(Note: I know that Abigail isn't officially Jack's godmother in the episodes that aired, but for the purposes of this story I'm using the original storylines.)

Nathan was sitting in his office when Bill walked in. "Hey Nathan. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he lied.

Bill pulled over a chair and sat across from Nathan. "How are you really?"

Nathan hesitated. He didn't normally share his feelings with others. But he and Bill were becoming close friends and Nathan knew he wouldn't give up on this. "I'm a mess," he answered truthfully. "If I had just moved the gun more out of the way."

"Then you would have shot me and the other Mountie." Bill said, cutting him off. "Nathan, you saved our lives!" He gratefully exclaimed.

"But if I hadn't touched the gun at all…"

"Then you would have died. You would have left Allie without a guardian. Imagine what Elizabeth would have done. You saw her face when she thought you were the one who died. There wasn't a good outcome once the gun was shot, Nathan. Someone was going to die and the blame for that lies with the O'Rourkes." Bill told him firmly. "Besides, it was the Mountie's own fault for pulling out the gun. You had the situation handled. If he hadn't done that you would have convinced O'Rourke to give you her gun and everyone would have been fine. It was not your fault Nathan."

"You're right Bill. Thanks for helping me. I appreciate that you dealt with their transfer this morning." Nathan responded graciously.

"It was the least I could do. As for the other person on your mind right now, I've known her for a long time. Be patient. She's more ready than she realizes."

Nathan smiled. "Thanks for the advice, Bill."

Abigail made her way to her old row house the following morning. Cody was thrilled to be back in Hope Valley and had decided to spend the day with Robert. Abigail planned to talk to Bill in the afternoon about business at the cafe and resuming her duties as mayor. Right now, she was excited to catch up with Elizabeth and spend more time with her godson. Elizabeth opened the door and wrapped her arms around Abigail, so excited that her friend was back in Hope Valley.

"Come inside Abigail. Would you like some tea?" Elizabeth asked, closing the door behind them.

The two friends sat drinking tea as Little Jack played with his Mountie figurine and a toy horse on the floor. Elizabeth shared everything that hadn't made it into her letters the last year and a half, along with more recent news. She told Abigail all about the prisoner transfer and the hug. She poured out all of the feelings that had been hidden inside of her for so long. While Rosemary was a great friend and had helped Elizabeth tremendously, their relationship was very different from her and Abigail's.

When she finished talking Abigail had the full picture. "Elizabeth, have you ever thought that maybe you aren't having trouble deciding between Lucas and Nathan, but rather struggling with letting Jack go? I feel badly that I haven't been here to help you over the last year and a half. I can tell that you could have used a best friend to lean on. But I'm here now and I think that you're ready to move on. Elizabeth let me give you this piece of advice: don't try to protect yourself by keeping your heart closed off to love. Whether or not you know it, it's already open. Now it's time for you to embrace it. Jack would want you and Little Jack to be happy. So do I. He's a good man, Elizabeth, and he'll be a wonderful father to Little Jack." Elizabeth heard her friend's true words and she felt a release. Tears streamed down her face and wet the top of her dress.

"Thank you Abigail. Would you mind watching Little Jack for an hour or so? I have some things to do that I should have done a long time ago."

Elizabeth hoisted herself up onto Sergeant. One day when Little Jack is old enough to ride a horse, Sergeant will be his. Until then she was taking care of the precious horse for both of her Jacks. She had so many thoughts running through her head after her conversation with Abigail. Was she ready to move on? She was so engrossed that she rode on autopilot and hadn't noticed where she was going. Sergeant came to a stop in a very familiar clearing. She dismounted and sat down on a rock. With her eyes closed she ran her fingers over the rock's surface finding the engraving. Inside the carved heart she felt their initials, JT+ET. After Jack had passed Elizabeth couldn't bring herself to build the house without him so the land had just sat empty. She would always come to their special spot when she was struggling with her grief. At the beginning she was coming every day but lately her visits had been scarce. She put her hand in her pocket and felt Jack's letter. Abigail's words had reminded her of the letter he had written in case anything were to happen to him. Just like she had done after he passed she opened the letter and started reading it to herself:

"I need you to promise me one thing, Elizabeth. You will open your heart to love again. Know that I want nothing more than your happiness. You are the perfect woman. You showed me what it feels like to be truly loved. For that I am eternally grateful. Yours forever, Jack."

This time when she came to the end of the letter instead of feeling a deep sadness, she felt peace. She was finally ready to let go of Jack.

She whispered her thoughts out loud in the empty field, "I will always love you Jack, but you and Abigail were right. My heart is finally ready to open to another man's love. Thank you for giving me the closure that I desperately needed." Elizabeth kissed the letter and put it back into the envelope. She looked down and saw her rings glistening in the sunlight. It was time. She slid her wedding rings off her left hand and gently put them into the envelope with the letter. When she got home she would put them away for safekeeping in case Little Jack wanted them one day. She blew one final kiss to their special spot and mounted Sergeant ready to tackle the conversation she needed to have next.

Now Elizabeth knew what she had to do. As she walked down Main Street she turned towards the saloon and headed straight to Lucas's office. She figured that was their best chance to have a private conversation. She knocked on the door and heard footsteps on the other side. When the door opened and Lucas saw it was her, his face fell. He knew what she had come here to say because he had been planning on approaching her soon.

"Come in," he told her, motioning to his office.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "Your new office is nice."

Lucas nodded his head. "Thanks."

"Elizabeth,"

"Lucas," they said at the same time.

"You go first," Lucas told her.

"Lucas, I'm sorry that I've been stringing you along. I should have told you that night in the library that I don't have the same feelings for you. However I do hope that we can be friends." She took a deep breath, glad to have finally told him the truth.

"Elizabeth, it's not your fault, it's mine. I pushed you into something you didn't want. When we went to the Virgina Wolf reading you made it very clear that we were just friends. I tricked you with the evening in the library. I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me and we can be what you wanted all along," he sighed in defeat. "Friends."

"Thank you for understanding Lucas," Elizabeth said, relieved.

"And from what I saw when you thought our constable might have been killed it seems like you have found the right man to make you happy. I just hope that one day I find someone who I care about as much as Nathan cares about you." Lucas added.

"You saw that?" Elizabeth asked, a little surprised.

"I think everyone did," Lucas said, chuckling.

Elizabeth didn't need to look in a mirror to know that her cheeks were flushing. So she quickly brought the conversation back to the original topic. "Lucas, you're a great man, you'll find the right woman for you. You just need to be patient."

"Thank you Elizabeth. I'm happy for you and Nathan."

Elizabeth walked back toward Main Street and hoped she could maintain the courage for one more passionate discussion.