Elizabeth woke up for what seemed like the twentieth time. Every time she actually fell asleep, she would have a nightmare about Jack. He would either be lost, and she couldn't find him, or he would be hurt and not recover, or sick again like before. She was tired of it and it made her exhausted and depressed. So she got up and decided to go downstairs and work on a story on the typewriter that Jack bought for her. Maybe it would help this time, help her feel closer to him.

Jack had been gone on assignment for about three weeks now. The last time he sent her a telegram was about a week after he left. He had arrived safely in Hamilton and he had received his orders. He wouldn't be able to send word for quite a while due to wherever they were sending him. He couldn't tell her specifics because of protocol. She checked with Ned at the mercantile every morning to see if Jack had sent word again but he hadn't.

They had been really lucky throughout their whole relationship to not be separated very much due to his work. Elizabeth was really grateful for that but this time…she was miserable.

She walked into Abigail's for breakfast but she wasn't very hungry.

"Elizabeth, how are you doing this morning?" Abigail asked with concern. She was worried about her friend. She seemed to be getting more and more depressed each time she saw her. And she wouldn't talk about Jack. She refused. But this morning she would sit down with Elizabeth and get to the bottom of it.

"Fine, thank you. May I have some coffee?"

"Yes and then you and I are going to have a talk."

"I really need to get to the mercantile, Abigail. I don't have time to talk. Actually, I don't want coffee. I am just going to go."

"Oh no! Come on. Let's go upstairs. Clara can handle things for awhile." Abigail grabbed Elizabeth's hand firmly but gently and pulled her upstairs. They went to Abigail's room and sat on the edge of the bed. Abigail still had a good hold on Elizabeth's hand. "Now. How are you this morning?"

"I told you that I'm fine. I don't know what you want me to say."

"I want you to tell me what you have heard about Jack. I want to know how you are dealing with him being away. I want to hear about your wedding."

"I haven't heard anything about Jack or from him in about two weeks. I am not dealing with him being away and there are no wedding plans," she said on the verge of tears.

Abigail reached out to hug Elizabeth. "What is it that is hurting so bad? That he is not here or that you haven't heard from him?"

"I don't know." she said as she started crying. "Both I guess. I can't sleep, and when I do, it's nightmares about losing him. I am so tired I can hardly stand it. I am afraid to go to sleep. I don't want to be alone, but then again I don't want to be around anyone. I don't want to be the person who just cries when her fiancé or husband is away. I want to be strong but I am finding it very hard to be anything, let alone strong. I don't know if I can do this anymore!"

"Elizabeth. Cody and Becky are away visiting their aunt for awhile. I think you should stay here instead of by yourself. Since school is out for the summer, you have a lot more time on your hands so maybe you can help me in the café. And it is only natural for you to be sad that your fiancé is away. You two love each other so much. And I am positive that you are having nightmares about losing him because just a few months ago that almost happened. But you have to remember that because his job is dangerous it might be scary to have him away. You need to keep busy and rely on your friends to get you through whatever happens."

"I know all of those things. I never realized that this would be so hard. He said it would be but I didn't really know until now. I guess I just needed someone else to point it out to me. I am going to take you up on the offer to stay here for awhile. I really don't want to be alone. And I would be happy to help you in the café when you need me. I don't know how much help I'll be until I get some sleep though."

"Maybe you will sleep better since you will be here."

"I don't know. Those nightmares are so disturbing, even though I know they aren't real. It makes me relive the time when I almost lost him, over and over."

"Elizabeth, I think you just miss him. Maybe just talking about him will help."

"You know what I miss most about Jack?" she said as she dried her eyes.

"What?"

"Butterflies. Oh the butterflies, Abigail," she said with a dreamy look on her face.

"I have a feeling this is a great story. Let's go have some coffee and you can tell me."

When the ladies got downstairs Clara walked up and told Elizabeth that there was a telegram for her. Elizabeth and Abigail glanced at each other..both hoping it was from Jack.

Elizabeth opened it. It was from her father.

ELIZABETH

I HAVE A MESSAGE TO PASS ALONG FROM JACK.

HE WILL BE ON HIS WAY THROUGH HOPE VALLEY TOMORROW ON HIS WAY TO FINISH HIS ASSIGNMENT

HE WANTS TO SEE YOU

CONGRATULATIONS FROM ALL OF US ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT

AND WE WILL BE COMING TO WEDDING. WHEN YOU SET A DATE LET US KNOW

LOVE FATHER

"Oh thank goodness he is safe. Wait this is from yesterday? That means Jack will be here sometime today!" she said as she could hardly refrain from jumping up and down like one of her children.

"That is wonderful, Elizabeth! I'm sure he will be so happy to see you and be home for a bit."

"I'm going to run home and get some things for my stay here. I will be back soon."

"Wow. She's like a completely different person, Abigail." Clara mentioned.

"Love will do that to you every time! It will be good to see Jack."

While Elizabeth was on her way out of town to her row house, a certain horse and rider was just arriving. He saw her walking. He was captivated by her and really wanted to catch up to her and give her a proper hello but he really needed to get cleaned up first so he headed to the jail. He would see his beautiful fiancé very soon.

About thirty minutes later, Jack was just leaving the jail as Elizabeth was walking by with her arms full of necessities for her stay at Abigail's.

"Hey Sweetheart. Did you miss me?" he said with a grin.

"Jack? Oh thank goodness!" Elizabeth dropped everything she was holding on the street and practically flew into Jack's waiting arms. "I missed you! I love you so much!" she said as she planted a kiss on him that left him forgetting how to breathe for a moment and her with butterflies.

Once he recovered, he said "I missed you too. I'm sorry I was gone so long. Why don't we get your things out of the street and head inside. We seem to be catching people's attention."

She looked around. There was a small crowd gathering, watching their reunion. Elizabeth blushed when she realized she just gave the people of Hope Valley something to talk about at their dinner tables that night. They gathered her things and went inside.

"So…how long are you staying, Jack?" she said still a slight bit embarrassed by her actions outside.

"I leave the day after tomorrow for another week or so. Then I should be able to come home and finish my reports from here."

"Another week, huh? Ok. Well at least you are here now. You made my day so much better."

"That's good to hear. Hey, Elizabeth? What are you doing with all these clothes and books and the typewriter I bought you?"

"I'm taking them to Abigail's," she said like it was obvious and completely normal to walk around town with armloads of personal things.

"And why would that be?"

"It's a long story. But let's just say I didn't want to be alone and Abigail suggested I stay with her for awhile."

"But you live alone. I thought you liked being independent."

"I did. I don't anymore."

Still not understanding, Jack asked, " What changed?"

"Lots of things, Jack."

"Such as…?"

Elizabeth sighed. She sat on the edge of his desk facing the window.

"Honey? You can tell me. I'm a pretty good listener. It's part of my job as future husband and Mountie."

"I didn't do very well while you were away," she said quietly, still looking out the window.

"I'm sure you did fine."

"No, I didn't. I couldn't sleep. I had nightmares. I didn't feel like eating or doing anything. I cried all the time. I wanted to be strong, to show you I could be a good Mountie wife but..I guess I failed."

Jack went over and stood in front of Elizabeth. "Listen to me Sweetheart. You didn't fail. I don't think failing is something you are even capable of doing. I didn't sleep well either, while I was gone. I missed you so much." He leaned down and kissed her. "You are strong and very capable and will be a wonderful wife. I am so lucky to have you to come back to."

"Thank you for saying those things. I didn't want to let you down," she said as she settled into his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. She could easily go to sleep right here where she felt safe. After a moment she said, "Are you hungry? We could go eat at Abigail's."

"Actually why don't we get some food from Abigail's and go eat at your house. We can nail down a wedding date. I have some ideas."

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like since school is out, we should get married this summer and go on our honeymoon and be back in time for the fall term."

"Honeymoon…any ideas where we might go?"

"it's a surprise…but I made a few inquiries when I was away and some plans. You'll have to wait and see."

"I bet I can convince you to tell me," she said as she kissed his chin and then his jaw...and then his ear…

"No amount of convincing will get me to spoil the surprise. Nice try though," he said with a laugh.

"Ok, well I will have to work on that. Let's go see Abigail. I'm starving."