Elizabeth was sitting at a table reading a book on her phone waiting for Rosemary. The two of them had planned to meet for lunch at a bistro near the school. Elizabeth had a day of teacher meetings so she had a longer break for lunch than usual. She was looking at her watch when she caught a glimpse of a woman walking quickly past the hostess at the front. Rosemary was walking towards her with her bag falling off her shoulder.

"I'm sorry I'm late, my editor called with a question about the book and I couldn't get him off the phone. I finally had to tell him I would call him later."

"No worries at all. I am sure you are busy with the book coming out soon and everything," Elizabeth said.

Rosemary sat down and began to look around. "I thought Faith was joining us."

"She was going to but she had a parent call her about one of her students. I said I would bring a sandwich back for her."

Rosemary nodded. "So anything new with you?", she asked as she took a sip of her water.

"You know Rosemary, you aren't hiding anything. I know you are asking about Nathan."

Rosemary looked at her with fake shock on her face and then laughed. "Ok, ok. So have you talked to Nathan since the bake sale?"

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders and looked down with a smile. "No not really. Only when he asked me out on a date tomorrow."

"Elizabeth! Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know. We were busy at the sale and then I haven't seen you since. I am very excited about it though."

"I'm happy for you. You'll have to call me right after or at least the next day and let me know all about it," Rosemary said.

"Of course I will." Elizabeth was grateful that her friend was so happy for her. The two of them sat and enjoyed their lunch talking about Rosemary's book and Elizabeth's teaching. After lunch it was time for Elizabeth to get back for her next meeting. It would be a long day but maybe it would keep her mind off her plans for the next day.

————————

Nathan sat at his kitchen island on his laptop. He was checking a few of the restaurants nearby to see if any of them would work for his date with Elizabeth. Each time he looked at a new one he dismissed it. Either it didn't seem special enough or he had been on a date there before. Nathan wanted this date to be different. In the short time he had known Elizabeth, he could sense something was different about her.

Finally after another google search, a new restaurant showed up. There was an article that said it had opened within the last month but all the reviews were great. Nathan picked up the phone and called for a reservation. The hostess said he was in luck because someone had just cancelled for tomorrow night at 7. She said that otherwise the reservations were booked out a couple weeks in advance. He thanked her and hung up the phone.

He smiled he heard the front door open. Allie ran into the kitchen with Colleen walking behind her. Nathan had given Colleen a key when he bought the house so he could keep an eye on things when he worked long hours and stayed at the hospital at times. Nathan quickly shut his laptop so Colleen couldn't see what he was searching. He wasn't sure about the questions his sister would ask if she knew he had a date. Colleen looked his way when she saw how fast he shut the laptop, telling herself to ask him about it after dinner.

"Hey Allie, how is my favorite munchkin?"

"Good. Uncle Nathan, what are we having for dinner?"

Nathan laughed, "how does spaghetti sound?"

"Yay!" Allie said. Nathan knew that was her favorite. The three of them sat down to dinner. Colleen tried to keep Allie clean with an apron on while she ate but she still had to wipe her face off when she was done. Allie went into the family room where Nathan kept some of her toys leaving Colleen to help Nathan clear the table and put leftovers away.

"Nathan?"

"Hmmm?" Nathan replied as he put the container of sauce in the fridge.

"Anything you want to tell me? What were you looking at when we came in?"

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?"

"Well you've never been able to before," Colleen said putting her hands on her hips.

"Do you want some coffee?"

Colleen nodded as she sat on the stood by the island. Nathan poured the coffee and passed her a cup. "I was looking up restaurants. I have a date tomorrow night."

"A date?!" Colleen said excitedly. She almost spilled the cup as she set it down.

"Don't sound so surprised," Nathan said with an eye roll.

"You know what I mean, I didn't know you were seeing someone."

"It will be our first date. I don't know though, there is something different about her. It feels like we have known each other longer than we have. Like it is our 100th date rather than our first, does that make sense?"

Colleen smiled and nodded. "I'm happy for you. And I hope you can invite her over her for dinner some time so I can meet her."

"I'd like for you to meet her too. Let's see how this first one goes before we start planning any more."