Chapter 2 – Legos
She found herself thinking of a certain dog owner with piercing blue eyes and a bright crooked smile over the next few days almost as much as the dog owner thought of her. Common between the two were the smiles that thoughts of the other brought to their lips, with the beginnings of nervous anticipation for Thursday. Elizabeth wondered if she should meet up with Nathan and Scout, whilst Nathan wondered if Elizabeth and Jack would meet up with them.
She was still undecided on Wednesday night, admonishing herself for overthinking the casual invitation, for Jack, she reminded herself, to pat the dog. Thursday morning dawned with Jack exuding boundless energy, essentially making the decision for Elizabeth. He needed to get out of the house and so they strolled to Abigail's Café. As much as you can stroll with an energetic 4-year-old boy who found joy and excitement in the littlest things. Elizabeth felt the butterflies increase as she caught sight of the Café sign, taking a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. Where was this even coming from, she wondered?
As she stepped into Abigails ready to look for Nathan, she needn't have bothered, Jack exclaiming in his excited voice "Hi Scout!" skipping over to give the dog a pat, some of the patrons smiling down at the sweetness of the scene.
Elizabeth was taken aback seeing Nathan, in a police uniform. She smiled lightly but avoided his gaze as she went to order her coffee. In a moment, Nathan was by her side "I was hoping you'd come Elizabeth, I actually ordered already. Just in case" he was standing so close to her she could smell his cologne.
"Oh. Um. You- you didn't need to do that."
He tilted his head to the side "Sorry. Did I overstep?"
"Nooo. No. It's ok. Thank you" she replied. Turning to follow him back to his table she noticed he wasn't alone, a young girl crouching with Scout and chattering away with Little Jack.
"This is Allie, my niece. Allie, this is Elizabeth" Allie smiled brightly "It's nice to meet you".
"Hi Allie" Elizabeth greeted her as she took her seat. Turning toward Nathan, he noticed her visibly take a breath before speaking, a flicker of emotion in her eyes.
"I, uh, I didn't realise you were a constable?"
Looking down at his uniform, he responded "Oh, yep. Just over a decade now. I normally change, but I got held up this morning, and I didn't want to be late in case you decided to bring Jack to see Scout".
Swallowing, Elizabeth quietly responded "My husband Jack was in the service".
Husband. Disappointment stirred, surprising him.Where did that come from? "Did he, uh, move to a different career?"
"Nooo...no. He, um, he was killed 4 years ago. An armed robbery" tears threatened as pain seared across her face.
"Oh Elizabeth. I'm truly sorry. It's horrible to hear a brother-in-arms lost his life in our line of work. I can't imagine your pain. For Little Jack too."
Her voice catching in her throat she responded, "We didn't even know I was pregnant". Try as she might, she wasn't able to keep the tears from slipping down her cheeks. "I'm sorry Nathan. I-I'm not always emotional about it. Just seeing you in the same uniform, well, it kinda threw me is all".
"You don't need to apologise Elizabeth." he reached out tentatively to squeeze her hand in support "Can I get you anything?"
Clearing her throat, she responded "Water would be great. Thank you"
He stood quickly making his way to the water station, returning with a glass of water and some napkins which he placed in her hand. Dabbing her eyes, she thanked him, taking a sip to settle herself. Nathan noticed the deep breaths she took as well as she regained her composure, focussing herself on Little Jack, Allie & Scout. Mei arrived with their order, passing a glance between the adults again, pursing her lips as she left their table.
"Thanks Dad!" Allie beamed as she took her seat next to him, "Thank you Mr Man" Jack followed.
Elizabeth and Nathan chuckled "You're welcome Jack, my name is Nathan, do you remember?"
"Oh yeah. Nafan. You like my dad in the uniform". He stated matter-of-factly.
Elizabeth smiled down at him "Yes. That's right Little Jack" giving him a hug around his shoulders as she spoke. Silence followed for some moments as they all enjoyed the first sip of their drinks. "How did you know our order, Nathan?"
"It's my job to notice things" she raised an eyebrow at him "Ok... I heard Mei when she gave you your order the other day" he winked at her.
"Well, thank you, it was thoughtful of you" she smiled up at him.
"Anytime". He found himself wondering what it might be like to spend more time with the first woman to captivate his thoughts in some time.
Feeling Nathan still watching her, trying to ignore how it was making her feel, turned her attention to the children. "What flavour did you get Allie?"
"I'm predictable with my choice - it's always strawberry. It just reminds me of summer" she smiled brightly.
"Is that your favourite season?"
"I like all seasons really, there's something to love about each of them; like fishing and wildflowers in spring, skating in winter, all the changing leaves in autumn, and swimming in summer" a dreamy look on her face.
"You've really put some thought into that, haven't you? They all sound delightful when you speak that way" Elizabeth smiled at her.
"Oh yes, she certainly has, she's written some poems about them all" beaming at his niece Nathan interjected.
"A poet? Well, that's interesting"
"I mean, I wouldn't call myself a poet but dad likes to brag sometimes" giving him the side eye.
"Guilty as charged" he put his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm proud of you, kiddo, what can I say?"
"I knooow" Allie's eyes rolled.
Jack having had no attention for several minutes took the conversation into his own hands. "I like legos, do you Allie?"
"I do actually Jack, I have loads. Do you like to make your own creations or follow the instructions?"
"I do both. Mama says I'm clever. Maybe I can come to your house and play with your legos?" his face hopeful as he asked Allie.
Elizabeth gulped - it was the second time in as many meetings Jack had invited himself into the life of this handsome man.
"Oh Jack, honey bear, it's not very good manners to invite yourself over to someone's house".
"But why mama, you said another day when we first saw Scout that you liked Nafan so you can be friends and I can play with Allie. Ok?"
Gasping, Elizabeth wanted the floor to swallow her whole as her cheeks rapidly turned pink at her son's answer.
Allie looked between the adults, seeing the blush on Elizabeth's cheeks and the surprised look on Nathan's face, she quickly turned to the young boy "Jack, why don't you and I take Scout outside for a little bit. He might need the toilet and to stretch his legs".
"Can I mama?".
"Yes, yes of course. Thank you Allie".
Clearing her throat and shaking her head as they walked away, she looked at Nathan, who was smiling amusedly, his eyes focussed completely on her "Kids say the darnedest things hey?" he offered, graciously letting her off the hook.
"He...I..."
"You don't have to explain" she felt his eyes looking at her deeply, an expression in them she wasn't certain of.
"No really, it's not...it's not like he made it sound. We were just talking about Scout, and you, and he was telling me how much he liked Scout and asking if we could see him again, and then I said I didn't really know you well to say yes to that, so he assumed it meant I didn't like you, so I told him I did like you. So, I guess in his little mind we are friends now and he can just invite himself whenever he wants to it appears" the words tumbled out quickly and she bit the side of her lower lip waiting for him to respond.
Nathan guffawed. "Elizabeth, it's ok. I know what kids can be like. Allie has been known to say some downright embarrassing things about me in front of other people. One time she asked a teacher for her help to find me a wife!" he relayed with a large smile on his face.
"Oh my goodness!" she begun to see the humour giggling along with him. "I'll have to watch what I say around him a little more carefully! How did that go?"
"Well, ah huh" Nathan's face scrunched in somewhat of a grimace "Not great, because she...she um, she mistook Allie's question to mean that I was..."why did this feel weird to tell her? "Well, that I was interested and, she asked me out".
"Oh boy" Elizabeth cringed on his behalf.
"Yes. And I wasn't interested, but also, I have a rule not to date any of Allie's teachers because, well, it just gets..."
"Complicated" they said in unison.
"Exactly" Nathan continued, huffing out a little breath.
"So. Has Allie's wife search been successful?" ummm where did that boldness come from? Her cheeks flaring pink again.
Cocking his head to the side, with an amused smile, Nathan replied "Not yet. No"
And the way he looked at her made her breath catch.
"I um..I'm sure Allie just wants to see you happy?"
"Mmmm. Yes, I'm sure that's it" knowing that wasn't just it...she was also longing for so much more.
Hoping to give her rosy cheeks and the butterflies time to calm down, she continued "So you introduced Allie as your niece? But she calls you dad?"
A flicker of sadness danced across his features. "She lost her mom, my sister Colleen, when she was Jack's age actually. Her father, and I use the term very loosely, abandoned her shortly afterwards. She came into my care after that, and I adopted her a couple of years ago. She's called me dad ever since".
She was taken aback by his candour and the emotion so evident in his features. "Nathan. I'm so sorry. It must have been such an awful time. For what it's worth, she seems like a delightful young lady."
"She is the light of my life" an adoring smile spread across his face, reaching his eyes, the depth of his love for Allie so evident.
"I can tell" she smiled back.
"Sometimes I feel like I'm just holding on for dear life when it comes to raising Little Jack on my own"
"Well, from what I've seen, he seems like a pretty great kid Elizabeth" his face softening as he looked out the window towards their children, the gentleness in his voice so alluring to her. She found herself watching him, watching the children for some moments before focusing her eyes on her coffee, her mind whirling with confusion as to all she was feeling.