Chapter Two

The Trip

It had been 2 months since Elizabeth and Lucas met on the bridge the day they kissed.

Their relationship had felt so right in that moment. She desperately wanted to love Lucas. She had poured herself into that kiss. She thought she showed him and herself how much she cared about him by the effort she put into that kiss and later by acting out a pretend private book signing that evening. It was a perfect night or so it seemed.

Lucas had wanted to love Elizabeth too but the thought of a serious relationship with a ready-made family did make him pause however he wanted to win her and be damned to the loser. He showered her with gifts and supported her book writing even though he knew he practically had to beg his mother to be her editor. He had talked his mother into getting her publisher friend to publish Elizabeth's book. It was not that Elizabeth's book was not worthy of publication but this information he kept hidden from Elizabeth.

To Elizabeth, Lucas was a reminder of the fine life she had left in Hamilton. Lucas was fully aware of this. Fine clothes, fine wine, fine words, fine, fine, fine. He had won. As Nathan would be making his rounds around town, Lucas thoroughly enjoyed shooting Nathan a smirking smile that said "I got the girl. You did not." Nathan would nod to Lucas as he would to any citizen of Hope Valley and simply ride to complete his rounds. Lucas was hoping for more of a reaction.

Nathan was the bigger man and ignored the obvious taunts. There were a few in town that observed the exchanges Lucas made to Nathan and had made a mental note of it…Bill being one of them. Rosemary, Lee, Bill, Clara and Fiona could see that it was a game to Lucas but they wouldn't dare mention it to Elizabeth lest she get angry. They knew she was in no frame of mind to hear their suspected observations.

It was the summer months and school was out. Elizabeth and Lucas decided it was time to go visit their parents but would travel separately. They planned to reunite back at Elizabeth's parent's once they visited their own family.

Elizabeth wanted her family to have some private time to get to know the grandson they had yet to meet. Lucas thought the trips would be easier if Rosemary and Lee would keep Little Jack while they were gone. Lucas argued that Rosemary and Lee would be able to take great care of Little Jack. That was a no-go for Elizabeth. Little Jack would be spending time with his grandparents and that was that. Elizabeth was annoyed by Lucas's request to leave Jack behind.

They had yet to talk about marriage or to even say they loved each other. That topic had been avoided so far. The newness of their relationship had not yet settled and at times felt stressed for some reason, a bit pseudo. Elizabeth could not understand why she was feeling that way so she pushed those feelings aside thinking it was just the newness of the relationship but two months later she was still feeling that way and had avoided dinner dates and other one-on-one interactions with Lucas. Lucas seemed fine with the situation.

For the trip, Elizabeth preferred to travel by train. Lucas preferred to drive. He seemed a bit preoccupied and had been quiet since they decided to be a couple. Even though he had won the girl, deep down Lucas could not shake the feeling that Elizabeth had chosen him in order to bury her feelings for Nathan. He had seen how she looked at Nathan still and in the past had sought him out around town to ask questions for various reasons. Obviously Nathan had been trying to avoid crossing paths with her and that seemed to bother her.

Lucas confronted her about his suspicions but Elizabeth would just shut the conversation down after adamantly saying it was not true. She was more than a little edgy. Lucas recalled their kiss on the bridge and how even though she completely threw herself into the kiss, something did not seem right…something was missing that no amount of candlelit dinners could hide. Maybe she had been trying to convince herself…and him of their relationship.

The day Elizabeth left for her trip to see her family in Hamilton, she had Bill accompany her to the train station by horse. She loved the glitzy life but she also loved the simple things and riding Jack's horse to the train station was about keeping a bit of her connection to Jack…a simple but glorious love that brought Little Jack to her. It was time for her to let Jack go and open herself up to love. She knew it but that horse, his horse, was a sweet reminder of him. She would cherish that horse and always cherish too those memories of her first true love.

Thinking back, her and Jack's relationship had ups and downs but she eventually without a doubt had fallen madly in love with him. What a blessing Jack had been but she now realized it was time to move on…for Little Jack's sake…and her own. No amount of grief or denial could bring him back and no-one…no-one could ever be him in body or mind.

To truly love others she had to have an open heart. She just wished it was that simple. She wondered why she still felt conflicted in her relationship with Lucas. She had thought she was so sure of their relationship however that day when Lucas had decided to leave town again…to run away again…after he thought she had chosen Nathan, she now felt she had pretty much made a fool out of herself running down the street to stop him. He was running away again and that alone should have told her something.

For some reason, Bill was rather unusually quiet on their way to the train station. Elizabeth wondered if it had anything to do with Lucas…or Nathan.

"Bill. What is it? What's wrong? I can tell something is on your mind."

"Elizabeth, I just want the best for you and Little Jack. That's all."

"Aaand?", inquired Elizabeth slowly drawing out the word, raising her eyebrows then looking quizzically at Bill.

"Nothing Elizabeth. You are a grown woman and make your own decisions. Hey! There's the train station and it sure is crowded today."

Elizabeth sighed. She knew what he was thinking and he intentionally had changed the subject. He had never been a fan of Lucas. Obviously it was best to drop the subject right now and they could talk when she comes back to Hope Valley.

Elizabeth handed Little Jack down to Bill, then dismounted Sergeant. She petted him followed by a loving hug to his neck. Bill would be caring for Sergeant while she was gone and was in good hands. She would most certainly miss her morning rides. To think she had never ridden a horse before she moved to Hope Valley made her silently chuckle at how far she had come in the frontier life.

Bill handed LJ back to her then proceeded to get the one and only light weight suitcase Elizabeth had brought.

"You didn't bring much Elizabeth. Don't plan on staying long?"

"I didn't bring much on purpose because I plan on going shopping. I am also going to take Jack to the toy store. He will have so much fun. Jack and I are in dire need of some new clothes which I will later ship back to Hope Valley. It has been a long time since I have done any city shopping and I know Julie will be overjoyed to take me while Mom and Dad take care of Jack. It will be so good to see them all…well…the ones that still live in the area that is."

WOO WOO WOOOOO the train horn sounded loudly and demandingly. "All aboard!" It was time to get on the train and leave. Elizabeth looked at Bill with tears starting to collect in her eyes.

"I will see you soon", she said.

"Yes you will. We will all miss you Elizabeth…all of us and you too big guy. Hurry home. We will be waiting. Please send my regards to your family."

After loading the one bag, Elizabeth and Little Jack boarded the train and found their seats. Little Jack slid over onto her lap to look out the window at Bill. The train slowly started moving. Something in Elizabeth's heart was sad when she knew she should be happy. She thought about Nathan and Allie and hoped they both knew that she cared about them even though her words may not have been well received. It was for the best. Her thoughts also turned to Rosemary, her dearest friend and confidant. A tear escape her eye and she quickly wiped it away.

As the train pulled off, they waved at Bill as he was standing there watching their departure.

"Bye, bye", Little Jack softly said to Bill while waving with one hand hugging his little toy named Dog.

Bill waved back and with a nod goodbye and a smile he blew them both a kiss. Elizabeth smiled. How did I get so lucky to have such supportive friends?, she wondered.

As for her friendship with Rosemary, it was bruised but hopefully not to the extent it would not heal. In the time she would be gone she would only manage to mail a couple of letters back home to Rosemary and had kept the correspondence brief while mainly talking about where she and her family had gone and about the weather. She didn't want Rosemary to catch on to the reluctance with Lucas that she found herself experiencing. This too shall pass she told herself. It is just relationship jitters, she assured herself.

She figured she would work on her and Rosemary's friendship when she got back and did end each letter with "I miss you so much". Elizabeth did miss Rosemary but right now she needed a bit of distance. She needed time to think and get away after which her and Rosemary could have face to face conversations when she got home. Rosemary was very important to her but right now Elizabeth didn't know what Rosemary may feel about her after the way she had treated her. Time would tell.

In the meantime back in Hope Valley, the town was buzzing about Nathan getting a new job as Hope Valley Sheriff.