Ring! Her phone shrilled interrupting her sleep. Her throat was as dry as anything and she grimaced as a shard of sunlight caught her face, reaching to the floor to rummage in her handbag to answer her phone.

"Hel-lo" she croaked.

"Rosie" Elizabeth responded "I'm sorry, did I wake you? It's 11 o'clock!"

"Ugh. Yes. Shit. My head"

"Wow. How long did you stay for?"

"I dunno what time we left, but I came home at about three I think" as she grabbed the Advil and water on her bedside table.

"Oh. Ohhhh" Elizabeth answered as understanding dawned. "So, you and Lee huh?".

"Yeah. We ended back at his place, but I left afterwards. You know me. No feelings. No commitment. Don't stay the night. What about you? You guys were at the table, and then you weren't. Did you and what's-his-name hook up too?"

"Nathan. Kind of"

"What does that mean?

"He kissed me"

"Elizabeth. He kissed you!" Rosie squealed, enquiring "How was it?"

"Unfortunately, it was incredible" Elizabeth's butterflies started just thinking about it.

"Sooooo. Does this mean you'll see him again?" knowing Elizabeth didn't do random hookups. Except a couple of times in college before she met Jack.

"No Rosie. He got a phone call and then he bolted out of there quicker than you can say Elizabeth Thornton"

"That's so odd. I mean, they did say there were cops, maybe he needed to rush to work?"

Elizabeth smiled wryly at her friend's optimism. "No Rosie. I saw his screen. It said Rebecca, and he said "I love you" oh the phone to her. I can't believe I kissed a guy in a relationship" she groaned, her heart dropping at the thought.

"What a jerk!" Rosie remarked. Ever the optimist and not one to dwell, "We'll go somewhere else next time".

"I'm not interested in going someplace else. The stars just aren't aligned Rosie. It's not the right time for me. It doesn't matter. I should just focus on getting myself and Jack settled here and in my job. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Drink some water. Feel better" and she hung up the phone, flopping back on her couch covering her face with her hands. It wasn't just that the kiss was incredible, she'd felt something as they'd spent time together last night. It went beyond the obvious physical attraction, as intense as that was, and she'd had a small flutter of hope that maybe there was potential with him. She sighed and stood up, determined to gather herself and prepare for the day ahead, her first day teaching grade 4 at Hope Valley Elementary.

Across town…

"Dude. I have a cracking hangover. Glad we don't start work till tomorrow night" Nathan's phone pinged as Lee's message came through.

"I have no sympathy. You did it to yourself lol" Nathan wrote back.

"Rosemary was worth it my friend".

"So, ru going to see her again?"

"Not likely. U know me. How bout u & Elizabeth?"

"U know I don't kiss and tell. But I had to leave quickly. Dylan's back in town. Did u get Rosemary's number?"

"Crap man. Do u need my help with Dylan? Nah, I didn't get her number. No feelings. No commitment"

"Don't worry bout Dylan – I'll talk to you tomorrow on shift. We've got hours to kill. I left without even saying anything to Elizabeth. She must think I'm such a jerk"

"Nvm dude. Plenty more fish in the sea".

Nathan smiled wryly at his friend's carefree attitude. He couldn't tell him about the kiss. Or how it made him feel like he was 10 feet tall. Or how he couldn't stop thinking about her, or that smile, or the way she said his name, and the way she felt in his arms. It set his heart on fire just thinking about it. He couldn't believe he didn't get her surname, so wouldn't even be able to use police privileges to look her up. He had no place to even start. He sighed and stood up. He needed to get Ally sorted for school tomorrow. Grade 4. Where had the years gone?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Daaad" Ally rolled her eyes at him "Please don't walk me into school. It's embarrassing. I'm not a little kid anymore"

"I kid you not, you were a baby 5 minutes ago" he answered back.

"We have got to work on your jokes" she retorted, bending down to grab her bag.

"C'mon, that was funny Ally" as he climbed out the car to at least give her a hug goodbye. She obliged very quickly, spinning to race to catch up with Opal. He watched her go, smiling to himself, grateful she'd really found home in Hope Valley. "Don't forget, Grandpa will pick you up today" he called out after her.

"I knooowww." She kept a better track of his shifts than he did sometimes. He was grateful his mum and dad had reconciled and moved to Hope Valley a year ago. He couldn't keep doing his job without their help, as well the friends who'd become like family over the past 2 years, like Opal and her parents.

As he drove away, looking in the rearview mirror, he beeped his goodbye, catching a glimpse of a teacher, with dark hair and a big smile as she welcomed Opal & Ally into the school gate. He shook his head and gave a small laugh at himself. Elizabeth had made more of an impact than he'd thought, imagining he was seeing her at school. He'd dreamt of her more than once - enveloping her in his arms and her soft, sweet lips connecting with his deeply, longingly, passionately. He cleared his throat. Focus Grant. Drive home…prep for work…nap before shift. Maybe he'd dream of her again, as small smile on his face at the thought of it.

xxxxxxx

"How was your first day kiddo?" Nathan asked later that evening, as he called Ally quickly whilst on his nightshift with Lee.

"It was good. Mrs Thornton is so nice, she's real pretty too dad, you'll like her. She loves to read she told us; she has a little boy who's 4 and she said "impressive" to me when she saw my math work, and she really liked the poem I wrote today about summer vacation and she said she likes us to experiment with our learning to help us understand things better. It was so good to see all my friends all together in the same place again too, I know I saw some of them during break but it's even better when we are in a big group. I think I'll try out for choir this year dad."

It must have been a good day Nathan reflected – she always spoke quickly when she was happy or excited. "Ok Ally, I'm glad to hear you had a good first day. Make sure you do your homework and be good for Grandma and Grandpa ok? I love you, sleep tight."

"Love you too. I'll see you for school drop off?"

"Yep, I'll see you then. Night. Night."

"Night Ally."

"You're a good dad to her Nathan" Lee encouraged his partner as he hung up the phone.

"Thanks man. I try."

"So, did you want to talk about Dylan? Why's he back? Does Ally know?"

"I wish he'd just let sleeping dogs lie. He rocked up at mum and dads on Saturday night. Luckily dad answered and was able to stop him coming in. He was drunk. Been gambling again I'd say because he was asking for money. Ally was asleep but he was demanding to see her, trying to push his way in past dad, that's when mum called me and I had to leave Elizabeth".

"Are they all ok? Must have shaken them?"

"A bit, but you know they've been through this with him before. He was gone before I got there. I've made another report. He's in breach of the court order, so we can arrest him if he sticks his head up again. I wish he'd just leave forever. I'm going to put a security camera up on their perimeter tomorrow"

They sat in reflective silence. A quiet understanding between them. Forged over years of friendship which started at the Police Academy, strengthened when Colleen passed away and Nathan found himself with a little grief-stricken four-year-old daughter to care for, deepening into brother's as they were assigned as partners in Hope Valley. Nathan was grateful Lee didn't probe further, knowing he needed to process things in his own time. Dylan only ever made contact when he needed money. He'd never sent a card or called Allie for her birthday or Christmas. Never written a letter or tried to foster a relationship with her. She'd stopped asking about him years ago.

When night shift was finished, Nathan drove straight to his parents' home to take Ally to school. They were happy to drop her, but whenever he could, he would do drop offs or pick-ups so that she knew she was his highest priority. He was a stark contrast to her biological father. They drove into the kiss and drop zone at the school and said their goodbyes. Ally leapt out of the car as she saw her friend Robert, quickly handing Nathan a crumpled note from the previous day.

Grade 4 Meet & Greet

Hello Parents,

Welcome to the new school year! I'd like to invite you to our meet and greet evening on Tuesday, the 17th. It's a casual event, just to help me begin to put faces to the names of the parents of my wonderful students.

I appreciate that juggling work and family schedules can be tricky, so I'll be in the Grade 4 Classroom from 4pm to 7pm.

I hope to see you there, even if it's just for the few minutes for us to be properly introduced.

With Kind Regards,

Mrs Thornton

"I checked the schedule already and you're on shift till 6 pm so hopefully you finish on time so you can come"

"Thanks Ally girl, I'll make sure I'm there. It's important. I love you"

"I love you too" she called over her shoulder as she ran to catch up with Robert.

As he drove away, Elizabeth looked up from her gate duty welcoming students, catching a glimpse of a man with dark hair waving his tanned arm out the window. She shook her head. Stop thinking about Nathan, she scolded herself, now you're even seeing him at school! She needed to rid herself of his memory from that night. She was managing to call herself into check in her waking hours, but her dreams had been filled with strong hands circling her waist, piercing blue eyes staring into hers and long steamy kisses with lips that seemed perfect for hers.

"Elizabeth" she heard Rosemary calling her and she turned to smile at her friend. "I saw you're doing a meet and greet, what a good idea. I thought as the drama teacher maybe I could be there too?"

"That's a great idea Rosie, thank you" Elizabeth truly was appreciative - Rosemary would be a delightful buffer for the evening, keeping small-talk conversations flowing and, Elizabeth thought, it would help show the parents their united front as teachers and that she had the support of a teacher who wasn't new to the school. Hopefully it'd help them accept her more easily too she mused. Grateful once again, to get to work alongside her best friend, something they only dreamed about in college together.