Chapter 10

Elizabeth was exhausted by the end of the day. She had read through about half of the material in the makeshift classroom and it left much to be desired. She was glad that she had brought books with her, but she didn't have enough for all of the children. She would definitely need to order some new materials if the funds permitted.

Jack already had the stove going and was cutting vegetables when she walked in from the jail.

"Hey sweetheart. I finished up a little early so I could get started on dinner. I hope beef stew is okay. I'm afraid my culinary skills are pretty limited…" Jack told her as she came up behind him to peer over his shoulder.

"That sounds lovely. I suppose we will have to ask Abigail for some recipes to try out. It appears that we are both working with a limited repertoire of recipes!" Elizabeth laughed, making her way over to the loveseat. "So, how was your day?"

"Well, I have some bad news…our date tomorrow will have to be a late lunch instead of dinner. I have to head up to Union City."

"Oh!" Elizabeth said in surprise. "Is everything okay? How long will you be gone?"

"Everything is fine. It will be for two weeks. Another Officer is needed farther north and he's the only Officer at that Station at the moment, so he needs someone to be in command while he's gone. I'm the closest Officer, so he's called me up there. I received the telegram this afternoon."

Elizabeth was trying to hide her disappointment at him leaving so soon, but she knew she was doing an awful job.

"Well, I'm sure it's nice to feel needed. You've worked hard to become an Officer." Elizabeth replied.

Jack laughed as he turned to look at her. "You can't even pretend to be excited, can you?" Elizabeth blushed and looked away, but thankfully Jack was still laughing. "I was thinking that you could take the stage coach up after school next Friday and spend the weekend with me. We can do dinner and maybe see a show on Saturday. I figured you might need a break after your first week of school."

Elizabeth was now much more excited about the prospect of him leaving. They had talked about doing dates in Union City while they were on the train, but she assumed it would be quite a while before they had to time to actually make it happen.

"I do like the idea of spending the weekend with you up there! You won't have to work the weekend?" Elizabeth asked.

"I'll be on call, but that's one of the perks of being an Officer, no weekend duty in the city!" Jack explained.

"Do I need to prepare anything for our date tomorrow?"

"Nope! It's all taken care of!" Jack told her, sounding excited.

"Are you cooking?" Elizabeth asked.

Jack laughed while putting the last of the vegetables into the pot. "No, I won't subject you to my cooking for our first actual date…I paid Abigail to make us a picnic" Jack told her, looking sheepish for the first time.

Elizabeth wanted to laugh, but it was her first time seeing him with this expression and it was adorable. Instead, she made her way over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"That's perfect. I'm sure the picnic is going to be lovely."

Jack smiled at her and nudged her nose with his. "I can honestly say I've never taken a woman on a picnic before, so this is a first for me."

"I've never been taken on a picnic, so it will be a first for me as well!" Elizabeth replied, smiling up at him.

"Well, then maybe it can be something that we do often. I like the idea of us having something that we have only done together."

"I like that idea too" Elizabeth responded, tucking her head under his chin. Jack grabbed her right hand with his left and suddenly they were slowly waltzing through the room with no music. "There's no music, Jack!" Elizabeth told him, laughing as he turned her dramatically.

"So, we'll make some!" Jack replied, humming softly in her ear. They continued to dance until the stew was done and enjoyed a quiet dinner. They cleaned up together and then sat on the loveseat chatting until it was time to go to bed.

"So, I have to go out to the jail, right?" Jack asked.

Elizabeth laughed and put her hands on her hips and attempted her best stern teacher face. "Yes, Constable, to the jail!"

Jack laughed and pulled her to him for a hug. "Goodnight, Sweetheart."

"Goodnight, Constable" Elizabeth replied, reaching up to give him a slow kiss.

"You make it very hard to walk away…and how do you make the word 'Constable' sound like a term of endearment?"

Elizabeth laughed, shoving him through the door to the Jail.

The next morning Elizabeth made a quick breakfast of tea and toast before heading to the schoolhouse. Jack was still asleep on his cot in the Jail at a very odd angle when she left. He was probably glad to be heading to Union City, if not just to sleep on an actual bed!

Elizabeth tried to work on her lesson plans but could only think of her date with Jack that afternoon. Would they be officially courting after the date? Were they moving too quickly? She knew they probably were, especially for two people that had done very little courting, but it somehow seemed right. She'd met many men her age that would have been suitable but was never interested. She had been interested in Jack from the moment she met him.

Elizabeth finally gave up and made her way back to the jail a little after one. She found Jack sitting at the desk in plain clothes with a large basket. He was filling out some kind of paperwork but looked up when she walked in.

"Please tell me you're ready to go because I haven't been able to concentrate on anything all day…" Jack trailed off.

Elizabeth laughed and leaned on the corner of his desk. "Well, I've had the same problem, so I say we go!"

Jack abandoned the paperwork and grabbed the basket in one hand and Elizabeth's hand in the other. They made their way around the lake to a beautiful clearing on the other side. They had a perfect view of the entire town. And the entire town had a perfect view of them.

"Are you trying to be conspicuous?" Elizabeth asked as Jack pulled a blanket from the basket and spread it out.

"Yes, I want everyone to see that I'm taking you on a proper date!" Jack sat down on the blanket with his legs stretched out in front of him and Elizabeth sat opposite him with her legs stretched out against his and her ankles resting on his hip. Jack handed her a sandwich and set a plate of fruit beside her.

"So, is it common for you to be pulled away from your post to go on another assignment?" Elizabeth asked.

"Unfortunately, yes. That's why I wanted to give you the opportunity to step away from this before we get serious. I'm assigned a post, but at any point they can call me away for weeks or even months for a special assignment." Jack explained somberly.

"Well, we will just have to deal with these things as they come. I'm not walking away from you because of this Jack. This is clearly your calling. I would never want someone to ask me to walk away from teaching."

Elizabeth saw Jack's face brighten and she was glad that she could give him that reassurance.

"So, are you hoping to stay in Coal Valley permanently?" Jack asked.

"I don't know. The West is beautiful so far, so I think I might like to stay in this part of the Country. I guess it will all depend on how well things go here. I have heard stories of towns dying off after a mine shuts down, so I suppose if something like that were to happen I would be forced to move on."

"And if you were to get married and have to move?" Jack asked.

"Well, thankfully there are children everywhere. It would obviously be sad to leave the students I'm already teaching, but I wouldn't say no if it were the right person asking…" Elizabeth trailed off.

Jack looked relieved at her answer. She knew that part of this first date was him trying to make sure that she was prepared for the challenges that could face the wife of a Mountie and she was glad that he was being honest with her.

"What about you? Are you hoping to stay in the West?"

Jack was thoughtful before he answered. "I do miss seeing my Mother and Tom, but I love being out here. The mountains are beautiful and it's a totally different way of life. People look out for each other and genuinely care about the wellbeing of others. You just don't find that in the city anymore."

"Has your family ever come to visit?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, my mother has promised to as some point, but I've yet to see her. Who knows when she will show up. She's what you would call a free spirit. She doesn't like to conform to social standards for women."

"Well, it would be lovely to meet her if she does visit."

"Yes, I write to her often, so after I write about you, she may be inclined to make that visit sooner rather than later" Jack laughed.

"I don't see my family ever coming out here to visit, so you'll probably have to wait to meet the rest of them if we travel to Hamilton for some reason."

"Well, I look forward to that!" Jack told her.

Elizabeth had finished her sandwich and turned around to look out over the lake. Jack set the rest of his sandwich down and she leaned back against his chest.

"What if things don't work out between us. Won't it be terribly awkward to have to live in the same small town together?" Elizabeth asked, finally voicing the question she'd had since their first night on the train.

"I'm not at all concerned about that. For one, I have no intentions of letting you go. Two, even if something happens, I think we are both mature enough to work around it. Until I can fix whatever I screwed up and get you back." Jack told her with a laugh.

Elizabeth laughed, leaning into his shoulder. She couldn't believe that he had no concerns about their relationship failing. It was all she could think about!

"Elizabeth, I have never felt strongly about a woman before you. That has to mean something, so I'm willing to do what I have to do to make this work." Jack told her, reaching down to place a kiss on the top of her head.

"I've never felt like this before either. I guess that's what scares me. I don't want to lose this."

"So, we won't. We will do whatever we have to do and work through things together." Jack explained, wrapping his arms around her waist. "So, when I write my mother tomorrow, may I tell her that we are officially courting?"

"I like the sound of that. A lot!" Elizabeth told him, turning her head to give him a kiss. She kept the kiss brief, knowing that half of the town was probably watching them.

They lay on the blanket for another hour, enjoying the beautiful weather before Jack kissed her on the head and started to get up.

"I'm going to have to get on the road. Constable Michaels is leaving first thing tomorrow morning, so he wants to brief me tonight over dinner."

Elizabeth stood reluctantly and they walked back to the jail. His bag was sitting by the front door, but he pulled her into the living quarters, closing the door behind them.

"I want to say a proper goodbye. Without people watching us…" Jack explained, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a kiss.

Jack immediately deepened the kiss, pushing her against the door. Elizabeth felt one hand moving up and down her back, the other firmly on her hip, keeping her from moving. Jack pressed his entire body against hers and she moaned immediately. Elizabeth gripped his biceps tightly, holding his body to hers. Air finally became a priority and Jack pulled away from Elizabeth's lips gently. He rest his forehead against hers while she tried to regain her breathing.

"It's going to be a long week in Union City…" Jack said with a laugh.

Elizabeth laughed, placing a quick kiss on his lips. "It will be a very long week! But I will see you next Friday and we will have the entire weekend to ourselves where no one knows who we are."

"I like the way you think Ms. Thatcher!" Jack told her, rubbing her nose with his before pulling away from her slowly.

Jack grabbed her hand and held it while he made his way out to the car. He put his bag in the back and turned to give her a quick kiss. "I'll see you in a week, Sweetheart."

"I'll miss you Constable" Elizabeth replied, letting go of his hand as he got in the car. She waved as he drove away and stood in the street, wondering what she was going to do all alone.

"Was that the Constable?" Abigail asked from behind Elizabeth.

"Yes, he has to help out in Union City for the next couple weeks." Elizabeth replied. She could feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes but refused to let them fall. She had only known this man a week, she was not going to cry over his leaving.

"Well, I usually eat dinner alone. Would you like to join me tonight? No sense in us both being alone!"

"That would be wonderful, thank you so much, Abigail!"

"Come on, we can chat while I'm cooking!" Abigail told her, leading the way to her rowhouse.