Ride - One Shot
Elizabeth jolted awake as she heard the pounding on her door. She looked around confused. The sun was peeking through the curtains and papers were scattered all over the table. "Ohhhhh no!" She jumped up and gathered her books and papers flustered. She had been up late grading term papers and exams in hopes to post the grades before the weekend.
"Elizabeth?"
"Just a minute, Abigail!" Elizabeth ran to the door and opened it.
"Were you still sleeping?" Abigail said. "I'm sorry to have startled you, but it is nearly seven in the morning."
"No, no, it's all right. I was up late grading these term papers," Elizabeth said flustered. "I'll be right back." Elizabeth ran up the steps in her row house to freshen up. As she quickly changed, she noticed something amiss in the room. She took another look around. "Where's my picture with Jack?" Elizabeth didn't have time to worry about it. She was going to be late for school.
"Elizabeth, I just wanted to drop by and give you these cookies for your students. I'm meeting Henry for dinner tonight, so we'll have to catch us some time before. I need to go. The cafe calls." Abigail turned back and out the door.
"Henry? Henry Gowan?" Elizabeth shook her head, not having time to process the absurdity of the comment and headed to the schoolhouse. The students were preparing for their annual Christmas and New Years program and now that term exams were finished, the school room was a buzz. "Good morning, children!"
"Good morning, Miss Thatcher!" The echoed back.
"All right, let's get started. Miss LeVeaux will be here momentarily to- yes, Emily?"
"Don't you mean, Mrs. Hickam?" The class snickered.
Elizabeth looked at her strangely. "No, no, Mr. Hickam isn't married."
This time, the class looked at her oddly. "But, Miss Thatcher," Cody said raising his hand, "You stood in their wedding a month ago. Remember?"
Just then, Rosemary burst through the door, with as much flair and flamboyance, and Hickman followed close behind, carrying large wooden poles. "Here we are, children!" She exclaimed brightly. "And, courtesy of Mr. Coulter, our manger has arrived!"
"Where would you like these, dear?" Hickam asked, panting.
"Over to the left," Rosemary waved. He started to move the poles to the left. "Oh, no, to the right. That's much better."
"Yes, dear," Hickam panted as he moved the poles for the manger scene to the right side of the classroom. He excused himself to retrieve more items from the wagon.
"Class, please rehearse your lines while I speak to Miss Le- Mrs. Hickam. Rosemary, can I see you for a moment?" Elizabeth asked, pulling her out of earshot. "They think you and Hickam are married! Married!" She hissed.
"What are you talking about?" Rosemary asked with a furrowed look.
"But you and Lee-"
Rosemary waved her hand. "That was ages ago! Don't you worry your pretty little head. I have my Hickam now." Upon noticing Elizabeth's flushed face, she cocked her head. "Are you feeling all right? Maybe you should take a walk. We'll carry on from here. Oh! Hickam, dear, not there! Let's move the stage to the front center! We want the children to enter from stage right and stage left." Rosemary scurried away as Hickman said "yes, dear," leaving Elizabeth at the door. Elizabeth thought about staying but quickly changed her mind as she heard Hickam tell Rosemary that the donkey they were going to use for Mary and Joseph ran away.
"And Mr. Yost's old donkey is too fat to go anywhere, so we can't use that one," Hickam said.
"Well, you find that naughty little donkey and put the other one on a diet!" Rosemary demanded as she crossed her arms and pouted.
Elizabeth made her way into town, confused as ever. Everything seemed normal. The schoolhouse was normal. The Hope Valley sign on the water tower was still the same. People greeted her as they normally would. She stopped by the jail to see if Jack was there, but the jail was empty.
"Probably doing his rounds." Elizabeth thought. As she entered Abigail's, she was greeted with the scent of sweet cinnamon rolls coming from the kitchen.
"Elizabeth! What are you doing here?" Abigail asked, taking more cinnamon rolls out from the oven.
"I think someone is playing a joke on me," Elizabeth's lower lip stuck out. "Well, first you said you were having lunch with Henry and now Rosemary married to Hickam?"
This time, Abigail looked at Elizabeth worried. "What is wrong with any of that?"
"What's right about it? You shouldn't be seeing Gowan, the snake of a mayor he can be, and Rosemary should be with Lee!"
Abigail set down the dish she was holding. "Henry's not the mayor. It's Mayor Ramsey."
"But he was robbed and killed on the highway! Delivering ice boxes!"
"I don't think you heard correctly, why there he is walking past the cafe with Dottie!" Abigail pointed. Elizabeth turned, and sure enough, Mayor Ramsey was out and about waving at the citizens of Hope Valley. "And Henry, he turned over a new leaf. He's a better person now. Don't you remember how well we got along after he bought the cafe? And how generous he was in fixing the place up?"
"But what about Pastor Frank?!"
"You mean, that fraud of a preacher? He skipped town months ago!" Abigail held her hand up to Elizabeth's forehead. "Are you sure you are feeling all right? You don't seem feverish-"
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Elizabeth gasped. "I-but, Rosemary and Hickam! And Lee!"
"Rosemary and Lee weren't meant to be. Hickam just adores Rosemary! You've seen how he worships the ground she walks on and how she just loves someone to be in charge over. Besides, didn't you tell me that you and Rosemary have become friends now? I think she's realized what true love is all about," Abigail said. "And Lee, he's happier with you."
"What!" Elizabeth nearly shrieked.
"Elizabeth!" Abigail looked around to make sure no one was around.
"But, but, Jack and I, we-" Elizabeth's eyes grew big. "If I'm not with Jack, and he wasn't in the jail, then-" She couldn't fathom a world in which Jack didn't exist.
"He's in Union City remember? He locked Bill away for the counterfeit fraud," Abigail said, as Elizabeth sighed with relief. "And since he would be there, he wanted to meet Faith's parents. They should be coming home today." Elizabeth's heart stopped for a moment.
"Oh," Elizabeth said sitting limply on the chair beside her, processing the news. "Oh, no, no, no! Why is Jack with Faith?! We finally defined our relationship! It was storming. And we lost Rip. Or, I lost Rip. And then we talked about Hamilton and we both admitted we loved each other-" Elizabeth's rambling was cut off by Abigail. Her eyes as wide as saucers.
"Why would Jack tell you all of that! And why would you not jump at the chance to finally start a relationship with Jack! After all that-You never told me this! When did this happen?"
Elizabeth started to fan herself as she started to become overwhelmed. "I-I'm so confused. I was up late, grading all those term papers and exams and now all of this, I-"
"Elizabeth! I heard you left school early, love button," Lee said, opening his arms to greet her.
Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. "I-"
They were interrupted by the door opening at the front of the cafe. Elizabeth was thankful for the distraction and for the familiar red serge walking in the door.
"Oh, Jack!" Elizabeth nearly threw herself at him. He patted her awkwardly and gave her a half grin.
"What do I owe the pleasure, Miss Thatcher? If I recall, we haven't run into any mischief lately," Jack said.
Elizabeth opened her mouth, but was interrupted by the door opening again. This time, Faith walked in the door.
"Oh, good! Everyone is here!" She exclaimed excitedly, her blonde curls bobbing. She wrapped one arm around Jack and threw her hand up. "We're engaged!"
Elizabeth's eyes grew big and the world felt as though it were slowing to a stop. "No...no...you can't be! It should be me!"
"Elizabeth," a soft voice whispered.
"No, no, no! Jack! I love you! It should be me! You were supposed to pro-" Elizabeth tossed as she mumbled more words that were incoherent.
"Elizabeth." The voice was clearer now. Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes to see her best friends surrounding her. They looked terribly worried. She gasped. "Calm down," Abigail said, gently pushing Elizabeth back down.
"But!"
"No, but's, Elizabeth Thatcher! You gave me quite the scare today!" Rosemary exclaimed. "You need to rest!"
"But-"
"Your horse was spooked by something and you fell off while you and Rosemary went riding earlier," Abigail said. "Thankfully, you weren't too far from Lee's sawmill, so he was able to take you back to town."
"Oh," Elizabeth said, still trying to piece everything together. There was something that was off. Or was it a dream...
Jack walked in the room and Faith followed him. Elizabeth's eyes grew wide as she started to remember her dream, but Jack knelt at her bed and kissed her hand, his eyes full of love and concern. "How are you feeling? How's your head, sweetheart?" He squeezed her hand gently. She slowly sat up.
"I had an awful dream! Everything was out of place! You were seeing Gowan," Elizabeth pointed at Abigail who nearly spit her tea out. "And Pastor Frank and Mr. Avery were arrested. Mayor Ramsey was still alive-" Elizabeth stopped. She looked at Rosemary and squinted, trying to remember the rest of her dream.
"What?" Rosemary asked confused, then with a teasing smile said facetiously, "Was I with Jack?" They all knew Rosemary's intention years before was to win Jack back but was instead swept up by Lee Coulter. They sometimes joked about it now although back then, it wasn't too funny.
"No!" Elizabeth said getting excited again, "You were married to Hickam!"
"Hickam!" Rosemary squeaked. The joke was on her.
"Probably because everyone sees him following you around like a puppy!" Lee guffawed at the thought of his assistant married to his wife.
"And we were a couple!" Elizabeth said looking at Lee.
"Wow, you really hit your head pretty badly," Lee said, shaking his head. Then she looked at Jack.
"And you and Faith were newly engaged!"
"You may have dreamed that because Paul and I announced our engagement last night," Faith said, speaking of the town's dear Dr. Burns.
"Oh, my." Elizabeth slowly laid back down. "So, everything is back to normal? Pastor Frank and Mr. Avery are still here and they aren't criminals, right? And you and Pastor Frank, You and Dr. Burns, and You and You?" Elizabeth said looking from Abigail to Faith to Rosemary and Lee.
"Yes, everything is back to normal." Abigail nodded. Everyone smiled at her reassuringly. Faith finished checking Elizabeth's head.
"No swelling, just a nasty bump where you hit your head. You are restricted from riding for a while. And take it easy. Don't do anything strenuous. Paul will stop by later this evening to check on you." Faith reassured her.
"May I stand up?" Elizabeth asked. "I do feel a bit better now. I think," she looked around the room. "I need some fresh air." Jack helped Elizabeth stand up. She felt a bit wobbly before gaining back her balance.
"I'll escort you downstairs," Cody piped up. He had been so quiet in the corner, Elizabeth didn't even notice him. "It's the second annual Kindness Week, remember? And this is my act of kindness for you," he gestured his arm. "Don't worry," he puffed his chest out. "I had lotsa practice escorting Becky."
"Thank you, Cody, you are a dear." She took his arm and as she headed out of the room, she smiled at everyone else. "I'll just be a few moments."
"I'll go with you," Jack volunteered. He turned to follow her, but everyone moved to block him in. "Hey, what are you doing?"
Rosemary hit his arm. "Jack Thornton, you fool! why have you not proposed to Elizabeth yet!" She hissed.
"What?" Jack looked around and realized he was about to be ambushed on all sides.
"You heard her crying in her sleep," Rosemary crossed her arms. "She was whimpering because she wasn't married to you in her started to say "You were supposed to propose to me!"
"You don't know that. She could have been saying, 'You were supposed to protect me?" Jack tried but came up with a lame answer. No one seemed to agree with him.
"It makes sense as to why she was so panicked when she woke up," Rosemary said. "So, why haven't you asked her yet?"
Jack opened his mouth to speak, but Lee spoke instead.
"Jack, the house is nearly finished. Her father miraculously gave you his blessing," Lee said.
"You mother told you that she's the one for you," Abigail added. "Don't give me that look, Jack, we mothers talk."
"Paul and I have known each other less than you and Elizabeth and we've just gotten engaged." Faith pointed out. "How can you stand being in such a long courtship?"
"We couldn't have lasted as long as you have, Jack," Lee said. "And I know you've had that ring for over a year."
"You have a ring?!" Faith and Abigail exclaimed.
"For over a year?!" Rosemary squealed. "How! Why?"
Jack ran his hand through his hair. He needed a moment to combat all of the darts being thrown at him. "I just want everything to be—"
"Perfect," everyone completed his sentence.
"We know," Faith said.
"What more could you ask for, Jack?" Abigail asked. Jack looked at Rosemary, Lee, Faith, and Abigail. They were right.
He gave a small ornery grin. "Well, I guess I'll just pop over to the jail and propose to her now."
"No!" The ladies exclaimed.
"Do it under a starry sky!" Rosemary suggested.
"Or on a picnic, by the lake," Faith added, eyes wide.
"Just do it, man," Lee said, patting him on the back. Jack gave them a lopsided smile, stuck his hands in his pockets and walked down the stairs.
Little did they know that Jack already had a plan in mind. He had been waiting for the right time to execute it, but perhaps they were right. He had waited long enough. It was time.
Author's Note: Thanks for reading my silly little one-shot! It came to me as I have been rewatching some of the WCTH episodes... this is what happens when we wait forever for Jack to finally propose to Elizabeth... Come on, Jack, listen to your momma! (Crossing fingers for Season 4!)
Also- totally didn't realize Dr. Burns didn't have a first name on the show...thanks to LisaHoops, his first name is now "Paul." lol!