One minute he was happily playing with his trains by the side of the porch, and the next he was gone.
Rosemary was watching Jack outside when Robert and Allie walked by and sat down to play with him for a while. Then they'd moved up to Elizabeth's porch to sit and enjoy the sunshine. It was a warm day, and Rosemary had gone inside to get them all a glass of cold lemonade. "Don't take your eyes off him for a second, you two. He's fast," she said, raising her eyebrows in warning.
Allie smiled, and restrained herself from rolling her eyes. "I think we can handle it, Mrs. Coulter." She looked at Robert, who smiled back as Rosemary went inside her house. Then the moment lengthened and in a timid, impulsive move, Robert reached over to Allie and took her hand. They both went silent and wide-eyed, lost in a tide of shyness and wonder. It felt like only seconds had gone by when they both heard Rosemary's voice again.
"Where's Jack?" Rosemary said, standing on her own steps with two glasses of lemonade in her hands. She tried to stem the wave of dread that was snaking through her, as she stepped down and roughly put the glasses on her porch, spilling most of their contents. She ran to Jack's toys, now sitting alone and still, and looked wildly around. "Where is Jack?" she said, frantically, looking back at Robert and Allie, who were now up and running toward the nearby woods.
"Jack!" Robert called out, pointing Allie toward the other side of the path. "Jack!"
Rosemary took Robert's arm. "Run as fast as you can and get Nathan at the Mountie office, and then go to the saloon and find Elizabeth. Run!" she said, her voice high-pitched and terrified.
Moving to the edge of the woods and calling Jack's name, Rosemary felt the tears start. Watching Jack had been an olive branch that Elizabeth had cautiously offered. They were still not on the best of terms, but Elizabeth had acknowledged this morning that Rosemary's honesty had made her look clearly at what she'd been doing. It had hit her like a lightning bolt at last night's reception when she'd looked over at Rosemary, and that had been what caused her to go to Nathan and ask him to step outside.
So, this morning, Elizabeth had come to Rosemary's door with Jack and they had talked. And as they'd talked, Elizabeth began to realize what she needed to tell Lucas. To apologize for raising his hopes, to try to explain her actions, to let him know that she knew now where her heart needed to be.
"What have I been doing? What have I been thinking?" She put her head in her hands and Rosemary put an arm around her.
"You've been thinking that you could save yourself the pain of losing Nathan…" Rosemary started.
Elizabeth's head snapped up. "And instead, I've just been losing him every day. Losing the time I could have been spending with him. With Allie." She closed her eyes at the memory of their faces. "Rosemary, I've hurt them so badly…"
Rosemary pulled Elizabeth into a hug and spoke softly to her. "Nathan told me he can't let you go easily, and he won't." She pulled away and looked into her friend's eyes, watching a tear move slowly down her cheek. "What did you say last night? When you went outside?"
"I told him I don't blame him for Jack's death. That it could have been anyone that Jack replaced, and it just happened to be him."
Rosemary smiled. "That was very brave of you. And kind." She wiped another tear gently from Elizabeth's cheek. "And what did he say?"
"He said thank you. And he took my hand. And then…" Elizabeth smiled. "And then I took his other hand. We just stood there for the longest time. I felt like we… like we had a whole conversation... My hands were… warm… I've never felt anything like that with Lucas..." She laughed softly and looked down at the ring on her finger, twirling it slowly. "I've been so blind, Rosemary. It's always been Nathan. And I've been so afraid something would happen to him, like… Jack… but what I didn't realize is that I would feel that pain whether I'm with him or not. And if I'm not with him, then all I've done is missed out on so many memories that we could be making now. It wouldn't hurt any less…" She looked up quickly. "It wouldn't hurt any less," she repeated, the understanding finally hitting home.
Rosemary moved a strand of hair gently from Elizabeth's forehead. "No, it wouldn't hurt any less."
"I have to talk to Lucas. Now," Elizabeth said. "And then, I have to talk to Nathan." She looked over at Jack, who was quietly playing with the toys Rosie and Lee always had at their house for him.
"I don't like to take Jack to the saloon," Elizabeth said with a sigh, and shaking her head. "Can you imagine?" She exhaled deeply and looked at Rosemary. "This was never going to work out."
"Of course I'll watch Jack," Rosemary said, nodding.
Now Elizabeth's eyes were bright with resolve, with clarity, and now that she'd decided, she couldn't wait to get on with the rest of her life. To have the difficult conversation with Lucas. And then to tell Nathan that he had been right that day. She did feel the same way he did.
She always had.
Nathan leaned back in his chair and thought again that he needed to get some oil from the livery to get rid of the squeak. But right now, nothing bothered him. He hadn't been able to wipe the smile from his face since last night, and he was hopeful for the first time in such a long time.
The light that had been missing from Elizabeth's eyes was back. Even in the dim glow of the window last night outside the saloon, he'd seen it.
Leaning forward, he put his head in his hands. When he'd felt her hand on his shoulder, when she'd asked him to step outside with her, he'd steeled himself for what was coming. This was finally it.
Because through all the weeks after he'd told her he loved her, she'd never once told him to stop. She'd never said she didn't love him. She'd never said she loved Lucas. He'd given her plenty of chances to say it, but she hadn't, and that was what had kept the glimmer of hope alive in him.
But as he followed Elizabeth outside, his heart was hammering. She was going to tell him that she didn't love him and never would. She was going to repeat what Lucas had just said to him, that it was time for him to let her go. What Rosemary had said, that he was causing everyone pain with his stubbornness, his refusal to face the facts.
So in those few moments between the door and the boardwalk, Nathan heard the entire conversation in his head. This was it. The end. He'd have to find a way to move on.
"Jack might have taken the place for anyone on that mission. It just happened to be you. And I want you to know, from the bottom of my heart, I don't blame you for his death."
For a moment Nathan had to hear her words echoing in his head in order to believe them.
When he finally found his voice, there were only two words to say. "Thank you."
From the first tender sparks between them in the schoolroom, then in the library, then when she'd all but asked him to stay in Hope Valley and he'd dared to hope she might feel the same; he'd been carrying a weight. It was now so familiar to him, it was like a part of his own body, like bones that are too heavy, that wear you down for so long that they become your daily burden to bear, a part of your own natural landscape.
As Elizabeth looked at him in the light from the saloon window, that weight lifted, rose into the air, and it seemed to take his senses with it. Because before he knew it, he had reached out and taken her hand, the same soft, small hand he'd held the night before. Except tonight, instead of being warm, it was cold. And tonight, her eyes were open.
And just as he was thinking that he should let her go, that he was pushing too hard again, she reached out and took his other hand, and every one of his senses exploded. Like an electrical circuit had closed, the circle of their arms contained a love that was palpable, crackling with energy and warmth. Her hands were no longer cold.
Nathan wanted nothing more than to tell her again how much he loved her, but he'd promised himself that if this ever happened, he would wait. Now she needed to say it. So he stayed silent and felt every emotion coursing through his body. And he didn't need to speak, because he could see it in her eyes. They stood there for seconds, or an eternity. He had no idea how long it was; but then a noise from inside pulled them both away and their hands dropped. In truth, Nathan needed to get away before he simply took her in his arms and kissed her. The need was almost more than he could bear.
"I should…" Elizabeth started nervously, with a small incline of her head toward the door.
"Yes…" he said, before she'd even finished saying the words. He was backing away, lessening the magnetic pull that was making it more and more difficult to keep space between them. She seemed to be doing the same, and he knew in an instant that she had felt it all, that their connection was stronger than ever, and that a lifetime wasn't too long to wait for her.
She was almost to the door when he called out softly, "'Lizbeth."
Turning, he could see the familiar tenderness that came into her eyes when he shortened her name that way. She raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled, waiting.
He looked down for a moment, forming his words. "Thank you for telling me that. You can't know…"
Now her smile widened, and the light was in her eyes again. "Oh, I think I do." She paused there, looking at him, clearly deciding about something, and he waited, patiently. If Nathan had learned anything in recent days, it was patience.
"I don't think I can go back in there," she said quietly. She had the look of a trapped animal, and Nathan walked to her, careful not to crowd her. He knew trapped animals, and they could be a little skittish.
"What can I do?" he said softly.
The gratitude in her eyes made him almost weak in the knees. "Get my coat and bag from the rack by the door and then come out and walk me home?" she said, her eyes darting from his to the saloon window.
"Of course," he said gently. "I'll just let Allie know where I'm going," he said, starting for the door.
Elizabeth's eyes went wide. "Oh, will she be okay with you doing that? I don't want to…"
Nathan couldn't stop himself from gently touching her arm. "Believe me, she'll be thrilled," he said with a short laugh.
Elizabeth laughed too, softly, and looked down. "Yes, I imagine she will be."
Nathan searched the room for Lucas, but he must have been in the back. He quickly let Allie know where he was going and managed to make his way back outside with Elizabeth's coat and bag without anyone really noticing.
Moment by moment, he was doing things that were giving him so much happiness that he thought he might be imagining it all. The perfume that wafted from her coat as he helped her into it, touching her hand again as he gave her the small bag, walking with her to the row houses under starlight, as they talked about the wedding and how beautiful Florence looked. How proud Ned was, about Joseph and the joy of having a pastor again. Nothing and everything. They were so easy together, so in love without ever acknowledging the peace they were both feeling. The rightness of being together.
Before he knew it, they were there. He kept his distance from her, giving her space, but as she stood at her door she reached her hand out again. They both needed the touch of the other, and he put his hand in hers while she thanked him and said goodnight.
And then she was gone, and Nathan realized he'd been holding his breath, wondering if this was real. He looked down and flexed his hands, splaying out his long fingers, still feeling the electricity that had just run through them.
Now, sitting in his chair in his office, he looked at his hands again. Two nights in a row, they had held Elizabeth's. Hope is the thing with feathers, he said silently, and his heart expanded.
He looked up and found himself thinking about Jack Thornton, who had spent so many hours in this very office, in this chair, and Nathan closed his eyes. I didn't mean to fall in love with her. But if you can give us your blessing, I promise you I'll never let harm come to either of them.
"Constable Grant!" Robert burst into the office, his face a mask of fear. "Come quickly. Jack is missing!"
Lucas knew.
He'd known for a long time, really. But when he had a good hand, he didn't believe in standing up until all the cards were on the table. He kept telling himself that there was a chance that he was misconstruing the looks, the arguments, whatever this dysfunctional attraction was between them. He knew he should feel like he'd won this race, but it was becoming ever clearer that he was simply the one Elizabeth had chosen to try to deny her feelings for Nathan.
She liked him, he knew that. They were friends. Good friends. But when he'd wanted so much to kiss her, he'd seen a look in her eyes that had made him feel as if he was taking advantage of a woman who was not capable of rational thought - and Lucas was many things, but he was not the type of man who would take a woman against her will.
He'd backed off after that. Since then, she had been the one who had reached for his hand, who had offered him a seat much too close; but she was trying too hard. In gambling terms, Lucas knew that Elizabeth was bluffing.
Lucas was a man who wanted to protect a woman, keep her from the difficulties of life, just as he'd watched his father do with his mother. So when he offered to talk to Nathan about why he hadn't told Elizabeth right away about Fort Clay, he was disappointed that she had said she wanted to do it herself. How is a knight in shining armor supposed to do his job if a woman won't let him?
And then, when she'd told him that Nathan had confessed that he loved her - not once, but twice - and that her answer had been to say nothing, Lucas knew. If she had told Nathan she didn't love him, or that he needed to give up this ridiculous stand of his, or better yet, if she'd told Nathan she loved Lucas… that would have been progress. But no, silence was all she gave him.
Lucas moved behind the bar and pulled down a china cup and saucer for some tea. It relaxed him and gave him something to do with his hands when he was restless. As he watched the steam rise, he leaned on the bar. He knew that he should tell all of this to Elizabeth - explain that he could see that she held a passion for Nathan that he'd never seen in her eyes for him. But the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her, and he was afraid of that look, the one he'd seen before in a woman's eyes.
Raising the cup to his lips, Lucas wondered if he truly loved Elizabeth. He cared deeply for her, but the raw truth that was beginning to dawn on him was that he could never love her the way Nathan did. More importantly, if he were in Nathan's position, Lucas knew he would have given up long ago.
The irony of all this was that Elizabeth had finally gotten him to pick up a book by Virginia Woolf. He'd just been reading Night and Day, and a line had jumped out at him as if it had been written specifically for this absurd situation in which he found himself.
"I see you everywhere, in the stars, in the river, to me you're everything that exists; the reality of everything."
As he read that speech, he wanted so much to believe that it applied to his feelings for Elizabeth, or hers for him. But the stark truth was that it belonged to them - to Elizabeth and Nathan.
He'd seen that so clearly last night. After telling Nathan to stop pressuring Elizabeth, she'd made a fool of him by walking right up to Nathan and asking him outside. Because clearly what she had to say to him couldn't be said in public - not that it had stopped them from showing their feelings in public at every opportunity. He'd hoped that she might be telling Nathan once and for all that she didn't want his attentions, that she had made her choice, and it was time for him to move on.
Lucas had been unable to keep himself from going to the window, and now her cards were truly on the table. Unlike the party the other night, when Elizabeth had been tricked into choosing Nathan's hands - this time the blindfold was off and she stood gazing at him with a look that Lucas had never seen. Open, vulnerable, raw, loving. He'd had to move away and busy himself behind the bar, but there was no unseeing that moment. He'd gone into the kitchen to check on the food, and when he'd come back, Elizabeth's coat and bag were gone, and Nathan was nowhere to be found. She hadn't even said goodnight.
It was over and he knew it.
Finishing his tea, Lucas moved the cup and saucer into the wash bucket, and came out from behind the bar. The lunch crowd would be coming in soon and he needed to check with Gustav about the menu. He wondered suddenly if his heart was broken, and realized that it wasn't. Life would go on. The last thing he wanted was to be someone's second choice.
Lucas turned, and there she was. Standing in the half-open door with the light of day behind her, her hair shining with a golden halo around it. He smiled, suddenly aware of how he would miss the times when he'd thought it might work - how he would miss her. But he knew they would always be friends, no matter what. And he was glad it hadn't gone further than it did. He'd never even kissed her. And now he knew he never would.
"Elizabeth," he said softly. He saw her take a deep breath, a fortification against what she had to tell him.
"Lucas, we need to talk."
He moved toward her, again realizing how beautiful she was; graceful, sweet, confused, complex Elizabeth. He reached out his hand, but before he could touch her, Lucas saw the shock of red serge behind her, almost poetic in the doorway. I see you everywhere…
"Elizabeth, you need to come with me now," Nathan said. He was in full Mountie mode, Lucas thought, and he knew immediately that something had happened. She turned, and Nathan said as calmly as possible, "Jack wandered away. I promise you, we'll find him, but we need to go now."
Elizabeth let out a gasp and then a cry, and without another glance to Lucas, he watched her run with Nathan to Newton as he hoisted her up in the saddle and pulled himself up behind her. They rode off at a gallop toward the row houses, and Lucas was left standing on the landing outside the saloon. Just as he had been a year ago as he watched Elizabeth run into Nathan's arms.
He took a deep breath and got his coat, heading toward his car. The entire town would be mobilized to find Jack, and he wanted to be among them.
Elizabeth held tight to the horn of the saddle, though she knew with Nathan's strong arm around her waist that she was going nowhere. She kept trying to ask him questions, but her throat was choked as her tears flew back and soaked into the red serge of his jacket, caught on the wind as Newton raced them back to the row houses.
All along the way, Nathan was calling out to everyone he saw, "Jack is missing, probably in the woods, we need everyone who can to come help!" Nathan knew that darkness would be here before they knew it, and he understood those woods. Deep and thick with brush and animals. Jack would be no match for that environment as the night turned quickly cold.
Nathan kept pushing down the stark fear that was rising in his chest. He had been drawn to Jack from the moment he'd first held him at the christening, initially because he considered him a child in his care, and then because the little boy seemed to reach out to him in ways that went beyond just his protection. When he'd given Elizabeth the plaque, then at the pond, then out in front of the Mountie office - he'd felt so connected to Jack, and that connection had rapidly turned to love.
Nathan couldn't be more heartsick or worried or terrified if Jack were his own. In truth, he'd long considered that Jack was his own.
When they reached Elizabeth's row house, there were already a dozen people working their way around the area. Nathan jumped down from Newton and put his hands around Elizabeth's waist to help her quickly to the ground. "What was Jack wearing?"
Elizabeth's eyes were wild with fear, but she managed to think. "Green plaid shirt, tan pants with suspenders." She looked frantically to Rosemary. "Jacket?" Rosemary shook her head in regret, and Elizabeth's voice choked. "No jacket."
Nathan raised his hands and forced his voice into authority, the way he'd been trained. People responded and suddenly the group stopped and listened. "Be systematic. Keep your eyes down at his level. Work your way around an area looking for a change in colors. Unfortunately, his clothes will make him blend in with the surroundings. Listen for sounds. Call his name, but then listen for an answer. If you find him, start shouting as loudly as you can and bring him back here. Keep him warm..." With the last words, Nathan's voice finally broke. It was so cold at night. So cold.
As everyone moved off, Nathan turned and looked at Elizabeth. Her face was pale, ashen, her eyes red-rimmed. He could see that she was on the edge of breaking, and he needed her to stay strong. He pulled her toward him and surrounded her with his long arms, feeling her shaking, and hoping that she couldn't feel that he was as well.
"I need you to stay here and wait," Nathan said, knowing she would protest. Elizabeth pulled away and looked at him, her eyes stricken.
"No!" she said. "I need to help. I need to look for him!"
Nathan let his gloves drop to the ground and quickly put his hands on her face. "No," he said quietly. "You need to be here when he's found. He'll need you. He'll need home." He couldn't stop the glisten of tears that were forming in his eyes, but he managed to keep his voice steady. "You are his home. You are Jack's world, Elizabeth."
For a moment they both looked at each other as she recognized the words he'd used. It was intentional, and Nathan knew she would understand. He saw the light dawn in her eyes and she calmed a little. "Yes," she said softly. "You're right. I'll be here when he comes home."
Nathan turned to put his foot in the stirrup and Elizabeth held his arm. He could feel her fingers digging into his skin through the serge. She took hold of him and said through her teeth, "Find him, Nathan."
He nodded. "I will."
Within seconds, he was up on Newton and headed out at a gallop down the road she'd seen him travel to and from her house so many times. She knew he was going further than those on foot and he would work his way back.
Above all, she knew that Nathan wouldn't rest until he'd brought her son back to her.
It was a butterfly.
Jack had been hooking his engine to his caboose, and suddenly a yellow and orange and brown butterfly had landed right on his hand. Like it was saying hello. He smiled and watched as it fluttered its wings a few times and he felt the tiny legs tickle his skin. Then it rose into the air and flew away.
He stood and watched and then he followed. He ran toward the forest, keeping his eyes focused on the way it moved up and down and made lazy circles in the warm air. By the time it landed again, Jack was surrounded by trees, and under his feet was the soft grass of the forest, with patches of pine needles and leaves and the deadfall of the larch and birch trees.
The butterfly rose again and he ran. Because of the way it climbed and fell, moving this way and that, Jack was able to keep up with it, until finally it flew too high and the dappled sun between the leaves got in his eyes and he lost it.
Jack felt like he'd been running for a long time and he was tired. He sat down on the soft mossy floor of the forest and looked around him. Where was Mama? Where was the house? Auntie Rosie? Laura? Allie? He was thirsty and a little hungry and he waited for a while for someone to come get him.
Then he thought he'd call out and see if Mama was behind a tree, playing a game with him. "Mama?" Then louder. "MAMA?" Then Jack didn't like being alone, and he thought he didn't like this game very much. "MAMA!" he yelled, and it turned into a cry and he sat back down with a thump, with big tears rolling down his cheeks.
And finally, just like he did sometimes at night, Jack just laid down, whimpering, and closed his eyes. The tears were still wet on his cheeks when he fell asleep.
It was Newton who found him.
Nathan had ridden for a while and then he jumped down and turned toward the trees, pulling the reins behind him. Newton balked and turned his head back the way they had come.
"C'mon, buddy, I don't have time for this," Nathan said, still trying to push down the knot of fear in his chest.
Newton looked him right in the eye and turned his head back toward town, tugging the reins almost out of Nathan's hands.
A memory returned from not too long ago, when Nathan had spent the night out in these woods nursing the bruised ribs that Dylan Parks had given him. He was much further out and had a long walk back to town in the early morning when he finally felt he could make the trip. Newton had found him.
And now, even through his worry and terror, and the feeling that they were all searching for a needle in a haystack, Nathan looked into Newton's eyes. "You like Jack, don't you, boy?" Newton got spooked by little children for some reason, but not Jack.
Nathan continued to look into the deep brown of his eyes and was struck, as he always was, by some kind of wisdom and communication he felt with his horse. There were times when he thought horses were smarter than humans, because they didn't spend all of their time talking. And Nathan knew one thing about Newton. If he was on a rocky slope or a difficult path, the smartest thing was to let go of the reins and let him have his head. Newton always knew better what the best path would be.
Holding his hands on either side of Newton's long, sleek face, Nathan said, "Help me find him?" and Newton immediately turned back the way they'd come. Nathan followed, holding the reins loosely, and after about 100 yards, the horse stopped. And instead of looking in the woods on the same side of the road as the house, Newton crossed the road and moved into the trees.
It was then that Nathan heard it. The faint, distant sound of a tired cry. Jack had awakened and still found himself here, alone, and had started to cry again, but without nearly the power behind it as earlier. There were shadows in the trees and it was cooler than it was in the sunshine. Jack felt cold.
"Jack?" Nathan called, his heart in his throat.
"Mama!" Jack called out, and stood up, moving toward the sound.
"JACK!" Nathan yelled again, frantically running through the low-hanging branches of the aspen trees and their fluttering leaves, scratching his face and catching on the wool of the serge.
Now Jack knew who it was, because he recognized his voice. Laura had played with him with his Mountie and horse. Jack knew that Nathan was a Mountie because Nathan had given him the small carved figures last Christmas. And Laura had always called him Mountie Nathan when they played. Jack had tried to say Nathan and had only managed "Aten" but now he yelled it for everything he was worth. If he couldn't have Mama it would be okay if the Mountie in the red coat came and got him, because that's what he always did when Jack and Laura played. He rescued people. He saved them.
When they finally met under a large pine, Nathan scooped Jack up into his arms, and both of them held tight, still saying the names that had brought them to each other, the tears on their cheeks blending.
"Aten."
"Jack."
Elizabeth thought the sun had gone down another inch in the sky. She held Rosemary's hand in a vice grip that had long ago taken all of the feeling out of her friends fingers.
"What time is it?" Elizabeth asked. She'd asked so many times that Rosemary had taken Lucas' pocket watch from him so that she didn't have to keep going into the house to look at the clock.
"It's been another ten minutes," Rosemary said softly. She was just glad that Elizabeth was allowing her to sit with her. Consumed by guilt, Rosemary knew there would be words later, but right now the only thing that mattered was getting Jack home. Rosemary simply couldn't consider any other options.
Allie had been out walking the woods since the very beginning of the search and now she was resting on the other end of the porch, desolate, her cheeks tear-stained. If possible, her sense of guilt was even greater than Rosemary's. Opal was on one side of her and Emily on the other, and they held her as if she might actually fall apart if they let go.
A sound broke the silence, and everyone looked up at once. It was coming from the road. It sounded like whoops of joy, coming from far away, and for a moment, no one moved. They were trying to place what they were hearing in memory, and when it clicked, everyone stood. Then Elizabeth started running.
"Jack!" she called out, and she kept calling until she saw them come around the corner. Nathan on Newton, holding Jack in the saddle with him, tired, dirty, but safe, and now, smiling.
The smile turned into a cry and Jack called, "MAMA!" Elizabeth ran faster and Nathan moved Newton into a trot. When they reached each other, he leapt down, still holding Jack tightly, and the three of them came together, crying, laughing, Elizabeth holding Jack as Nathan held them both.
Elizabeth kissed Jack's face, over and over, tasting his tears, "I love you, I love you, Jack, so much. I was so worried! Oh, Mama loves you." She looked up at Nathan and her eyes filled again. It was suddenly all so clear that the last weeks felt like a distant memory. The words just flowed effortlessly from her son to the man who was holding her, his own cheeks wet and shining in relief, and his eyes so full of love for her.
Reaching up a hand, Elizabeth cupped his cheek and ran a tender finger over the scratches there. "I love you, Nathan," she said softly. "I love you." Her smile blossomed as the truth of what she was saying ran like fire through her body. "I'm in love with you."
Nathan bent to her, and finally, gently, touched his lips to hers. Of all the ways he'd dreamed this would happen, this wasn't a scene he'd imagined. But the kiss itself was more than even he had hoped, its heat mirroring and multiplying what they'd felt through their hands. Jack, calmed now, snuggled blissfully between them, warm at last.
Allie had been running after Elizabeth and she reached them, so grateful that Jack was safe, her face full of relief. Nathan and Elizabeth laughed and folded her in with their arms, and the four of them stood, joined together in such a way that none of them knew where they ended and the others began.
Nathan closed his eyes. If he'd been looking for a blessing, he felt he'd found it. To discover a little boy in the middle of a forest went beyond luck or chance - it moved into the territory of a miracle. I couldn't save you, Jack, but I could help to save your son. And I promise you that they will never want for anything. Smiling, Nathan looked at Elizabeth. It had long ago ceased to be duty that tied him to her, and now he also felt himself released by Jack. They had both forgiven him, and as he held her, and his new family, tightly - Nathan forgave himself.
Brought by the noise, people began to emerge from the woods and stood a respectful distance from the joy and tenderness of the reunion. Jack was safe and some of the onlookers were crying, some clapping each other on the back in honor of the successful search - but all felt the warmth and happiness of the town coming together, yet again.
Lucas stood off of the road, his sides heaving from the long run as he'd followed the noises. He bent down with his hands on his knees, catching his breath. Looking up, he took in the sight of Elizabeth in Nathan's arms, Jack held between them, and Allie with her arms around both. At the same time he felt his heart tighten, he realized how right it all seemed.
There was no question what he was seeing. A family.
He felt something tug at his chin and looked over. Fiona was standing next to him with a small stick in her hand that she had just pulled from his beard.
Lucas laughed softly. "I guess I am in need of another trim," he said.
Fiona raised an eyebrow. "Not ready to shave it all off yet?" she said, giving him a brilliant smile.
Lucas thought for a moment and then said, "Why not? Maybe it's time to find out what's under there."
Laughing, Fiona turned back toward town. "You let me know when you're ready," she said.
Lucas watched her for a short time, gratefully feeling pulled from the family scene behind him. She's got spirit, he thought.
Slowly he began to walk, and then stretched his long legs to catch up with her.