Elizabeth didn’t expect to see or hear from Jack in the days after their encounter in the brewery’s stockroom, although she wished he’d make an appearance. Every time a customer opened the door to the Sled Dog while she was working, her heart pitter-pattered with the hope it might be him, but it never was.

To keep from dwelling on what she might have done differently with Jack—was there anything? Should she have been more forward, or less, or did it not matter at all because of her family name?—she threw herself into clearing out and repairing the house. With Nate getting released so soon, there was a lot to do and not much time to do it.

So far, Elizabeth and Emmett had sold some old furniture from the house and items stored in the garage—bikes and hockey equipment from childhood, winter outerwear that no longer fit, camping equipment they no longer used, and every single thing their mom had left behind and never come back to claim.

What they couldn’t sell, they donated, and what they couldn’t donate, they tossed into a rented Dumpster. In a few days, the small house had largely been emptied out.

It was just the right distraction. Elizabeth threw things away with a vengeance, resolved to get rid of anything in her life that could be considered baggage, whether they were physical items or ways of thinking that weren’t useful anymore. Jack’s rejection shouldn’t matter; he was just another man who’d disappointed her, and she couldn’t let it get her down or stand in the way of her goals.

What had she been thinking, pursuing a man so far out of her league?

A few times, like when she was scrubbing the stained tile grout in the bathroom and when she was patching the threadbare carpet in the short hallway, she thought of Jack’s well-crafted home, the gleaming stone countertops, the soaring windows, and she had to fight back tears. You’re as shabby as your house, said that old one-two-punch voice in her head. You’ll never have anything as lovely as that house, and you’ll never have anyone as good as Jack.

But in between all the housework, she finalized her enrollment in two pre-nursing classes at the local community college, one a basic math class and the other a human anatomy class. Both started the following week and were held mid-morning, which was good because she wouldn’t have to give up the profitable night shifts at the brewery. Elizabeth was terrified and excited at the same time—it had been eight years since she’d stepped through the doors of a school, and what if she failed? But she was on her way to becoming a nurse! Besides, it would be another great distraction from Jack.

One cold, clear, blustery morning, Elizabeth woke up to the smell of coffee brewing and smiled. Emmett was making great strides. He’d picked up several extra shifts at work, so not only had he been able to pay his half of the mortgage, but he was able to contribute to the repair fund. Plus, that day Emmett had enlisted a couple of friends who’d worked construction to come over and help fix their leaky roof. A massive snowstorm was predicted for the following day, and if the repair didn’t happen, the roof and ceiling would get even more damaged.

While Emmett and his friends worked carefully on the snow-laden roof, Elizabeth worked on pulling down the water-damaged ceiling in the living room and replacing the drywall. She’d watched a half-dozen internet videos and had the materials she needed, including a t-brace to hold the drywall in place above her. Emmett had already measured and cut the pieces to fit.

It was a messy job, and it took several hours for Elizabeth to pull the rotten parts and pile them into the corner of the near-empty living room. She’d just gotten her first full piece of drywall fastened to the rafter and was perched on a ladder, holding a heavy electric drill over her head, when she heard Rugby’s excited, someone’s-here bark from her bedroom, where she’d confined him while she was working to keep him from being underfoot.

“Good, I need a break,” she muttered to herself, pulling off her face mask and safety glasses and wiping her dusty face with her sleeve. The hammering from Emmett and his friends on the roof had ceased, and she heard them chatting outside.

Then she heard the honk of a familiar horn, and she gave a little whoop. “My Bronco!”

Throwing on her parka, she burst out the front door to find her stalwart old white Bronco in the driveway, its healthy-sounding engine idling. Bruce Barnes was behind the wheel. He waved, shut off the vehicle, and got out.

“It’s a chilly day to be working outdoors,” he called up to Emmett. “What is it, two degrees?”

“Gotta get it done,” Emmett called back.

“We don’t have any choice,” Elizabeth added. “We’ve got a leak, and that big snowstorm’s coming tomorrow.”

“Can you take a break?” Bruce held up a white bakery bag. “I brought breakfast sandwiches from the North Star Café.”

“Hell, yeah, we can take a break,” Emmett said.

Bruce went to the base of the ladder to hold it steady as the men climbed down. Emmett’s friends said they’d leave them to it and be back after lunch, and they left in the pickup truck they’d parked on the street.

Elizabeth ran her hand across the Bronco’s still-warm hood. “Thank you so much,” she said to Bruce. “I’m so excited to have the old girl back!”

“She’s running like a charm,” Bruce said. “The part came in yesterday, and I was able to get it fixed no problem.”

“I can take you back home,” Emmett said. “And what do we owe you for the repair?”

Elizabeth loved to hear Emmett sounding like her big brother again. Clear-eyed and fresh-shaven, he looked and sounded better than he had in months, and he was back to doing right by other people.

“You don’t owe me a thing,” Bruce said. “I took it to an old friend of mine, who happens to be the head mechanic for the Golden Falls Police Department.”

“Remember, you promised,” Elizabeth said. “You promised you’d let me pay for it.”

“The guy owed me a favor,” Bruce said.

“We’ll pay you for the part, at least—and don’t say no, or I’m just going to send a bunch of cash to you in the mail.”

“Fine. It was twenty bucks,” Bruce said.

She gave him a doubting look. “Really?”

Bruce winked at her. “Okay, forty.”

She gave him another doubting look. “Seriously, Mr. Barnes, how much was it?”

“It was forty dollars, Elizabeth.”

Elizabeth still didn’t quite believe him, but she accepted that it was the most he’d let her pay and decided she’d make up the difference with some baked goods as a thank-you. “Come on inside. I’ll get my wallet.”

“Yeah, let’s warm up,” Emmett said, sniffling from the cold. “I can’t even feel my toes.”

Once inside, Elizabeth took Bruce’s coat and let an eager Rugby out of her bedroom. He charged into the living room and onto the sheet-protected sofa pushed against the far wall.

“What do we have here?” Bruce laughed to see the chubby little Welsh corgi dressed in a panda dog coat. “Who’s this cute guy?”

“This is Rugby.” Elizabeth went over and sat beside her dog on the couch, pulling him to her side. “Today he thinks he’s a panda bear.”

“My sister likes to make him look like a fool,” Emmett said. “Sometimes she dresses him in baby bonnets, other times like a pirate.”

“Hey, I never got to play with dolls much as a kid,” she said. “This is how I have my fun.”

“Well, I think he’s adorable.” Bruce came close and put out his hand. “Shake, Rugby?”

Rugby was too excited to obey, instead leaping up and down.

“Rugby,” Elizabeth said with a laugh. “Settle down. Sit and shake the man’s hand.”

Rugby obeyed. She could tell by the sparkle in Bruce’s eyes that he was a genuine dog lover and not just being polite.

“Want to see more?” Elizabeth said. “He knows lots of tricks.”

Emmett shook his head good-naturedly. “I’ll make coffee.”

While Emmett was in the kitchen, Elizabeth showed Bruce all of Rugby’s tricks, which included rolling over (and over, and over. He could go all the way across a room), sliding backwards, turning in a circle, and, for the big finale, jumping through Elizabeth’s arms when she made a hoop shape with them.

“Coffee’s ready,” Emmett said, coming back into the room.

The three of them went into the kitchen and sat around the small table. The North Star’s breakfast sandwiches were huge, made panini-style on slabs of fresh bread, filled with fluffy eggs and melty cheese and thick-cut local bacon. Elizabeth could only eat half of hers.

As they ate, Bruce looked around at the mostly-empty kitchen. “Are you moving?”

“No, our dad’s coming home soon,” Elizabeth said. “We wanted to, you know—”

“Not give away how much we’ve been floundering in his absence,” Emmett finished with a laugh.

“Emmett, that’s not true!” Elizabeth said, embarrassed. “We’ve been fine for the most part. Sure, we’ve had hiccups here and there, and no, we haven’t had the money or the experience to keep up with the house very well, but we’re not floundering. We’re both working and—”

She stopped because that was pretty much all there was to say in their favor. Neither was married or in a long-term relationship. Neither had education beyond high school. They didn’t have much savings. No health insurance. But still. Neither had become teenage parents or been arrested or gone down a bad path with alcohol or drugs—with the recent exception of Emmett, which Elizabeth felt no need to mention.

She stood and went to the counter to wrap the other half of her sandwich for later. Being around Bruce Barnes, who’d been so kind to her for so many years and looked so much like Jack—tall, with the same crinkles around his warm brown eyes—was all kinds of disconcerting. She felt a near-overwhelming urge to ask Bruce about Jack, what he’d been like as a kid, what his dreams were. But she remembered, too, that Jack and Bruce were estranged, and she didn’t want to bring up a painful subject, nor did she want Bruce to think of her as some stalker chick with her sights on his son.

The weird thing was that her sense of destiny regarding Jack hadn’t wavered. In fact, being around Bruce made it even stronger, because she felt a kind of filial affection for Bruce that didn’t make sense and was much more than gratitude that he’d fixed her Bronco.

Jack and I are going to be together, she thought. Someway, somehow, and maybe Jack just doesn’t know it yet.

But since she did know it, she wanted to make a good impression on Bruce.

“I’m starting school next week for nursing,” she told him when she sat back down, bringing the coffee pot with her. “Just the community college, but you’ve got to start somewhere, right?”

“That’s fantastic!” Bruce said. “My wife was a nurse. She started at the community college, too.”

Elizabeth beamed. “How about that! Did she like it?”

“It was a calling,” he said. “One of my daughters is a nurse, too. Do you know Maggie? She just moved down to Idaho.”

“I don’t think I know her except maybe by sight from bartending,” she said. “But I know your son Josh a little bit through Hayley.”

“And then there’s Jack,” Bruce said. The corners of his mouth tightened.

“And then there’s Jack,” Elizabeth said.

She had the feeling they were thinking two very different things about Jack at the moment. Bruce was likely thinking of his estrangement from his son, while Elizabeth was thinking of the way his body felt pressed against hers.

And then there’s Jack, she thought again. Man of my dreams.  

“I’ve been thinking,” Bruce said. “I’m really glad your dad’s getting released soon. I’m sure you two must be relieved to know that chapter of his life is over.”

“For sure,” Emmett said.

“May I offer some advice?”

“Of course,” Emmett said.

“Well, you know I’ve got long ties in the law enforcement community, right?”

Emmett and Elizabeth both nodded.

“I was chief of police for over a decade, and I still see those guys regularly. Word is they're not going to make things easy for your dad when he gets out.”

“It figures,” Emmett muttered. “That doesn’t surprise me at all.”

“I know the head of the parole office in town, too, and … well, let’s just put it this way. There are a lot of current and former cops gunning for your dad to make a mistake when he gets out so they can send him right back to prison.”

Elizabeth felt tears welling in her eyes. “That’s so not fair.”

“I agree,” Bruce said. “But here’s the thing. I’m also friends with the guy who heads the parole division down in Anchorage, and he’s really set up a nice program down there. They’ve got fantastic job placement, and they keep a high percentage of these guys out of prison.”

“I think that’s the way to go, then,” Emmett said, looking gratefully at Bruce. “It’s nice to know my dad’s got one good friend left on the outside.”

Bruce looked a little uncomfortable. “You know, he and I weren’t the greatest of friends when we were on the force together. He’s always been a hothead, which I’m sure you know.” He said it rhetorically, and both Emmett and Elizabeth laughed, as they definitely had experienced their dad’s hotheadedness. “But he did a lot of things right when he was a cop. Enough that I think—” Bruce shrugged. “Well, he served his time. He’s due for a fresh start. But it’s not going to happen here in Golden Falls, I can tell you that.”

Elizabeth knew he was right. “We’ve suggested before that he start over somewhere else, but he insists he’s going to come back here and clear his name—of the theft, I mean. He still won’t admit he did it.”

“That’s not going to fly,” Bruce said. “If he shows up in a bar and starts spouting off like we all know he’s capable of, someone’s gonna draw him into a fight and make him break parole. I think the two of you need to take matters into your own hands and make sure coming back here isn’t even an option.” He looked around. “Who holds the deed on this place? Is it in Nate’s name, or both your folks’ names?”

“It’s in our names,” Emmett said. “Both mine and Elizabeth’s. We went through a bunch of legal stuff back when I needed to get custody of her. Our mom skipped out, and I had my dad sign over the house to me to prevent my mom from getting access to both the house and my sister. I added Elizabeth to the deed when she turned eighteen. So we could either rent this place out or sell it, but we’d have to move quickly.”

“Are the two of you prepared to do that?” Bruce asked, looking from one to the other.

“I need as much of a fresh start as my old man,” Emmett said. Elizabeth was cheered by the hint of enthusiasm in his voice. “I’ve got a bunch of friends who moved down to Anchorage. I’d be happy to head down there with my dad, and if that doesn’t work, hell, we can keep on going down the Lower Forty-Eight if we need to. California’s always been on my radar.”

“That’s true,” Elizabeth said. “It has.”

“My sister would probably stay behind.” Emmett looked at her with affection. “She’s got more going for her here than I do, with school starting and a good job and good friends. Right, Lizzie Bean?”

“I think so,” Elizabeth said, feeling a huge relief wash over her at the idea of avoiding the drama that Nate’s return to Golden Falls would inevitably bring, and the thought of finding her very own little place to live appealed to her tremendously.

Not least of all, it occurred to her that she and Jack might have a better chance at a relationship if her father’s past wasn’t getting thrown in their faces all the time.

“So time is of the essence,” Bruce said. “I’m happy to help you two fix this place up and make some needed repairs, and if selling it is the way you want to go, I know a great realtor who could have it listed in no time. Do either of you know Misty Rhodes?”

“Oh, I do!” Elizabeth said. “She comes into the bar sometimes. She’s nice.”

“What do you think, Lizzie Bean?” Emmett asked. “Do you want to sell or rent it? I’m thinking that selling it’s the way to go.”

“Definitely,” Elizabeth said. Her heart felt lighter already. “I think this is a chapter of our lives we can finally close. But Bruce, we couldn’t accept your help, although if you could just connect us with Misty Rhodes, that would be great.”

“Oh, but I have way too much time on my hands,” Bruce said. “I used to help Josh with the sled dogs, but he’s got the kennel pretty well shut down already, and I miss the structure of having something to do with my days. Plus, I’ve remodeled my house from the studs up, so I have some expertise and all the tools you could imagine. Elizabeth, you can focus on school and on finding yourself a new place to live, while your brother and I can get this place ready to list.”   

“Deal,” Emmett said, pre-empting any objections Elizabeth might have—not that she had any. Instead, she was imagining herself in a cute little place, maybe something similar to Hayley’s, which she’d heard about from Hayley but never seen. She pictured herself studying for her classes, tucked under a blanket in front of a working fireplace, with no one around but Rugby, who’d lie at her feet.

She pictured her phone sounding with an incoming text from Jack: I miss you. I want you. I’m coming over.

Elizabeth smiled at the thought.

A girl could dream, right?