Chapter 25

Lee was sitting on the settee absorbed in reading a magazine while Rosemary bounced around the room dusting all of the furniture in sight as if she was expecting company. Once she was done she found herself revisiting each piece of furniture to make sure that the tiny little dust particles had not revisited the surfaces. To tell the truth she was completely bored and trying desperately to keep herself occupied, but to no avail. Elizabeth had only been gone for an hour, but it seemed longer and she had no idea how she was going to get through the next few weeks of summer without her best friend and littlest of companions gone. She was already missing the low sounds of the steady beat of a typewriter drifting through the walls of her home and filling the void in the air around her.

She hummed a soft tune as she worked to keep herself busy. Lee's growing annoyance of the back and forth activity distracting him finally caused him to speak up. "Rosie, come" he began as he patted the seat next to him, "sit down and relax. You have dusted the same table about five times now since we came home."

She sat down in the spot next to Lee on the settee with an exasperated pouty face. "Honey," Lee started to talk again while placing his hand over hers on the settee, "is there something bothering you?"

She sighed and then proceeded to answer him, "It's just….what am I going to do for the next 6 weeks without my best friend? I miss her already and she hasn't even been gone an hour and then there's Nathan. I could tell he was trying to be upbeat for her sake, but he had a sadness in his eyes that was unmistakable and I think while I am happy for Elizabeth, I'm starting to empathize with him."

Lee sat there carefully listening to her words and running his own thoughts through his head. He suddenly wondered if that ring Nathan had sent for had finally come in. He had half expected him to propose to her before she left and was surprised that he hadn't, but he also knew that Nathan was not someone who could be rushed into doing things so he must have thought that the timing just wasn't quite right. "Yeah, I know what you mean, he told me he was nervous about losing her, but I think it's all going to be just fine. I have an idea, why don't we invite him and Allie to come over and have dinner with us? We can all sulk together instead of separately."

The last sentence got a small smirk out of Rosemary and an arm slap for Lee before she responded, "I think that's a splendid idea, but no sulking. We are going to have our own celebration for Elizabeth to show our support for her book deal."

He leaned in and kissed her chastely on the lips, "that's my Rosie." With that they heard a light knocking sound and Lee turned his head to stare at the door. "Well, I wonder who that could be?"

Rosemary shook her head in confusion, "I have no idea."

Lee stood and headed to answer the door while straightening and smoothing out his clothes. He swung it open and then did a double take with eyes wide open in surprise. "Nathan, Elizabeth?" He shook his head in shock, "I thought you were…I mean how?"

By this time Rosemary had jumped off of the settee and had moved so quickly across the floor that it caused Lee to slightly jump when he heard her voice come from behind him, mouth agape with surprise, "Elizabeth…but we just saw you leave…," her words drifted off and her mouth flew open wider like a fish gulping for air out of water. She threw her hands in the air and gathered her thoughts. "Ok, what's going on," she eyed them suspiciously.

Elizabeth smiled sheepishly while holding Jack in her hands who was starting to anxiously squirm, wanting down, "Well…can we come in?"

Lee was still standing there with his hand on the door. "Oh," he suddenly came alive out of his shocked state, "yes, certainly." He motioned them in and then closed the door behind them with a soft click. He then turned sharply and walked to join his wife.

"You guys might want to sit down for this one," Elizabeth advised them while putting Little Jack down to roam around and play on the floor.

Rosemary eyed her curiously, "Usually when someone says that, it's an indicator that maybe you should stay standing."

"Well suit yourself then," Elizabeth answered.

"So what's going on?" Lee finally found his voice to be able to speak in more complete sentences. "We just said goodbye to you and watched the stagecoach drive off and now you're standing in front of us with Nathan. I'm really confused. What about your book deal?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath and gave them a slight grin, "I decided that I couldn't leave. Lucas said that we can introduce my book officially here and I just can't picture having this celebration without my closest friends, in the town I love, and with," she paused a second looking up at Nathan with a huge smile growing on her face, "my fiancé at my side."

She watched as the last words registered on both Lee and Rosemary's faces and saw their eyes both grow larger with recognition of her words. Rosemary's hands instantly flew to her mouth and then grabbed ahold of Lee's hand, "Wait…..your what?"

Nathan and Elizabeth looked at each other smiling with not only their mouths, but their eyes as well. The sparkle and doughy eyed adoration expressed in both of their faces was shining through them and could have melted the largest of winter snow packs. They grabbed each other's hand and then turned their faces back to Lee and Rosemary and in unison quickly blurted out, "We're getting married!"

Elizabeth was pretty certain that the squeal that ensued out of Rosemary's mouth was probably heard all over Hope Valley and then a huge smile spread across her face and arms opened up in excitement found their way around Elizabeth, "Oh Elizabeth, I'm so excited for you both. I knew this was coming!" She let go and stepped back from Elizabeth taking her left hand to examine the ring and covering her other hand over her heart, "It's beautiful, Nathan picked out a ring that fits you perfectly." She watched as the light coming from the window hit it just right in a dazzling display of brightness.

In that same time frame Lee had excitedly reached his hand out to Nathan with a huge smile, giving him a hearty handshake, "It's about time. I'm so happy for you. I guess that ring finally came in then…uh oops….," Lee could see out of the corner of his eye the incredulous look on Rosemary's face.

"What? You knew and you didn't tell me? Lee Coulter…," Rosemary exclaimed.

Lee let out a breath and turned to Rosemary with a sympathetic look, "Now Rosemary, it wasn't my news to tell and we all know how you get when you are excited about something."

Rosemary tapped her foot on the ground and put her hands on her hips, "What is that suppose to mean? I will have you know that I can keep a secret with the best of them. Remember Faith and Carson?"

Lee held his hands up in the air in defeat, "Ok, Rosie, you're right, but wasn't this a better surprise?" He smiled at her big, eyebrows raised, trying to gain her approval and understanding.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes upwards, "I suppose so." She then turned her attention back to Elizabeth, "Well, have you two thought about when?"

"We talked it over," Nathan answered, "and decided that we want to get married at the end of the summer, a couple of weeks before school goes back into session. That will give us a little time for a honeymoon and to get settled into our new lives before life gets crazy again."

"That's only….." Rosemary did the calculations in her head, "that's only about 7 weeks to get ready. Elizabeth, we have to get started right away in order to get this wedding planned. That doesn't give us much time. Of course I can handle it, but we need to get a dress made, food decided, a cake designed, bridesmaid dresses designed, decide on flowers, outside or inside wedding….."

Rosemary continued on through her list while dragging Elizabeth by the hand over to the settee. Lee looked at Nathan sympathetically and then whispered in is ear, "come on, if I know Rosie they are going to be talking for a while. You might get your fiancé back next week if you're lucky. What do you say to that driving lesson? Now might be as good a time as any to escape a for a few hours."

Nathan gave a small chuckle and shook his head in disbelief and then slapped Lee on the back, "Sounds good to me." He then winked at Elizabeth who was facing him on the settee and silently mouthed the words, "I love you," to her. He was rewarded with a broad and bright smile and a small smug wave before exiting the house with Lee and leaving the women to start excitedly talking about wedding plans.

TO BE CONTINUED…..