Chapter 37

Jack and Elizabeth walked back to the café excited by what they saw at the site of their house.

"I plan to talk to Adam tomorrow to see what I can do to help," Jack said.

"That's nice of you, I'm sure you're good with a hammer," she said.

"Yes," he cleared his throat, "good way to relieve tension."

Elizabeth looked at him, "Really? I never knew that."

Jack rolled his eyes, turned and pulled her into his arms. "What am I doing to do with you?"

She shrugged, "Marry me ….I think that's your only solution."

"Solution?" He squinted.

"Yes, a solution… to stop that look in your eyes…"

"What look in my eyes?" He ran his tongue over his bottom lip.

She laughed softly, "I think you know what I'm referring to."

"Miss Thatcher I don't know what you're implying, I'm here to serve and protect…"

"Oh? To serve me with confusion and protect my good name?"

Jack's head snapped back, "What? No confusion here and I'll always protect you and your good name."

Elizabeth tilted her head, "Jack, sometimes you do confuse me."

"I do? How?"

Her shoulders dropped, "Right now, you ask a question to my question!"

Jack laughed, "Just teasing you."

She leaned toward him, "Well, okay. I'll let you get away with it for now. I'm anxious to go and talk to Abigail, so I'll say good night."

"Hmm, well okay. Good night," he gave her a quick kiss, "sleep well."

She thought about him going off to the jail, leaving her….she looked around, "You too…"

"I know, it will feel strange to me too not having you a little closer, but we'll be fine," he kissed her nose.

She looked into his eye, "It frightens me that you know what I'm thinking…"

"You'd be more frightened if you knew what I was thinking!" One side of his mouth turned up and he wiggled his eyebrows.

"Jack!" He eyes were wide.

He gave her a quick kiss, jumped from the porch, and headed for the jail. "Good night!"

Elizabeth watched him walk away, counting her blessings that he was in her life. She then went upstairs and found Abigail sitting in a rocker. "Did you and Jack have a nice walk?"

"Yes very nice, it was so nice to see our house underway. We're very excited," Elizabeth sat on the bed.

"You should be, it's an exciting time for you both," she looked down for a moment, "Did I tell you that Mary Dunbar and Dewitt Graves are courting, rather seriously. There's been whispers of a wedding…" she smiled faintly.

Elizabeth nodded, "That's nice, I'm happy for them and Caleb. How about you Abigail? How are things with you?"

"You mean with Bill and I? Well, let me say that if I wanted things to progress I believe they would, but I'm just not sure right now. I have my business and for the first time since Noah….well, I'm enjoying my independence for now."

Elizabeth nodded, "I understand."

"Plus who knows where Bill will be in another month?" Abigail stood, "So much uncertainty. I'm not sure I want that right now."

"Has Bill indicated he wants a more serious relationship?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes, he has indicated that, although he hasn't said it," Abigail replied.

Elizabeth looked down, "Oh...what happened?"

"Bill was a bit more romantic than I was ready for. Do you understand?" She looked at Elizabeth's reaction

"I think so…." Her eyes darted around the room. "Have you told him you aren't interested…in a serious relationship? In any type of relationship?" Elizabeth tried not to frown.

"Well, he knows. It wasn't exactly a discussion, but he knows," she stretched. "I think for now we're friends and that's just fine. Besides, he may be leaving Coal Valley now that Jack is back."

"Really? That's too bad, Jack wants to help Adam with the house as much as possible, so having Bill here would be good. With the town growing, it might not be a bad thing to have two lawmen around."

"We'll see what happens," Abigail threw her hands up, "I'm tired, time for bed, unless there was something else you wanted to talk about."

"No, there isn't, but Abigail, please know that you can discuss anything you want with me. You've done so much for me and I hope you know I am here for you."

"Thank you Elizabeth. I'm good for now," she touched her arm, "thank you."

At the jail, Jack gave Rip some attention and then pulled the book from his bag. He stretched out on his bed and opened the book, "Let's see what you're up to now Marco…" Jack flipped through page after page until finally slamming the book shut, "I have to finish that house," he groaned as he rolled onto his side and eventually fell asleep.

Early the next morning, Jack slid the book under his pillow before he headed to the café for breakfast. He was glad to see Elizabeth was sitting with Abigail and sat and joined them. "How are you two lovely ladies this morning?"

"Very well Jack, it's so nice to have Elizabeth back…to have both of you back," Abigail replied.

"Do you have a busy morning or can we go to the house now?" Elizabeth smiled at Jack.

Jack grinned after sipping coffee, "Let's go now, I can make my rounds later." He grabbed a biscuit and gave Abigail a wink.

On their way, Jack asked, "Did you learn anything about Abigail and Bill?"

"Not really, but it sounds like Abigail doesn't want to pursue a relationship with Bill right now."

"Hmm, seems sudden, I wonder if something happened?"

"Hopefully she'll talk more to me about it later. You didn't speak with Bill?"

"No, he wasn't at the jail when I got there, I just read and went to sleep."

"Read? What did you read?" she asked.

Jack immediately regretted his admission, "Oh, just…just some police business."

Elizabeth began to run as they got closer to their house. "It looks even better today!"

Jack watched her walk around, gingerly stepping around building materials and equipment and looking at everything with childlike wonder. He loved that about her, she took pleasure in discovering new things and her face showed it and her eyes sparkled.

"Jack, what is it? You look so serious. This isn't police business, come over here and look with me," she motioned for him to come closer.

"I know, I'm just watching you," as he got close he looked around to ensure their privacy, "won't it be nice to be here every day?"

She shyly nodded and touched his chest, "Yes, our own piece of the world." She stretched up and kissed him. He put his arms around her and returned her kiss, which was shortened by the sound of an approaching wagon.

"Okay the house isn't quite ready yet, so break it up you two!" Adam said, "So glad you're here I need your input on things." He climbed down and shook Jack's hand.

"Things look great Adam, you've been busy," Jack said.

"Thanks, been a lot going on and now that you're both here, we can make some real progress," Adam replied. "Come on back here, I want to show you the plumbing."

"Plumbing?" Jack replied.

"Yes, Mr. Thatcher sent engineers here and they designed and installed a complete plumbing system for a kitchen and bathroom. It's quite amazing, let me show you." Adam led the way.

Jack looked at Elizabeth, "Did you know about this?"

"Yes, remember my father wanted us to have modern amenities." She followed Adam.

Adam explained the mechanics of the plumbing to a very interested Jack and Elizabeth. "Costs a pretty penny to design and install something like this, but won't it be nice not to have to use an outhouse in the middle of winter!"

Elizabeth smiled and nodded as she looked at the pipes that led away from the house.

"The well water will pump up through the pipes but you won't need the standard kitchen pump…" Adam went on to explain the system.

"Adam, I'll be by later this afternoon to give you a hand and talk about what I can do to help," Jack said, "but now I have to get back to town, I have rounds to make and some paperwork to do." The men shook hands.

Jack turned to Elizabeth, "You ready to head back to town?"

The two walked in silence, Jack walking at a fast pace. Elizabeth scurried to keep up, "Jack what is it? Is something wrong?"

"No, I have work to do," Jack replied without turning or looking at her.

Once back in town, he turned, "Have a good day."

"Jack, please….," Elizabeth didn't understand.

"I have work to do Elizabeth," he barely turned to face her as he walked away.

"Jack," she hurried, reaching for his arm, "you knew my father was helping with the house, he told us that."

He looked at her, "I know and it's fine, you deserve that plumbing."

"Don't say that, it's not just for me, it's for both of us. You knew about it."

"Knowing about it and then seeing it are two different things….it's fine, I'll see you later," he walked away.

Elizabeth sighed, "Oh Jack…."

At the jail, Jack sat at the desk trying to sort out his feelings of why he felt so uneasy about the plumbing. He wanted to provide for Elizabeth, he wanted to be the one she needed. He drummed his fingers on the desk, knowing he was being foolish, but still was bothered by it. Jack jumped when Bill entered the jail.

"Jack, what are you doing here, I thought you'd be at your house," Bill said.

"I was…and I saw enough for a while," Jack tapped the desk.

Bill didn't understand, "What? What did you see?"

"I saw how I can't afford to give Elizabeth what I want to give her."

"That's ridiculous, you give Elizabeth what she needs…love," Bill said.

Jack nodded, "I know that, so why does it bother me? I don't want it to bother to me, but it does and now I think Elizabeth isn't too happy."

"Jack, as men we all want to give the women we love whatever their hearts desire. Sometimes we don't express it the right way and we make them angry," Bill turned for a moment contemplating his own words, "Elizabeth knows she won't have the life she had in Toronto, she's already accepted that just by living here. What's happened with the house that has you feeling this way?"

"Plumbing," Jack said.

"Plumbing?" Bill tried not to smile, "That's not something to be upset about, that's a convenience…for both of you."

The door opened and Elizabeth came in, "I'm going to have Adam rip out all the plumbing," she was breathing heavy and staring at Jack, "just rip it all out. I won't have something like plumbing upset you Jack," she turned to leave then looked back, "Hello Bill, how are you?"

Bill looked at Jack, tilted his head and motioned for Jack to get up and go after Elizabeth. Jack did just that and hurried out the door.

"Elizabeth!" He caught up with her and took her arm, turning her. "I'm sorry…"

She tried to hold back her tears, "If you want me to carry water from a creek, I will. If you want me to bathe in a lake, I will…just don't …" she was interrupted by Jack's lips pressing against her own.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "my foolish pride….so foolish."

Elizabeth gasped controlling her tears, "It is foolish Jack. You've never cared about money before. There's going to be a lot of changes that will depend on money, our money. We can talk about them if you like."

Jack shook his head, "I'm okay, I wasn't prepared for that…but I'm okay now. Whatever you want, it's fine with me."

"No, we have to talk about what we want, it isn't about what I want, we're a couple," she took his hand and led him back to the jail.

Bill took his hat, "I'll leave you two alone. I'm going for coffee."

Elizabeth continued holding Jack's hand as she led him into the cell where he slept, "Here, I want to sit together for a minute."

"Elizabeth…this isn't a good idea…" he resisted, knowing whenever she was close to him he had to control his feelings.

"Jack Thornton sit down." She tapped the spot beside him, "Here, you can even use your pillow and lean back,"

"No don't…." Jack rolled his head.

"Oh what have we here," she picked up the book, "reading police reports before bed are we?"

He took the book from her hand, "I was just looking…" and sat down next to her.

"Did you learn anything?" she asked as she ran her finger over the book.

Jack grinned, "I did. The most important thing is that when you love someone you have to accept everything,"

She leaned onto him, "Yes you do…everything," she kissed his cheek. "And I know you didn't learn that from this book."

He looked at her, "I'm sorry…," he brushed a curl from her face, "would you really go and rip all that plumbing out for me and bathe in the creek?"

"No," she stared into his eyes, "I was really hoping you would tell me I was crazy..."

Jack almost choked on his laugh. Shaking his head he whispered, "You are a little crazy..."

"I know. Just kiss me like Marco and everything will be fine," she whispered.

He laughed, "Oh, I see, it's Marco you want!"

She shook her head, "No, never, it's Jack I want…but tell me what Marco did."

"Hmm, seems Marco is a good kisser, around the ear …like this." He brushed his lips across her ear.

"Oh you do that so well," she giggled and leaned on him forcing him to lean back as she turned his face to hers and kissed his lips.

"Elizabeth…we can't do this…." Jack tried to talk between kisses although the feel of her in his arms was difficult to resist, "Elizabeth…"

"Hmm Jack, I love you," she whispered.

They heard the door open and Bill say, "Jack, we have a problem."