Hello readers,

I'm taking a risk with this story. First, I want you all to know, I am a HUGE Rosemary fan on the show. She is one of my absolute favorites. I love her transformation from someone that we just wanted to leave town to someone we enjoy watching and laugh at in every episode. That being said, this story goes the other direction with her character.

Thorntonville, Virginia, 1915

"Good morning, Sheriff Thornton," Abigail greeted as he walked in the door of the Abigail's Sweets.

"Good morning," he said, his normal serious self.

"The usual?"

"Yes, please." He sat at the table by the window. It was his table every morning at ten o'clock. He drank his black coffee, ate his blueberry glazed scone, and read the newspaper.

A moment later, his breakfast was delivered. "Enjoy," Elizabeth told him.

He looked up at her and nodded.

Elizabeth walked back to the kitchen and sighed. "What I wouldn't give to see a smile on that man's face," she mumbled as she started on an apple pie.

"What are you mumbling about?" Abigail asked as she refilled her coffee pot.

"Oh, let me guess. Sheriff Thornton?"

"He never smiles," she said in an exasperated tone.

"It is rare, but you know his life isn't easy."

"I know." She did know.

About a year before, his father, former Sheriff Tom Thornton passed, shot to death in a bank robbery. Then at the same time, Jack's wife Rosemary, left him to pursue her dream as an actress in New York, leaving him to raise a one year old daughter alone.

Thankfully, his mother Charlotte was more than willing to help him raise Rosalinda, or Lindy, so she watched her while he kept the town safe.

"So you're saying I should give him a break?"

"Something like that."

….

After work, Jack hurried to the house he shared with his Mom. As much as he hated that Lindy's mother had left her, he was grateful to have her. He couldn't have handled it if Rosie had taken her too.

"Dada!"

"Hi, sweetheart." He sighed as picked her up and held her close, feeling her unconditional love as her little arms hugged his neck. "Were you a good girl today, Lindy?"

"Ya," the two year old told him, her blonde curls bouncing.

"She was an angel, son. Absolute angel." Charlotte placed a roast chicken and potatoes on the table. "Time to eat supper."

"I'm going to go change." He slipped Lindy into her chair and kissed her head. "Be right back."

….

Later, Jack rocked Lindy on the porch as he did every night to put her to sleep. It was the time he used to think and pray and listen to God's creation. This night it was the rain.

"Dada?"

"Hi, baby. Time to sleep now." He gently laid her back down and kissed her forehead. "Daddy loves you."

Charlotte walked out onto the porch and handed him a cup of tea. "We had a visitor this afternoon," she told him.

"Who was that?"

"Elizabeth, from the bakery."

"What did she want?"

"She brought us an apple pie. The one we had for dessert."

Jack nodded and looked down at his daughter. "I'm heading to bed."

"She's a nice woman, Jack."

"I guess."

"Lindy needs a mother and a father."

"She has me and you. She's just fine."

"Jack."

"No, Ma. Stop thinking what you're thinking. I'm not going to get involved with someone just to get hurt again and worse to have Lindy hurt again. I refuse."

He placed her in her crib next to his bed and stared at the dark window. He could still hear the sound of Lindy's horribly sad cries every night. It took weeks for her to allow comfort from him. His own confusion over his wife's choice to leave them lasted the better part of a year. Then, last week, he received a request for divorce from some lawyer in New York. It still sat on his dresser, unsigned by him.

He couldn't bring himself to sign them. Even though he knew she wasn't returning for him, he felt that if he signed them, she wouldn't come back for Lindy either. As long as they sat there, there was a tiny bit of hope.

He blew out the lamp and climbed under the covers, wondering how quickly sleep would come.

….

The next day was Sunday, Jack's only day off. Charlotte cooked them breakfast, they all dressed up, and headed into town to the small blue church on the hill.

Pastor Frank Hogan gave the sermon on forgiveness. Jack wanted to laugh at the irony of the subject, knowing that he hadn't even begun to forgive Rosemary.

"Matthew 6:14 states, "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.""

The passage sounded so simple and easy but it wasn't easy at all to Jack. She said vows to him and walked away from them two years later. She broke two hearts that day and even though, thankfully, Lindy's heart and mind had moved on, his had not. He was still a broken soul with a deep hole where his heart used to be.

"Forgiving others for personal wrongs they may have committed against you, regardless of how many times, is a Christian requirement. Colossians 3:13 tells us to "Forgive one another freely.""

Jack looked down at Lindy who was sleeping against his chest. The love he had for her was deep and never ending. It was simple and true. He didn't know of any other love like that.

"Take the time to examine what's in your hearts, my friends. Ask yourself if you have been holding on to any hurt or grudges and then if the answer is yes, take the steps necessary to forgive the offender."

After the sermon, Jack stood up to walk out and bumped into someone. "Oh! I'm sorry."

Elizabeth grabbed onto a pew to stay upright. "That's ok. Hi, Sheriff. How are you this beautiful morning?"

"Just fine. And you?"

"I'm great." She smiled at him, hoping for reciprocation but receiving none, she looked down at Lindy. "She's lovely."

He nodded and looked down at her. "Thank you. Well, we must be going. Have a good day, ma'am."

"Ma'am? He knows my name. Why doesn't he use it?" she wondered as he left the church.

Abigail showed up then. "Assuming you're muttering about the Sheriff, to be fair you don't use his name either. You call him Sheriff."

"So does everyone else," she defended.

"My point is, maybe he's not on a first name basis with you because you haven't used his name either."

"Abigail, maybe I'm wasting my time?"

"Patience is a virtue, my friend." Elizabeth watched Abigail walk over toward Pastor Hogan. She watched her talking to the man she had been patient for. She seemed happy. They were courting and always had the starry eyed look whenever they gazed at each other.

Elizabeth wanted that. It had never been that way with Billy. He knew how to flatter her and make her feel like he truly cared but when it came down to it, he only wanted her for her family money. She had been embarrassed and hurt but not broken-hearted. She hadn't loved him. She wanted to know what true love felt like.

….

Monday morning came and Jack kissed Lindy and his mom goodbye and went to work. He sat in his office and finished the paperwork regarding the attempted shoplifting that had occurred two days before.

Apparently, one of the school children had decided to swipe an entire loaf of bread from Yost's store. Ned had caught him before running out and insisted Jack lock him up. Well, obviously he didn't do that, but Jack brought the boy back to the jail, talked with him, and then took him to his parents. They assured him it would never happen again.

There was a time that Jack would have wished for more "involved" cases, but now, with Lindy so young, he was grateful for minor ones. She had already lost one parent. No need to put himself in jeopardy too.

At ten o'clock, he put his customary sign on his door stating he was at Abigail's and walked down the street.

"Morning, Sheriff," Abigail greeted.

"Morning, Mrs. Stanton."

Jack took his seat and opened his newspaper. When Elizabeth brought his scone and coffee, she didn't greet him. She just set it down and walked away.

He just figured she must have been having a hard day or something so he put it out of his mind.

Until he heard a dish break in the kitchen. "Shoot!"

Abigail rushed back to see what happened. "Elizabeth?"

"I'm fine. Sorry about the dish. I was distracted."

"Yeah, you have been for about a year."

"Nonsense." She began sweeping the shards of glass.

"You moved here about fourteen months ago and about two months after that, someone in a uniform caught your eye."

"Yeah, well."

"What happened this time? Did he call you "ma'am" again?"

"No. He said nothing."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Just figured if he could be silent, so could I."

"So I see we are taking the "act like a child" approach. Let me know how that works out."

Abigail refilled Jack's coffee cup with a smile.

"Everything ok back there?" he asked.

"Just fine." Jack looked toward the kitchen again and then went back to his paper.

….

Elizabeth decided that Abigail was correct. She was acting like a child. So, instead of giving him the cold shoulder, for the next few weeks, she made him and his mom a dessert a few times a week and took it over to their house. The good thing was, Charlotte made them coffee and they would talk and the darling little Lindy decided Elizabeth was a friend too so she joined them for their snack.

That particular day, Lindy fell asleep so Charlotte suggested she put her in her crib. Elizabeth walked into the bedroom that she then figured was Jack's and placed her in the crib. "Night, sweetheart."

On her way out of the room, she walked past his dresser and a paper dropped to the ground. "Oops." She picked it up and immediately regretted coming to the house in the first place. If he ever found out she was in his room, he would never even be her friend let alone anything more.

She hurried out of the room and told Charlotte that she needed to go. "Are you ok?"

"Yes, I just need to go. Thank you for the coffee, Charlotte."

Charlotte wandered into Jack's room to see if she could see anything amiss. She wandered around quietly and the only thing she saw was a divorce petition on his dresser. She didn't know why Elizabeth would have seen it but it was the only thing that could have made her have such a reaction.

Elizabeth went home to her small room above the bakery. Seeing the divorce papers unsigned by Jack cemented the fact that the man she had developed a strong liking for, wasn't available. He was still married to someone else, the mother of his child, and for someone reason he wanted to stay married to her, even if it was just on paper. It hurt. She had let her feelings create hope that he would feel something too. She knew better than that but it had happened.

She wanted so much to be the one that made him smile and have happiness again. For now though, she needed to make herself let go of that want and focus on the bakery and being Abigail's friend.

…..

"Abigail, why is this town called Thorntonville?" So much for focusing on the bakery.

"Jack's grandfather, Joseph Thornton, started the town. He and his wife Millie settled here about a hundred years ago and named it after the family."

"So Jack's family has always lived here then?"

"Yes, at some point. Jack's brother Tom lives in Chicago now but other than that, there has always been a Thornton living in town."

Charlotte and Lindy walked in as Elizabeth was cleaning tables for the afternoon tea crowd.

"Hi there," Elizabeth said, waving to the little gem in Charlotte's arms.

"Hi!" Lindy greeted and then leaned for Elizabeth to take her.

"She has missed you, Elizabeth," Charlotte told her.

"It's only been a few days."

"She walks around the house, looking and asking for "Libet."

"Aww. She calls me Libet?"

"Well, Elizabeth is a tricky name," Abigail told her with a smile.

"Very true. Well Lindy, you can call me Libet if you want."

"Libet," Lindy whispered and laid her head on Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Charlotte, would you like some tea?" Abigail offered.

"I would. That's why we came in." Charlotte smiled at her granddaughter and Elizabeth who were now walking around looking at the flowers in the vases on the tables.

"Pitty."

"Yes, they are very pretty. These are daisies." Lindy listened as Elizabeth talked.

Abigail brought her tea and nodded toward the two across the bakery. "How do you think our good Sheriff will feel about that relationship?"

"My son is stubborn and sad. Not a good combination when what he needs is some happiness in his life."

"So in other words, he won't like it too much."

"Probably not but what he doesn't know, won't hurt him."

"Oops," Abigail said with a nod to the door. "Afternoon, Sheriff."

"Mrs. Stan…." His gaze went to the far side of the bakery where Elizabeth held his daughter. They were smiling and Lindy was giggling.

"Jack? Can I speak with you?"

"In a minute, Mom." He walked over to his daughter.

"Dada! Libet!"

He took her from Elizabeth. "Thank you."

"No, Libet!" Jack didn't know what she meant but she kept saying the same thing over and over.

"Jack, she is saying Elizabeth," Charlotte pointed out.

Jack shook his head and walked out the door. He could see Lindy getting attached to a woman she barely knew. That was exactly what he didn't want to happen. Getting attached only led to getting hurt.