Jack sat in a chair in the room above the café, staring at the bed and playing with a small box in his hand. He asked Lee to get it from the Jail for him. He had a lot on his mind as he waited for Elizabeth to stop by. Had all week since he woke up from the pneumonia. Coming that close to death had made him realize that life was too short. He loved Elizabeth and she loved him back. There was no question now, after everything they had been through. It was time to start their life together as a married couple. He had been working on plans for the house he wanted to build. He had almost everything thing mapped out. He just needed Elizabeth's ideas. Originally he had wanted to wait until the house was built before proposing but after what they had been through, he had decided he didn't mind living in the row house with the woman he loved until their house could be finished. All he needed now was the answer to a certain question, which he almost one hundred percent certain would be yes.
He stared off into space for several more minutes until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and the scent of her perfume filled his nose with pleasant memories. She always wore a flowery scent and whenever he walked passed a flower garden the scent would remind him of her. He looked up to see the most beautiful woman in the world gazing down at him with worry in her eyes. "Jack, are you ok?" She asked softly, her concern and love for him evident on her face and heard in her voice.
Jack could tell by the look in her eyes that she was frightened his illness was back and he hated himself for causing her to worry. He slowly stood up and grasped her hand in his. "I'm more than ok." He told her as he slowly brought his lips down to meet hers, giving her a sweet kiss. She smiled at him when they parted and he felt his heart fill with the most intense feeling of love. "I would love to ask you to take a walk with me but I am still weak from the pneumonia. So instead, I would like to just sit here and talk with you. I have something important I would like to talk to you about, but don't be alarmed. It's nothing bad." At least he didn't consider it bad. He found himself hoping she wouldn't consider it bad either.
Elizabeth nodded and sat down in the chair Jack had just vacated while he sat down on the bed across from her. "All right. What would you like to talk about?"
Jack picked up her hand and gave it a kiss. He suddenly felt nervous and took a couple of deep breathes to calm himself. 'Elizabeth, I love you so much."
"I love you too, Jack." She smiled at him again and he could see her love for him reflecting in her beautiful blue eyes.
"While I was unconscious, I knew you were with me, showing me your love in both your words and actions. I remember feeling you wipe my forehead with a cool cloth, I could feel you tucking me in tighter with the blankets so I wouldn't be cold. I could hear some of what you were saying to me. When you talked to me about our promise and I woke up, I knew then I didn't want to wait anymore."
Elizabeth's eyes widened in surprise as she realized where their conversation was headed. She wanted to encourage him to ask right then and there but she knew he must have a plan and she didn't want to spoil it. "I had hoped you would know I was there. I refused to leave you. I wanted you to know how much I loved you and that I was willing to be with you no matter what happened to us."
Jack looked into those beautiful blue eyes before taking another deep breath. "I had a plan for this, Elizabeth. I wanted to build our house first and then I would ask you. Now I realize that life is too short to hold off on the future like that." He slowly got up from the bed and fell to his knee, pulling the ring box out of his pocket. Elizabeth brought her hand to her mouth while she watched him pick up her left hand. "Elizabeth, I have loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you even though I acted like I didn't want to be with you. Back then, I was scared of my feelings for you. I thought I didn't need a wife and family to feel complete so what I was feeling for you terrified me. Now, the only thing that scares me is living my life without you. I don't think I could go on if you weren't in my life, as my best friend and partner for life. I want to be your husband and father to our children, more than anything else in this world. I feel like if I don't have a wife and family, I would be missing out on something very important in life." He opened the ring box and pulled it out. "Elizabeth Thatcher, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"
Elizabeth felt tears running down her face. She had waited so long for him to propose, knowing she would say yes. Now that he asked, she couldn't find her voice to answer him. She wiped the tears from her cheeks, looked down at him, saw the fear in his eyes because she was having a hard time talking. She realized this must be what he felt when he saw Charles proposing to her and instantly regretted her lack of response. She got down on the floor with him, nodding her head up and down before she finally found her voice again. "Yes, Jack! Yes, Yes, Yes!"
Jack quickly lowered his other knee to the floor and pulled her into his arms. He kissed her with all the love he felt for her in his heart. When they parted, he took her hand and slid a beautiful sapphire ring onto her finger. "I love you so much, Elizabeth."
"I love you too, Jack, more than you will ever know. I can't wait until I am your wife."
Jack stood up slowly from the floor, then helped her get to her feet. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her again, with more passion than either of them had felt before. "I can't wait until I'm your husband." He helped her sit down on the bed with him, then pulled the chair closer to them. He placed his plans for the house on the chair before turning back to his beautiful fiancée.
Elizabeth looked over at the chair. "Are those house plans?"
"Yes, they are. I have been working on this for quite some time. I have tried to imagine what you would want in a house as I sketched them." He paused and kissed her again. He felt like he couldn't get enough of her kisses. "I'd like to discuss something else with you first before I show you what I have designed."
"All right."
"As I said earlier I really wanted to have the house built before we got married. Then I got sick and I realized that the most important thing to me right now is marrying you. I would like to get married as soon as possible, maybe after Lee and Rosemary get married and then, if you agree, I could move into the row house with you until our home can be built."
Elizabeth smiled at him, so big a grin that it lit up her whole face and her eyes sparkled with happiness. "I would love that, Jack. I don't want to wait that long to marry you either and the row house is so cozy, perfect for newlyweds. There's even room for a little Thornton if that happens before our house is ready." She blushed a little as she mentioned having a baby.
Jack reached over to her face and stroked her cheek, a grin on his face as big as hers. "I would love that. A perfect little baby girl just as beautiful as her mother with gorgeous blue eyes and dark curly hair."
"Or a little boy as handsome as his father with his hazel eyes, long eye lashes, dimples and heart shaped mouth."
"This is what I have been dreaming about for so long, Sweetheart. To think at one time I never wanted a wife and now I can't imagine living life without one." His eyes glistened with tears as he stroked her cheek again.
"I'm so glad this Mountie decided he wanted a wife." She whispered as she wiped away his tears. "I'd love to look at your house plans."
"Of course." He opened them up so Elizabeth could see. "I have a perfect spot picked out for our home. After I am feeling better, we can go for a ride so you can see it. I was thinking about a house with a wraparound porch. I imagined us sitting on a swing together, watching the sun set and our children playing in the yard."
Elizabeth closed her eyes, a little grin on her face as she could picture what Jack was describing. "That sounds heavenly."
"My plan is to build a two story house. The bedrooms will be upstairs and downstairs will be the kitchen, dining area, living room and an office with built in book shelves."
Elizabeth's eyes brightened at the mention of books. "Bookshelves?"
"Yes, I know how much you love to read and I know someday you will finish the book you are writing and my personalized copy of it signed by the author should have its place on the shelves."
"Oh, Jack. Thank you! I love that idea."
"And if you don't mind, I am going to set up a little section of the office so I can paint."
"Of course I don't mind. Painting is your passion as much as writing is mine. It will be nice for us to have a place like that together."
"I'm so glad you think so." He leaned over to kiss her, realizing it had been much too long since he had done that. Now that they were engaged and discussing their future, he felt himself getting more anxious to feel her warm lips on his, to hold her hand and stroke her cheek.
They spent the next thirty minutes going over what he envisioned for the rest of the house. Elizabeth was very happy that he remembered the featherbed she wanted. The upstairs was going to have four bedrooms and Jack had left space available downstairs to build on if they needed more rooms. Once they finished going over his plans and making notes of things she was looking for, he sat down in the chair and pulled her onto his lap.
"Jack, maybe we should talk about the wedding. I know you mentioned waiting until after Lee and Rosemary get married, which I think is a good idea. I'm becoming better friends with her but I get the feeling she wouldn't want us upstaging her wedding."
"You got that right. I guess what we would need to do is to find out how long of a honeymoon they plan on taking. I am going to ask Lee to be my best man so we need to make sure we choose a date when they will be back."
"Good idea but I'm also thinking maybe a June wedding will be good. After school is finished so we can go on a honeymoon ourselves. That is, if you want to go away with me after our wedding." Elizabeth felt her cheeks turn warm again at the thought of being with Jack as a married couple.
Jack blushed as well. He had never been with a woman before and he felt very nervous about being with Elizabeth for the first time. Even though he knew it was wrong, he had found himself thinking of themselves as a married couple. "Of course I want to go on a honeymoon with you and I think waiting until school is over for the wedding is a great idea. That gives me plenty of time to notify Mountie Headquarters." He wrapped his arms tighter around her and gave her another passionate kiss. "As a matter of fact, I need to get in touch with them now that I am slowly getting better. Bill mentioned they are supposed to be sending someone out to help with Mountie duties while I am still recovering."
"Really?"
"Yes, Bill has an investigation he has been working on that he needs to leave town for. He brought me a telegram earlier saying someone is going to arrive in the next day or two since he need to leave today. Once I am fully on the mend, I just need to send Headquarters a telegram to let them know."
"I just ask one thing, Jack. Don't rush back to work too soon. Pneumonia is something that takes a while to recover from. I don't want you relapsing."
"I promise, my Sweet Elizabeth, that I will take my time to recover. I don't want a relapse either, now that we are getting married. I don't want anything else to delay our time together as husband and wife."
Elizabeth felt herself tearing up at Jack's words. "I love you so much, my Handsome Mountie." She leaned down and gave him a kiss. When they both needed to take a breath, she let her forehead touch his, not willing or able to sever contact with him. They stayed that way for several moments until a knock came at the door. Elizabeth jumped up from Jack's lap and went to open the door. 'Hi Abigail!" She greeted nervously, running a hand through her hair to straighten it out.
Abigail smiled as she looked at her two close friends. She could tell something had happened during the time Elizabeth had arrived. She then spotted the ring on Elizabeth's left hand and her smile grew. "Is there something you need to tell me?"
Elizabeth and Jack looked at each other then turned back to Abigail. Jack got up from the chair and put his arm around Elizabeth's waist. "Yes, there is." He replied.
"We're engaged!" Elizabeth held up her hand so Abigail could get a better look at the ring.
"That's wonderful!" Abigail gave them both a hug. "Congratulations! Let me see that ring." She picked up Elizabeth's hand and examined the pretty sapphire. "It's beautiful. Nice job, Jack!"
"Thank you!" He said, still with his arm around Elizabeth. He just couldn't bring himself to let go of her. "Was there something you wanted?" He asked.
"Oh! Yes there was. I forgot all about it when I saw you two. There is a Mountie downstairs. He says he is here to help out for a while. And he brought his wife with him."
"Yes, I was just telling Elizabeth about that. Bill had to leave to work on a case and I am not well enough yet to return to work. He is just here until I am completely over the pneumonia. I'm surprised he brought his wife with him when he is only going to be here a few weeks. Did he happen to say his name?"
"Yes, Constable Delany."
Elizabeth's head, which had been resting on Jack's shoulder, snapped up. "Did you say Constable Delany?"
Both Abigail and Jack looked at her in surprise. "Yes." Abigail answered as Elizabeth rushed past her, leaving Jack and Abigail wondering what was going on. They both walked downstairs to find Elizabeth hugging a blond woman. Then she turned and embraced Constable Delany, giving him a peck on the cheek. Jack knew there must be a reasonable explanation for this but he could not stop the pang of jealously he felt. He instantly regretted it, knowing he should wait for Elizabeth to explain how she knew the Constable and his wife.
"I can't believe you're here, in Hope Valley." She said to them both, tears falling down her face. "It's been so long."
"Oh my dear, Beth. Yes it has." The woman answered. Then she spotted Abigail and Jack standing close by, their mouths agape. "I think you should introduce us."
Elizabeth then remembered that Jack and Abigail were probably confused and had some questions. "Oh Jack, Abigail. " She brushed the tears off her cheeks. "This lovely lady is my Aunt Elizabeth and her husband, Wynn. Aunt Elizabeth is my father's sister. Aunt Elizabeth, Uncle Wynn, this is one of my best friends in the whole world, Abigail Stanton, and Constable Jack Thornton, my fiancé!"
All four people standing by Elizabeth were shocked. Jack was the first to recover although he felt foolish for feeling jealous. He extended his hand out to Wynn. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Constable Delany, Mrs. Delany." His manners didn't allow him to call the older couple by their first names until he was asked to do so.
Wynn took his hand and warmly shook it. "It's a pleasure for me to meet you as well. Please call us Elizabeth and Wynn." Jack then moved closer to Elizabeth's aunt and held his hand out towards her.
She looked down at his hand and instead of shaking it, she wrapped her arms around him to give him a hug, surprising Jack. He half expected Aunt Elizabeth to have a similar reaction as William did upon meeting him. "We're going to be family soon, Jack. Families hug each other. Or at least in my family they do, well some of us anyway." Jack smiled at her. "Congratulations on your engagement. Did it just happened? Your father never said anything or maybe that was his point." She wondered out loud, knowing how her brother could be about his daughters, especially Elizabeth.
Young Elizabeth moved closer to Jack and giggled at her aunt's comments. "We just got engaged this afternoon, right before you got here as a matter of fact. Jack was just showing me the plans he drew for our house and discussing some wedding plans."
"Wonderful!" Aunt Elizabeth exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. "I would love to hear what you have decided so far. Maybe I could help with some of your plans while I am here."
Elizabeth grinned. "I would love that."
"Constable and Mrs. Delany," Abigail said to them. "Why don't we all go sit in the kitchen while I get us all some dinner? We could discuss some of the wedding plans while we are eating."
"Please call us Wynn and Elizabeth. We would love to have something to eat." Wynn replied.
"Splendid!" Abigail exclaimed as she moved towards the kitchen.
"I'm going to head upstairs and get the house plans, Sweetheart." Jack softly said to Elizabeth as he gave her a quick kiss.
"Do you mind if I follow you, Jack? I have something I would like to discuss with you." Wynn inquired.
"Not at all." Jack replied, as he felt his curiosity level peak. He wondered what it was that Wynn wanted to talk above. They climbed the stairs up to his room.
Aunt Elizabeth smiled as she watched the men go upstairs. She was happy to see how much in love her niece and her young Mountie were. They were a beautiful couple, so much in love. She would have to talk to her stubborn brother about Jack. From what she could tell in just a few minutes, Jack was perfect for her niece. She could tell Jack loved her niece with everything in him and he would protect her with his life. She walked over to Beth and put her arm around her shoulder. "Your Jack is such a nice young man. So handsome too, although not as handsome as my Wynn."
Elizabeth giggled "We will have to agree to disagree, Aunt Elizabeth. My Mountie is much more handsome than yours."
Aunt Elizabeth took her niece's hand in hers and grinned. "Yes we will." She glanced upstairs before returning her gaze to Elizabeth. "I wonder if our men are having a similar conversation. Which Elizabeth Thatcher, who both happen to be teachers, is the prettiest."
"I hope they can agree to disagree too." Young Elizabeth replied. She glanced up as Abigail placed some tea cups and a plate filled with biscuits on the table. "Thank you, Abigail." As her friend began serving the tea.
Upstairs, The Mounties sat down to have a quick chat before Jack grabbed his house plans. "What would you like to discuss, Wynn?"
"Well first, I would to say how happy I am that Beth found a nice young man like you. I know you will take care of her and protect her with your life. Don't listen to anything my brother-in-law has to say. He wasn't too happy that my Elizabeth wanted to marry me but he got over it in time."
"I hope you're right. I sent him a letter a while back asking for permission to marry Elizabeth but he never responded. I had planned to go to Hamilton in person a few weeks back but then we were hit with the rain storms and my illness."
"Yes, I was in Cape Fullerton when we got word of what had happened to you." He paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "I was there to discuss possibly retiring or at the least cutting back on my duties. Now that I am getting older, I am finding it a big difficult to keep up with my duties in Beaver Lake. The winters are so long and cold and my old bones can't take the chill."
"I can imagine. It can get cold here but not as much as in the North."
"Yes, anyway I wanted to see what the Mounties could offer me. I don't want to retire outright but I do need an assignment in an area with a warmer climate or a position where I could split hours with a younger Mountie who could handle rounds while I deal with paper work and issues close to town."
"Makes sense, Wynn. Since I have been recovering from my illness, I have found myself wondering if it wouldn't be helpful to have more than one Mountie stationed here. I have relied on Inspector Bill Avery to help out some but he has his own work to do and it's not fair to ask him to put his career on hold to help me."
Wynn smiled. "And that's why I'm here, to help you and Inspector Avery."
"How so?" Jack asked, intrigued.
"Headquarters has realized what an asset you are to this area, especially when you were sick. They already has some discussions about you and Hope Valley by the time I arrived and when I told them I was thinking of retiring, they knew that their ideas may work, as long as I could help them."
"You have my interest peaked. What are the ideas?"
"HQ is looking to start a training facility out in the west. They looked at several areas in around Hope Valley as they knew from your travels here there was plenty of land available to purchase and build the facility."
Jack could feel his heart beat faster in anticipation of where this idea was going. He would love to be a part of Mountie training but he knew that HQ may want Wynn to run the show. Knowing HQ like he did they wouldn't want to lose a good man like Wynn. "Go on. I'd love to hear more."
"Headquarters has already been in touch with the man who runs the lumber business here. I think his name is Coulter."
"Yes, Lee Coulter. He is due to get married soon and go on his honeymoon but his men can handle the work if he isn't here."
"Great! Our goal is to get facility built by late summer or early fall. In the meantime, HQ decided to try something new with the trainees who are about the graduate. They want them to have more hands-on experience before beginning their first assignments. They already have it in Cape Fullerton but that's for cities. They are looking for the recruits to have experience in settings such as Hope Valley. They feel the men should know that being a Mountie isn't always about the excitement of the big city."
Jack laughed as he remembered how he felt with his dream job in Cape Fullerton was taken from him in order to take the assignment in Coal Valley, to watch of Elizabeth Thatcher. "I wish they had thought of that when I was in training." Wynn looked at him, confused. "My first assignment was supposed to be in Cape Fullerton. I was looking forward to being able to catch the bad guys in a big city. Then I was told my assignment had changed. Some wealthy man from the East requested that I watch over his daughter who was going to be teaching in a small town called Coal Valley" He paused, waiting to see if Wynn caught on.
Wynn thought about it a moment and then it clicked. "Oh, dear. My brother-in-law changed your assignment, didn't he? I bet you were fight to be tied."
"I was, yes but soon I realized I was meant to be here. It was my calling to serve this town and keep it safe from the evils of this world and at the same time learn something about myself."
"Which was?"
"I had been in a relationship before I went to Mountie training. She broke it off right before I left. Her dad was a Mountie and she didn't think she could handle being married to one. Also, she wanted to be an actress so after she broke our engagement, she left for New York. I was upset after she left and decided that I didn't need a woman in my life to be happy. Boy was I wrong. After I got to know Elizabeth and realized she was nothing like the spoiled princess I thought she would be, I fell in love. In fact, I fell for her the first time I saw her but I wouldn't let myself believe it. Now I can't imagine my life without her or any children we might have."
Wynn watched the younger man's face as he told his story, cementing in his mind that Jack was perfect for Beth. "Isn't it amazing what love can do to a person? I believed that Mounties shouldn't be married, that is until I met Elizabeth. I felt and still feel the same way you do. My life would be nothing without her."
"No truer words were ever spoken." Jack agreed. "So what's the rest of the plan?"
"Headquarters asked that I take over for Inspector Avery while you are recovering. Then when you are back on your feet, we can start sharing the duties as I said earlier. You do the rounds, I will take care of paperwork and the immediate needs of the town while you are on rounds. Hopefully this summer, we can start the program of having new Mounties train with us here, to get the idea of how Mounties work in a small town. Once the training facility is fully built, I will take over there and if you agree, I would like to have you teach a few classes, mostly on the job training so to speak with some classroom work. Does that sound agreeable?"
Jack grinned and his like shown with excitement. He loved this idea. Especially since he would be working with someone who would soon be family. "It's a wonderful idea. I love it!"
"I figured you would, even though I didn't know you yet. I'm more excited about it now since I learned you and our Beth are getting married."
"I am as well."
"So with your permission, I would like to send a telegram to Headquarters letting them know you are a go for this plan."
"Please do." Jack replied, feeling excitement grow in his body. This day ended up being so much more exciting than he thought it would be. First his Elizabeth said yes to becoming his wife and now he was looking forward to implementing the new plans for the Mounties with Wynn's help. Life was good and it was only looking better.