Disclaimer: The characters in this Fan Fiction are the property of Crown Media, Hallmark, & Believe Pictures, except for the ones that I made up myself, of course.

Chapter 25

Better Late than Never

Elizabeth thought about Jack's question, if she had ever kept anything from him. She realized that she had. "Jack, I've thought about your question and I realized that I didn't exactly make you aware about something years ago…"

"Elizabeth, what is it?" Jack asked.

"Would you like to discuss it over breakfast, Jack?" Elizabeth responded.

"Not really. Can you just tell me now? How long ago was it?" Jack asked.

"About 40 years ago," Elizabeth answered.

As Jack and Elizabeth lay in bed talking, Jack snuggled up against her. "Did you not want to marry me…is that what you're trying to say?"

Elizabeth frowned and said, "Jack, don't be silly. Once you asked me to be your wife, never once did I ever question that decision. You have always been the most honorable and loving husband. I am so fortunate that you chose me, Jack."

"Then what is it, Elizabeth? Do you dislike my big nose?" Jack laughed.

Laughing also, Elizabeth responded, "I love your nose, Jack. You are the most handsome man that I've ever met!"

"Am I not a good kisser, Elizabeth?" Jack quizzed her.

Elizabeth kissed Jack intently and passionately. "Oh, Jack, even after forty years…what your kisses do to me…you still make me feel so good. So no, Jack, it's not about your kissing."

"Is it the way I part my hair, Elizabeth? I bet that all these years you wanted me to part my hair on the right side instead of on the left side…"

Elizabeth giggled and said, "Jack, I love you so much, you always make me laugh."

"Well, I hope I'm laughing after you tell me what you've kept from me all these years…"

"Okay, I'll tell you. Think back to when we started building our home. How much did it cost to build, Jack?"

"Let me think about that a minute. I recall that it cost about $7500. I remember that I had saved about $7000 for the house and your father gave us $1000 to pay for the remainder of the house and to buy some furniture. Did you not like that chair I bought for the living room?"

"Jack, I'm trying to be serious and tell you about this concern of mine, and you keep making jokes. Will you please let me tell you?"

"I'm sorry, dear, I'm just trying to lighten up the mood. There is nothing that you can tell me about that happened forty years ago that will upset me," Jack added.

"That's good, Jack. But hear me out, Jack, before you say anything…

After we got engaged, I went back to visit my family before our wedding and my father kept scheduling me for social events "to spend time with the family." But every time we went to an event, even one at his office, an old family friend, Elliott Williamson, was there. You see, my father and his father were business partners and I think my father always wanted us to end up together. But when I saw him at the events I just figured that he was there because our fathers were partners. But the last event was a wedding reception and my parents left early and asked me if I'd keep Elliott company, that he was a "family friend." I didn't want to be rude so I did. Of course, he did ask me to dance so I felt a responsibility to dance with him. After the reception, Elliott drove by a park on the way home and asked me to take a walk. As we walked, I made it clear to him that I was engaged to you, that I loved you, and that I couldn't wait until we were married. Elliott appeared surprised and told me that my father never shared any of that information with him. Elliott went on to say that his intentions were honorable and that he had no idea about my engagement to you. Please know, Jack, that Elliott had always been a good man and I believed him. You see, my father thought that if I came back to Toronto and the high society life once again that I wouldn't want to leave. I guess he thought that Elliott could somehow change my mind about you."

Jack sat up on the bed and said, "Go on, Elizabeth."

"When I got home that night, my parents were already in bed so I decided to wait until the morning to confront them. The next morning, I entered the kitchen to hear 'Good morning, Elizabeth, how did the reception go? Did you enjoy your time with Elliott? We're sorry we had to leave but your mother wasn't feeling very well. But she's doing better this morning.'"

Unhappy about this exchange of words, Elizabeth responded, "I bet she is, father. Do you expect me to believe that you were sick last night, mother? Did you two willingly try to fix me up with Elliott? Were you hoping that I'd forget about Jack after I spent time living "the high life" back here with Elliott? Well, let me tell you this: I love Jack with my whole heart and my life is with him. I don't care about your money and the 'high life'. I will be leaving on the next train out of town," and I ran up to my room to pack."

"Why didn't you ever tell me this before, Elizabeth?" Jack asked.

Elizabeth began crying and asked, "Jack, please forgive me. I didn't want our marriage to start off with you being upset with my parents. I wanted to focus on my life with you."

"Elizabeth, please quit crying. I appreciate how you wanted to handle it but you should have told me about this forty years ago."

"I know, Jack," Elizabeth sighed. "But there's more. This house actually cost more to build and my father sent a check to cover the additional amount."

"Elizabeth?" Jack asked.

"Back to the story at my parent's house when I visited them. When I ran up to my room to pack, my parents came up shortly thereafter to explain their intentions. They did not deny asking Elliott to spend some time with me but their goal was to ensure that I was ready for marriage and that you were the only one for me. They felt bad about not being forthcoming about Elliott but they were more concerned about me. I told them I was never more sure about anything in my life. They asked if they could at least give me some money towards our home so that I could at least have indoor plumbing and a few luxuries that I had grown accustomed to growing up. And while I really wanted to say no, I accepted the $5,000 from them if they promised never to deceive us again. I went on to say that we would be married, that we were of one accord, and to never come between us.

When I got back to Coal Valley, I gave the $5000 to Adam Miller and told him to use it towards the house, that I didn't want to keep it."

Jack asked Elizabeth to come sit beside him. With her head down, Jack reached over with his hand and lifted up her chin and pointed her face at him. "Elizabeth, I have a confession to make; I knew about the $5,000. Adam told me right away. He didn't want to be responsible for that money so he gave it to me and I put it in the safe at the jail. Let's just say the $5,000 was put to good use on our home. It paid for the bathroom, your dressing room, and eventually, the garage."

"You knew about the $5,000 all this time, Jack?"

"Yes, Elizabeth, I did. And I knew about Elliott, too. Your father told me before the wedding about both things. He thought I should know how much you loved me and he wanted to be sure that I felt the same way about you. I told him that I loved you more than life itself and that I would do anything for you. He told me that if I loved you that I'd have to accept that your family wanted what was best for you and that from time to time, we'd probably send you money for things. And your father also told me that he was happy for both of us…that he knew our love was real and that I'd do anything for you."

"Jack…can we agree not to keep things from each other anymore?"

Jack stood up and reached for Elizabeth to stand up with him. "Elizabeth, I vow not to keep anything from you ever again."

Elizabeth added, "And I agree not to keep anything from you Jack."

The next morning, Jack and Elizabeth and the rest of the family were having breakfast together. Julie and her family would be leaving to go back home later that day. Julie asked Catherine if she was excited about the upcoming party at her friend Mark's home that coming weekend."

Elizabeth smiled at Catherine and said, "Mark, is he a family friend?"

"Yes, Aunt Elizabeth. His name is Mark Williamson and his dad's name is Elliott. Mom told me you almost married him," stated Catherine.

"Julie?" asked Elizabeth looking over at her. "What are you talking about?"

"Come on, Elizabeth, everyone knows about you and Elliott. He wanted to marry you but you chose Jack. It's that simple."

Jack chimed in, "Yes, Elizabeth, everyone knows about you and Elliott and your family friends. But you chose me…Jack. I'm so glad we have that out in the open now. Better late than never."

"Speaking of family friends, Jack, whatever happened to…

To be continued…