"The way it brings out the blue in your eyes is the Tenerife Sea." -Ed Sheeran, "Tenerife Sea"
...
"Vi, why are there six plates here?" Elizabeth Thatcher asked her sister as she set the table.
"Because there are going to be six of us at dinner."
"You, Luke, Julie, Owen, me." She counted them on her fingers. "Unless I've suddenly forgotten how to count, that's only five."
"Um," Viola looked a little guilty, "Luke invited his coworker, too."
"And does this coworker of his happen to be a single guy?"
"Maybe…"
"Viola! I don't need to be set up," She grumbled as she put another plate on the table.
"It's not a set-up, Elizabeth," her sister assured her. "I didn't even know Luke had invited his coworker to dinner until earlier today. I swear that I had nothing to do with this."
"Fine." She sighed. "I'm just tired of everyone trying to set me up without asking me."
"Mom is still introducing you to the sons of dad's coworkers?"
"Yes," she answered, exasperated. "It feels like there's a different one every week."
Viola chuckled. "I'm sorry. She just wants you to be happy."
"I know that, but I'm already happy whether or not I meet a guy. And it's not like she needs me for grandkids. You and Julie are already on top of that. Just," she sighed again, "please don't try to push me and this guy together."
"I won't. Now, Julie, on the other hand…"
The doorbell rang, interrupting them.
"I should get that. Can you finish up here?"
"I think I can manage." She smirked as she continued placing silverware in front of each seat.
A few moments later, she heard some muffled greetings followed by footsteps and her sister's voice.
"Elizabeth, you'll never guess who Luke's coworker is."
She turned when Viola led the man into the dining room. Her eyes went wide. "Jack Thornton."
"Elizabeth Thatcher." He gave her a crooked smile. "Fancy meeting you here."
Viola cleared her throat. "I'm just going to go out back to see how Luke is doing with the steaks."
The back door closed behind her, and Elizabeth and Jack were left alone.
"So, uh, Jack. Would you like something to drink? Water, soda, wine?"
"Water is fine for now." He followed her into the kitchen, watching quietly as she grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and filled them from a pitcher she had retrieved from the fridge.
"So, you work with Luke?" She glanced up at him briefly.
He nodded. "For about two years now. I really enjoy it at the practice."
"I had no idea you moved back here." She handed him one of the glasses, trying to ignore the heat that filled her when his fingers brushed against hers.
"Yeah," he paused to take a sip of the water, "I moved back three years ago. I'm surprised Viola never mentioned it."
"Yeah, I mean, I would've thought…"
They turned when the back door opened.
"Steaks are ready. I hope everybody's hungry." Luke carried in a platter with the freshly grilled steaks.
"They smell great."
"Julie and Owen aren't here yet?" Luke looked around the room, noticing that not everyone was there.
Elizabeth held up her phone. "She just texted that they're almost here. Apparently Willa was giving them trouble."
"Well, I guess we can go ahead and get settled in in the meantime."
Viola led them back into the dining room, where they awkwardly stood around the table.
"Jack, why don't you sit here, across from Elizabeth?" Viola suggested.
Instead of sitting right away, he moved around the table, holding out Elizabeth's chair for her before taking the seat across from her.
"We're here!" Julie's voice sounded from the entryway. "Sorry about that." She came into the dining room, followed by her husband, Owen. "Willa had a little diaper leak right as we were headed out the door."
"'Little' is an understatement," Owen corrected.
Viola chuckled. "Aren't you so glad Aaron is finally potty trained?" she asked Luke.
He joined in her laughter. "I don't miss the days of diapers at all."
"Me neither," Jack agreed.
Elizabeth looked at him curiously. Viola had implied that he was single, and she never said anything about him having children, so the comment caught her off-guard.
"I'm surprised you even wanted to come tonight, Jules." Viola passed the bowl of mashed potatoes to Elizabeth. "I had such a hard time leaving Aaron when he was that little."
Julie groaned. "I love Willa dearly, but we needed a little break. And besides, mom and dad have been begging for some time with her."
"This steak is great, Luke," Owen interrupted.
"Thank you."
"It is really good. I'll need to get the recipe for this seasoning from you," Jack said.
"Sure. I'll write it down later."
The conversation continued throughout dinner, but by the end of the meal, Elizabeth hadn't learned much more about Jack Thornton than she already knew. She found that that disappointed her.
Shortly after dessert—a homemade cheesecake that Elizabeth had brought over—Julie and Owen excused themselves to pick up Willa in time for her final feeding before bed. Viola and Luke began to remove the dishes from the table after they left.
"Oh, I can help." Elizabeth started reaching for the empty plates.
"Nope." Viola swatted her hand away. "Luke and I have it covered. You and Jack can keep each other company."
"Actually," Jack stood, "I should probably get going, too."
Viola shot a look at Elizabeth, silently urging her to go with him.
She cleared her throat. "I'll walk you out."
"Thanks for coming, Jack." Luke gave him a pat on the back.
"Thank you for inviting me. Dinner was great. I'll see you at work tomorrow."
Jack and Elizabeth were both quiet as they walked to the door.
"Well," he finally spoke when they reached the front porch, "it was nice to see you again, Elizabeth."
"You, too."
"Um, maybe we can hang out sometime? Catch up? It's been a while." His hazel eyes were filled with something she couldn't quite place. Hope, maybe?
She nodded hesitantly, praying that he couldn't see the blush filling her cheeks. "Sure. I can give you my number."
He pulled out his phone and placed it in her hands so she could input her number. When she returned it to him, he sent her a quick text. "Now you have mine, too. I'll, uh, I'll text you sometime this week, and maybe we can find a time to meet up."
She nodded again. "Okay. Bye, Jack."
He gave her a slight wave before heading to his car.
...
"Daddy?" The little boy leaned back against Jack's chest, looking up at him.
He closed the book he had just finished reading. "Yeah, bud?"
"Can we go to the park tomorrow?"
"Not tomorrow, bud. I have to go to work, but maybe later this week. You don't have school on Friday, and I don't have work, so what do you say we go then?"
He nodded. "Can we get ice cream?"
Jack chuckled, kissing the top of his son's head. "Sure. The park and then ice cream."
"And the zoo?" He gave him his best pleading look, pushing out his lower lip.
"We'll see." He pulled the blanket up to the boy's shoulders. "Okay, Sonny boy. Bedtime."
"Night, daddy."
"I love you," Jack told him as he flipped off the light.
"Love you, daddy."
He quietly closed the door before padding across the hall to his own room. He sank down on the bed and grabbed his phone from the nightstand. Staring at the screen, he read Elizabeth's name over and over, picturing her in his mind.
He hadn't seen her in so long; she was just as beautiful as he remembered her to be. Her curly auburn hair, and her sea blue eyes, those eyes that he could get lost in.
A notification sounded, and he saw the text pop up.
"Good night, Jack."
...
"So, you never did warn her that Jack would be here." Luke eyed his wife as they prepared to get in bed.
"I was going to, but I don't think she would've come if she knew."
He slipped under the covers. "She's never going to come for dinner here again, Vi."
"Oh, I don't know." She slid in the bed beside him. "I noticed she gave him her phone number before they left."
"You're turning into Julie."
"If it means Elizabeth is happy, then so be it. But don't forget, this was Julie's idea in the first place. I just went along with it." She laughed softly, leaning in to press a kiss to his lips.
"I'm going to blame Kevin if things go badly. If he hadn't been sick, Julie could've taken Willa to him, and she wouldn't have found out that I work with Jack."
"I still can't believe you've worked with him for two years and never mentioned it."
He shrugged. "It never came up. Besides, how was I supposed to know that you know him?"
"If you ever talked about me, he should've recognized my name." She rolled her eyes playfully. "Well, no matter. I think this could be really good. Elizabeth's been hung up on Jack for years, ever since they were teenagers."
"And they never dated?"
She shook her head. "I'm almost positive it was the age difference that kept them from being together—three years was a lot when we were in high school. But there was definitely a connection there, and after tonight, I know it's still there."
"Please try not to meddle anymore, Vi." He wrapped his arms around her. "I want your sister to be happy, too, but it's not going to help if you and Julie try to push things. Let them happen in their own time."
She snuggled into him. "Fine."
...
"Julie?" Elizabeth answered her phone when her sister's name appeared on the screen. "I just saw you like an hour ago. Is everything okay? Is it Willa?"
"Everything's fine. Willa's fine. I just wanted to know how the rest of the evening went after I left."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "If you want to know about Jack, he left shortly after you did. You didn't miss anything."
"But you're going to see him again, right?"
"Jules, stop. I don't know exactly how, but I know you had a hand in all of this. And I'll tell you what I told Vi. I don't need to be set up."
"But it's Jack Thornton! You've been in love with him forever."
Elizabeth laughed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never been in love."
"Come on, Elizabeth. You were totally obsessed with him when you were a teenager."
"Having a crush on him in high school is certainly not the same thing as being in love, Julie."
"You know, he's still very nice to look at."
"And you're still married, so you should probably stop looking. Don't you need to check on Willa or something?"
"I just put her down for the night. She's sound asleep."
"Well, I have work in the morning. Good night, Julie."
"Tell Jack hi for me the next time you see him!" she quickly said into the phone before Elizabeth hung up.
She sighed, falling back onto her pillow. She had to admit, he did look really good; he had barely seemed to age in the years since she had last seen him. And despite what she had said to Julie, there were still feelings there. Certainly not love—she hadn't been lying when she said she'd never been in love—but there was something there.
She found herself pulling up Facebook and typing his name into the search bar. She clicked on his profile, finding it sparse, with no information beyond what she already knew. She opened his profile picture and zoomed in. It showed him with a young boy about three years old riding on his shoulders. Both of them were grinning from ear to ear, clearly very happy to be together.
The boy was adorable, with big brown eyes and sandy hair. He had Jack's smile, and the same deep dimples in his cheeks.
She wondered about him. There was a definite family resemblance. Was he Jack's son? His nephew? If the boy was his son, where was his mother? She scrolled through the handful of other photos Jack had posted on his profile. All were just him and the boy at various ages, with no sign of the boy's mother.
Before she could stop herself, she opened his contact information again, seeing the text he had sent earlier.
"This is Jack Thornton."
She typed out a few words, deleting them before typing something else and repeating the process again, then again. Finally, she hit send on a simple message before she could chicken out.
"Good night, Jack."
He responded almost immediately. "Good night, Elizabeth. Talk to you soon."
She put the phone aside, finally falling asleep with a smile on her face.