Bill was the first one to depart the birthday celebrations, stating that he had some gingerbread houses to judge before helping Clara prepare a few dishes for the community dinner. Hope Valley's judge gave both Elizabeth and Little Jack a kiss good-bye on the forehead before leaving, careful not to wear any of the frosting currently covering the birthday boy. Little Jack seemed to have worn as much of his cake as he had managed to eat.
Nathan was the next one to excuse himself as he had to get back to work. Elizabeth had taken Little Jack into the kitchen to try cleaning him up some. Nathan gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he said good-bye.
"I'll save my hug for you when I see you tonight, little man," Nathan told Jack. "I don't need frosting on my uniform."
"Bye, Na'tan," Little Jack said, waving a frosting-covered hand at the Mountie.
"Bye, Jack," Nathan replied, waving back.
"You're meeting us at the church this evening, right?" Elizabeth asked him.
"Yes," Nathan told her. "Thanks for letting Ally stay with you this afternoon. I feel less guilty about having to work."
"It's not a problem," Elizabeth told him. "Stay safe."
"I will," Nathan told her.
Nathan said good-bye to Lee, Rosemary and Ally and headed for the door. Opening the door, he found Ned standing on the stoop, hand poised to knock on the door.
"Nathan!" Ned said, his surprise coming from the act of the door being opened before he had knocked and not from seeing the Mountie at Elizabeth's home. "Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas, Ned," Nathan greeted, stepping aside and motioning the man in. "Elizabeth, Ned is here," he called, assuming the store owner had come looking for her.
Elizabeth looked over her shoulder. "Hi, Ned. What's going on?"
"I got a delivery today and they also dropped off a crate for you. It appears to be from your father. I would have brought it out but it's heavy." Ned told her.
Lee got to his feet. "I'll take you into town with the car," he volunteered. "We can bring it back that way."
"You don't mind?"
"Of course not," Lee told her.
"I'll meet you at the mercantile in case you need a hand loading it," Nathan told him.
"It took three of us to get it off the delivery wagon," Ned informed them.
Elizabeth looked quizzical at that description as she tried to figure out what her father could have sent that would be so heavy.
"I'm going to go," Nathan said before opening the door again and leaving.
Rosemary got to her feet and headed for Elizabeth. "I'll finish cleaning up this little guy, and stay with the children to you get back," she stated.
"Thank-you, Rosemary," Elizabeth said.
Once Rosemary had a hold of Little Jack, Elizabeth stepped away from the sink. Ned had left already and Lee was putting on his own coat. As Elizabeth walked over to him, Lee held her coat for her.
"Thank-you," Elizabeth murmured, her mind trying to figure out what her father might have sent. It wasn't unusual to get a small package from her parents before Christmas but they had never sent anything this big.
It wasn't long before Lee was driving the car the short distance into town. Newton was already tied near the steps of the mercantile, and Ned was just reaching his store. The mercantile owner went up the steps and made his way to the crate. Nathan, who had been standing outside of the store made his way over to him.
As Elizabeth and Lee made their way up the steps, Nathan bent down to see just how heavy the crate was. Ned hadn't been joking about it being heavy. Still squatting down next to the crate, Nathan looked up at Elizabeth. "It might be better to open it here and see what is in it. If it's not one item, it would probably be easier moving it in smaller loads."
"I'm fine with that," Elizabeth replied with a nod.
"I'll get a crow bar," Ned replied, heading into the store as Nathan stood back up.
Ned was soon back with the crow bar. He handed it to Nathan who pried the lid of the crate off. A layer of straw was revealed. On top of the straw, was an envelope. Nathan picked up the envelope and handed it to Elizabeth.
Taking the envelope from Nathan, Elizabeth opened it and took out a handwritten note from her mother.
Dearest Elizabeth,
I miss you my daughter, especially this time of year. I hope that you are starting to find the joy of the season once again. Give that grandson of mine a birthday hug from his grandmother.
Your father and I wanted to do something for you this Christmas. Knowing how much your students mean to you, we thought that providing them with some new schoolbooks as well as some books for your library would bring you joy as well. I hope we have selected well.
Also, I've included a present for Little Jack. I hope it amuses him. There is a basket for your fiancé and his daughter with some food items. As we haven't met them, I wasn't sure what to get either of them and figured they would enjoy the gift basket. Also, to remedy not knowing them, you father and I have included vouchers for train tickets. We are looking forward to seeing all of you when the time is convenient for you. Seeing you and the man you have fallen in love with is the gift I am looking forward to. Please don't wait too long.
Love,
Your Mother
"My parents sent books for both the school and the library," Elizabeth said to the gathered group. "As well as a few more personal gifts," she added. She knew she would need to share the news of the ticket voucher with Nathan but she wasn't doing it there.
"Well, I'm glad we opened it here," Lee said. "We can take the books for the library over before leaving town and we can stop by the school on the way home."
"Thank-you, Lee," Elizabeth commented.
"Do you have some smaller crates we could at least borrow for a bit, Ned?" Lee asked.
"Of course. Let me grab a few."
"I'll come with you," Lee volunteered.
As the two men disappeared into the store again, Elizabeth made her way over to Nathan. She handed the note to him, feeling it might be the best way to break the news.
"You don't mind that they paid for the tickets, do you?" Elizabeth asked quietly when Nathan looked up from reading the note.
Nathan shook his head. "I would have figured out how to pay for the trip, but if your parents want to do this as a gift for all of us, who am I to say no," Nathan told her, handing her back the note. "I need to see how things progress with Brian. I can't take leave until he's back to full duty," he told Elizabeth. "Once that happens, whenever you can arrange the time off to make the trip will work for me."
Elizabeth nodded. "I'll start making tentative plans with some of the ladies to cover classes while I'm gone after the Christmas festivities are over with. I hope my parents aren't too hard on you," she admitted, looking worried.
Reaching out, Nathan pulled her close to her side. "I hope your parents like me, but rest assured, even if they don't, I'm not going anywhere," he assured her quietly.
As the last note from the student choir faded away, Elizabeth gave a sigh of relief. The concert was over, and with the exception of Opal upsetting one of the potted flowers leaving the stage after the opening choir song, things went smoothly.
As the room broke out in applause, Elizabeth stepped to the side, allowing a clear view of the singers. She was proud of all her student performers. As the applause died down, and the students left the platform, Elizabeth stepped back to the center of the platform.
"I want to thank everyone who performed tonight and made this concert possible. I appreciate all the hard work you've put into it. Also, thank-you to everyone who came tonight in support of the hard work our performers have put into tonight's concert. It's been wonderful spending Christmas Eve with all of you and remind you that everyone is now invited to The Queen of Hearts for a community dinner. Merry Christmas."
There was a short round of applause as Elizabeth stepped down from the platform. As people started milling about, and getting ready to make the walk to the saloon, Elizabeth found Laura.
"Thank-you for watching him during the concert, Laura," Elizabeth said as she reached out for Little Jack.
"It was my pleasure," Anna told her. "I'm going to eat dinner with my family but when I'm done, I'll get Jack and take him back to your home so you can stay as late as you want."
"I appreciate it," Elizabeth told her as she put Little Jack's coat on him.
As Laura left to find her family, Ally popped up at Elizabeth's side.
"Dad's getting our coats," Ally announced, reaching out to help button Little Jack's coat so that Elizabeth didn't have to do it one handed.
"Thank-you, Ally."
By the time Nathan made his way back to the front of the school house with the coats, Little Jack had his coat, hat and mittens on.
"Na'tan," Little Jack said, holding his hands out to him as soon as he spotted the man.
Nathan gave Ally her coat and then turned to Elizabeth. "I'll switch you," Nathan said, holding out Elizabeth's coat.
Elizabeth smiled as she turned her son over to Nathan and took her coat from him. Nathan wasted no time lifting the boy into the air and making a face at him. The toddler laughed in delight, gaining the attention of several people nearby. Like Elizabeth, they smiled at the sight.
Soon though, the little group was making their way out of the little schoolhouse. As Pastor Zeke had assured her he would stay behind and be the last one out, Elizabeth didn't have to wait for everyone to leave. As soon as they were outside, Little Jack wanted down to walk. Nathan obliged carefully placing the little boy on his feet. Little Jack immediately grabbed for Ally's mittened hand.
With Jack an Ally setting the pace, the group headed toward town and the saloon. Elizabeth looped her arm through Nathan's and pressed up close to fiance's side.
"Nathan, I just wanted to say thank-you," Elizabeth said quietly as they walked.
"For what?" Nathan asked curiously.
"For loving me enough to give my heart time to heal so that I could find this happiness. Being with you, make me happy. Seeing Ally and Little Jack together makes me happy. I told you last year that I had never pictured myself raising a child alone and that was what I was focused on last year. I was still wrapped up in what I had lost, that I couldn't see the possibility that was right in front of me. You were offering me a possibility of happiness again but I was too blinded to see that then. I can see now why the trip I made to Union City hurt you so much, though I only saw it as a fun outing with a friend. I understand now why you drew away after that, and I'm sorry and so thankful that you didn't give up."
"I almost gave up," Nathan admitted, figuring that if she could bare her heart then so could he. "More than anything, I wanted to see you happy. I tried hard to accept the reality that maybe it was Lucas that could do that and not me. However, I couldn't stop loving you, Elizabeth. That day of the windstorm, all I could think of was that I couldn't lose you like I had lost Colleen. I had to keep you safe and when you put yourself at risk that scared me. I'm sorry that I yelled at you like I did."
"But it came out of love," Elizabeth said, finishing his thought for him. "I see that now. Perhaps I even saw it then, but my heart wasn't ready to accept that."
"I can't never promise I'll never get upset with something you do in the future, but I hope you'll remember that no matter how I react, deep down it comes from a place of love," Nathan told her.
Elizabeth laughed. "Jack use to get upset with some of my antics as well," she confessed. "Given how our relationship started out, sometimes I find it amazing that we fell in love. However, I guess if you don't care about somebody, then if their actions don't involve you, then they don't upset you. It's when you care about someone that their actions can upset you."
Elizabeth paused and then added, "I wish I could promise you I wouldn't do something like going out in a windstorm in search of one of my students again, but I know that wouldn't be a promise I could keep."
Nathan leaned his head against the hat that Elizabeth wore. "I kind of figured that. Your compassion for others is one of the things I love about you, Elizabeth. It's part of your inner beauty that far surpasses you outer beauty."
Elizabeth didn't reply but instead let the compliment sink in. The words were just as pretty as anything Lucas had ever said to her, but somehow they sounded more sincere. Perhaps it was because Nathan used words so sparingly, though she was learning that he could be quite talkative in a more intimate setting.
