A/N another quick update, but the wonderful reviews I received gave me much inspiration. Thank you to all who reviewed!

Hope you enjoy! Pleases read and review :)

Wednesday came slowly, but finally it was there. Arabella packed some mini apple pies that she had baked, to thank Mr. Gold for fixing her watch. (Along with payment, of course!)

Pushing the door open, she saw that Sydney wasn't out front. "Mr. Gold?" She called, nervous about seeing him again after that kiss-on-the-cheek episode.

"Just a minute!" Came the reply from the back of the store. A few moments later a disheveled Gold stepped out to greet her.

"Miss French, lovely to see you. Your watch is all fixed up." He said, handing it to her.

He was close to her, and she could smell the alcohol on his breath.

She waited for a few moments. Did he expect her to leave?

"I..uh. I brought you something. To thank you for working on my watch. She held out the little white box with the pink lace around the "Martha's bakery" logo.

"Thank you." He said, taking the box with a warm smile. He opened it up and his smile grew wider.

"Well I feel like a valued customer. You remembered that apple pie is my favorite."

Belle blushed deeply and shifted from foot to foot, hoping he didn't find it creepy that she remembered. But he looked happy so her nerves calmed down a bit.

"Belle?"

"Yes?"

"Before you go, would you like to share these with me? I think I would have a hard time eating all four by myself, even if they are mini." He said with a wink.

"Sure." She replied, taking a seat next to him at his watch bench. He took the pies out of the box and set them on napkins she had placed in with the pies.

"So," Belle began, taking a bite of her pie. "How did you get into watch making?"

He swallowed his bite of pie before speaking, and replied to her question in an accent that was even more delicious than her pasteries.

"When I was in my early twenties I had a hard time keeping a job. But one day I happened upon "Rick's Tick Tock Shop". He took me under his wing and taught me the trade. Eventually I opened my own Watch Shop. So what about you Belle? How did you begin running your mother's bakery?"

Belle laughed. "I don't officially run it, but technically I do. Mom always has something better to do, and I really love baking, so it isn't a problem. I just wish..."

She trailed off and looked away.

"You just wish what?" Sydney asked gently.

"Well, it would be nice if she would change the name of the bakery from her name to mine. People are used to seeing me there anyway and I think it might bring in more business. Things have been so bad lately that we started keeping the bakery open on the Sabbath and that really just breaks my father's heart."

"Have you talked to your mother about your ideas?"

"I've hinted around but never went out and really just said it."

"You have to fight for what you want. If you don't, you'll never get it."

Belle sighed. She knew that he was right. "I really don't want to hurt her feelings though. She is very sensitive and she'll probably be hurt and angry."

"Do it with kindness." Sydney said with a reassuring smile. "Be loving in your approach and don't beat around the bush. Just tell her straight what it is that you want."

"Thank you so much . Your advice means so much." She said extending her hand.

He took it in both of his and shook vigorously. "Make sure to tell me how things turn out. I better be the first to know." He winked.

"I promise." She laughed. "I'll probably talk to her about it tonight."

"Well that won't do at all, now will it?" Gold said "I want to know right away what she says and I won't be at work that late."

He rummaged around in a drawer for a minute and produced a piece of paper and a pen.

"Here." He said, handing her the piece of paper. "It's my number."

Belle smiled. "Okay. I'll call you right after I talk to her."

With a burst of confidence Belle left Gold's Watch Repair, ready to talk to her mother.

When she got home, she was greeted by a hurried kiss and instructions to start cleaning and getting the guest room ready : her grandparents were coming.

Belle felt a slight sense of panic. It's not that she didn't love her grandparents, because she did. But they had big personalities and opinions. Especially her grandpa.

She tried to talk to her mom about the bakery while they were spreading the quilt on the guest bed, but Martha was too distracted.

"I'm sorry honey." She said, smoothing out the green and pink blanket they had just put on the queen size bed.

"I'm so busy thinking about Clark and Charlotte coming...I didn't hear a word you said Honey-Bunches. Can we talk tonight?"

Belle smiled sweetly at her mother. "Sure thing Mom." She said.

"Arabelle!" Her grandma exclaimed, opening her arms wide for a hug.

"It's good to see you Grandma." Belle said, and then reached over to give her grandfather a bear hug.

"It sure is convenient, you living with your parents. We don't have to drive any extra distance to see you." He said. Belle blushed and said nothing.

That night at dinner Belle gathered some courage and spoke. "So Pappy, how long are you and Mamaw planning on staying?"

Her grandfather set down his coke and smiled. "Prob'ly 'bout nigh a month."

Belle choked on her green beans. Had she heard correctly? A month?

"Yeah Mamaw and I are renovating the kitchen. Just some minor stuff but it's gonna take a while."

Belle sighed heavily and sat back in her chair. She decided she was just going to listen to the conversation and not be a part of it.

"So Martha, how are things going with the bakery?" Charlotte asked.

"Not too shabby. It's a lot to handle sometimes."

She didn't even mention Arabella's taking care of everything. She took all of the credit for herself. That's when Belle's father interjected.

"Arabella does a lot of work for us at the bakery. She's become quite the baker and I'm very proud of her."

Clark slapped his back and said with a laugh, "Ah Mo my boy. Always making it seem like your wife does nothing ."

"That's not it at all Dad. I was only making sure that you understood how much of a help Arabella is."

Clark didn't look convinced.

Later that night Belle decided to forgo family movie night and went upstairs to her bedroom.

Picking up her cell phone, she punched in Sydney's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi Mr, Gold...It's uh. It's Belle."

"Oh Belle. I'm glad you didn't forget about me. So how did things go with your mother?"

"They didn't." She sighed. "My grandparents came to stay with us so I've had no time to talk to her. And they're staying for an entire month. I love my grandparents but to them I am a giant failure. In their eyes I should be married with two kids already. I'm pretty sure they still haven't forgiven me about Gordon."

"Gordon?" Gold asked.

Belle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and reclined on her bed.

"Gordon was a boyfriend of mine. He's the son of one of my father's good friends. Another preacher. He proposed to me and in a panic I said yes, but broke off the engagement a week later. I just didn't...feel anything for him."

"I wish I had been that smart." Gold said quietly.

She waited for him to continue, but he didn't.

"What happened?" She asked finally.

There was a long silence. After a minute Gold spoke.

"It's a long story."

"Hey, no fair!" Belle cried. "I told you my story, it's basically a rule that you have to tell me yours."

He laughed. "I suppose so. But as I said, it's a long story."

"Okay so let's compromise." Belle said. "Meet me at the bakery tomorrow at five thirty. I'll have closed down by then and we can talk."

"Deal."

They talked for a few minutes more and then said goodbye. With a wide smile on her face she walked downstairs to the kitchen for a cup of tea. Before she even made it all the way to the bottom of the stairs she was met by her grandmother.

"Who was that dear?"

"No one."

And that was the end of the conversation. She got her cup of tea made, and then hurried back up to her room.

The next day after she had closed up the bakery she made a cup of coffee and set out two slices of chocolate pie on pretty turquoise colored plates. She didn't have to wait long before Gold arrived. When he sat down she poured the coffee and added cream and sugar to hers, but nothing to his. When she set it in front of him, he smiled.

"You remembered."

"Remembered what?"

"Remembered that I take my coffee black."

"I have a good memory. And you, my friend, are stalling."

"You caught me." He sighed in mock resignation.

"Okay. When I was twenty-three years old I met this woman...well, girl really. Her name was Milana. She was about to get sent back to the country of her birth. She begged me to do something to help because she couldn't- wouldn't go back. So we were engaged. She started having second thoughts before the wedding and I...I should have been smart enough to call it off. But I was not, and went on with the wedding." He took in a deep breath.

"Two years later she gave me a son, Bailey. She stayed married to me until our son was four.. and then one day, I came home and she was gone. She took my son with her. She left no note, no explanation. I was oblivious to everything. In fact, I thought we might actually learn to love each other. But I suppose that love isn't something you can learn, is it?"

Belle's eyes widened. "My mother and I were talking about that a while ago. She asked me if I couldn't just marry Gordon and maybe we would learn to love each other, but I told her that I didn't think that love was something you learn. When you find the one don't you just-"

"Know." The both said at the same time.

There was a period of silence where both of them got a bit red in the face.

"I miss my son so much. I haven't seen him since he was four years old." Gold said. Belle could tell that the loss of his son was still an open wound.

"How old is your son now?"

Gold looked embarrassed. "Well, he's probably just a bit younger than you are Dearie."

Belle thought about it for a second. So Gold was fifty. Exactly twenty-five years older than her. But somehow, it didn't matter. She liked him. Wanted to get to know him better.

I feel like we're becoming friends. She thought.

They ended up talking and laughing for hours until Belle looked at her watch.

"What? It's 10:00? My parents are going to freak out because I didn't even tell them I was going out."

Gold laughed. "Well, call me later tonight so I know you survived."

"Will do."

When she got home she was met by both her parents and grandparents.

"Oh honey I was worried about you." Her mother cried, throwing her arms around her.

"Martha, I told you she was fine. She's a grown woman." Her father said.

Her grandma hugged her and her grandfather gave her a stony glare. "No one thinks to ask where she's been?"

"No." Mo replied. "Because she is a grown woman."

"I'm going to bed now." Belle stated. "But first I'm getting me a cup of tea."

"Don't you at least want to know who she was out with? And does she know that-"

Belle left the room before she heard what her grandmother was saying.

She walked into the kitchen and put the teapot on to boil. While she waited for it to whistle, she called Gold.

"Hey Sydney."

"Belle, I'm glad you're alive."

Belle laughed. "Me too. Everyone except for my father has been questioning me like I'm on America's Most Wanted."

Now it was Gold's turn to laugh. "Well, I'm glad that you aren't being tortured, and I wanted to tell you that I enjoyed talking with you today. Immensely."

"I liked talking to you too. We got a long great. I'm really glad you agreed to meet with me. And I'm sorry I was so straight-forward about your wife. I should have been more conscience of your feelings."

"Have I taught you nothing? I want you to be straight forward. I was very proud of you when you asked me that."

The teapot whistled so Belle got off of the phone, promising they would talk to each other the next day.

Early in the morning Ruby called Belle wanting to hear every little detail of her "date" with Sydney, but before Belle could tell her anything Charlotte came and tapped on her shoulder.

"Can you hang on a second?"

"Of course." Ruby replied.

She turned to look at her grandma, but she wasn't alone. Next to her mamaw, stood Gordon.