Chapter One

The screen door to Abigail's cafe creaked as lumberjacks stomped inside, more than eager for a bite to eat. Elizabeth scanned the room to see if Jack would appear, since he had promised late last night he would take her for a stroll.

Abigail's smile broadened as Cody bounded down the stairs before turning to Elizabeth.

"How are you Elizabeth?" She asked after handing the growing boy his lunch pail, and patted his head.

"I've been better to be honest Abigail" she replied with a sigh.

"How has Jack been doing? You had said earlier that he seemed mysterious these days."

"You know Abigail, Jack seems to have more than enough on his mind, maybe I shouldn't bother him these days. With Faith and him helping the settlers, not to mention patrol and visiting with his mother, I should leave him alone."

"Elizabeth, mark my words." Abigail tugged her arm, sitting on the beige couch. "Nothing in this world is more important to Jack than you. Right now is just a transition of a sort for him, and with the type of plans he has, he might not always be in the present."

"I know how much he cares, I guess I'm just getting impatient. I only hope the saying that good things come to the who wait is true because this waiting better be worth it!" Elizabeth exclaimed before jumping up in a hurry, commencing to pace.

As she rambled on about Jack's priorities, Abagail stared at Elizabeth, knowing just how aggravating love can be, especially at such a young age. Whatever life threw their way, Jack and her had a tie that could weather through the toughest and most unrelenting storms.

Elizabeth stopped abruptly, spinning to face Abagail who was holding saucers and napkins from customers. "Abigail, did you say earlier that Jack had more than one plan he isn't telling me about?" Abigail grinned mischievously at her inquiry.

"I only know Jack has a few projects he is in the midst of" she said quickly.

"Mhm, well he better get those projects finished before he's old and immobile!" Elizabeth bade goodbye, and was off to the schoolhouse for monday morning's class.

Rays of sunlight burst across the field overlooking the still pond and the schoolhouse, children running about before class. Jack strode up to her.

"You okay Elizabeth?" He grasped her arm as she kept walking, eyes set upon the path.

"Jack, I'm not in the mood, and besides, I have a class to teach in about 10 minutes."

Even with her stubborness, she struggled to hold off his intense look of care and concern, his brow eyes so full of worry. Stopping in the middle of the pathway, she turned and faced him.

"Elizabeth, you know you can't fool me for a moment. I know something is wrong, and I have a feeling it has to do with me." He stared into her cloudy blue eyes, her brunette hair twirling together in the wind, biting her lip.

"Jack, I know you have so much work you need to do these days, and I feel as though I'm taking you away from that. Your mother is still here, you are still helping the settlers, and I feel in the way."

Jack took hold of her arms, and held her for a moment before saying something he might regret.

"I have a lot of work these days Elizabeth, but so do you. I care about what I do very much, but at the same time I need you. I'm sorry if you've ever felt that I've neglected you in some way, and I promise you will not be disappointed in my plans. You just need to trust me for now."

Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief in his arms, content now that she had said what she thought.

"You know, Miss Thatcher, you are one stubborn woman" Jack mumbled as he held her for a moment longer.

"Why do you say that?" she asked suddenly, leaning back to stare at him with a smile forming on her lips.

"Because you hold a thought forever, and refuse to believe otherwise, even if it's the truth." He grinned at her, both caught in their own world, oblivious to the fact that school should have started five minutes ago.

He gave her one last kiss before letting her go, even in front of her students. Whenever her students commented about it afterwards, she would smile dreamily and state that even though Mounties follow the law, they too like to have fun.

The school day proved extra long and tiresome with Opal forgetting her lines for a skit and bursting into tears, and Robert releasing yet another skunk to a screaming class. The animal had scampered away from him, effectively spraying Elizabeth and many of the her students before hiding underneath the back porch steps.

She held in tears of frustration as she picked up broken slates from when the critter had scared many of the younger ones, wearily sitting down at her desk with her head in her hands, letting the tears come.

Jack hopped up the steps, grateful that the day seemed to have gone relatively fast, and eager for a stroll with Elizabeth, and to smell her lilac perfume as they walked around the pond before heading inside out of the crisp night complete with a full moon tonight. As he walked alongside Rip, he noticed a strange smell, the smell of skunk.

"Elizabeth?" he asked, noticing her head in her hands, that sign of defeat. Her eyes widened as she spotted him, her tear stained face taking him by surprise.

"Jack don't come near if you hate the smell of skunk!"

"Elizabeth, I don't care, let's get you home, and maybe talk about this on the way back."

After a lot of tomato juice Elizabeth thanked Abigail as she changed into a new set of clothes which Rosemary had kindly brought over last minute. She breathed deeply, and met Jack at the bottom of the stairs, weary beyond measure, proving it by a huge yawn.

"Looks like I should be worried you have too much on your plate" he responded as he lead her to the couch.

"Today was one of those days where my students wouldn't listen. It was as if there was a brick wall between us, we just couldn't communicate no matter how hard I tried. Poor Opal started to cry when she forgot her lines, and I couldn't stop her for at least 15 minutes. Robert then decided to let a skunk out of his cage which was hidden underneath his desk, setting the students to screeching. I got sprayed" she laughed. "To top it off, even my best students didn't pay attention to the lesson. Jack, I feel like I'm not cut out to be a teacher."

"Elizabeth, even the best of us get handed bad days. I thought I had had that experience when I first arrived in Coal Valley."

"You apparently thought so, but then you were swayed by my charms right? He laughed at her smirk.

"Like I said, who can say no to an attractive schoolteacher? Needless to say, you convinced me to stay" he responded, rubbing her hand all the while.

"Let's just hope for some better days ahead for us" she mumbled.

"Don't worry, I'll make sure that happens" Jack grinned mischievously as Elizabeth nudged him. She would just have to wait…a little more.