Chapter 10

The Hidden Kiss

The following afternoon, the entire town was abuzz with excitement. The only miner pulled out alive after the explosion was coming home after five months in the hospital. The stagecoach would be there any minute. Elizabeth and the students were busy making signs to welcome him home when Jack arrived at the saloon.

Jack tried hard not to laugh when he saw that Elizabeth had paint on her nose. He knew the right thing to do would be to tell her, but he couldn't bring himself to. He thought she looked so cute.

The entire town was surprised when the saw Adam Miller get off the stagecoach. He'd lost his leg in the explosion and had gotten a peg leg at the hospital. He hadn't even told his family.

Jack hadn't meant to startle Elizabeth, but she was talking to herself. She probably didn't see him approach her. Elizabeth had just found out that her students would have to put on a play for Founder's Day and she only had a week to prepare. Jack grabbed her by the elbow and asked her to sit down and take a deep breath. When she told him she was feeling better, he went on his way.

"An entire production!" Jack heard Elizabeth exclaim, as he was walking away.

She's really worried about this play. He thought. I know she'll do fine. She's surprised me so many times before. I don't think she'd let something like a tiny little play defeat her.

Jack walked by the café. He saw Abigail and Cat doing a few odds and ends trying to get the café ready for business.
The grand opening was quickly approaching. When Jack saw that they were there he stopped in. "Hello Abigail, Mrs. Montgomery." Jack said, cheerfully. "How are you ladies doing?"

"Hello Constable." Cat said. "Just fine, thank you."

"Hey Jack." Abigail said. "We're trying to get the café ready for opening day. Cat is being gracious enough to help me."

"Abigail," Cat said. "You're my friend and you can't do this yourself. Besides you would do the same thing for me." Cat smiled at her friend.

"Thank you." Abigail replied.

"Well Abigail," Jack said. I'm almost done with my rounds. If you need me, I'll be more than glad to help. "I already told Elizabeth I would help the two of you move in the rooms upstairs tomorrow."

"Thank you, Jack." Abigail replied. "Whenever you're ready, come back. I'm certain we'll find something for you to do."

"Yes ma'am." Jack said. He turned and headed back out into the street.

Jack had not finished his rounds as early as he expected. It was late when he got back to the jail.

It's too late for me to go help Abigail, now. He thought. She probably won't be doing anymore tonight anyway. I'll apologize tomorrow. She'll understand." He changed, climbed into bed, and drifted off to sleep.

When Jack woke up he dressed quickly and headed to Abigail's to help her and Elizabeth. When he arrived he apologized to Abigail for not showing up the previous night. As predicted, Abigail had understood.

Abigail and Elizabeth would pack boxes and set them at the door. Jack would take the packed boxes and put them on the wagon for them to be delivered to the café. They'd been at it all morning. Elizabeth was trying her shot at multi-tasking. She was reading over the Founder's Day play and moving things at the same time. Jack knew with past experiences involving Elizabeth's clumsiness, this may not be a good idea. He didn't say anything. He just let her be. Jack and been right. As he was coming through the door, Elizabeth, who wasn't watching where she was going, tripped over the boxes, and went tumbling. Luckily, Jack caught her.

"We're you talking to yourself again?" he asked, as she giggled. "I'm beginning to worry about your mental health."

She really needed to stop worrying about the play. He knew she would do fine. He wasn't sure he would be able to convince her of that, though.

After several hours, Abigail, Elizabeth, and Jack had finished moving everything from the row house to the rooms above the café. They were all very tired. Jack headed to the jail to get some rest.

Jack and Elizabeth were becoming great friends. That Monday, he decided to go visit her at the saloon while the children were dismissed for lunch. When he arrived, he saw that she looked nervous. "Hey, Elizabeth," Jack said. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know what we're going to do, Jack." She replied. "All the costumes and the backdrop were stored at the church. Everything was ruined in the church fire."

"Elizabeth," Jack said. "Calm down. Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be fine."

"How can you say that, Jack?" she asked. "The costumes are ruined. There's no way we'll have new ones made by Saturday. And the backdrop. Noah Stanton painted the last one. There's no one in town that has that talent anymore. How can we perform a Founder's Day play with no backdrop?

Jack looked at the floor and smiled.

"What?" Elizabeth asked. "Jack, why are you smiling? Do you know something?

"Uh, no," Jack replied. "I don't know anything. What makes you think I know something?"

Elizabeth just looked at him. Just at that time the children were coming in from lunch.

"Well I'll see you later." Jack said as he rushed out of the saloon. He headed straight to the mercantile. He had to pick up a few things.

That evening Jack found Elizabeth at the café trying to sew costumes. He had brought her cornbread from the saloon. He told her it wasn't much but it was all they had until Abigail's Café was officially open.

It seemed the needle was attacking Elizabeth; Jack offered to help. He surprised her with his sewing skills. He showed her the scar on his leg where he'd had to stitch himself up. "The bear is still talking about it," He joked. He glanced up at her and smiled, showing off his dimples. Elizabeth laughed.

After a while, Jack excused himself and headed back to the jail. He had something he had to do. He got the canvas and paint he had bought at the mercantile. He started painting. After several hours, he looked at the finished product. He thought it was the perfect backdrop for the Founder's Day play.

"Elizabeth will be surprised." He told Rip. "Especially if she ever sees the hidden image. If she ever comes across that image, she gonna know how I feel. Rip, I don't know if I want her to know… yet"

Rip barked in agreement.

The next morning, Jack woke up early. He wanted to get the backdrop to the saloon and leave before Elizabeth arrived. He then went to the café to help Abigail paint the walls. Somehow Abigail knew that he had painted the backdrop. How did she know? Did she know about the hidden image too? She couldn't possibly know that. Abigail did tell Jack she wouldn't tell Elizabeth.

The following day, after school was dismissed, Jack went to the saloon. Elizabeth was rearranging chairs.

"Jack," Elizabeth said when she saw him.

He looked up at the backdrop. "Where did that come from?" He asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." She replied.

Good, he thought. She has no idea

Suddenly Laurel Miller burst in the saloon. She was worried about Adam. He had left in the middle of the night after an argument, and never came home.

Jack set out to find him.

"Jack!" Elizabeth called after him as he turned to leave. "Please be careful."

"Glad to see you be so concerned for your constable." He replied.

"I'm concerned for my constable." She answered. "I'm also concerned for the man who wears the constable's uniform."

He stared at Elizabeth for several seconds, before he turned and headed out of town.

As Jack was riding looking for Adam, he kept thinking of Elizabeth. Her words kept going through his head.

She's concerned for me as man, he thought, not just as a constable.

It made him happy to think that Elizabeth cared for him.

After a long while, Jack was able to locate Adam. He had a hard time getting Adam to agree to return to Coal Valley with him. Jack told Adam about his father's death and how he didn't have a choice to leave his family. Jack was finally able to convince Adam to return with him the next morning.

They arrived in town just in time for Adam to hear his daughter, Jolene, sing during the play. When Jolene saw her father, she stopped singing and ran and jumped into his arms.

Jack felt proud that he'd been able to find Adam and that the play was a success. He'd been right all along. He knew Elizabeth would be able to pull it off.

The following afternoon, Jack was at the jail petting Rip when Elizabeth burst through the door. He quickly hid the paints that were lying on his desk with his hat.

She was worried because someone had painted a tiny likeness of the two of them on the backdrop.

Oh no, he thought. They found the hidden image. It's only a matter of time before someone figures it out.

He asked her what they were doing in the painting, hoping he didn't sound suspicious.

"We're kissing." She answered.

"We're kissing?" he asked. "Well that is completely inappropriate. Pure fiction."

He said he would launch an investigation to get to the bottom of this. She thanked him and told him she was glad he was on the case. Then she left.

"Have a good day." He said.

Jack walked over to his desk and shoveled all the paints into the drawer. He sat down in the chair. "Our little secret, boy." He said to Rip.

Rip barked.

Jack sat back in his chair and thought for a minute. "I should tell her." Jack said. "Shouldn't I boy?"

Again, Rip barked.

Jack quickly stood up and ran to the door. "Elizabeth." He said as he jerked open the door.

She was about to walk in the café when she turn to look at him. "What is it Jack?" she asked. Is everything alright?"

"I need to tell you something." He replied.

She started walking back toward him. "What, Jack?" she asked as she approached.

"It's uh, it's," he stuttered, nervously. "I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job on the FD play. I knew all along you could handle it.

"Thank you, Jack," she replied.

"You're welcome." He said. He walked back into the jail. He couldn't believe it. He had come so close to telling her but chickened out. He would never know why Elizabeth Thatcher made him so nervous.

… to be continued…