It was a habit of Nathan's to go on a run on the mornings he didn't have to work. He loved it but he didn't have a chance to go as much as he would like. His schedule at the hospital was always changing with emergencies and unplanned surgeries. This morning he wanted to go run by the lake near his house. It was a beautiful morning and he wanted to enjoy it before he had to get ready for the date later.

As he started to think about Elizabeth, his phone made a sound. A text from Elizabeth. He smiled as he unlocked his phone, opening the message. As happy as he was a moment ago, his face fell. The text read:

Nathan, I need to cancel tonight. I'm sorry.

No explanation or anything. Just a cancellation of the date they had planned. Nathan sat down on the couch, his run forgotten. 'What happened,' he thought. Everything seemed great the last time he saw her and they both seemed equally as excited about tonight. Nathan sat on the couch for a few minutes, re-reading the short message over and over again until he realized he wouldn't be able to make sense of it. He sighed and went into the kitchen to look for some breakfast. Maybe he would check on Colleen and Allie or see if Lee was working. He needed to talk to someone.

An hour or so later, Nathan was sitting at Lee's house in the kitchen. Lee didn't have a shift until that night so he welcomed the company. Rosemary was busy in meetings with her editor in her home office. Her office was set up in the basement with a separate entrance to the outside, so she was able to work without bothering Lee if he was sleeping from a shift or if he came home at strange hours.

"What's going on Nathan, you sounded stressed when you called before," Lee asked his friend.

"I got a text from Elizabeth this morning," Nathan said.

"Why is that bothering you though? The last time I saw you with her the both of you seemed really happy. Wait, aren't you going on a date tonight?"

"Not anymore. She texted this morning to cancel. No explanation, or anything. Just that she was sorry. Did I do something wrong and not realize it?"

Lee started to say something but then he heard it. He had been sleeping most of the morning before Nathan came over since he had just gotten off a long shift. The rain was getting heavier, hitting the side of the house. A flash of lightning appeared in the sky outside the kitchen window. Lee turned back to Nathan, "It wasn't you but I think I know what happened."

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Earlier that morning:

Elizabeth started to wake up even though it was still dark outside. It wasn't normal for her to wake up in the middle of the night like that. She turned over and looked at the clock on her side table. 4:42am. 'Definitely before her alarm was set to go off, but what woke her up,' she wondered. She started to open her eyes and she saw the rain drops on the window in her room.

She sat up like a jack in the box. She started to pull the blanket up to her face as her hands and body started to shake. Elizabeth looked her phone on the side table to check the radar to see how long the rain would last. Before she unlocked her phone she saw the date. It was the anniversary of Jack's death. It wasn't that she forgot when it happened but when she was busy with school she would sometimes forget the date completely.

Elizabeth thought with the date and the rain that she wouldn't be able to handle anything today. She pulled the two thick blankets off her bed and took her phone going into her walk in closet. She pulled the blankets around her and over her head. She sent a quick text to Bill telling him that she wouldn't be in today and asked if he could find a substitute for her.

Then she remembered Nathan. A tear falling down her cheek, she knew this wasn't fair to him. She didn't want to ask him to deal with this part of her grief in Jack's death. Maybe it was better this way, before they had even started anything. She started to lay down, trying to ignore the sound of rain that was much less when she was in her closet. She would text Nathan in a few hours when he would be awake to cancel their plans for tonight.

A few hours later after she had texted, Elizabeth was still laying in her closet with tears on her cheeks. Sad for the memory of Jack. Upset that she was driven into this state by the rain outside. And disappointed that she had to hurt Nathan.

Her phone rang and she looked at it briefly to see it was Nathan. She turned her phone over so she couldn't see the screen and rolled on her other side away from it. She ignored the call and after a few more minutes she fell asleep.

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After Rosemary was done with her calls, she went into her kitchen to find Nathan there with Lee. Nathan told her about the text he got from Elizabeth and that she wasn't answering his calls. Lee explained that it had been raining and what he suspected had happened. Rosemary assured both of them that everything would be alright and that she would go over right now to check on Elizabeth.

Rosemary drove over to Elizabeth's house. Rosemary had a key so she planned to let herself in since she wasn't sure if Elizabeth would answer her call either. Rosemary knew that today was the anniversary of Jack's death but she didn't say anything in front of Nathan. She wasn't sure how much Elizabeth had told him and she thought that it a conversation that the two of them should have.

As Rosemary walked up to the front door, she saw a bouquet of what looked like two dozen pink roses. There was a note but Rosemary suspected that Nathan had sent them. 'He is a good man,' Rosemary thought. 'Let's just hope he and Elizabeth can work this out.'

Rosemary carried the flowers into the kitchen along with the bag she brought from home. It was dark in the house so she turned on a few lights. She called out for Elizabeth but there was no answer. Her car and her bike were both there so Rosemary was sure she was home. Rosemary walked upstairs to Elizabeth's bedroom and she saw the door to her closet slightly open. She walked over and when she opened the door, she saw Elizabeth sleeping on the floor of her closet.

Rosemary walked over and put her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder, softly shaking her to wake her up. "Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth looked up and saw Rosemary kneeling over her. "Rosemary, what are you doing here? What time is it?"

"I think it is a little after 6. I wanted to come and check on you."

Elizabeth sat up slowly and started to pull one of the blankets off of her. "You know what today is?"

"I do. Also, I talked to Nathan earlier."

"Nathan called you?"

"No, he was at my house with Lee when I was done working today. He got your text and then you didn't answer his call. He was worried that he had done something to upset you."

"Of course he didn't!" Elizabeth said a little louder than she had been talking before.

Rosemary reached out and put her hand on Elizabeth's. "I know that. I didn't tell him anything about Jack but I think maybe you should. But that is for another day. I brought some soup with me. I picked some up from the bistro on the way over. Do you want to go downstairs and have some with me?" When Elizabeth looked at the door with a concerned look on her face, Rosemary added, "it stopped raining and there was a rainbow outside."

Elizabeth smiled at her friend and she was thankful for her understanding. Both of the women walked downstairs to the kitchen. Elizabeth immediately noticed the flowers in the face on her table. "Did you bring these too? They are beautiful."

"I didn't. They were outside your door when I arrived. There was a note."

Elizabeth opened the small envelope and read:

Elizabeth, I am sorry for anything I have done to upset you. I understand if you do not want to talk to me but I will be here if and when you do. Nathan.

Elizabeth handed the note over to Rosemary so she could read it too. Rosemary smiled and handed it back to her. "I hope you choose to talk to him. He is a very nice man and I think he just wants to get to know you more. I'm sure he would want to know about your history and what happened with Jack."

"I know. I will talk to him. I think I need to explain everything and apologize for cancelling our date. I would like to try again if he is willing."

"Elizabeth, are you doing ok with everything?"

"I thought things were getting better. I was coming to terms with Jack being gone and being on my own. The rain is something I am still having trouble with. It just brings me right back to that day. It feels like it all just happened. I worry about getting close to someone else like Nathan and having to go through that loss a second time. I don't know if I could pick everything up and move again. I've made a home here on my own and I am afraid to have anything disrupt that."

"You can't live your life in fear. If you do, then you will miss out on all the joy that life has to offer. I don't know what will happen with you and Nathan but what if you could have a second chance at love with him. Is it worth the risk? One of my favorite poets has a quote: Always do what you are afraid to do. Elizabeth, I think it is time for you to face the fear and see if you can find a rainbow in the storm."