Meals ordered, pleasantries about the weather and anticipation for the holidays out of the way, they slipped into an awkward but companionable silence. Both looking for something to say that would break the ice without feeling forced.

Settling on what felt cliche, she asked, "What is it you do for work?"

She was trying to make small talk, he could tell. The whole I suppose this is a date thing was just as unfamiliar territory for her as it was for him. In a way, Nathaniel found that realization comforting.

"I'm a mechanic. I work on motorcycles mostly." It was the simple answer giving her just enough information while still withholding a bit.

Well, that explains his motorcycle. It was a simple answer but made certain things she knew of him in passing make more sense. Like pieces to a puzzle, she thought. Elizabeth, not knowing what would be appropriate conversation for a "first date", whether it truly felt like one or not, settled on one question that was nagging at her his whole time in her shop today.

"So, what brought you to my shop today, Mr. Bonner?"

"Gulliver."

"Ah," Elizabeth said slowly and then cast a glance around at the red paper lanterns in an effort to find something more to fill the silence.

"That's not really the question you want answered anyway." Her full attention snapped back to him. He added, "What you want to know is why I've asked you here."

Nathaniel knew he was trying to get a rise out of her and he wasn't entirely sure why.

You go ahead and tell yourself that, see if you can make it stick. You know exactly why.

If he meant to get her flustered, it was working, but Elizabeth was resolved to not give him the satisfaction. Deciding to be equally as equally as evasive for the time being, she elected to simply state, "Really, Mr. Bonner, that question hardly needed to be asked. I'm sure that you are equally curious as to why I would accept the invitation?"

I will be bloody damned if I let this smug bastard get the better of me.

He could see that his question made her uncomfortable.

Each were liberated from anymore unnecessary verbal barbs by their waitress. Enjoying a meal meant less stunted conversation, but also left the pair deep in their own thoughts, each wondering where things went from here. By the time the check came Nathaniel was sure that he needed more time with her and Elizabeth was just as warily intrigued.

When they found themselves at her shop front, he figured it was time to make his move. It's now or never and she'll probably tell me to go to Hell and I can move on. It won't be a big deal. Really, we've only been antagonizing each other anyway.

"Look, I'm not great at this whole thing, but is there a better place we can go? So we can just talk?" Looking around the quiet street he added, "Ideally out of the cold."

She wasn't sure why she was surprised. Maybe she half-expected to invite him up to her flat anyway. They had talked at dinner of this and that, but they really hadn't shared much of themselves. They had the basics: she asked about his work, his hobbies, a little about his family, but there seemed to be more that he was willing to share. Staring down at her cold, inappropriately-attired feet, she couldn't stop herself from wanting to know exactly what made this man tick.

With one decisive nod, she said, " Well, Mr Bonner, if you care to my flat is upstairs. We could have some tea if you like? Or coffee if you prefer."

Nathaniel was a little taken aback. Her invitation to a virtual stranger was either courageous or foolhardy. Giving less than a moment's thought to her offer, he accepted and before he really knew it he was sitting at a tiny table in her small kitchen, cup of coffee in hand across from her with her Earl Gray.

He took a sip and asked, "What brings you to Paradise? I can't imagine many people wanting to relocate to what is virtually the middle of nowhere."

How much do I tell him? Does he want to know everything? Maybe I can just gloss over the finer points, just stick to the easy answers for now? No. I've already gone and invited him up here and I want to know everything I can about him. Turnabout is fair play, get it together, Elizabeth!

"The easy answer is family." She said this knowing that he'd ask for more detail.

"And the not-so-easy answer?" He met her steady gaze.

She closed her eyes and took a fortifying breath. "It's complicated".

She then looked at him again. He could see her uncertainty, but she proceeded to tell him what she felt she could.

Elizabeth knew that she wanted to know more about this man. She felt that if she could upon up to anyone in this town it was Nathaniel. She hoped that once there was a trust of sorts between them that he in turn would feel just as comfortable sharing with her.

She told him everything, how she left England and a budding teaching career to find her own brand of freedom. Free from her father the disgraced magistrate; he tried to conceive a way to have Elizabeth's portion of an her inheritance from her late mother reallocated to himself. The idea was to pay off the less-than-reputable individuals her brother owed rather large sums to. She confessed she couldn't have done without the help of her mother's sister. Aunt Merriweather assisted her in coming to the states and purchasing her shop.

Throughout her confession she felt a sense of peace. A certain lightness. I suppose this is that weight one feels lifting from their shoulders, she thought while still avoiding Nathaniel's eye, not wanting to see the judgment on his face. When Elizabeth did meet his gaze she was surprised by what she saw: understanding.

Listening to her talk he learned that he had been wrong. She wasn't running from something so much as to something. Something that she could claim as her own: freedom.

It takes a great deal of strength of character, some amount of bravery and no small amount of foolishness to head into the unknown. No small wonder I am drawn to this woman.

Nathaniel found himself looking at Elizabeth with fresh eyes. Clearly this was difficult for her to share, though she seemed liberated having done so. He found the more her knew of her the more there was to admire.

If she knew me better, would there be that same admiration? Would she accept me as I am?

"That's quite the story, Boots."

A small smirk ghosted across her face He said it with no judgment, no condescension; just stating a fact, like he was saying the sky is blue or the Earth was round. His new nickname for her gave her an unfamiliar warm in her chest seeping down her spine.

I think I quite like it. Boots.

He had an introspective look about him. She would dearly love to know what he was thinking, but it seemed too personal to ask at this stage in whatever it was they were doing. She set her teacup down, leveling Nathaniel with her curious, though slightly worried gaze and asked something she desperately wanted to know since he first walked into her shop after his prolonged absence earlier that day.

"Where have you been?" Realizing this sounded mildly plaintive, she began to babble. "I mean, you come in so frequently, not all the time or anything, just that you're a regular..." her nonsensical statement dying away as she noticed his bemused expression. Oh, bloody hell! She could feel the heat in her face, there was no hiding from him, not when he was sitting directly across from her. Taking a deep, restorative breath, Elizabeth attempted to sound less like a blithering idiot.

"It's rather noticeable that something is a miss when there's no one around to have spirited debates with."

Reclining back in his chair, Nathaniel made quick study of her sitting there, hands clasped tightly together in her lap.

Did she just admit to missing my company?

Giving a single quick nod to himself as much as to her, he started the tale of his own colorful history in much the same manner she did.

"The simple answer is that there really isn't one."

Nathaniel proceeded to give her an abridged version of things. How he and his college sweetheart had hopes of settling down in their hometown, complete with a wedding and family. How he felt called to do his duty to his country, which meant that he went away from the world he knew. How when he returned, he found his fiancee practically moved in with another man. How very little made sense other than his work at the garage, which pushed Sarah even further away, until one day she left. How he found a peaceful place where he could go and get lost in great works of fiction and stimulating conversation.

She gasped and even nodded attentively in all the appropriate spots. The last made her eyes go wide. Nathaniel nodded, confirming he was indeed referring to her shop.

Though really, where else would I be talking about going?

"Coming home should have felt like a relief, getting to pick my life back up. Instead it feels like the title of that book, you know, by Thomas Wolfe, You Can't Go Home Again. If that makes sense?"

Elizabeth cocked her head to the side and without more than ten seconds of thought, she answered his question.

"Oh, it makes perfect sense, Mr. Bonner, but I would compare the situation to Robert Frost. 'Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.'"

"Nathaniel."

At this they smiled at each other, each seeing the other as if fog had suddenly cleared.

She has a lovely smile.

He began to fidget with his coffee mug on the table, turning it this way and that. It was getting late and if he was going to make any sort of move to further their acquaintance, it was now or never. Looking up from the empty receptacle, he gave her a penetrating gaze, daring her to look away.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Certainly, Mr. Bonner." She fixed him an unwavering grey stare, but her breathiness betrayed her nerves.

"Would you please say my name?"

Nathaniel. I always call him so in my head, it just never seemed proper to do so until now.

She could tell her face was a deep shade of crimson, not out of embarrassment but a whole host of other thoughts and feelings she wasn't ready to recognize.

"Nathaniel." It came out as a not much more than a whisper, but saying it felt nearly euphoric.

They sat there not much longer, both having to returned to their own worlds. There were unspoken questions between them and both were too apprehensive to give them voice right at this moment. It wasn't until Elizabeth was seeing him out that she screwed up her courage.

"Will I see you again?"

He gave her another wolfish grin which sent her heart fluttering.

"Well, Boots, I believe I might be in the mood for 'spirited debates' after work tomorrow. If you don't mind my loitering?"

He was rewarded for his teasing by a warm smile, which sent his stomach turning over on itself. He took this as an affirmation that his continued visits to her establishment were welcome. Without too much thought, Nathaniel leaned forward pressing a warm, lingering kiss on her forehead. She slid her arms around his torso in a gesture that flooded his body with heat and he held her in return for a brief moment. He promised that he would see her again very soon before bidding her goodnight.

It looked like this thing, whatever it was that lay between the two of them, was the start of a journey, neither knowing its twists and turns nor its final destination.