I stepped into the Mercantile, Ellie in my arms and Jane walking beside me.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Thornton."
"Hello, Katie."
"Hi, Tatie."
She chuckled at the sweet mispronunciation of her name. "Hi there, Jane."
I let Jane wander a bit while I gathered things from the shelves. I could hear her chattering to Katie and Fiona, the switchboard operator. They indulged her, having a full conversation despite being unable to understand half of the things she was saying.
"Your sister just makes friends with everybody, doesn't she?" I chuckled, touching Ellie's cheek. She gave me a gummy smile. "It won't be long before you're walking and talking alongside her. Now," I turned back toward the selves, "should we make a peach pie for dessert tonight? That's your dad's favorite."
A few minutes later, I set my basket on the counter.
Katie tallied up the total, then reached behind her into a candy jar. She handed me a peppermint stick. "For Jane. On me."
I took it from her and gave her the money for the groceries. "Thank you."
"Oh, I almost forgot. There's a letter for you and Corporal Thornton." She reached behind her again, pulling an envelope from one of the cubbies.
"Thank you, Katie." I froze for a moment when I saw who the letter was from before I tucked it into my basket. "Let's go, Janie." I waved her over and handed her the peppermint stick. "Can you say thank you to Miss Katie for the candy?"
"Tank you, Tatie."
"You're welcome, Jane."
Because my hands were full, Jane knew to hold onto my skirt as we walked back outside and down to the street. The moment the jail came into view, however, she let go and took off running.
"Dada."
"Jane, slow down. You need to stay by me."
She stopped and turned to face me. "I see dada." She pointed up at the jail.
I caught up with her. "He's working right now, Janie. We'll see him later. Okay?"
"No, mama."
"Jane Elizabeth." I set down my basket and crouched in front of her, shifting Ellie in my arms. "Your dad isn't there right now. He had to go to Benson Hills. He'll be home tonight, though."
"Dada," she whined. "Want dada."
"I know you want to see your dad right now, sweetheart, and you're upset that you can't. But how about this?" I took her hand. "We'll go home and you can draw a picture for him, and then you can help me make a peach pie for us to have after dinner. I think that would make dad really happy. How does that sound?"
"For dada?"
"Yes. Now," I grabbed my basket and stood back up, "let's get home."
...
"Dada!" Jane jumped off of her rocking horse and barreled across the room the second the front door opened.
Jack barely had time to hang up his hat before she ran into his legs. "Hi, sweetheart." He scooped her up, dropping kisses all over her face.
"Dada." She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Wuv you."
"I love you, too, Janie."
I lifted Ellie from the floor and carried her over to him. "Someone really missed you today."
"Apparently." He chuckled and kissed my cheek. "And what about my Ellie girl? Did she miss me, too?" He tickled her, and she gave a big laugh. "I love you, Ellie."
"Well, she can't talk yet, so I'm not positive, but it's probably safe to say she did." I touched her cheek. "Huh? Did you miss your dad today while he was working?"
"Well, I missed all three of my girls." He kissed each of the girls on the cheek, then pressed his lips to mine. "Love you."
"I love you, too."
"It smells great in here, by the way."
"That would be dessert. Jane helped me make it."
"Oh, really?" He raised his eyebrows. "What did you make, Janie?" He shifted Jane higher on his hip.
"Pie!"
"Yum! I love pie. Thanks for helping your mom make that."
"Why don't you go get cleaned up?" I touched his cheek and stood on my toes to kiss him again. "The spaghetti will be ready soon."
...
"You made a mess, Ellie girl." Jack chuckled, attempting to wipe the sticky peach juice from her face. "I think it's time for a bath."
"I agree. And I think Jane needs one, too."
She looked up at the sound of her name. Her cheeks were covered in spaghetti sauce and flakes of pie crust.
I laughed. "Yes. She definitely needs a bath, too."
"No baff, mama."
"I'm sorry, Jane. You need one. You and your sister are all sticky." I lifted her from the chair. "How about after your bath, you can show dad the picture you made for him?"
"You made me a picture?" Jack followed us up the stairs, Ellie still in his arms. "I can't wait to see it."
Half an hour later, all four of us were congregated in Jane's room, both girls now clean and dry and dressed in their pajamas. Jack and I sat on either side of Jane as she showed him the picture she had drawn earlier that day; Ellie was settled in my arms, quietly nursing.
"What's this?" He pointed at the page.
"Horse."
"Oh, I see. Is it Sergeant?"
She nodded. "Dada horse."
"You did a good job drawing this picture, Janie."
"For dada." She held the paper up.
"Thank you, sweetheart." He took it from her and kissed the top of her head. "Okay, I think it's time for a bedtime story and then lights out."
Jane grabbed her bear and snuggled against Jack.
"How about I tell you some stories about Sergeant?" He cleared his throat. "He's been with me ever since I first became a Mountie, so he and I have spent a lot of time together. I've known him even longer than I've known your mama. And you know what, Janie? I taught your mama how to ride on Sergeant. When she first came to Coal Valley, she was pretty hopeless on a horse."
"Hey." I nudged him with my foot.
He chuckled. "I'm just telling the truth. Anyway," he continued, "Sergeant was real patient with us. Your mama and I used to sit together on him and ride up here before our house was built. To be honest, I was a little sad when your mom was good enough at riding that she could be on her own horse." He looked over at me, and I blushed. "Sergeant and I missed having her so close to us."
"And Sergeant's really smart." I reached out and tucked a little curl behind Jane's ear. "He can find his way home, and he helps keep your dad out of trouble."
"He is really smart," Jack agreed. "And when you're a little bigger, I'll get you back up in that saddle and teach you to ride."
After the girls were both in bed, Jack and I made our way back downstairs and settled in on the sofa.
"Oh, I almost forgot. We got a letter today."
"Really? Who is it from?"
"Mrs. McClaren."
"Ellen's mother? What does it say?"
I crossed the room to retrieve the letter from the desk.
"She wants to know where Callum is and how he's doing."
"Oh." He scanned the page.
I sat beside him. "Do we have to tell her, Jack? What if they try to take him from Tom and Julie?"
"Tom and Julie have adopted him, so I don't think anyone could take him from them." He set the letter down and placed his hand on my knee. "Don't you think it would be nice if he could stay connected to his birth family?"
"I guess." I leaned my head on his shoulder. "But we should let Tom and Julie make that decision. I'll write Mrs. McClaren and tell her how to contact them, and then we can tell Tom and Julie that they can expect to hear from her."
"Okay." He put his arm around me and kissed the top of my head.
We were quiet for a few minutes, just listening to the sound of our breathing. His fingers moved lightly up and down my arm. I tucked my legs up under myself, snuggling into him further.
"Do you have to work on Saturday?"
"No, not unless something unexpected comes up. Why?"
"We should take the girls on a picnic. The weather has been so lovely lately. It would be nice for all of us to spend some time outside."
"That would be fun. I think Jane might be old enough now that I can teach her to fish. If you're okay with it, that is," he added, almost definitely thinking about the disagreement we had over her riding Sergeant.
"I think she would love that." I wound my arms around him. "Maybe we could ask Rosemary and Lee if they'd like to join us. I know Jane would enjoy spending the day with Patrick."
...
Ellie crawled across the blanket and into my lap.
"Hi, sweetheart." I kissed her forehead. "Are you having fun?"
"Mamamama." She tugged on my blouse. "Mamamama."
"Are you still hungry, Ellie? Here." I retrieved a container of potato salad from the basket and handed her a small piece of potato.
She chewed on it lazily, taking tiny bites.
Rosemary smiled at her. She's getting so big."
"I know." I smoothed down her hair. "She's nearly seven months old."
"I think she looks more like you the older she gets."
"Jack says that, too" I studied her face for a moment. "I still see some of him in her, though."
"Are you still thinking about having another one?"
"Um, yes." I smiled, lightly brushing my fingers across my stomach. "I shouldn't tell you this, but we're actually trying now."
"Oh, that's so exciting! You have to tell me as soon as you know there's another little Thornton on the way."
"Well, Jack gets to know first, but I will definitely tell you once he knows." I ruffled Ellie's hair. "What do you think, Ellie? Do you want a little brother or sister?"
She reached out, opening and closing her fingers as she silently asked for more food. She grinned when I gave her another bite of potato.
"Should we go down and see if the men and the little ones have had any luck fishing?"
"Let's go." I stood, lifting Ellie onto my hip.
Jack and Lee were sitting on the dock with Jane and Patrick in their laps, respectively. Hannah sat between them, her little hands wrapped around her fishing pole as she stared intently out at the water.
"How are things going down here?"
Jane turned toward me, tugging on Jack's fishing pole. "Mama! Fish!"
"Are you having fun fishing with your dad and your friends?"
"Who's caught the most so far?"
"Me!" Patrick squealed, kicking his feet excitedly.
"No, I have." Hannah corrected. "Daddy and Patrick caught one, Uncle Jack and Jane caught one, and I caught two."
Rosemary chuckled. "That's my Hannah-banana."
"Is anyone ready for a break? We have some berries and cream for dessert."
"Num!" Jane scrambled off of Jack's lap and took off toward the picnic blanket, Patrick trailing just behind her.
"Nanie! I come!"
Jack stretched as he stood up. "I don't know what we're going to do with those two."
Lee chuckled, shaking his head. "Me neither. They sure are something."
...
Jack lay back on the bed, resting his head on his outstretched arm. "Today was a good day."
I smiled and looked over at him. "A very good day." I set down my hairbrush and lay down in the bed beside him.
"I can't wait until we have picnics with a whole mess of little Thorntons running around." He rolled onto his side and placed a hand on my stomach, spreading his fingers wide. "Still nothing?"
"No, but we said we wouldn't get our hopes up, Jack. It will happen when it happens."
He sighed. "I know. I can't help it. I just love you so much, and I love our family, and I can't wait to see it grow."
"I love you, too. So much." I turned on my side to face him. "And I have faith that our family will grow, Jack. We just have to be patient."
He kissed my nose. "Patience is more your strength." He gave me a crooked smile.
"Just think of it this way," I ran my finger along the neckline of his shirt, trailing down along the buttons, "we get to have some fun in the meantime."
He closed his eyes and inhaled, a grin stretching across his face. "Are the girls down for the night?"
"Unless one of them has a nightmare, yes, they are."
"Stay right there." He hurried across the room, quietly shutting the door and closing the latch before turning down the lights. "Now," he slipped back into the bed, leaning over me, "let's have some fun."
