Ally sat up in bed, her thoughts immediately on the letter from Mrs. Thornton. What had it said?

Ally bounded down the stairs, knowing she would find her Uncle Nathan in much the same position as she always did on Saturdays. Relaxed, dressed in his suspenders, making coffee.

"What did it say?"

Nathan looked over at his niece. He tried to keep his reaction casual. "Good morning to you too, Ally."

"Yeah, good morning Uncle Nathan," Ally hurried on, "What did it say?"

"What did what say?"

Ally sighed, trying to not roll her eyes. "The letter from Mrs. Thornton."

Nathan smiled. "Oh that. She wants to talk."

"That's it?" Ally tried to not look too disappointed. "All adults do is talk. Then again, you get super tongue tied around Mrs. Thornton…"

"Hey now," Nathan chuckled. "I will have you know I did ask her to dinner at the Café."

"Well look at you, Uncle Nathan," Ally playfully punched his arm. "After two years of us living here, you finally asked Mrs. Thornton out. And how did she respond?"

"I found out in the note from last night….that she said yes."

"Woah, woah, woah," Ally put her hands up in the air. "You mean you didn't try to get an answer when you asked her? You pulled a classic Uncle Nathan and just walked away didn't you?"

Nathan broke into a grin. "The prisoner transport showed up!"

Ally chuckled. "That's an excuse if I have ever heard one. But I'll look past it, considering you wrote her something AND she said yes to your dinner invitation. Did you say it was a date? Because that's what it is, a date, right, Uncle Nathan?"

Nathan laughed. His niece certainly loved to keep him on his toes. But he also needed to bring her down to earth for a moment.

"Ally, I'm not sure what anything means right now," Nathan admitted. "I asked Elizabeth, Mrs. Thornton, to take a walk today…so we could talk. A date, dinner, all of it comes second to that."

Ally shrugged. "I guess so."

"Come on," Nathan motioned to the table. "Let's eat some breakfast. And I promise you, I'll do my best to share my feelings."

"You'd better," Allie remarked. "Honestly, women like Mrs. Thornton don't come around every day Uncle Nathan."

"No, Ally, they don't."

While this conversation was taking place, Rosemary Coulter was knocking on Elizabeth's door. She had waited as long as she could to find out about the note, but she couldn't wait any longer.

"Elizabeth! Elizabeth!"

Elizabeth hurriedly opened the door "Why good morning, Rosemary!"

"Honestly, Elizabeth, you took your time opening the door. You had to have known I wanted to hear about the note. Lee said you wouldn't tell me this early in the morning. Maybe not even until tonight and you had time to think about whatever Nathan had written in the note. I said that wasn't so…."

"Rosemary," Elizabeth laughed. "Slow down!"

Rosemary sheepishly put her hands in her lap. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. You would think I would know my place by now."

"It's not that, Rosemary." Elizabeth encouraged her friend to sit down. "I was going to ask you if you'd watch Little Jack for a little while this morning. Nathan asked me to go for a walk today."

Rosemary let out a squeal. "Oh that's wonderful!"

"Rosemary, Little Jack hasn't woken up yet!"

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. Truly. But of course I'll watch Little Jack. Lee and I both will." Rosemary straightened her shoulders back. "Now what are you going to wear?"

"Rosemary," Elizabeth sought to reign in her friend. "I'm going to be me. If I have learned anything recently, it is to be myself. Not an image of me to impress anyone. My going to Union City, for instance, and even wearing the dress you encouraged me to wear…that wasn't me."

Rosemary nodded in agreement. "You're right. You most often are always right. It's what Jack loved best about you—your spirit and your heart. The accoutrements didn't matter to him."

Elizabeth smiled at the mention of Jack. "No, they didn't matter to him at all. And I had a great love with him that I will always be thankful for." She glanced towards Jack's picture. "I have always tried to live and make decisions Jack would be proud of. For me and our son. And in Nathan's letter…..Rosemary…."

Rosemary smiled. "You don't have to say any more, Elizabeth. I know."

Elizabeth hugged Rosemary with such fierceness. "I don't know what I would have done if I did not have you and Lee, and this town, in my life…."

"You're going to make me cry, Elizabeth," Rosemary sniffled. "And then you will cry and we can't have you with red eyes going to talk to Nathan now can we?"

Elizabeth laughed, thankful for a moment of lightheartedness. "No, I guess not."

Rosemary stood up. "That's that then. Now go get ready…I think this is the beginning of something new for you, my friend. I couldn't be happier."