

"Jack Thornton. I'm Elizabeth's friend."

"So being her friend means you can speak for her?"

"I'm not speaking for her. She spoke for herself already and you're ignoring her request. So now you get to listen to me."

"I will be back, Elizabeth. You have my son. I should get to see him." Ray turned to walk away and then stopped and glared at Jack. "I don't need you present when I see him by the way," he told Jack. "You are not his father."

"Ray! Get out!" Elizabeth told him, opening the door. "If you're clean, we can set it up with the courts about visitation, but you are absolutely NOT going to be alone with him."

As soon as he was gone, Jack walked over to Elizabeth. "Are you ok?" Her hands were shaking and she wasn't looking at him. "Elizabeth."

"Why did you do that?! I was handling him just fine! I can take care of myself, Jack."

"Of course you can. But he was hurting you, Elizabeth."

"He barely touched me. This is what I don't need. I don't need protection. You didn't need to do that."

He stepped back and leaned against the counter. "Look at it from my side. I got this call from my daughter and she was upset. She told me that Dylan's dad tried to get him to go with him in his car when they were walking home. Do you know what that did to me?" She looked at him and crossed her arms. "That scared me, Elizabeth. Knowing what you told me about Ray, knowing that he was in town, trying to take Dylan….that told me that you were next. I cannot lose you again, Elizabeth."

"Jack, I'm sorry you were scared, but…"

"No, I will never stop caring about you and your son. You are back in my life now and if I need to protect you from something, I'm going to try and I won't apologize for it."

"I need to take care of Dylan."

"He's in the truck. I'll get him."

Jack walked outside and climbed back in the truck. He sighed, leaning his forehead on the steering wheel.

"Mr. Thornton?"

He lifted his head and looked in the back seat. "Hi, Dylan. Are you okay?"

"I'm scared. Is my mom okay?"

"Yes. She says she's fine."

"Is he going to come back?"

"I don't know, but you need to let your mom know how you feel. She will keep you safe."

"Mr. Thornton, I love my mom, and she is a strong person, but what if she can't? He's so strong and so mean."

"I will always be here for you, Dylan, but for both of your sakes, give your mom a chance to figure things out. She's very capable. You know how to find me if you need me though."

He nodded, then in a soft voice he said, "Thank you for coming, Mr. Thornton."

"You're welcome, Dylan. Now go make sure your mom is okay. You're the young man of the house now."

"Got it!"

….

Elizabeth felt badly about how things had gone between her and Jack. She felt as if the friendship that they had been rebuilding for the last six weeks was now more fragile than ever. She didn't want that. As much as she wanted to be independent and strong, she had come to rely on Jack. She had been relieved when he rushed through her door. Needing him didn't make her weak and she needed to remember that.

So, that night, once Dylan was asleep next to her in her big bed, she texted Jack.

"You awake?" A few moments later, he responded.

"Yes. What's up?"

She stood up and left the room and then called him.

"Hello?"

"Jack, I'm sorry. I am so grateful to you for showing up today." She felt her emotions just beneath the surface but she swallowed and stayed calm.

"I'll always be here."

"Why, Jack?"

He hesitated. He knew she was bringing up their past conversations about their "friendship" and their boundaries. He didn't want to blurt out that he wanted more. He didn't want to push her into something she wasn't ready for.

"Jack?"

"Elizabeth, our friendship means the world to me. It did sixteen years ago and it still does."

"Me too." Her tears started then.

"Are you crying? Blue eyes, what's wrong?"

"I'm scared." She didn't like to admit it because it made her feel it. But if she couldn't tell her best friend how she really felt, who could she tell?

"Do you want me to come over?"

"What about Harper?"

"She's asleep. I can leave her for a few minutes. I'll set the alarm and leave a note. You're just down the street anyway."

"No, that's alright. I'll be fine."

"No, you're not. See you in five," he told her before hanging up.

Five minutes later, she saw headlights on the wall so she looked out the window and watched to make sure it wasn't Ray. It wasn't.

She opened the door and let him in, turning the lock after he shut it.

"Hey," he whispered, opening his arms.

"Hi." She wrapped her arms around him and laid her head against his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay. I promise."

"How do you know that? He could come back anytime, Jack. What if he tries to take Dylan?"

"You have primary custody. That would be kidnapping."

"What if he takes me to court and wins?"

"He won't."

She stepped back and shook her head. "You don't know that."

"I don't," he admitted. "But he didn't contest the custody ruling before. He would somehow have to prove why he is a better parent than you. That won't happen."

They walked over and sat on the couch. "I'm glad you're here," she whispered.

"Me too." He reached over slowly and took her hand.

"Jack."

"Friends can hold hands," he said, threading his fingers through hers.

"That's not a rule."

"It is now." She smiled and leaned her head against his shoulder. "You know, I really wanted to punch that guy." She snorted and that made him laugh. "I'm not kidding." He gently ran his fingertip along the side of her wrist. There were bruises forming, and it broke his heart. "You shouldn't have to be afraid of your ex-husband's temper."

"But that's my life, at least it was, for a long time."

He kissed the top of her head. "Not anymore."

"You heard him, Jack. He said he would come back. He wants to see Dylan."

"He doesn't have visitation. He can't just show up unless the court says he can. You said so yourself."

"It has never stopped him before. Sadly, he really only wants me. He's never shown a real interest in his son so I don't believe for a moment that he wants visitation now."

They sat in silence for a few moments and then she let go of his hand. "It's late and Harper is alone."

"Yeah. Please call me, though, if you need me. I know you don't "need" me, per se, but call if you do, okay?"

She followed him to the door and kissed his cheek. "Thank you. I'll talk to you tomorrow, alright?"

"Sure."

He walked out and watched as she locked the door and then headed to his truck.

….

The next few days went smoothly with no further sign that Ray was still around. Until Friday.

Elizabeth was sitting in her office working on paperwork when she heard a knock and in walked Florence with a large bouquet of red roses. "Moving right along with the Chief, are we?"

She read the card and threw it away. "It's not from him."

"Oh."

"Were these delivered?"

"Yes, but not by the flower shop, though. A really nice guy in an expensive black suit brought them. Quite a handsome guy."

"What did he look like? Did he leave right away?"

"Dark hair, dark eyes, about six feet tall."

Her stomach dropped. "Did you see him leave? Florence, this is important. He is Dylan's father and he may try to take him."

"Oh, dear. Do you mean kidnap?"

"Maybe. Can you please go get Dylan and bring him to my office? I need to make sure he is here."

"Shouldn't we call the police?"

"Not yet. You know what, I'll go get Dylan."

"Nonsense. If you're concerned, I'll ask Mr. Flynn to go get Dylan for you."

"Thank you, Florence."

She sat in her desk chair and waited for her son to arrive. She prayed and prayed and just as she was about to go herself because it was taking forever, Dylan walked in.

"Oh my gosh, Dylan! What took you so long?" She hugged him hard and didn't let go.

"I was doing my book report presentation, Mom. What's wrong?"

She looked down at him with tears in her eyes and shook her head. "Baby, I just got scared for a moment. I'm so glad you're ok."

"Of course I am. Mom, what's going on?"

"Your dad was here."

"What? Why?"

"He brought me flowers, that's all."

"Why did that scare you?"

"It doesn't matter now." She kissed his cheeks and gave him another hug. "I love you, Dylan. You know that."

"Of course. I love you too, Mom."

"You can head back to class, sweetie. I will see you after school, alright?"

"Yeah. Can we have a movie night with Harper tonight?"

"Maybe. Let me think about it and ask Mr. Thornton."

"Alright. See ya!"

Jesse poked his head in. "Do you want me to make sure he gets back okay?"

"Could you?"

"I will. Maybe we should consider letting the school security guard know what's going on."

"I think that's a good idea. I'll go see him now. Thanks, Jesse."

"Anytime."

….

The evening turned out much better for Elizabeth than her day had been. She gave the flowers she'd received to the kitchen staff at the school. They welcomed the gift for the hard working women there.

Now she was sitting at her kitchen table with Jack enjoying a slice of pizza and a glass of wine while Dylan and Harper sat on the couch playfully arguing over the plot points of the first Hobbit movie and how it differed from the book.

Jack studied Elizabeth as she sat there across from him. It had been a trying week for her. "You okay?"

"Mhmm." She took another bite of her pizza. "This bacon and pineapple pizza idea is pretty good."

"Yeah. It's been Harper's favorite since she was three."

"Smart kid."

"She is." That was the extent of their conversation for the next little bit. Then he whispered softly, "Blue Eyes, what's on your mind?"

Elizabeth looked back at the kids. Harper was laughing at something Dylan had just said. They were having a great time together. They seemed distracted enough for her to open up. Even so, she spoke in hushed tones. "Ray came to school today. I didn't see him, but he left flowers for me at the office."

Jack cringed. "How'd he even get in? Don't you guys have a system in place during the day where people have to be buzzed in?"

"We do, Florence is in charge of that and she had no reason not to let the smiling man in with the giant bouquet of flowers. Besides, he entered with another parent that was picking up their child." Jack leaned back in a huff. "She knows now, and so does our campus security guard."

Jack was about to open his mouth with a suggestion that they move back in with her parents, or even with him until this was all settled. Thankfully, Dylan walked up to them with a question. Jack knew his suggestion would not have gone over well. He just wanted to keep them safe.

"Mom, can we have popcorn? The pizza's gone."

"All of it? We bought two larges!" Elizabeth laughed.

Dylan puffed out his belly and gave it a good pat.

Now Jack was laughing. "He's a growing boy, Blue Eyes. He needs a steady intake of food all the time."

"Listen to the man, Mom. He knows what he's talking about."

"Alright," she laughed. "I'll make the popcorn."

"Awesome. Oh, and do we have more root beer?"

"In the door of the fridge."

"Sweet." Dylan walked to the fridge and pulled out two root beers and brought them into the living room.

Jack turned his attention back to Elizabeth. "I want to protect you."

"It's not your job, Jack."

"I'm not looking at it as a job. I see it as a privilege."

There were no words she could think of to respond with. She took the hand he'd placed palm up on the table for her.

Harper looked over to where her Dad and Elizabeth were, taking quick note of the fact that their hands were touching. "What's up with them?" she whispered to Dylan.

He looked over and shrugged. "Mom had a bad week. I guess he's being a friend."

"Are they allowed to be friends?"

"I don't know. We're friends."

"But we don't hold hands."

"And we're not going to," Dylan laughed.

Later that night once Jack and Harper were home, she decided to ask her dad about what she had seen between them. She was also worried for Elizabeth. She liked her and knew full well whatever was going on with Elizabeth would affect Dylan as well.

"Hey, Dad?" Harper walked into the living room where Jack was sitting.

"Yeah, Harper?"

"Is Ms. Thatcher going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I think so. It was a pretty rough week for her. Dylan too."

"Yeah. It's not fair. Is Dylan's father going to try and take him away again?"

"I can't give you an answer as to what that man will do. But Dylan and his mom are our friends. I'm going to do what I can to make sure they're safe."

"Is that why you were holding her hand? Making her feel safe?"

Jack felt like a deer in the headlights. Of course Harper had seen him. No wonder she had been so quiet on the way home. "Yeah, Honey Bee. That's all."

She nodded. "Okay." That was all she needed to know for now. "Can we read more of Narnia tonight before bed?"

"Of course. Go get ready for bed and I'll grab the book."

"Thanks Dad."

Jack went over to the wall with the built-in bookshelves and took the well worn book from the shelf. As he moved back to the couch to wait for his daughter, his mind wandered to thoughts of Elizabeth. What would it be like if they were together? How would Harper and Dylan feel?

"There's no point." He sighed. He understood. He was at least a year ahead of Elizabeth as far as their respective divorces. Though she had been apart from Ray for a while. Even he wasn't really ready to date per se, but with Elizabeth, it would be different. There was a history there. They still have so much in common.

"Ready!" Harper hopped down the stairs in her favorite pjs. Jack smiled at his little girl. As much as he wanted Elizabeth to give him a chance, he was grateful for what he had right now. His little girl, safe and happy.

….

The morning came quickly at the Thornton home. Jack met his parents at the soccer field for Harper's game. After a win, Papa Tom treated the family to an early lunch before Jack headed off to work. Harper was excited to spend the day with her grandparents.

In the late afternoon, Elizabeth sat at her kitchen table with a new sketchbook. Jack had been encouraging her to explore her old hobbies again, things she gave up on during her marriage. Turned out, she still had the skill and was thoroughly enjoying herself. Dylan was sitting in one of the big plush armchairs in the living room playing an adventure video game. He was so focused, he didn't realize his mom was using him as a model for her sketch. The cottage open floor plan made it easy.

The calm of the home was suddenly interrupted by a knock on the front door. Before either of them got up to answer it, the door opened.

"Hello?" Elizabeth put her sketchbook down and turned toward the door. Dylan jumped to his feet, they weren't expecting anyone.

"Hi. May I come in?" It was Ray. He was already inside closing the door behind him.

"What are you doing here?" she raised her voice slightly to show her irritation.

"I thought we could talk."

"No," Dylan stated plainly.

Ray smirked, "I come in peace, kid."

Dylan looked at his mom. Elizabeth had no desire to engage with her ex, but she hoped if she heard him out maybe he'd leave without a scene.

"Fine. We can talk. Dylan, sweetie, will you go upstairs?"

"Not a chance."

"Dylan…"

"I'll go out on the back deck." Dylan walked into the kitchen and picked up the house phone. "I'm taking this with me. You do anything stupid, I'm calling the police." He grabbed a bag of chips from the cupboard and stepped outside, angling one of the deck chairs to give him a straight shot view of his parents. Jack's words were running through his head. He was the young man of the house. He'd do what he could to help his mom.

"He's a character," Ray commented with a sly grin.

"He's a wonderful boy." Ray nodded. "What did you want to talk about, Ray?"

"The other night. It didn't go as planned."

"No. I suppose it didn't. As you can imagine it was quite a surprise for you to show up without any notice. It's been months."

"I needed to get my life together. It hasn't been easy."

"Still," Elizabeth told him. "A phone call would have been nice."

"You're right. I apologize." They stood there, glancing up for the occasional eye contact and back down again. "Did you get the flowers?"

"I saw them."

He looked around the home. "But didn't keep them? Or maybe they're at the school still." She nodded. "You look mad. Why?"

"Why are you here?"

"You were my wife. Don't you miss us? I know I do."

"I did once. Then I realized that us, even at our best, was still you being controlling and me falling into step behind you. That's not the life I want and it's not what I want modeled for Dylan."

Ray threw his hands up in the air and then they fell to his sides with a slap. "Elizabeth, please." She stood strong, unaffected. It was unnerving to him. "Oh, I get it. It's that guy. Jack Thornton, right?" He began to pace the room in front of her. "I remember him, you know. Your high school unrequited love."

"What? I never said that to you. Not once."

"No, you didn't. That was a secret you kept from me."

"Secret? There was nothing to tell. How do you even know anything about Jack?"

"Doesn't matter. So what's this all about, Elizabeth? You think you two have some sort of chance now? You just had to get me out of the picture?"

"Ray, I hadn't spoken to Jack in years. Not the whole time we were dating, or while we were married. I didn't even know he moved back here till a couple months ago."

"And now you're together?"

"Of course not!" She didn't know why she responded as if the idea was absurd, but she did. "We're friends. That's it. Not that I owe you any explanations."

"Okay. Okay. I didn't come here to fight. Let's just focus on us." He took a step towards her. "So what is it you want from me? How can we get back on track?"

"Ray…"

"Elizabeth, we have a son together. That has to count for something here. Not to mention the years we've invested in each other."

Elizabeth scrunched up her nose as he got closer. The scent of alcohol was on his breath. "Ray, you're not well. The other night proved that."

"How?"

Exasperated she responded, "You walked into my home without so much as a knock, then yelled and hurt me when you weren't getting your way. For all I know you had been drinking then too."

"I didn't hurt you! I never hurt you!"

"The last night were shared a home together you did. Then there's this." She held up her wrist which bore the bruise he'd left from the other night. "That's the physical side. Mentally you've been knocking me around for years. I'm done."

"So that's it?"

"Yes. I mean…" She sighed. "You're right. Dylan is our son, not that you seem to care about him much," she muttered, hoping Dylan wouldn't hear her from his perch outside. "If you can get your act together and prove that you can be a good father to him, I'll consider visitation again. But not now, Ray. Not like this. Dylan deserves more."

"I get it." Ray lifted his hands as if to concede and began backing up toward the door. "I do. I'll check in again later, okay?"

"When you've actually put the work in to getting better, Ray. No sooner. No more just showing up here. You understand?"

Ray was now fuming, but held it together. "Fine. I'll consider the terms."

That wasn't exactly the answer she was going for, but if he'd leave, that would be a win for now. "Now would you just go, please?"

"What? Am I making you uncomfortable?" He laughed, as if the thought was completely ridiculous to him. She shot him a glare. He stepped towards her again, but there was a fire in her eyes he didn't recognize. He had no control. "Fine. I'm leaving. You can tell your little watchdog he can come back in."

With a slam of the door, he left. Dylan reentered into the house and placed the phone on the counter, shaking his head. "What a jerk."

"Dylan…" she scolded.

"No, Mom. I'm not sorry for that. That's what he is."

Elizabeth couldn't disagree. "Dylan, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Mom. It's all him." He hugged her tight, then checked out the front window to make sure his father was really gone.

Life had matured her little boy faster than it should have.

….

Inside the fire station's garage bays, Jack worked alongside his men cleaning the 3 fire engines and 1 medical truck.

"Toss me another sponge, Lee," Jack called to the other side of the truck. Before he looked up, he was smacked in the head with a wet sponge. "Ouch. Thanks."

"You asked for it, Chief," Lee teased. Lee was Jack's second in command. His wife Rosie was the music teacher at Harper's school. They'd moved to Hyannis from Boston a couple years after they started having children, hoping for a slower pace in life. Jack liked the man a lot and was grateful for their fast forming friendship.

Jack looked up as a black SUV with tinted windows pulled into the station. Whoever it was was clearly not a fireman because he parked in such a way that he blocked two of the engines from getting out.

"Hey!" Lee yelled as he approached the vehicle. "You can't park there." He pointed to the parking lot to the right of the station.

"I won't be here long," the man said with authority as he got out. Jack recognized the voice and hurried over.

"I don't care. You're blocking our main engine. Sir, you have to move your car."

"Ray." Jack was now standing with Lee. "What are you doing here?"

"We need to talk."

"Fine. Move your car. I'll be right over."

"Fine," Ray huffed. "It's not like I'm blocking the only truck you have. What is it, your lucky truck or something?" He stepped inside the vehicle, slamming the door.

"Who is that guy?" Lee asked annoyed.

"Bad news. That's who." Jack strode over to the parking lot where Ray was now leaning against his SUV. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured we should talk."

"About?"

"My wife and kid."

"Your ex-wife you mean."

"For now."

His tone sent a chill up Jack's spine. "Just out of curiosity, how'd you find me?"

"That night you came and stuck your nose in where it didn't belong, you were in uniform. It's a small town. Didn't take me long to figure it out."

"Hey, Chief!" one of the men called out.

"Give me a sec, okay, Ryan?" Jack turned back to Ray.

"Chief, huh? So I guess you're used to bossing people around. Well, let me just say that's not something I plan on letting you get away with around me again."

"All I did was help enforce Elizabeth's wishes. I have no agenda here."

"Oh, now I beg to differ. See, I thought about you after I left that night. Your name seemed a little too familiar."

"I can't imagine how. We've never met."

"Doesn't mean I didn't know about you. It took a bit but I remembered. When Elizabeth and I were in college we came here for the holidays. I overheard her speaking with her sisters one night. I hadn't intended to, of course, it just happened."

"Sure it did." Jack rolled his eyes.

"I remember Julie asking, 'What about Jack Thornton?' and I was intrigued. Who was this mystery man that I knew nothing about?"

Jack shrugged. "We were friends in high school."

"You broke her heart according to that little conversation." Ray laughed. "I decided right then to push our relationship even further. Couldn't have you stepping back in and all that. I think she was more willing given how much hurt you caused. Regardless, the best man won I'd say, and will again."

"Hardly." Jack paid attention to his breathing, trying to keep from losing his cool. "You're a vile, heartless man. The way you treated Elizabeth and Dylan is deplorable."

"And yet, she's not with you and has agreed to give me another chance."

"What?" He could feel the rage swell within. "She wouldn't."

"She did. I was just at the house and we talked it over. We have a son, you know. She wants what's best for him."

"That part I do believe, but what's best for Dylan is not you."

"What did you think would happen? You would swoop in and become the man of her dreams? She doesn't want you. She wants our life back and in time, that's what she's going to get."

"You're full of it, Ray."

"Am I?" Ray grinned. "Mark my words, Thornton, I'll get what's mine back and this time, it will be for good." As Jack took a step forward, Ray got into his car. Jack wanted to stop him and the anger inside him was at a boiling point. As he took a step forward, the alarm in the firehouse went off and Jack was forced to rush back inside.