He wasn't sure what made him offer her his hand. He couldn't stop himself from ginning at her as she colored again in response to him. He wasn't entirely sure why he was drawn to her, but he was all the same. She was different and not just because she was an Englishwoman in small town rural America. She couldn't know the man he was before and it gave him a certain kind of freedom. She wasn't anything like Sarah; there was no sadness when she looked at him. She intrigued him and Nathaniel had a desire to know her better. Clearly there was something to this Miss Elizabeth Middleton, a story to be told.

Everyone knew everyone's business in Paradise, the town being as small as it was. While he was in her cozy little bookstore, he noticed that she was introverted, self-sufficient and well educated; all reasons why no one appeared to know more than the barest of essentials about her. She was a complete outsider, an amazing feat in Paradise. With snow three feet on the ground, at this time of year it would be hard to figure out why it could have ever been considered a paradise to the early people who settled here. It was home to him, though, always would be.

"Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in." Robert Frost said that, I think. Can't say I disagree.

When he was away in Afghanistan, testing the moral ambiguity of the world, his mind would drift back to weeks camping and hunting in the wilderness. It was those times it truly felt like Paradise. When he returned to his hometown, Nathaniel Bonner was a man many would say had a "chip on his shoulder." His father said he was "salty," whatever that meant. His now ex-fiancee Sarah claimed he was withdrawn and cynical. He didn't see it that way, though he knew he kept his feelings closer than before. That was what caused Sarah to leave. He knew he was a changed man. Nathaniel still felt like could be the same man as before though.

And that's what matters really, isn't it? That I still think and feel like...me.

That was why he kept find himself in her shop more time than he like to admit. What started as a quiet place to peruse a collection of literature that he enjoyed turned into a place where he feel like his old self again. Nearly everyday for over a year he would come in here and pester attractive proprietor. She had a way of baiting him into conversation and it took Nathaniel no time at all to figure out that he enjoyed getting her ire up.

"You can't be seriously tell me that Shakespeare is that wonderful? His work is iconic, but there is far too much romance for my taste." He enjoyed watching her irritation, heightened color, grey eyes flaring with indignation. She was lovely.

Thinking so made him feel tremendous guilt, but he was only human and nothing would come of it.

"Okay smart guy, whose works would you say contributed more to modern man then? Must be awfully important to surpass The Bard."

He chose one of his classic favorites. "Homer, from both an entertainment and historical standpoint."

It was the truth and he felt drawn in particular the the Homer's Odyssey, in which he felt some reflections of his own life.

I went away and fought and came home to find a suitor with the woman I wanted to spend my life with.

He returned home and nothing really was the same. Sarah's dalliance with Richard Todd, that ginger bastard, was more serious than he originally thought. Her guilt kept her with him, he in turn felt he owed it to what they had been once to try and make the relationship work. For little more than a year. they carried on with the facade of a happy couple. In the end he woke up to a note stating her apologies and regret, weighed down by the ring he gave her.

So much for "just friends."

That was six months ago. Six months of wishing he said more done more to make Sarah stay. He threw himself into his work. The mechanics shop had been in his family for a long time now. His grandfather still owned it and he was proud to work there with his father. Being a mechanic kept his hands busy and mind from wandering too much to the questions he wasn't ready to answer.

What would I do if she came waltzing back into his life tomorrow? Am I dreaming or hoping that she will? Do I really even want her back? Sarah is gone likely for good and I don't even miss her like I should.

What he found he missed was an intelligent mind, grey eyes set in a heart-shaped face and the challenge they promised. He could quit feeling guilty about his initial draw to Elizabeth now; the only person stopping him was himself. That's what finally led him to come back to her book store. He wanted to observe her, see if the infatuation he felt was mutual and still there. It was. As he flipped the through the pages in, What is this?, Gulliver's Travels apparently, he decided the worst she could do was say no to him if he invited her out to dinner. It wouldn't be a date really, just getting to know her. After the question was asked, an eternity seemed to pass before she acquiesced. He saw her cheeks went slightly pink just before she scampered off to wrap up her work. Nathaniel felt a rush of pride at eliciting this response, a pretty blush, and her nervous escape had him fighting a chuckle.

She is lovely when she's irritated with me, face all flushed with indignation. This response, though, is something else altogether and more than I hoped for.

Now, sitting across from Elizabeth, occasionally peering over his menu at her, he understood from their months of arguing she was strong-willed and could likely tire him out if he was ready to pursue any kind of relationship. It was after this thought that she looked up from her own menu, meeting his gaze unwaveringly.

"Did you find anything that interests you tonight, Mr. Bonner?"

He was convinced that she was solely referring to the menu in front of him. Her gaze was softer than it had been, guileless and he could very nearly feel it soften his rough edges.

"Nathaniel," he reminded her gently and couldn't stop his smile when her color heightened. She looked back to her own menu not quite quick enough to hide her own small smile.
This will be worth the chase.