I've been enjoying everyone's thoughts about the story.
We're over halfway there now people. Not too many chapters left now.
Once again, thank you to everyone who has reviewed the previous chapters. They all make my day.
~Em
Jack eased himself up the bed, looking up at the clock. Boy was time moving slowly tonight. He still had plenty of time before dinner. Reaching over to the small table that stood next to his cot, he found his sketch pad and pencils. Flicking open to a blank page, he started to draw from a memory. Starting with the ring claws, his memory flicked back over the time he had even begun to think about finding a ring.
Jack had spent so much time looking at Elizabeth's engagement ring he was sure that he could draw it entirely from memory. Well, he had spent enough time looking for the right ring. The choice at the jewellers had been overwhelming. Thank goodness that Faith had come along.
*Flashback*
Jack held the door open to the downtown bistro he had frequented on his trips to Hamilton for Elizabeth.
"Sorry it's not what you're used to here in Hamilton," he commented as she walked past him. "No white gloves," he joked.
Elizabeth smiled slightly.
"Something different is nice."
Jack smiled, glad that Elizabeth was okay with his choice in dinner places. Ever the gentleman he was, he pulled out the chair for Elizabeth to sit down.
Once he sat himself, he reached over to grasp Elizabeth's hand which was resting on the table, as they looked over the menu. Elizabeth looked up, slightly startled.
"What?" Jack asked innocently. Elizabeth could only shake her head.
"Now this is more like Abigail's," commented Jack as his thumb rubbed over the back of Elizabeth's hand.
"Jack!"
The only reply she received was a face full of dimples. She tried to pull her hand away, but Jack's grip was too strong for her.
"Jack, this isn't appropriate for public!"
"No one is watching us, Elizabeth. Everyone is eating. This isn't Hope Valley. No one is paying us any attention."
"Jack?" a familiar voice rang out.
"No one knows us, Jack?" Elizabeth questioned, taking the opportunity whilst Jack being distracted by the voice to remove her hand, albeit reluctantly.
Jack turned towards the voice, seemingly familiar, but he just couldn't quite place who it belonged to. His eyes seemed to light up when he finally spotted Faith over by the doorway.
He motioned her over, failing to notice that Elizabeth slumped down into her chair slightly.
"Faith, how are you?" Jack asked, standing up and reaching for her hands, squeezing them slightly.
Faith's face broke into a grin and started to reach up to pull him into a hug, but stopped short when he saw who was dinning with him.
"Jack, I am keeping well. I'm glad to see you. You are looking well. Hope you're here for a more pleasant experience this time," she greeted.
"Well…" Jack trailed off, sparing Elizabeth a glance. Elizabeth snorted slightly.
"And you must be Elizabeth," Faith commented turning her attention around. "I've heard so much about you," she gushed.
Elizabeth simply raised an eyebrow at Jack, a questioning look on her face.
Jack's smile diminished.
Faith stopped, looking from Elizabeth to Jack and back again.
"Oh I am sorry. Jack hasn't been talking out of turn. Tom was talking about you and your family when he was in the infirmary. All good thing, I promise," she explained. "…And besides everyone knows the Thatchers…" she added as an afterthought.
"I'll bet," Elizabeth muttered under her breath.
Jack glanced her way. Elizabeth grimaced slightly and forced a smile onto her face.
"Won't you join us Miss Carter?" Elizabeth asked, gesturing to an empty chair at the end of the table.
Faith looked surprised.
"Oh no, I didn't mind to intrude on your dinner. I just saw Jack as I walked in and simply wanted to say hello," Faith explained.
"Please, I'm sure you and Jack have plenty to catch up on," responded Elizabeth.
"Well if you don't mind," said Faith "I usually eat alone, so the company is most welcomed."
"Pleasure is all mine Miss Carter."
"Please, Faith. Miss Carter makes me sound like an old school ma'am," Faith told Elizabeth as she took her seat.
Cringing immediately as she realised her mistake. "Oh, I am sorry. I did not mean that in a disrespectful way, oh I should go."
"Please Faith, wait." Elizabeth reached out to stop the young nurse. "It is fine. Please stay. I would like the chance to get to know the nurse who helped out Jack with Tom. I can only imagine what a handful he must have been."
Jack settled back into his chair as he watched the love of his life start to get to know the young nurse who had befriended him a few months previously.
Faith threw her head back and laughed as Elizabeth continued her story.
"Well as you know, I am a city girl, never ridden a horse in my life. So Jack, in his true knight in shining armour way, decided that if I was going to live on the western frontier I needed to learn how to ride. So here I was standing in front of this monster…"
"Also known as my Mountie issued horse, Taylor," supplied Jack, stirring his cup of coffee.
"Yes, Taylor, huge beast of a horse. Well there I am standing on next to the horse, no idea of how I am going to get up into the saddle. Then without warning Jack's picked me up, by the waist, and thrown me up and into the saddle," finished Elizabeth.
"I wouldn't have called it 'thrown'," protested Jack.
"And tell me Constable Thornton, what would you have called it?" questioned Elizabeth.
"It was more of a helping hand," confirmed Jack.
Faith suppressed a giggle. "Well there never seems to be a dull moment in Hope Valley," she commented. "Well I must go," she told them, looking up at the clock. "I am due on duty for a night shift. It was lovely to see you again Jack and to meet you Elizabeth. Please do pass on my regards to Tom when you see him."
"You too Faith. We simply must catch up again, it has been lovely getting to know you. We are only in Hamilton for another day, but next time we should organise something. And I should introduce you to Julie, then you can put a face to that name that Tom has been telling you all about," Elizabeth told her.
"Sounds lovely Elizabeth…Jack," Faith farewelled as she left.
Jack stood and offered a hand to Elizabeth.
"Care for a walk?" inquired Jack.
The night air outside was crisp causing Elizabeth to pull her jacket slightly tighter around herself. Jack noticed and pulled her closer to himself as they walked towards the city park.
"I never said thank you for last night," started Jack
"What for?"
"For standing up to your family like you did. I know that we were finally getting back on track after our conversation in the mine. But I was worried about coming back to Hamilton and facing your family again."
"Oh, Jack… I meant all those things I said to you. I just didn't understand how much you had been hurt and caught by my actions," Elizabeth told him as they came to a stop next to a park bench.
Elizabeth waited until they had both sat down before continuing.
"Jack I wanted to apologise for that dinner at the Regency Club, many months ago. What I see now is that you were right at the time. I was spending too much time alone with Charles, and you had every right to have dinner with Faith, especially as she was trying to help you and Tom. What I didn't see then was the fact that I was jealous. At that point, you were right, you had never questioned my friendship with Charles, even though I understand now you could have. It did not matter that Charles was an old friend. It was inappropriate for me to spend that much time alone with a friend, whilst being courted by another. I was hurt that you had never mentioned Faith to me..."
"Elizabeth. I..." Jack interrupted, taking her hand.
Elizabeth held up a finger.
"No, I need to say this... I may have said at that time that I had never given you any reason not to trust me and in my mind I didn't think that I had. But now I understand that my actions spoke louder than my words. I understand that Faith was only trying to help. I didn't understand to what extent that you thought that my family was trying to control you. Last night at the engagement party, opened my eyes to a whole new understanding. What I said in Hope Valley about the opportunity that my father was presenting to you, you were right to stand your ground and not take it. Your calling is as a Mountie, not as an executive in my father's company. They will need to accept you for the man you are, not the man that they want you to be. And I am sorry that I did not realise this sooner. I am glad that you had Faith in your corner and she was able to help Tom. I am only sorry that I wasn't able to realise this sooner. It's only that Viola came home and mentioned that she had seen you and Faith having dinner together. And I was hurt. The way she said it and the insinuations that came along with it, I was wrong not to trust you. All I could feel was hurt and untrusted as you had never mentioned her before. Viola knew this, and played on my confused feelings. She wanted me to be more like her, marry for social standing. And I have spent many a night wondering if she will ever love Sir Lionel. As Julie says 'she's in love with his title, and he's in love with her money'. Now I feel sorry for her, for she does not know true love. Thank you for being true to me and understanding me. And for opening my eyes to a whole different part of Hamilton. And for introducing me to Faith, I look forward to spending more time with her. Now that I have met her I understand why she would remind you to be true to yourself."
Jack had no words for her. He simply pulled her close and placed a kiss on her lips.
"Jack," Elizabeth protested weakly as she drew back slightly. "We're in public."
Jack's hand slipped behind her head, not allowing her to escape. He rested his forehead against her's.
"I don't care Elizabeth Thatcher. What you just told me, that is so important to me. I am so glad that we're finally on the same page," he finished before kissing her again.
Jack stood by the front door of the infirmary glancing at his pocket watch for the tenth time. He tapped his foot impatiently, he only had a limited time before he was supposed to meet Elizabeth at the train station to head home.
"Finally," he said when Faith walked through the entry way.
"Jack? What are you doing here?" she questioned.
"I need help. A woman's touch," he embarrassingly admitted.
"And Elizabeth doesn't have a feminine touch?"
"I need help buying a ring for Elizabeth," Jack told her, tugging on her sleeve. "And hurry along. I need to catch a train soon."
Faith laughed slightly as she hurried to catch up to Jack.
"Any ideas what you might like to buy for Elizabeth?"
"Well Tom suggested something flashy and red, which is why I have not taken up his offer to come shopping with me. And when I saw you last night, I had a flash that you might be able to help me," Jack told her as they stopped outside a jewellery store.
Stepping inside Jack began to feel overwhelmed. Each and every way he looked, he saw different types of rings. It just confirmed to him what he already knew, he had no idea what he could possible get for Elizabeth.
"Jack," Faith called softly.
Jack turned to face her, a confused look on his face.
"Okay, let's have a think about what you do not want," Faith told him, waving away the assistant coming towards them.
"Process of elimination?"
Jack smiled.
40 minutes later, they had discarded many, many rings. Three stones, halo cuts, paved rings and many coloured gems.
"Jack, what about something like this?" Faith asked, as she held up a ring that the assistant had passed out to her.
The ring that Faith held up, had a sapphire set in the middle, surrounded by twelve smaller diamonds.
Jack came closer to inspect it, taking it into his own hands, his brow furrowed.
"It's nice, but it's not Elizabeth," he trailed off and squinted at the case next to them.
Jack had finally stumbled on the perfect ring. It was a beautifully handmade diamond platinum filigree ring. The center stone was an Old European cut diamond and accenting the center stone were four single cut diamonds.
"That one," he told Faith and the assistant. "That's the one for my Elizabeth!"
*End Flashback*
Jack lent back to admire his drawing. He had made a good start on the top part of the ring. Soon he hoped he would be able to place the real thing where it belonged. Sighing he leant back again.
If you want to see a picture of the ring that Faith picked out, I have a link on my blog. The link is in my profile :)
