Elizabeth found herself getting increasingly nervous, the closer it got to two o'clock. "This is crazy," she muttered to herself. She was meeting him for Brennan's sake, not her own. This wasn't a date, but for some reason, she was standing in her bathroom and straightening her hair and putting on mascara. She actually hadn't worn mascara in a year so she may be risking an eye infection if she put it on but she did it anyway.

"Mom," Brennan said from the doorway. "Is it time yet?"

"Not yet, baby. We will leave in about ten minutes, ok?"

Then she spritzed some perfume in the air and walked through it. Then she went in to her room and changed her shirt yet again. Then her shoes clashed so she kicked them off and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes.

She decided against a purse, slipping her ID and some cash in her front pocket along with her apartment key.

"Ok, Bren. Let's go."

"Yay! You look pretty, Mom."

"Thank you, sweet boy."

She looked down at her soft, pale pink sweater. It had been a favorite of Tyler's. He had always told her it made her eyes even more blue. "Maybe I should change."

"No, Mom. Come on. We will be late!" Brennan took her hand and pulled it, yanking her to the door.

…

They walked the five blocks or so to the park. "There's Sawyer! Come on, Mom, hurry." He pulled her along by her fingers toward the playground.

Elizabeth walked up to the bench where Jack was sitting and smiled as Brennan and Sawyer ran off at top speed. "Jack?"

"Mrs…I mean, Elizabeth. Please, have a seat."

She sat down about six inches from him. Close enough but not too close. "It's a nice day for October." It was about 50 degrees and sunny, the light shining off the trees which were rich colors of red and orange and brown. "Its so beautiful."

"My favorite time of year," Jack told her.

"Mine too."

"Look, I know I should have said something about leaving you a message when I stopped in to see you at the store but, honestly, once I met you, I completely forgot my brain."

"I noticed you were having trouble speaking," she said with a laugh. "Wait…you stopped in to see me? I thought you needed a book for your son."

"I hadn't heard from you in a week and Sawyer was bugging me every chance he had to ask you if Brennan could come over. So on my break from work, I came to see you."

"So the book…."

"Was me completely flustered and forgetting what I was doing there."

She studied his profile as he watched the boys play. Good grief, he was so handsome and those eyelashes. He turned and looked back at her.

She nervously played with the wedding ring she was having trouble taking off.

"Um…I was thinking maybe it's ok for Brennan to sleep over and maybe sometime Sawyer could come to our place too. But…I'm not ready for us, you and me, to have a relationship. I would like to be your friend though."

"Ok." He glanced at her hands, spinning the ring around and around. "Can I ask you something? Friend to friend."

"Ok."

"You said it's been a year. What was his name?"

Her eyes filled with tears. "Tyler."

"I'm sorry. I don't want to make you sad. I just want to get to know you."

She shook her head. "Its ok. What was your wife's name?"

"Katie," he said with a smile. It appeared his sadness had been replaced by pleasant memories. That's what she wanted for herself. "She was a great mother."

"How long has it been?"

"Two years, two months, seventeen days."

Okay, so maybe not all pleasant memories. He probably knew down to the second. "How are you doing?"

"With her being gone?"

"Yeah. Personally, I'm struggling without Tyler. Life is so hard sometimes."

"The first year was hard. Sawyer was three and he cried for her every night. So did I. He slept with me during that time and maybe that was a good thing for both of us. I missed Katie sleeping beside me."

"And now?"

"I'm used to her not being there but the bed feels too big without someone to share it with."

"I know what you mean."

"How long have you lived here in Portland, Elizabeth?"

"We moved about two months after the accident."

"Accident?"

"Yeah. Tyler was a motorcycle guy. He drove them most of the year until it snowed and then he switched to his truck. Anyway, it was raining that night…" She shook her head and fought her tears. "I told him not to drive his bike in the rain. I don't know how many times we fought about it. He always told me, "Beth, I know what I'm doing. I'm careful. You don't need to worry." That night it was raining, a deer jumped out in front of him and he crashed. He was killed instantly."

Jack put his hand over hers and squeezed.

"Mom?" Brennan and Sawyer ran over. "Mom? Why are you crying?" Brennan looked at Jack, trying to figure out if he could trust him.

"I'm fine, sweetie. Do you guys want some food?"

"Yeah, we're hungry." She pulled hand sanitizer from her purse and squirted some in both boys hands.

She held it out for Jack. He turned his hand over and smiled as she gave him some. She was a good mom.

After all of their hands were clean, Jack opened the bag from Hickam's Deli. "I wasn't sure what you and Brennan like. Are you allergic to anything, bud?"

"Nope. Wait, am I, Mom?"

"No, not as far as we know."

Jack pulled out two ham and cheese sandwiches for the boys and a small bag of chips for each. They sat down on the grass a few feet away. "For us, would you like roast beef and provolone on sourdough or Turkey and Swiss on Rye?"

"Beef, please."

He handed her a bag of chips and a bottle of water. "Boys, come back here for a moment. We need to pray."

"I'll do it!" Sawyer offered.

Jack hoped he wouldn't say anything about God bringing him a Mommy.

"Dear, God. Thank you for another day. Thank you for our lunch and for my best friend, Brennan. Thank you for bringing Dad a friend too. Mrs. Campbell is real nice. She would be a good mom. Bring me someone just like her, please. Through Jesus name, Amen!" The boys ran back over to their food and sat down.

Jack fought not to roll his eyes. He stole a look at Elizabeth as she unwrapped her sandwich. "Sorry about that. He prays for a mom everyday."

"Its very sweet. It shows that he has faith, even for a little boy that's wonderful. It also shows that you are doing something right, teaching him about God. You're a good dad."

"Thank you. That means a lot."

"So what do you do? Where do you work, I mean?"

….

About an hour later, the boys were ready to go. "Can I spend the night tonight, Mom?"

"Bren, Mr. Thornton might have other plans tonight. We have to wait until he invites you."

"Its ok. I don't have plans. We would love to have Brennan over."

"See, Mom."

"I see."

"I can give you our address. You can stop by anytime tonight."

"I'll need to check the bus schedule."

The bus? She probably didn't need a car if she and Brennan lived in town since her store was there. "If you'd like, I can come pick him up."

"That's ok. Where do you live?"

After telling her the address, she realized a bus ride would take close to an hour one way. She was pretty sure the nearest stop to his house was too far to walk.

"Elizabeth, I don't mind picking him up and bringing him back after church tomorrow."

There was another thing. She felt like a terrible mom. They had been to church a few times but certainly not every week and his suit didn't fit. Jack could see the wheels turning in her head.

"There's no dress code. He can wear jeans and a t-shirt if he wants. Would you like to come too? To church?"

"No, thank you. Since you'll have Brennan, I'll probably do paperwork at the store. I'm way behind. Could you bring him there after church?"

"Sure."

"Ok, Brennan. You can spend the night."

"Yay! Thanks, Mom. You're the best." If only she felt the same. At this point, inadequate was the best term.

"Where do you live?" Jack asked her.

"About a block from my store."

"That's a long walk from here. I'll drive us over there."

"Its good exercise. I don't mind walking."

"Elizabeth, if you walk and I drive, I'll beat you to your own house. Please, humor me."

"I don't have a booster seat for him," she told him.

"In my car, there's a built in one. Just fold down part of the seat." He smiled, flashing his amazing dimples. "Out of those straws you were grasping at, Elizabeth?"

She elbowed his rib. "Shush. Fine, you can drive."

The drive took about fifteen with the traffic. Fortunately, there was an empty parking spot in front of her building. "We will be down in a few minutes," she told Jack.

She was happy to get away for a moment. His business must be doing extremely well for him to afford that car. A Land Rover? Good grief. It just helped cement the decision that friends was all they would ever be. They were from two different worlds. Hers was a two bedroom apartment in Portland with no car. Hers was fighting to make ends meet while trying to raise her son alone. Hers wasn't a Land Rover and house in the suburbs.

She put Brennan's toothpaste and toothbrush in a baggie and then grabbed his hair brush from the sink.

"I'm done!" he announced popping into the bathroom.

"You have underwear?"

"Yes."

"And your good jeans and polo shirt?"

"Yes."

"And your PJs?"

"Yes."

"Ok then. Here you go." She handed him his baggie and brush. He put them in his backpack. This was the first time he had ever spent the night at a friends house and it was hard to let him go. He was growing up so fast.

When they got to the car, she knelt down and looked him in the eye. "I love you, Bren. Please obey Mr. Thornton."

"I will, Mom. I love you too." He hugged her and then climbed in the back seat and buckled himself in.

Elizabeth looked in the car window at Jack. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yes, around noon, ok?"

"Yeah." She pulled her cell from her pocket when it buzzed.

"I texted you. You can text me or call me anytime."

"Thank you."

…..

Elizabeth tried to ignore her nagging loneliness. She even splurged and ordered Mexican takeout, something she never did.

She tried to read a book but she couldn't get into it. She took a shower and painted her toenails. She cleaned the apartment. When she crawled into bed at eight o'clock, she burst into tears. She missed Brennan. She missed Tyler. She missed friends from back home. Maybe this had been a mistake moving to Portland.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. It was Jack.

"R u doing ok?"

"Sure," she lied.

"Missing Brennan?"

How could he know? Was he that intuitive? "Yes. He's never been a friend's house overnight b4."

A moment later her phone rang. "Hi, Mom!"

"Brennan? Hi, baby." Her eyes teared up again. Stupid tears.

"Are you crying? Mom, please don't be sad."

"I'm sorry. I'm ok. Are you having fun?"

"Yeah! Sawyer has an awesome room and he has a PlayStation! We are playing Mario Kart but I'm not very good."

"Practice makes perfect, sweetie."

"Yeah. That's what Mr. Thornton said."

"Well, you better go finish your game so you can go to bed."

"Ok. I love you."

"Love you too, Bren. Sweet dreams, love."

"Sweet dreams."

She heard Jack tell the boys they could play for ten more minutes and then it was time for bed. "Elizabeth?"

"Yeah. I'm here. Thank you for having him call."

"Of course. I thought it might help."

"It did." She didn't understand how this man hadn't been snatched up yet.

"I'll let you go. Enjoy the rest of your night."

"You too, Jack."

….

The next morning she almost got dressed and took herself to church. There was a small one only one bus stop down. Then she chickened out. She didn't want to go alone. It had been something she and Tyler had done together with Brennan. With him gone, she hadn't been able to do it.

She stepped out of the house at seven and walked down to the store and unlocked the door. Then she locked it behind herself and headed straight for the Keurig. Folgers was her coffee of choice. Her parents had always made it in the mornings when she was growing up. So the smell of the brew brought back memories.

She added caramel creamer and headed into her office. She saw the pile of papers in her inbox and groaned. Some were bills that needed to be paid. Her coffee supplier, her book supplier, etc. She was grateful she had enough to cover those and to pay herself just enough to cover rent and food.

Paying bills was her least favorite activity but a necessity. After doing that, she went out in the store and straightened up the kids areas. Then she got out her cleaning supplies and disinfected all surfaces, ran vinegar through all the coffee machines and slipped a book back into its rightful place.

It was noon before she knew it and she heard a knock on the door.

She waved at the three handsome boys at the door.

"Mom!"

They all stepped in and Brennan threw himself at her waist. "Hi, baby. I missed you so much." She kissed the top of his head. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah!"

"Good." She looked up, her eyes meeting Jack's gorgeous green depths. "Thank you for having him. And taking him to church."

"Of course. Maybe sometime you can come too."

"Maybe." She walked over and ran another cup of water through the Keurigs to make sure all the vinegar was out of them. "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

The boys were playing in the children's area. "I have time for a cup. We're expected at my parents for dinner but I have a bit."

"Where do they live?"

"On East End Beach. Not too far."

"Do you see them often?" She handed him a mug and picked up hers, tossing the used k-cups into the trash.

"Most every Sunday." She nodded. "What about your parents? Where do they live?"

"My mom. She lives in New Haven."

"Connecticut?"

"Very good," she teased with a smile. "Somebody knows his geography."

"I try." He sat down at the nearby table and gestured to a seat. This woman intrigued him. Something about her touched his heart and he wanted to know everything. "So is that where you're from?"

"Yeah. Born and raised."

"Why did you move here?"

"My sister lives here. I needed to get away from New Haven. Everything I saw, everywhere I turned, something reminded me of Tyler. It got to be too much. So I told my mom I was moving here."

"I'm guessing she didn't like that too much."

"No. My younger sister Julie lives in San Francisco and my older sister Viola lives here. I figured she should be happy I'm not thousands of miles away." She sipped her coffee a few more minutes before speaking again. "Do you have any siblings, Jack?"

"A brother, Tom."

"Older or younger?"

"Younger. He lives about a mile from my parents."

They chatted for a few more minutes before Jack stood. "Thanks for the coffee. We should be going." He put his mug on the counter and turned. "Sawyer? Time to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house."

Sawyer said goodbye to Brennan and then walked over to Elizabeth. "Bye, Mrs. Campbell. Thank you for letting Brennan come over to my house."

"You're welcome, Sawyer, maybe next time you can come to our house."

"Ok."

Jack waved at Brennan. "Bye, bud. Thanks for coming over."

"Thank you, Mr. Thornton."

"Bye, Elizabeth," he said with a wink. "See both of you soon."

She hoped so. She liked having a friend.