The next morning Jack was determined to talk to William Thatcher and formally ask for Elizabeth's hand. He went to the café and found Abigail busy in the kitchen. "Jack, how is everything going with Elizabeth's parents? " Abigail asked.

"Well, overall okay…I think," He smiled, "I hope."

"Hmm, I understand, her father is quite the interesting man isn't he?" Abigail felt for Jack, having to deal with the unusual William Thatcher.

"Interesting is a good word for it Abigail, but I have to say he is pretty close to what I expected," Jack said. "I find it more interesting that he knows my mother, I never expected that."

"That part was surprising for everyone," Abigail said.

William Thatcher bounded down the stairs, "Good morning Jack, Abigail," and helped himself to coffee.

"Good morning Mr. Thatcher," Jack nodded then looked at Abigail and winked.

"Beth is upstairs talking with her mother Jack, if you want to wait I'll go get her…" William said.

"Actually, I was hoping to spend some time with you this morning Mr. Thatcher," Jack stated.

Thatcher put down the coffee cup, "Very well, how about outdoors? Take a couple of horses out?"

"Very good, we can meet at the livery in half an hour," Jack said.

"Wonderful, I'll go up and have Beth come downstairs to say hello," William nodded and went upstairs.

Abigail leaned toward Jack, "See, he's coming around."

"Jack! Good morning," Elizabeth entered the kitchen.

Jack smiled seeing her, "Elizabeth…"

Abigail sighed, "Well, I'll leave you two alone," and headed into the dining room.

Jack took Elizabeth to the window, "I'm here to talk to your father. We're going to take a ride…" he laughed softly.

Elizabeth felt Jack's nervousness, "It'll be okay Jack, please don't be nervous," she squeezed his hand.

Jack turned to face her, stepping as close as possible, "Elizabeth…" he moved his face closer, wanting to kiss her, but there were people in the dining room now so he knew he shouldn't. He looked at her lips and into her eyes, "hmm, you smell so good, like strawberries."

Elizabeth giggled, "Jack, they're in a bowl on the table next to us."

Jack looked down to see the bowl of berries, "Oh, well you still smell good."

"Jack," Elizabeth said his name barely above a whisper, she pulled his hand to her side, wanting to hold him, to reassure him that her father will agree to their marriage. She raised her other hand and touched his face, "It will all be okay, just relax and be yourself." She looked to the left and then quickly turned and kissed him. That was the move Jack needed and he pulled her against him, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. She ran her hands up his arms to his shoulders, "Mmmm".

Abigail came around the corner and smiled at the sight of Jack and Elizabeth kissing and quickly spun around and went back to the dining room remembering their dinner date so many months ago. The way Jack asked her for assistance in showing Elizabeth a romantic evening, how Jack helped her by hanging the small white lanterns over their dining table and how he then used the same lanterns in the woods on the evening he proposed. She smiled remembering how proud he was that he asked her to dinner and her acceptance and how his face glowed when he told Abigail, "Elizabeth said yes to my dinner invitation…so it's a date, but I'll need your help because I have no idea what to do now," he had said with his nervous laugh.

At the window, Jack couldn't stop kissing Elizabeth. She put her hands on his chest, "Jack…you better go…my father will be back down here…" She no sooner finished the statement that William Thatcher came down the stairs.

"Jack, I'm ready to go, if you're ready to release my daughter," hands on his hips watching Jack and Elizabeth nervously move away from each other.

"Yes sir, ready to go," Jack glanced at Elizabeth and walked to the door.

"Have a nice time," Elizabeth went to her father, "be nice," she whispered.

He kissed his daughter's cheek, "I'm always nice my dear."

Once Jack secured the horses, the two men headed out of town. William requested to see the land of their future homestead again. Jack was impressed at William Thatcher's horseman skills as they rode in silence.

"What's out there, beyond those trees?" William asked once they got beyond Jack and Elizabeth's spot, which Jack did not point out to the man knowing Elizabeth wanted to keep that private.

"Lake and trails up to the mountains off to the right and to the left heads to the coal mines." Jack said.

"Interesting," William said.

Both men dismounted and William took the reins, "I'll tie them over here, they can eat some grass." He pointed to the ground, trying to act like he handled horses daily.

Jack laughed to himself but took a deep breath, he wanted to have a serious discussion with the man. "Mr. Thatcher, I wanted to talk to you, before anymore time goes by on your visit."

"Talk about what Jack? Something about the house?"

"No, not that. I wanted to formally ask you…I want you to know…I want to talk to you about Elizabeth," Jack took a breath, "When I first got to Coal Valley, I didn't want to be here. When I discovered I was sent here to take…to watch…to …to ensure your daughter's safety, well, it wasn't the assignment I wanted."

"I can appreciate that…"

Jack shook his head, smiling, "But Elizabeth impressed me, in so many ways. She devoted herself to the children, to this community. I grew to respect her very much."

"Good, respect is good. I knew she would be okay, she's a Thatcher," he said proudly.

Jack smiled, "Yes, she is, she doesn't run from a challenge," he laughed softly remembering, "and I was a challenge Mr. Thatcher and she didn't run from me. I fell in love with your daughter even though several circumstances tried to keep us apart, but we both know we are meant…destined to be together. I love her, very much. As you know I asked her to marry me and she said yes, but I told her that I had every intention of asking you for her hand, out of respect to her and to you and Mrs. Thatcher. So, I hope you know I have the best intentions and want to marry your daughter. I'll spend my life making sure she is happy."

William Thatcher was speechless for a moment. He didn't expect the sentiment, he thought Jack would tell him they were getting married and that would be the end of it, but he respected the young man before him for his confidence and his devotion to his daughter. "Jack, thank you. Elizabeth seems very happy and you seem like a good man. Her mother and I would be happy to have you marry our daughter."

Jack exhaled, surprised at the man's simple statement. He expected a long winded saga on how Elizabeth deserves the best and more than he could give. Jack extended his hand to the man, "Thank you Mr. Thatcher."

Thatcher shook his hand, "Let's walk a bit and talk some more about this house you're going to build."

They walked along with William asking Jack various questions about the house and the surrounding area. Jack felt so relieved that he accomplished his goal of asking for Elizabeth's hand in marriage. He looked forward to telling Elizabeth.

"Are these edible?" William was touching a bush with red berries.

"Ah, no," Jack looked around, "but those over there are, blueberries, do you see them?"

"Yes," William rushed over, "we should bring some back, Abigail could do wonders with these."

Jack smiled, "strawberries would smell better," he thought to himself, remembering being close to Elizabeth earlier. His thoughts lately were more and more consumed by her and he cherished every moment they had together kissing and holding her close. Lost in his thoughts of Elizabeth he didn't watch William plucking berries from the bushes. "Don't lean too far in, the ground is soft and you could fall…"

"This is a berry bonanza, look here Jack!" William reached and slid, falling down next to the blueberry bushes. As he attempted to get up, he only fell further, sliding down the hill, "Jack!"

Jack rushed toward William, but he couldn't help him, he had slid further down the hill. Jack rushed toward the horses to get a rope, but they were spooked, tore loose and ran away. Jack went back to the hill, looking at William, who wasn't moving. Jack tried to maneuver his way down to him, sliding most of the way. "Mr. Thatcher, are you okay?"

Back in town, Elizabeth and her mother were outside enjoying a walk, "I hope father and Jack are having a nice talk," Elizabeth said.

"We like Jack dear, don't worry, everything will be okay," Mrs. Thatcher said, "we do need to discuss you're coming home for a visit, to get a wedding dress and do the planning."

"But…" Elizabeth said but distracted by horses, wandering free in the road ahead, "that's Jack's horse…"