Chapter 36: Adventures in Cooking

Disclaimer: The characters in this Fan Fiction are based upon the characters of When Calls the Heart which is the property of Crown Media, Hallmark, & Believe Pictures, except for the characters that I made up myself, of course.

This story takes place forty plus years after Jack & Elizabeth were married. They have three children: daughter Emily (husband Matthew Oke, son Jacob, daughter Rebekah); twin sons Thomas (wife Cynthia) and William.

In this chapter, Jack & Elizabeth have returned from their second honeymoon and visiting their daughter Emily and her family.

"Good morning, dear," Jack said to Elizabeth as he walked into the kitchen. "What would you like to do today?"

"Well, what do I want to do today, or what do I need to do today?" Elizabeth responded.

Jack walked over to Elizabeth and put his arms around her, kissed her neck, kissed her ear. "Well, I know what you want to do today, Jack…" Elizabeth stated.

Jack laughed. "Only today?" he responded. "I'm kinda up for that most of the time."

Elizabeth said, "Yes you are…but…I have something else in mind for today. Are you game? Would you like another type of adventure?"

Jack kissed Elizabeth sweetly and replied, "I'm always up for an adventure with you!"

"Good," Elizabeth said, "here's your apron. I need your help in the kitchen today."

Jack raised his right eyebrow in a questioning way that only he could. Elizabeth smiled, shrugged her shoulders, and said, "I'll make you a deal. You wear an apron for me now, and I'll let you decide what our next adventure is going to be."

Jack laughed, smiled, raised both eyebrows, and replied, "Deal!"

Elizabeth told Jack that since they had been gone for a couple of weeks, their peaches needed to be canned. They gathered the supplies together and went out on the back porch for the bushel of peaches they had picked a couple of days before.

"Jack, would you fill up the canner with water and put it on the stove? The first thing we need to do is to boil the peaches for about 60 seconds and then transfer them to a large bowl of cold water. We will then be able to remove the skins. After that, we'll need to cut the peaches in half and take out the pits, and slice them and put them in the jars. We'll fill the jars with honey water immediately after putting the sliced peaches in them, and that will prevent them from browning. We'll then hot pack them by returning the jars to a boil and securing the lids."

"Elizabeth, can we just take it one step at a time please? I'm not going to remember all those details. And if I don't do it exactly how you want, you'll be making faces at me and getting frustrated."

"Do I make faces, Jack? Well, as a teacher, I know how important it is to take things one step at a time."

"Well, as your student for today, Mrs. Thornton, I'll ask you to repeat your instructions as we go along."

"Yes, Mr. Thornton, I will repeat my instructions as we go along. And by the way, you look very becoming in your apron."

Jack and Elizabeth finished canning the peaches and put everything away in their basement. They sat down at the kitchen table and had a cup of tea.

"What kind of tea is this, dear? Jack asked. "It's really good."

"It's Ginseng Tea, Jack. It's supposed to have a relaxing and soothing effect on the body."

"Hmm. We'll see about that. Perhaps we'll know after while if it holds up to its promise," Jack replied.

Elizabeth smiled and changed the subject. "I'm so glad that Thomas and Cindy worked out their differences last night. I know how men can be when they want the sole attention of their wife."

"Is that so?" Jack asked. "Tell me about that, Elizabeth."

"How much time do you have?" Elizabeth asked Jack and then laughed.

"Come on, Elizabeth, I wasn't that bad. How often did I want to be your sole attention?"

Elizabeth laughed again.

Jack looked at Elizabeth and asked, "why is this funny?"

"Jack, you don't remember back when we were first married, I'd be in the kitchen trying to cook dinner and you'd barely get inside the door and you'd want to have an adventure right then…no wonder it took me so long to learn how to cook!"

They both laughed. Jack smiled and said, "Oh, yeah, I guess I remember those adventures in cooking…are you up for one of those now?"

"Now, Jack? It's the middle of the afternoon. How about this…you help me cook dinner...you do have an apron on…and then we'll see where the day takes us," Elizabeth responded.

"I don't know, Elizabeth, I'm pretty relaxed right now after that tea…" Jack added.

Jack laughed and asked, "Deal. What can I help you with?"

"How about some Hearty Vegetable Stew, Jack?"

"Do you remember the first time you made that for me, Elizabeth?" Jack asked.

"On the Homestead, when I was caring for the Tucker children?" Elizabeth replied.

"Yes. I think you may have made a few changes over the years…" Jack added.

"Well, once you let me actually cook a full meal…I got the hang of it. Although I must admit, I really didn't mind that it took me longer to learn…I always enjoyed those adventures in cooking, Jack."

"Thinking back to that meal on the Homestead, Elizabeth, you really surprised me how you handled yourself. You were amazing. Did you know that evening after dinner that I kinda told you that I loved you? Remember after you helped Patrick when he was having difficulty sleeping and you came out and sat on the couch with me? I had told you about my uncle's farm and that he wanted to give me the farm. You asked why I didn't take it and I said that it wasn't my calling. Do you remember that conversation?"

"You mean when you said that you'd like to have an old house with children running up and down the stairs, and curling up by a fire with someone you love?"

"You heard that and you never said anything? I thought you were fell asleep, Elizabeth."

"Well, I did fall asleep, Jack. But I did hear you say that. Even though I loved you at that point, too, I was still fearful of being a Mountie's wife so I never said anything. Don't you remember when you left the next day and said, 'thanks for everything'? Did you ever wonder what I meant by that?"

Jack pursed his lips and had a puzzled look on his face. "Well, I guess I just thought that you were thanking me for helping with the chores."

Elizabeth smiled and replied, "No, it wasn't just the chores, Jack. I was so thankful that you wanted to spend that time with me…that you really wanted to help me. You knew how difficult it would be for me and it was. I was never so exhausted in my life."

"But you really surprised me, Elizabeth, how you stuck with it and didn't want to ask for help. I've always loved how stubborn and tenacious and head-strong you were…ahem…and are." Jack went over to Elizabeth and moved her face to look at him. "You surprise me still."

"Well, no surprises here now, the stew isn't going to make itself, so how about you peel those potatoes and carrots for me, Jack?" Elizabeth asked.

"Whatever I can do to help. After all, I have this lovely red and white checkered apron on. I bet it looks really good on me," Jack replied.

"Well, after dinner, we'll see how good it looks off of you," Elizabeth winked to Jack.

Jack breathed deeply and thought to himself what a lucky man he was.

They continued making dinner together. Suddenly, Elizabeth began laughing pretty hard and said, "Jack, did I ever tell you about the time I made stew and biscuits for Cat's children while she was in jail?"

Jack chuckled, "You mean when you made 'a stew of it' and Miles said that you needed a sledgehammer for the biscuits? Yeah, you may have mentioned it once or twice." They both laughed some more about it and reminisced back to that time period before they really knew each other very well.

Jack added, "I also remember how angry you were with me because I put Cat in jail until I could corroborate her story. You know I had no choice, Elizabeth, I had to be consistent with everyone."

"I know, Jack, you were right. It was just hard at the time to see the kids without their mom and I certainly didn't know how to take care of a home and children at that point in time. I was afraid."

"What? Elizabeth Thatcher…ah…or Elizabeth Thornton afraid? Never!" Jack exclaimed.

"If you must know, Jack, I was pretty fearful when I came to Coal Valley. I may have appeared to be strong but I wasn't Jack. I said that I could take care of my own stubbed toes…but I'm so glad that you were around to save me from all those 'bad guys' and to catch me when I stumbled. You saved my toes on many occasions!" Elizabeth smiled and looked at Jack.

"It was your calling to come here, Elizabeth. And it was God's will to put us together. I'm so thankful it all worked out according to His plan and not mine. Or you would have stayed at that fancy school in Hamilton and I would have been chasing pirates and whiskey runners in Cape Fullerton!"

"It sure is fun to reminisce. We are so fortunate, Jack. We must never lose sight of that."

After dinner, Jack and Elizabeth went for a walk to get some exercise. When they returned, they put on some music so they could have their nightly dance with each other. Jack was excited to put on a newly released record that he had recently purchased: "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole. As they danced, Jack sang to Elizabeth…

Unforgettable
That's what you are
Unforgettable
Tho' near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before has someone been more
Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that's how you'll stay
That's why darling it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

Unforgettable in every way
And forever more, that's how you'll stay
That's why darling it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am unforgettable too

After their dance, Jack led Elizabeth to the kitchen and she watched while he put the red and white checkered apron back on. He whispered, "Are you ready for another adventure in cooking?"

Elizabeth walked over to him and began to kiss him passionately. She moved her hands over his chest and around his back and turned him around. She untied the apron and threw it on the floor. She took his hand and led him down the hall to their bedroom. Nothing more needed to be said. Jack knew that he was in for another surprise…

To be continued…