It was the middle of December and extremely cold weather had settled itself upon Hope Valley. Constable Jack Thornton was hurrying to grab blankets to put in the buggy he had ready to take him and his wife, Elizabeth to the Coulter's house for dinner. He wasn't concerned about the cold for himself; as a Mountie, he was used to being out in all kinds of weather. He was worried about Elizabeth. She had just given him the best Christmas gift he would ever receive in his whole life; she recently found out she's pregnant. She tended to feel the cold more than he did and he wanted to make sure she would be warm enough for the ride to their friends.
While Jack was getting the buggy ready, Elizabeth rushed around the bedroom getting ready. She had been so tired when she got home from school that she had laid down to rest her eyes but she ended up falling asleep. Jack had been expecting to find her already dressed when he got home from work but ended up finding her still napping. He had wanted to cancel the dinner, saying she obviously needed the rest, but she convinced him she was fine. Plus she knew Rosemary would understand their reason for being late, being that she was three months from having a baby herself. It excited her to know that their children would be friends growing up.
Elizabeth walked into the living to find Jack pacing the floor. "Pacing already Jack? If you are doing this now what are you going to be like when I'm in labor?"
Jack turned to face her, mesmerized by beauty. She was wearing a festive green dress with holly berries on it. "You look stunning, Sweetheart. Absolutely beautiful." He walked to her side and took her coat from her. He helped her put it on then extended his arm for her.
"Thank you Jack, for the compliment and the help with my coat." They walked outside and she immediately shivered.
Jack felt the shiver and moved closer to Elizabeth. "Maybe we shouldn't go. It's too cold and I don't want you to get sick." He started to turn around to bring her back inside but she stopped him.
"Jack, I'll be fine. If I know you the way I think I do, you have blankets in the buggy all ready for me. I want to go." She continued to walk towards the steps of their front porch.
Jack hurried to her side and helped her walk down. Then he helped her get settled in the buggy, wrapping two blankets around her. "If you feel like you are still not warm enough, there are more blankets in the back."
"Thank you." She smiled to herself over how much more over protective Jack had become since she told him she was pregnant. She knew he would be and prepared herself for it.
Soon they arrived at the Coulter house. Jack got out and tied the horse to the post out front, then hurried to help Elizabeth down. They walked up to the door and as Jack was about to knock the door opened. Lee appeared and welcomed them in. Rosemary joined him in the entry way while Lee helped with their coats.
"Sorry we're late." Elizabeth said to Rosemary. "I was so tired when I got home from school that I fell asleep."
Rosemary nodded and smiled. "I know that feeling. I was the same when I was first pregnant. Now I wish I could take those afternoon cat naps. The baby loves to be active when I want to sleep, but it's a wonderful feeling."
Elizabeth returned the grin. "I can't wait to feel that." She felt Jack's arm on her shoulder and she turned to him. He was smiling too.
They followed Lee and Rosemary to the dining room and sat down at the table. Their hosts went to the kitchen and a few moments later brought out dinner. Soon they were all eating and talking about the news about town.
"Elizabeth you are going to be getting a couple of more students in the next week or so." Lee told her.
"Really? Who are they?"
"I hired an assistant manager to help me out at the mill. He came highly recommended from one of my former business associates. He has a wife and two children, a boy and a girl."
"Do you know their ages?" Elizabeth inquired.
"The boy is 12 and the girl is 10."
"It will be nice to meet some new people, especially at the holidays. It must be hard for them to be moving right now."
"Maybe but I got the impression Mr. Weiss was excited to be making the move right now."
"I wonder how his wife feels about that, moving during the winter and so close to Christmas." Rosemary said. "Elizabeth! I have an idea. We should host a welcome party for the new family."
"That's a great idea. We can ask Abigail to help."
Elizabeth and Rosemary continued talking about their party while Jack and Lee discussed things around the town. The group of friends enjoyed their time together until both the expectant mothers began yawning and the evening broke up.
On the Saturday before Christmas, Lee was at the mercantile getting some supplies when Mr. Yost handed him a telegram. It was from Mr. Weiss saying his family had stopped in Cape Fullerton and would be arriving some time Sunday. The telegram had been sent on Friday. Lee wondered why his new employee would not be arriving until Sunday when Cape Fullerton was less than a day's ride from Hope Valley. He wondered if they had a problem with their wagon or something.
As he left the store he saw Rosemary and Elizabeth walking towards him. They must be coming to get what they need for the welcome party. "Good Morning, Ladies." He walked over to his wife and gave her a kiss. "How are you feeling, Rosie?"
"I feel great, Lee." She smiled at him. He had a big over protective thing going on too, much like Jack. "We came by to get some things for our party."
"Funny you should mention the party. I just received a telegram from Mr. Weiss. They are arriving tomorrow."
"Oh my goodness!" Rosemary exclaimed. "We have so much to do then. Elizabeth, would you mind going to the café and letting Abigail know? We need to get started on the baking. I will go and pick up the things on our list."
"Of course." Elizabeth replied as she spotted a flash of red out of the corner of her eye. She looked over and sure enough, Jack was walking towards her. She walked away to meet him while Rosemary went into the mercantile with Lee at her heals. "Hi, Jack!" She said as she approached him.
"Hi, Sweetheart! How do you feel this morning?"
"I feel great, Jack."
"What are you doing in town?"
Elizabeth shook her head at him. "Jack, I told you last night that I was going to be helping Rosemary with the party."
"I remember but you didn't say you would be in town. I thought you were at Rosemary's."
"Well, we did start there but Rosemary realized we needed some things from the mercantile. It was a good thing we came to town too because Lee just got a telegram from Mr. Weiss. They are arriving tomorrow. I'm on my way to the café to talk to Abigail. We need to start baking. Want to walk me over there?"
"Spend a few more minutes with my beautiful wife? Of course I will." He kissed her then put his arm around her waist as to the café.
Abigail was washing dishes when they walked into the café's back door. She turned around when she heard the door opening. "Hi Elizabeth and Jack. Would you like some tea?"
"I can't stay because I have rounds to do." Jack explained as he leaned down to kiss his wife. "Did you want to stay in town and then we can go home together?"
"Yes, Jack. We have plenty to do this afternoon." She kissed him goodbye then went to sit down at the table. Abigail was plating some muffins and scones. "We just heard the new family is arriving tomorrow."
"Ahh, so that's what you meant by having plenty to keep you busy in town. Where's Rosemary?"
"She is at the mercantile getting some things we had forgotten. She will be here shortly to help with the baking."
"Sounds like a plan. Let me get my recipe box and we can start deciding what we want to make."
"I vote for those shortbread cookies you make with the chocolate ganache. Also your blueberry scones."
Abigail agreed and wrote the suggestions down on her note pad. "We should make some sandwiches too, in case they get here in the early afternoon. I am making roast beef for dinner tonight. I can make sure to set some aside for the sandwiches. I can make some potato salad too."
"That sounds good." The ladies heard from behind them. They looked up to see Rosemary and Lee.
"Hello, Rosemary. Lee, let me show you were you can put that box." Abigail got up and Lee followed her.
After Lee had left, the women continued discussing the food for the party then got to work. Elizabeth and Rosemary helped Abigail with the lunch crowd in between working on the refreshments. By dinner time, all three were exhausted but pleased with what they had accomplished.
"Everything is all set." Abigail said as she surveyed the food. "Now we can spread the word tomorrow at church for people to stop by and say hello."
"We should get a good turn out." Rosemary commented. "I have been mentioning this to anyone I have run into this week."
Elizabeth and Abigail smiled at each other. This was so typical of Rosemary. The women put the food and supplies away for tomorrow. Elizabeth and Rosemary sat down at the table while Abigail tended to her cooking. The café would be opening soon for dinner.
"I'm so tired I don't think I want to cook dinner." Elizabeth remarked. "I am going to ask Jack if he minds eating here tonight."
"That sounds like a good idea, Elizabeth. I asked Lee to pick me up here. Maybe we can all sit together for dinner."
"That works for me." Elizabeth replied as the back door of the café opened. She looked over and saw Jack and Lee walk in together. "Look, Rosemary! Our men have arrived." She grinned at Jack as he came over to give her a kiss.
"Ok, what's with the grin?" Jack asked his wife.
"Can't a wife be happy to see her husband?"
"Yes but this seems more like you want something from me."
"Well, Rosemary and I are tired from prepping for the party so we were thinking we could all have dinner here tonight."
Jack and Lee looked at each other and smiled. "Is that all you ladies, want?"
"Yes." Elizabeth and Rosemary said at the same time.
"I think we can handle that, don't you, Lee?"
"You can stay in the kitchen and have dinner. I would love the company." Abigail told the couples.
"Of course." Jack told her.
Abigail put a plate of biscuits and a pitcher of iced tea on the table. "I have roast beef and chicken pot pie for dinner."
"I'll have the pot pie, please." Elizabeth told Abigail. "We are serving roast beef sandwiches tomorrow." The rest of the table agreed.
"Jack, I wanted to ask you something."
"What is it, Lee?"
"The telegram from Mr. Weiss was sent yesterday from Cape Fullerton. It said he would be arriving tomorrow. Don't you think it's odd that it would take them that long to get here? Cape Fullerton is less than a day's ride from here."
"It is strange but maybe they had a problem with their wagon or maybe his wife or one of the children was sick."
"That's what I was thinking."
"Wait a minute." Elizabeth said. Jack and Lee turned to her. She had a pensive look on her face. "Their last name is Weiss and they stopped in Cape Fullerton yesterday arriving here tomorrow."
"Yes. Does that mean something, Elizabeth?" Jack inquired.
I am not sure. I had a friend when I was younger. Her name was Sara Kaplan. I would always invite to my Saturday birthday parties. She always declined. I didn't understand why because she always invited me to her parties which were on Sundays. One time I was over there and her grandmother was visiting. She introduced me, saying her grandmother's name was Rachel Weiss. While I was there that day I learned that Sara was Jewish. She finally told me that the reason she didn't come to my Saturday parties was because Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath."
The table sat in silence for a few minutes as they took in what Elizabeth said. Rosemary recovered first. "That makes perfect sense. I had an acquaintance in New York, another actress who was Jewish. She wouldn't work on Friday nights or Saturdays. I wasn't close to her so I don't really know anything about her religion."
"I'm saddened to say I don't know much about the Jewish religion either. Sara's family moved away not long after I meet her grandmother."
"What you said is certainly possible, Elizabeth. It would make sense as to why they aren't arriving today when they are only less than a day's ride from here."
"I could be wrong. It could be what you said. They had a problem with their wagon. We will find out tomorrow. I am very excited to meet them regardless of their religion. It's always nice to meet new people." Elizabeth said as Abigail placed their dinners on the table. The friends ate their dinner discussing their plans for the holidays and what their lives would be like in the New Year with the additions to their families.