Disclaimer: I do not own the characters within this story. All rights and much respect go to Crown Media, Hallmark, Brian Bird, Michael Landon, Jr., the actors, creators, and writers of the show "When Calls the Heart." Any real people or places noted in the chapter are just there for storyline purposes.

Chapter 2- Belated Birthday Surprise

Standing alone on the balcony with Jack, Elizabeth felt consumed by ten years of built up emotions consisting of anger, disappointment, sadness, surprise, acceptance of what had become her new normal, and love, lost love, but love nonetheless.

Rosemary peeked out the blinds, hoping that they weren't already going at each other like bobcats when her phone rang.

"Good morning Lee, are you missing me yet?" she asked.

"Hey honey…I was missing you when you pulled out of the driveway. How did Elizabeth like her surprise? By the way, are you going to tell me now, what was her surprise?"

"Um, well honey, you just aren't going to believe this…"

"Oh it has to do with you so I'm sure I will. What happened?"

"You just won't believe who's playing at Madison Square Garden?"

"I haven't looked; is it Elton John, or maybe Paul McCartney?"

"Close… now I know you said that I should leave well enough alone, but…"

"You didn't; please tell me you didn't do what I know in my heart you did…"

"I did, but in my defense, they are out on the deck together right now."

"And they haven't killed each other? Are they talking?"

"Well, talking may be a stretch, but I don't hear any yelling…yet."

"Rosemary, why didn't you listen to me?"

"Because they belong together, Lee; you know it and so do I. If you had helped him, he wouldn't have had to come to me."

"Honey, you know why I didn't get involved. Both of them had apparently moved on. Elizabeth had Tristan and she seemed happy."

As Rosie thought about how to respond, Lee continued, "Jack understood why I wouldn't do it, but maybe that's because he'd already roped you into helping him. He and I will have to have a chat about him getting you involved if I ever see him again."

"I had to help him. They belonged together years ago, and they belong together now…"

"I hope it doesn't backfire on you."

"I hope so too…"

Elizabeth casually knocked on the sliding glass door; simply being in the same area as Jack caused the butterflies in her stomach to erratically flutter. However, she didn't want him to know what effect he still had on her. "Rosie, this isn't funny. Open the door."

"Elizabeth, you know Rosie; that door isn't going to open until she's ready to open it. Please, I don't have a lot of time; will you sit down and talk to me?" Jack asked.

"Jack, I don't think we have anything to talk about, and if we did, I thing ten years would warrant more time than you have allocated. If you will excuse me, I need to go pack."

"Elizabeth, please…I've waited for this moment for years. If you don't have anything to say, I do, besides I don't think Rosie is going to let you in until we've talked," he responded. His voice was soft, yet very masculine, so much more mature sounding than when they were in college.

"If Rosie ever expects me to talk to her again she'll open the door…Come on Rosie; let me in!" Elizabeth's voice and strength of the knock on the door became louder and louder.

Realizing that the door was remaining locked, Elizabeth started pacing on the balcony, making certain to keep her distance from Jack, stopping momentarily to glance over the railing.

"You aren't considering jumping, are you?" he asked, laughing softly as he attempted to ease his own nervous energy.

"Jack, I have too much to live for to jump to my death over you," she responded in an arrogant tone.

"I know; you need to think about your daughter."

Elizabeth spun around as her back rested against the brick railing, "How do you know about Tristan?"

"You didn't really think that I was going to leave Ft. Lauderdale and forget about you, did you?"

"What am I supposed to think, Jack? You did leave; you did forget about me. You walked away; you simply disappeared from my life. But then again, we'd broken up, so you really disappeared from my life before you even left."

As Jack stepped closer, Elizabeth backed away, fearful of what his touch would do to her. Jack took a deep breath, "If I had forgotten about you, how would I know that you married Tommy Parker on July 16, 2010; your beautiful daughter was born on June 23, 2011; Tommy didn't waste any time tying you down, by the way; you became the kindergarten head in 2014; you bought a townhouse over in Victoria Park two years ago, you had arthroscopic knee surgery last September, and you finally bought your favorite car, a Ford Mustang."

"Don't you ever imply that he tied me down when I had Tristan; she is the best thing that has ever happened in my life and I'll never regret my time with him, as bad as parts of it were, because I have her."

"Bad…? Was he abusive?" he asked as she turned her back to him. "Elizabeth; was he?" he asked again, his tone seemingly more angry.

She turned back to face him as her glance dropped to the wooden floor of the balcony. She took a deep breath before her eyes again met his, "He never hit me if that's what you're asking, but he drank, and it simply wasn't the environment I wanted to raise my daughter in."

Thinking for a moment she looked off into the distance. She looked slightly perplexed when she turned back toward Jack, "How do you know what's been going on in my life?"

"Elizabeth…" his voice was soft, and if she hadn't been so angry she'd have heard the little romantic lilt in his voice that she always loved to hear when he spoke her name.

"Don't Elizabeth me, Jack. Are you going to tell me how you knew all of that, or should I just guess?"

Before Jack could comment Elizabeth rushed passed him, knocked on the door and yelled, "Rosemary, you'd better let me out of here."

Still the door remained closed and Elizabeth turned around and faced out into New York City. As she leaned against the glass door, her knees bent and she slid down to the ground. Her arms circled her bent legs as her tears fell, and she whispered, "Please let me in."

"Don't cry," Jack stated as he approached her. He bent down while his hand rested on her shoulder.

She pushed away from him, "Don't touch me. I'm not crying over you."

"Of course not," he whispered, wondering now if this was such a good idea.

Elizabeth stood up, walked over and took a seat. She sat quietly, staring off into the distance. Jack sat across from her; he said nothing, waiting on her to relax, and hoping that she would, at some point, talk to him.

Elizabeth leaned back and folded her arms across her chest. It was obvious by her body language that she was not really open to talking, but knowing that she was basically a captive audience for him she suggested, "Okay, talk…it's apparent that I'm not getting out of here until you have your say, so go ahead," Although she did her best to appear strong and emotionally together, her eyes watered and her voice began to break.

Suddenly, Jack wasn't certain what to say. He assumed that she'd be screaming and yelling at him. However, the silent treatment wasn't something he'd planned for.

After five minutes of silence, she caught his eyes and stated, "Rosie…"

"Huh…?"

"Rosie told you everything that's happened in my life since you left, right?"

"Don't be mad at her, Elizabeth."

"Mad…? Well, I am mad, but I have to say that I'm impressed that she spoke to you for all these years, and never said anything to me. She's never been able to keep a secret before, but she should have been loyal to me, not selling out to you."

"Elizabeth…"

There he goes again saying my name. Stop it…

"Rosie didn't sell you out. She knows how much you mean to me…"

"Oh stop it, Jack. If I meant so much to you, you wouldn't have stayed away for years. I saw you at all of those red carpet events with starlets and musicians." She shook her head from side to side as her lips pursed and she released a disgusted breath, "Yes, it was so evident that you were missing me."

"I was missing you, but you jumped into a marriage with Tommy…you weren't pregnant were you?"

A harsh breath passed through her lips sounding much like disgust, "Jack, math has never been your subject. Not that it's any of your business, but Tristan was born eleven months after we got married. So no, I wasn't pregnant when we married."

As she waited for Jack to respond, the thought of hurting him like he'd hurt her caused her to continue. "And again, not that it's any of your business, but just like when we were together, I was a virgin, so Tommy and I didn't sleep together until our wedding night," Elizabeth thought that seeing the sadness in his eyes would somehow ease her own aching heart, but she found quickly that she was mistaken. "I'm sorry Jack."

Jack did his best to remove the thought of Elizabeth in bed with Tommy from his mind. After all, he was supposed to be her first and only. Changing subjects, "So you watched the music award shows?" he asked assuming that her interest in them calculated to a desire to see him.

"I didn't watch to see you," she quickly responded, knowing all the while that she wasn't being honest in her reply.

Elizabeth took a deep breath and assuming that Rosie was spying on them, she glanced back at the sliding glass door, "I can't believe that Rosie told you everything that was going on with me. It's sad because I'm just not so certain that we can still be friends."

"Don't take it out on her; if you're going to be mad at someone, be mad at me."

"Oh don't worry; trust me, I am plenty mad at you, Jack. But then again, I have plenty of anger to go around."

"Then give it to me…yell, scream, tell me what you think about me, how you feel about me; just get it out so we can work passed it."

"Work passed it? Jack this isn't a high school prank where you rolled my house, its ten years of anger and disappointment, sadness and lost…"

"Love…?" he finished her statement.

"No, I got over you a long time ago."

"Well I never got over you."

"Jack, just stop. Too much time has passed; too much hurt and anger to get over," she turned her head as her tears, fueled by her own unresolved feelings, began to fall unrestricted.

"Please don't cry; you know I always hated it when you cried," his voice was soft and soothing even as his own eyes watered.

"It certainly didn't seem to bother you when you walked away."

"What about you, Elizabeth?"

"What do you mean what about me?"

"You just gave up on us…"

"Jack, you'd already made up your mind about going."

"I needed to go. Apparently you forgot about our talk earlier in our relationship about dreams…"

"Jack, what are you talking about?"

"We were discussing dreams, and you said if you have a dream, you should go for it. That it will simply eat you up inside if you don't."

Elizabeth looked off into the distance; the look on her face showed that she now remembered the conversation. "Jack, I think I was referring to wanting to learn to surf, or needlepoint, or taking dance lessons. I don't think I was referring to you leaving forever."

"I wasn't leaving forever. At the most it was a year; but why didn't you trust me; why didn't you love me enough to wait for me?"

"Jack, after you and the guys won the contest, that's all I heard you talk about."

"We were excited; things were coming together for us."

"And it was pushing me away. Jack, there wasn't any place for me in your life."

"There has always been room for you in my life."

"How do you figure that, Jack? You were riding off into the sunset with your buddies, and you were leaving me here alone…"

"Alone…? That's not how I remember it. From what I recall, you moved on pretty quickly with Tommy," Jack's respiration began to increase as he thought back to his last night in Ft. Lauderdale. "Do you have any idea how much it hurt to see you having dinner with him? It was supposed to be you and me; we were supposed to be together forever."

"I don't know how you figure that. As I recall, we had broken up and I hadn't heard from you in months."

"Well, it appears that Tommy easily took my place. You certainly didn't seem too broken up the last time I saw you. You and Tommy were enjoying a romantic dinner with a bottle of wine that was almost empty if I recall correctly."

"You're close. The bottle of wine was almost gone, but it wasn't Tommy and me; it was Tommy, Rosie and me. They came over to help get my mind off of you leaving. Besides, do you even have any idea what night that was?"

Before he could answer, Elizabeth stated, "I don't care what you think. Back then, Tommy was just trying to be a friend. If you hadn't rushed off, you would have seen Rosie…"

"Yeah right, Rosie wasn't there."

"She was too. Why don't you ask her…you've asked her everything else about my life?"

The expression on Jack's face showed he was thinking, the depressing visual of Elizabeth with Tommy clouding his judgment.

"Jack, if you hadn't run off you would have seen Rosie when she came out of the bathroom," Elizabeth snapped back as she stood up; feeling the need to move around.

Jack was in shock, realizing now that he may have misunderstood what he'd seen that night. "But he came up and kissed you; you have to know that just turned the knife in my stomach."

"Jack, apparently you'd forgotten, but they came over to wish me a happy birthday, and they knew I was upset that you were leaving. I don't know what Tommy thought he was doing, but I wasn't interested in him. I tried to get you to stop, but you just yelled that I had made my choice. The way I saw it, you had made your choice months before, and I lost."

"Tommy used that as his opportunity to get you away from me."

Suddenly Elizabeth had an epiphany. Thinking back to that night, one that she'd tried to forget but couldn't, she did recall Tommy commenting that since Jack was gone, they could concentrate on their relationship. Knowing that at the time her heart belonged to Jack, she remembered snapping back at him that they didn't have a relationship.

"Jack, don't you understand, you pushed me away. All you talked about was your music and making it big in LA. I'm happy for you; you got what you wanted, but as disappointed as I am in how things turned out with Tommy, he didn't break us up. And believe it or not, ten years ago, when I told you I loved you, I did. Tommy and I didn't start seeing each other romantically until several months after you left."

Elizabeth turned away as she thought about that evening ten years ago. She assumed that she'd spend it with Jack, celebrating her 23rd birthday. However, this year there would be no celebration, no cake, no laughter and no wishing for the future. It was too depressing; she and Jack were no longer together, and he was leaving for LA in the morning. It was a birthday that she swept into the far recesses of her mind, hopefully never to be discussed again.

Elizabeth continued, "I think I just knew that you'd make some grand gesture to show me that I was special to you; that you truly loved me, but it never came. There was no contact from you, Jack. There were no letters, no calls, no texts…nothing. I realized that you had moved on, so I had to too," she could see the hurt in Jack's eyes. "So, you got what you wanted, and so did I."

"I didn't get everything I wanted…"

"What's left? I believe you have a Grammy and an Oscar, three and a half million followers on Instagram, so I'd say you've done quite well."

"How do you know what awards I've won or how many followers I have?"

"None of your business. So Jack, what do you want that you haven't already gotten? The only thing I can think of is a Tony, but if I recall correctly, stage performances weren't your favorite."

"I don't have you," his tone sounded emotionally drained.

"Jack…our lives went in different directions. You're happy with your life and I'm happy with mine, so maybe we should just be thankful and move on."

"I can't; I loved you… I loved you then, and I love you now," he stated, his emotions finally reaching a heightened level as his voice quivered. "I was just planning to be gone for a year.

"What was I supposed to think? You walked away from me, from us and I was supposed to sit and wait for you? Wait for what? We weren't even talking back then."

With several questions burning inside her she asked, "If you were only going to be gone a year, why didn't you come back? Why didn't you fight for me?"

"I heard about your upcoming wedding. Once you were with Tommy, there wasn't any reason for me to come home."

Before Elizabeth could respond, Jack continued, "On the day you got married everything changed… my music, the name of the group, and my dream…"

"What do you mean?"

"The day you got married, I knew I'd lost you forever, and I wrote a song about you and the last time I saw you. "Be Alright" ironically has ended up being one of the band's top hits.

"I love that song."

"You listen to my music?" he asked as he stepped closer.

"I've always loved your music. Sometimes it hurt to listen to it because we weren't together, but I've always known how talented you were…are."

She continued with her own questions, "Why did you change the name of the group?"

"Because of you…"

"The One That Got Away…me, you were referring to me?"

"When Rosie contacted me and told me about you and Tommy, I initially thought it wouldn't last; that I could come home and things would be like they always were between us…" he moved his chair over beside hers. Tears pooled in his eyes as he continued, "Then your wedding day arrived, and the name change just seemed appropriate. You were the one that got away."

"No I don't believe that. You once told me about the one that got away, and it was a gig that you had your heart set on and you lost it."

"Believe me or not Elizabeth, but I've never lied to you. When I wrote that song, and changed the name of the band, it was with you in mind, not some gig."

"It doesn't matter now, Jack. I'm a divorced mother of a seven year old daughter, and her stability and happiness means everything to me."

"Elizabeth you need to understand, everything, the music, the contract, the touring, all of it was to make something substantial for us, for our future. I still want that with you…with you and Tristan."

"Jack, our lives have changed so much. Back then, we were 22 going on 23 years old; I didn't know when or if you'd be coming back," she stated in a matter of fact tone. "I guess I was right because it's been ten years and to my knowledge, you haven't been back."

Inside the hotel room, Rosie pulled the blinds back slightly, hoping to see Jack and Elizabeth with their arms around each other. "No kissing, but then again, there isn't any blood either, so I guess that's progress."

"Jack, none of this makes any difference now. Things change and life goes on. You went to fame and fortune and my life, well it's just as fulfilling. I have a great job, and a beautiful daughter…and I thought I had a trustworthy best friend. That's up for debate at this point."

"Elizabeth, everything has changed…"

"What Jack…? You're still on tour; you live 3000 miles away, and ten years have gone by. We aren't the same people we were back then."

"I have two more weeks on this tour, and then…"

"And then what? Let me guess, you'll be back in LA to write songs and record. Nothing has changed," she turned away from him to lean against the brick railing.

Jack placed his hand on her upper arm and turned her to face him, "Everything has changed."

She struggled to get away from him while he held both of her arms; her face showing the signs of the anger she'd had built up inside her. It was as if the boiling kettle was spilling over, "You tore up my life once before; not again. I moved on Jack; I don't want you and I certainly don't need you."

She refused to allow him to get to her again. Her heart was ripped out the last time he left, and through the years she'd managed to make a happy life for herself and Tristan. As a result, and no matter the pull he had upon her, she wasn't about to let him into her heart again.

"Stop it Jack, we can't rewrite the past. Please, just let me go," she screamed through her tears.

"I can't let you go, not again. I may have been young and stupid before, but I know what I want; I can see it in your eyes; you want what we had before, we can have it again."

"You're wrong Jack," she yelled back. "I never have wanted this life of yours. It may be you; but it isn't me."

Hearing Elizabeth yelling, Rosie rushed to the sliding glass door and pulled the blinds back. Standing on the inside of the hotel room, she observed Jack pull Elizabeth into his body as his arms around her held her close. She could hear Elizabeth crying, and watched as she initially struggled to get away.

As Rosie unlocked the door, she observed Elizabeth finally giving into the emotions she'd held within her heart for this man, her first real love for so many years. Her arms went around his neck as they both stood crying for the many years they'd lost.

"Why did you have to leave? Why couldn't I have been enough for you?"

Jack wasn't certain how to answer those questions. Back then, the music seemed important, not necessarily more important than Elizabeth, but he was simply naïve enough back then to assume that they'd be okay and could weather any storm. Once everything got out of control, their worlds were spiraling around them and neither one was able to stop it.

"I know we have more that we need to talk about, but I have another concert tonight and I need to go. Will you come?" he asked.

"No; Jack, I cared about you back then, but so much time has passed. We're different people now, and I just don't know how I feel."

Reaching into his pocket, Jack pulled out a wrapped box. Reaching out he tried to hand it to her.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Your birthday gift."

"I can't accept it Jack," she firmly stated.

Rosie poked her head out the door, "Jack, your driver is here and he said that you need to get going."

"Please give me two weeks. Once this tour is done, I promise that there will be changes."

"I can't promise anything, Jack."

Jack walked back into the hotel room, "I'm sorry if this causes any problems between you two. Thank you for trying." Jack hugged Rosie, placed the birthday gift and a card on the table before leaving the room.

Elizabeth walked inside…

"Elizabeth…"

"Don't you even talk to me; how can you profess to be my friend and set me up like you did?" Elizabeth asked but turned and headed for her room before Rosie could answer.

"Elizabeth, stop…look at me," Rosie pleaded.

Elizabeth turned around, "You knew how much he hurt me. Why did you have to lie to me?"

"So if I had asked you to go to his concert with me last night you would have gone?"

"Hell no, but at least I wouldn't feel as though you had betrayed me. Maybe we could still be friends."

"Rosie, why would you think that I'd still have feelings for him after all this time?"

"Don't you think I see your expression, the tears you shed when his music is played on the radio? Whether you get back together or not…"

"Not…"

"Well, whether you do or not, you two have a lot to talk about."

"Okay, we've talked; I'm done."

"Did he tell you that he's coming home?"

"What? No, he didn't say anything about that. When?"

"He has two more weeks on this tour and then he's coming home."

"I'm going to pack. I'll go to the airport and try to get an earlier flight."

"I'll go with you."

"No Rosie; I think I need some time away from you and Jack," Elizabeth stated as she started down the hall to her room.

"Hey, what's this?" Rosie asked as she picked up the wrapped birthday gift from the table.

"Jack brought me a birthday present, but I don't want it. Does he think he can buy me with a gift he probably had his people pick out? I'm not going to let him ruin my birthday like he did ten years ago."

"Don't you think you should at least open it?" Rosie asked.

"No, but if it means that much to you, maybe you should open it," Elizabeth offered as she turned around and continued to her room.

Feeling as though Elizabeth had given her the green light, Rosie opened the gift. Inside the box was a gold caged heart pendant on a gold box chain. Inside the caged heart were two stones, Sapphire and Opal, signifying Jack's and Elizabeth's birthstones.

Opening the card, Rosie rushed into Elizabeth's room, "You need to see this…"

"Rosie, I told you that I'm not interested in any grand gesture he tries to make now."

"Elizabeth, you have to read this," Rosie stated as she handed her the card and gift.

Opening the card she perused the words…

Happy Birthday Elizabeth. I'm assuming that since you're reading this that we've talked, and you're giving me a chance to make everything right between us. You are the light of my life and nothing feels right without you by my side.

I know that I let this music opportunity go to my head, and I'm sorry if you felt left out. But if you will remember, you're the one who said that we had to go after our dreams, or they would eat us up inside. I promise that I'm coming home to you…to us, so please wait for me, and then we can talk more and plan for our future.

Elizabeth, this time without you has been the worst time of my life. I don't want to live my life without you in it. You will always be my true center.

Love always,

Jack

"It's just words, Rosie. It's too late for him to tell me how he feels now. He apparently didn't love me enough back then. He's asking me to wait now, but ten years ago he just wanted fame."

"Did you even read it?"

"I didn't need to. Rosie, it's just words, and I'm sure it's too little too late."

"Elizabeth, look at the date on the card…"

"September 5, 2008…" she whispered. Ten years ago, she thought.

To be continued…

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