Chapter 55

Cooking Lessons

Abigail walked over to Elizabeth and embraced her in a hug. "We can start cooking lessons tomorrow if you want." She said with a smile.

"Really? That soon?" Elizabeth asked excitedly.

"Sure. Why not?" Abigail replied. "I know you'll probably want to say goodbye to Jack before he leaves on his rounds. Why don't you come by the kitchen as soon as he's gone?"

"That is wonderful!" Elizabeth exclaimed.

"So tomorrow then." Abigail said.

"Tomorrow." Elizabeth concurred. "Maggie does that work for you?"

"Absolutely." Maggie replied with a smile.

"Well It's late I am going to turn in." Abigail stated with a yawn. She brushed passed Elizabeth and made her way to the stairs.

"Goodnight." Elizabeth said, with a smile. She turned to Maggie. She reached for her hand and squeezed it. "Thank you for wanting to help me out."

"My pleasure dear." Maggie replied sweetly. "I know Jack loves you, and doesn't care whether or not you can cook, but I can't fault you for wanting to learn."

Elizabeth gave Maggie a genuine smile.

"Well," Maggie continued. "I guess I will head over to saloon to turn in."

"Alright," Elizabeth responded. "Do you want me to walk with you?"

"No I'll be fine." Maggie answered. "You go on to bed. I'll see in you in the morning." She released Elizabeth's hand and made her way to the café door.

Elizabeth waited until Maggie was out of sight, before she headed upstairs to bed. When she got to her room, she quickly changed into her nightgown. She sat on her bed, and pulled her journal from underneath her pillow. She located a pen, opened the journal to an empty page and began to write.

Dear Journal,
I can't believe I am getting married in just a few short months. I have come a long way here in Coal Valley. I am surprised at all I have accomplished here. In the morning Abigail and Jack's mother have agreed to help me learn to cook. I hope I can get the hang of this. Jack deserves a home cooked meal. I am so nervous about learning to cook. What if this is one thing I won't be able to master. Jack is so wonderful. He has told me numerous times that he loves me despite the fact that I can't cook, but this is something I want to learn for him. Jack told me just tonight, I can do anything I set my mind too. He has more faith in me than I do in myself. I love Jack so much. I thank God every day for this wonderful man who loves and supports me no matter what. I am so excited and nervous about becoming Mrs. Jack Thornton. I can't wait to marry my best friend and man of my dreams
-Elizabeth-

She closed her journal and returned it underneath her pillow. She scooted down in the bed. She glanced over at the nightstand, where the framed portrait of the two of them was displayed. She smiled. "Goodnight, Jack." She whispered. "I love you." She turned down the light, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

The following morning, Elizabeth woke up early and dressed. She headed downstairs to the café. She decided she would head to the jail, and wake up Jack. She walked outside. She was excited about seeing Jack, and also for the fact that she would begin her cooking lessons today, despite the fact that she was nervous that she would never be able to master that particular skill. She stepped out into the street, and made her way to the jail. She opened the door and stepped inside, and ran right smack dab into Jack who was standing directly on the other side of the door. She screamed. Rip barked.

Jack possessively wrapped his arms around her, to steady her and keep her falling. "Good morning." He said with a smile. "What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you."

"I woke up early, and decided to come wake you." Elizabeth answered. "But it looks like you beat me to it; too bad too. I was going to wake you with a kiss. But since you're already awake, I guess you don't need one." She turned and headed back outside to the porch of the jail.

Jack grabbed her hand, and whirled her around. "Hold on there." He said. He leaned forward, until his lips brushed lightly across hers. "I always need a kiss from you." He kissed her again, more passionately. "And don't you forget it." He flashed dimples.

"I won't." She replied.

"Well I was on my way to the café, before I make my rounds." He offered his arm. "Care to join me?"

"On your rounds?" Elizabeth asked, with a puzzled look.

"No," Jack said with a chuckle. "Although you coming along with me on my rounds would be very entertaining. I was asking if you would care to join me for breakfast."

"Oh," Elizabeth replied. "In that case, I would love to." She placed her hand in the bend of his elbow.

He escorted her to the café. "So what do you have planned for today?" He inquired.

"I uh I have… I have… I am helping Abigail with something today." She stuttered. She was nervous. She wasn't quite ready to reveal to Jack about the cooking lessons Abigail and Maggie were helping her with this morning.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked, noticing Elizabeth stumbling on her words.

"Yes," She answered shyly.

"What are you helping Abigail with?"

She paused. "I am just helping her around the café today." She finally stated.

"Okay." Jack replied. "Have fun."

"I will do my best." Elizabeth replied. "But I will miss you."

Jack and Elizabeth arrived at the door of the café. Jack opened the door and escorted her inside. They found an empty table and sat down. Abigail approached them with two piping cups of coffee. She headed back to the kitchen and returned with a plate of pancakes, which Jack shared with Elizabeth. After breakfast, Jack stood up and bent down to place a quick kiss on Elizabeth's cheek. Suddenly, Elizabeth abruptly turned her head, and Jack's lips grazed her lips. He smiled. "I would rather kiss your lips anyway." He whispered, causing her to blush. "Will I see you after my rounds?"

She nodded and smiled.

"Okay." He continued. "I better get going." He grabbed her hand, brought it to his lips, and made his way to the door.

Elizabeth watched Jack mount Taylor and ride out of sight. As soon as Jack was gone, Elizabeth marched to join Abigail in the kitchen. She was surprised to see Maggie already there. "Well let's get this over with!" Elizabeth exclaimed nervously.

Abigail looked at Maggie and giggled. "You'll do fine Elizabeth." She said reassuringly.

"Absolutely dear." Maggie concurred.

"Alright." Elizabeth answered, slowly, still unsure.

"Relax, Elizabeth." Abigail encouraged. "You'll do fine."

"No one is expecting you to get it on your first try." Maggie chimed in.

"Of course not." Abigail agreed.

Elizabeth smiled slightly. "Then maybe I will become tolerable by the time I become Mrs. Jack Thornton."

"Of course you will." Maggie concurred, gripping Elizabeth's shoulders. "There is plenty of time."

"Well what do we start with?" Elizabeth questioned.

Maggie reached in the pocket of her apron and pulled out a small piece of paper. "I have here a list of some of Jacks' favorite foods." She handed the list to Abigail.

Abigail examined the list. She went to the cupboard and started pulling out various ingredients. "Well let's start with beef stew." She said after a few minutes. "It easy. It pretty much consists of putting all the ingredients together. It basically cooks itself."

"That's a wonderful idea!" Maggie exclaimed. "Start easy, and the more difficult recipes will become more natural."

"Difficult?" Elizabeth questioned nervously. "I can't even do the easy things, and you're talking about it getting more difficult?"

"Elizabeth stop worrying." Abigail countered. "That's why we're here… to walk you through it."

"Yes." Maggie agreed. "Now the first thing you need to remember when cooking is… if you have a recipe… follow it."

"I have tried that." Elizabeth said, sadly. "But it still never turns out."

"Which leads us to step number two." Maggie continued. "Have patience."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah." She said sarcastically. "Having patience is a piece of cake."

Abigail and Maggie giggled.

"Speaking of cake," Abigail said. "We can teach you how to make a nice apple cake for dessert."

"That's sounds good." Elizabeth stated. "Is it easy? I want easy for now."

"Elizabeth you really need to relax." Abigail told her. "I promise we will work with you until you get the hang of it."

"Just remember practice makes perfect." Maggie chimed in.

Elizabeth let out a sigh. "Well let's get started." She said less than enthusiastically.

After a while Elizabeth had helped Abigail and Maggie prepare beef stew and biscuits, and a delicious apple cake for dessert. Elizabeth had become somewhat discouraged. Although she had helped to add the ingredients, Maggie and Abigail had done most of the actual cooking. She just couldn't get the hang of cook times and being able to tell when the food was ready. She felt that the only thing she had really made was a mess in Abigail's kitchen. She looked around. There was flour everywhere, including on her dress. She was trying to hold back tears. "I'll never get the hang of this." She cried.

"You will." Abigail reassured. "Like Maggie said earlier, it just takes practice."

"I think I've had enough for one day." Elizabeth sniffled, rubbing her eyes with her flour covered fingers, getting flour all over her face. "I think I'm going to change into a clean dress and get this flour off of me."

"Very well." Abigail said.

Elizabeth made her way to the stairs.

"Elizabeth." Abigail called after her, causing Elizabeth to stop in her tracks. "You did fine today. Just remember this was just your first lesson."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said, as she continued up the stairs to her room.

Jack headed straight to the café, when he finished his rounds. By that time Abigail had cleaned the kitchen, and was clearing the dining room, from the few customers she had. She would go back and forth between customers and Elizabeth's cooking lessons, so luckily, business was slow at the café for the day. "Hello, Jack." Abigail called to Jack when she saw him."

"Hello Abigail." Jack said, sniffing the air. "What smells so good?"

"Oh beef stew and biscuits." Abigail answered. "Would you like some?"

"Yes please," Jack replied, with a smile. "I'm starving."

"Have a seat." Abigail said. "I'll bring you a bowl."

"Thank you." Jack said, as he did as instructed. He then watched Abigail disappear into the kitchen. He looked around. Where's Elizabeth? He wondered. She's usually waiting for me, here at the café, when I return from my rounds. Just then Abigail returned with a warm bowl of beef stew and a glass of iced tea. "Hey, where's Elizabeth?" He asked.

"She's up in her room." Abigail answered. "I'm sure she'll be down any minute."

"Okay," Jack said, as he took a bite of the beef stew. "This is delicious."

"Thank you." Abigail said with a smile, knowing that Jack would be surprised to know that Elizabeth had assisted to make it.

Upstairs in her room, Elizabeth had already washed the flour off of her face and was putting on a clean dress. When she was dressed she walked downstairs to the café, where she found Jack sitting at a table eating the beef stew.

Jack looked up and smiled when he saw his Elizabeth descending the stairs. "Hello." He said, as he stood up to pull her chair out for her. "How was your day?" Once she was seated, be bent down and kissed her cheek, before returning to his own chair.

"It was alright." Elizabeth sighed, looking down at the table.

"Why am I not convinced?" He questioned.

She looked up at him. "It's just been a long day."

Suddenly Jack started to snicker. He quickly covered his mouth.

"What's so funny, Jack?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.

Jack reached up and touched her nose. "What is on your nose?" He asked.

"What?" Elizabeth exclaimed. "There's something on my nose?" She quickly picked up a spoon that was lying on the table, using it as a mirror.

"It's white. It looks like flour." Jack observed. "What were you doing? Helping Abigail cook?"

Elizabeth blushed and grabbed a napkin and began wiping off her nose. "Busted!" She exclaimed. "It was supposed to be a surprise. Abigail and your mother have agreed to help me learn to cook. I wanted to keep it from you and surprise you with my very first edible home cooked meal today was my first lesson. They decided beef stew would easy for my first day. There is also apple cake."

"Are you telling me you made this beef stew? Jack asked. "It's delicious!"

"No." Elizabeth cried. "Most of what I made today was a mess. I'm afraid I wasn't much help to them at all today."

Jack chuckled. He placed his hand on top of hers. "You want to be able to cook for me?" He asked.

"Well you are going to be my husband." She replied. "I love you and you do deserve a home cooked meal."

He picked her hand up off the table and brought it to his lips. While he still had ahold of her hand, he stood up, leaving her no choice to but to stand with him. He pulled her around to his side of the table and sat back down, prompting her to sit on his lap.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"I just want to hold my girl." He answered. "And to let you know how proud of you I am. I have told you so many times that it doesn't matter to me that you can't cook. I love you and am marrying you regardless. It means so much that you want to learn. Since you are so determined to do this, I will be honored to eat anything you want to fix for me. And just remember it takes practice." He put a finger beneath her chin. He leaned in and brushed a gentle kiss across her lips.

"That's funny." Elizabeth replied. "Both your mother and Abigail told me to practice."

"See I know what I'm saying sometimes." He commented. "And don't worry, anything you fix when we become husband and wife will be delicious. I have faith you can do this." He kissed her once more. He then took a spoonful of beef stew and brought it to her lips. "Open wide."

She smiled before opening her mouth and took a bite of stew. "It's delicious." She cried.

"See I knew you could do it." He stated.

"But your mother and Abigail did most of the work." She countered.

"You will get the hang of it." He promised. "And even if you don't, we'll eat chili and cornbread at the saloon every night for all I care. I want to be with you and only you for the rest of my life. That's all that matters. So quit worrying."

"I just want to be the perfect wife." She sighed.

He rolled his eyes and rubbed her back. "There's no such thing as the perfect wife." He replied. "But you will be the perfect wife for me." He reached up and took her face in his hands. "We'll work together. Everything will be great." He softly kissed her lips.

Elizabeth pulled away and touched her forehead to his. "Thanks for always having faith in me, Jack."

"It doesn't take much for me to have faith in you." Jack responded. "You have proven your determination for me countless times… and as I've said… you can do anything you set your mind to. He placed a kiss on her nose. "I love you so much. I can't wait until you are Mrs. Jack Thornton."

Elizabeth smiled and leaned forward until her lips touched Jack's. She leaned closer, increasing the kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and started moving them up and down her back. Before they knew it, they got a little carried away, forgetting they were in the middle of the café, where anyone could walk in and see them.

About that time, Abigail and Maggie entered the dining room from the kitchen. The looked at each other and smiled, when they saw Jack and Elizabeth in their embrace. They slowly approached their table. "Ahem." Abigail coughed loudly.

Jack and Elizabeth quickly pulled away from each other, and looked up at Abigail and Maggie with guilty looks on their faces.

"And you said you couldn't cook." Abigail said, looking at Elizabeth. "But it looks like things sure are cooking in here."

Jack and Elizabeth both blushed on what Abigail and Maggie both stumbled in on. Neither one could believe they had gotten carried away… again… and this time they had gotten caught.

…to be continued…