A few hours later, Elizabeth was on Sargent heading out to the land that Jack had bought before going to the Northern Territories. Land that had become hers though she hadn't really thought about what she would do with it. With her job and Jack's pension, there had been no pressure to need to sell it and so it had sat there, undeveloped. A place for her to think and feel close to Jack.

The entire day had been overcast but looking at the clouds, it didn't look as if they would bring rain. Then again, she and Jack hadn't expected to get rained on the first time they had walked out here either.

Glancing to her right, Elizabeth watched Nathan momentarily as they rode side-by-side. He looked completely at ease and hadn't asked again where she was taken him. She liked the fact that he would come with her without an explanation, much like she had with Jack on more than one occasion.

"I opened the letter from Colleen this morning," Elizabeth stated, wanting him to know. "I believe that was the first time I heard anyone refer to you as Nate."

"Colleen was the only one who ever really used that nickname," Nathan replied. "Gabe did when we first met, but after Colleen's death, he stopped without me even asking. I think he knew it was too painful in those early months without her."

"You don't need to worry about anything she wrote in that letter. Colleen seemed like she was a sweet, insightful person. The letter made me feel a connection with her, even though I'll never meet her. Thank-you for having the courage to share it with me," Elizabeth said, knowing that Nathan could have easily destroyed the letter and no one would have known.

"I may not have known about that particular letter when I promised to make sure they were read at the appropriate times but I did make her that promise. It would have felt like a betrayal to destroy the letter or not give it to you."

"I could tell from the letter the two of you were close," Elizabeth continued. "I think it helped me understand how her loss affected you and her words gave me a better understanding of you. I think that part of what her purpose was in writing it. Colleen also mentioned that she wanted her daughter to have another mother figure in her life someday, and that she trusted that if you had asked me to marry you then she knew I would be worthy of that role."

Beside her, Nathan looked up at sky. Elizabeth saw him swallow hard a couple of times as he struggled with his emotions. Reaching out, she placed a hand gently on Nathan's arm.

"Losing Colleen was the hardest thing I ever had to face," Nathan finally admitted, his voice thick with emotion. "My biggest fear is failing in raising her daughter."

"Well, I've told you before but I'll say it again. You've done a wonderful job with Ally so far," Elizabeth said. "From here on out, you've got me to help you with her, just like I'll have you to help me raise Jack. We both might be good parents by ourselves, but we'll do better with each other to lean on."

Nathan let go of the reign with his left hand to lay his hand on top of the hand resting on his arm.

"I'm a lucky man to have you in my life, Elizabeth," he told her before withdrawing his hand.

"I feel like I'm the lucky one," Elizabeth told him before removing her hand from his arm.

The two rode in a comfortable silence after that. It wasn't much longer before they reached their destination.

"Here we are," Elizabeth said, reigning in Sargent. When the horse was standing still, she slipped easily from the saddle.

"I've been up here before," Nathan admitted, dismounting Newton. "It has such a lovely view. I've often wondered why no one has built a house up here," he added as he came around his horse to stand by Elizabeth's side.

The two of them stood side by side, looking out over the trees that surrounded the area. Elizabeth found it just as breathtaking as she did the first time Jack had brought her up here. Like all the other times she had been up here in the last couple of years, she felt a sense of peace wash over her.

"There were plans for a house to be built here," Elizabeth said quietly.

With the hand not holding Newton's reigns, Nathan looped her hand around Elizabeth's waist pulling her close.

"Was this land that Jack bought?" Nathan asked.

Still holding Sargent's reigns in one hand, Elizabeth looped a hand around Nathan and leaned close to him.

"Yes," Elizabeth said. "He bought it and we talked about the house we would build here a few times. Sadly, all it ever was, was talk. When Jack died, the land became mine. At first I didn't even want to think about the land. It seemed like all it held were broken dreams. As time went by, it became a place I could come and feel closer to Jack. I figured I'd hold onto it and perhaps hand it down to Little Jack someday. However, now I think it could hold the key to new dreams."

"I'm not sure I'm following you," Nathan replied, leaning his cheek against the top of her head.

"I know you like to keep things simple," Elizabeth began, a smile coming to her face as she said the words. "However, while one of the row houses would be fine to begin our lives in, they don't exactly leave room for our family to grow."

"I will concede that point," Nathan replied.

"We've talked a bit about our wedding plans, but I think as it's the beginning of a new year, that this might be the day we discuss a little further into the future," Elizabeth said, turning her head so that she could look up at Nathan. "I think this land will allow us to realize that future, whether we build here or we sell it and pick out a place together."

"Which would you prefer?" Nathan asked, turning to face her even as he left his hand at Elizabeth's waist. "You're the one who has memories here."

Elizabeth looked around. Nathan was right. She did have memories here. She could hear echoes of the conversations she had with Jack. She remembered coming up here after the funeral to feel closer to Jack. However, along with those memories she saw the new possibilities that the land held along with its beauty. She could see her and Nathan sitting on the front porch while Little Jack and Ally played in the yard. She could see her walking with Ally as they set off for the schoolhouse together.

Elizabeth looked back up at Nathan. "I would like to keep the land. It is important to me, both for the memories I already have and the ones that I can make here with you, Ally and Little Jack and any other children that we are blessed with. The dreams Jack and I made may never have come to be but I think he'd be happy to know that other dreams did come true here."

As if in response to her words, the solid blanket of clouds that had been with them all day parted enough to let a ray of sun break through. That one ray fell upon Elizabeth and Nathan as they stood facing each other.

"I think someone is trying to tell us something," Nathan replied, looking down at Elizabeth.

"Could you be happy here knowing Jack bought it for him and me?" Elizabeth asked, feeling uneasy. She knew it was asking a lot and Nathan had already given her so much.

"The fact that I would be living in the house we made plans for together and watching our children grow up would make me very happy," Nathan told her before pressing his lips against hers.

Raising slightly on her toes, Elizabeth returned the kiss. Though part of her didn't want this moment to end, she knew that it would. However, though the kiss might end, her journey with Nathan was at its beginning. They would return to Hope Valley and to Alley and Little Jack. They would return to the planning of their lives together.

Today was the first day of a new year. A year that held so much promise. She would introduce Nathan and Ally not only to the world she grew up in but to her parents. Elizabeth hoped that she had better prepared them for that venture than she had Jack. Then there was the wedding and meeting Nathan's mother. She hoped Nathan's mother approved of her but even if she didn't, like Nathan, she knew she wasn't going anywhere. God had seen fit to place a second love in her life. It had taken thinking she had lost Nathan to see that blessing, but she saw it now. She saw it and she planned on accepting it with an open heart.