Bill's Reaction – Chapter 16
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Wednesday afternoon
After her visit to see Nathan, Elizabeth was emotionally exhausted, but her heart was lighter. She appreciated Nathan's honesty about needing time and space to sort things out. She also needed to take some time. Her pending trip to Hamilton would hopefully be beneficial to both of them.
She made certain she spoke with both Bill and The Coulters, so they were aware both she and Little Jack would be away for a few weeks. She left them both her parents' address, should they wish to write.
Thursday Morning
The Thatcher/Thornton party arose early and had a light breakfast, before leaving to meet Lee at his car.
Elizabeth was so thankful that Lee offered to drive them directly to the train station, about ½ mile away. She could not imagine walking the short distance while trying to manage both Little Jack and her luggage. As for her father, he was used to his privileged way of life; she didn't think he would appreciate carrying his bags.
As she was hugging Rosemary goodbye, Elizabeth subtly looked over Rosemary's shoulder and was pleasantly surprised to see Nathan step out onto his porch, in uniform. He looked their way. Elizabeth sent him a small smile and timidly waved goodbye. He returned her wave with a crooked half smile. She had been wondering if she would hear from him while she was away; this gave her hope.
This exchange did not go unnoticed by Bill. He made a mental note to ask Nathan about it, later.
Rosemary, oblivious to this exchange, released Elizabeth and gave one more hug to Little Jack before stepping back and allowing the three of them to climb into the car with Lee, to head for the train station.
Train Station
Once arriving at the station, Lee offered to help carry the luggage. William politely declined and summoned a porter.
The porter arrived and asked, "Yes, Sir. How may I help you?"
William replied, "My name is William Thatcher. I have a suite reserved for two adults and a child."
The porter referred to his ever-present clipboard of traveller information and quickly replied, "Yes, Mr. Thatcher. You have a state room reserved in first class. Please allow me to take your luggage, Sir."
William gestured towards Elizabeth and replied, "Thank you. You will need to take my daughter's luggage, as well."
The porter looked and saw Elizabeth standing close to her father and made arrangements for all the luggage to be loaded on the trolley.
Once the trolley was loaded, they followed the porter to their state room.
Upon entry, Elizabeth remarked how beautiful it was, complete with all the modern conveniences. "Father, thank you for upgrading us to such beautiful accommodations. We will be most comfortable on the ride home."
William smiled and replied, "It was my pleasure; I am so very happy you are coming home for a visit."
She went into her room and was pleased to see a toddler bed was set up for Little Jack. The room was still big enough to hold a full-sized double bed for herself and had plenty of closet space which she used to hang up her clothes.
With such an early boarding, they had time to walk around the train. Elizabeth bought a few different scenic postcards both to send to her friends back in Hope Valley and to keep as souvenirs of the trip. She also bought a journal for herself and a new Teddy Bear for Little Jack. As they were exiting the gift shop, she spied a stuffed Mountie and his horse. She bought that as well – she just wasn't sure if it was for Little Jack, or herself.
They decided to go to the dining area for lunch, which proved to be a mistake. The area was full of strangers and Little Jack was feeling out of sorts and was not his usual, sweet temperament.
The two adults ate quickly and had the remainder of Little Jack's lunch delivered to their room. After he ate most of his lunch, Elizabeth wrapped herself and her small son in a blanket and sang him to sleep. She put him down in his bed and hoped he would be his usual self, when he woke up.
Once he had his nap and his temperament returned to "her sweet boy", she gave him his new teddy bear, which kept him occupied for the afternoon.
After their lunchtime experience, William and Elizabeth made the decision to dine-in their first night. Elizabeth wanted to make sure Little Jack was comfortable with his new surroundings, before taking him back to the dining room.
Even though it was just the two of them, William requested they dress for dinner. Elizabeth was thankful she had remembered to bring several pieces of "proper attire", even if they were hopelessly out of style. There was not much call to wear a formal gown in Hope Valley.
The most modern gown she owned was one that held many fond memories – it was the dress she wore to Jack's make-shift Mountie Ball, back when they were still courting. She reasoned this would probably be the last time she wore it as styles had changed so much, however she wasn't sure she could part with it. This dress was originally borrowed from Rosemary. Her good friend had happily given it to her after it had been altered to fit Elizabeth.
Once Little Jack had been fed his dinner and put back to bed for the night, she proceeded to dress for dinner with her father.
They dined on filet mignon, roasted potatoes, glazed carrots and for dessert, cherries jubilee - a favourite of both Elizabeth and her father. Their conversation was light & easy. It was special for both of them to have a fancy father daughter date dressed in finery.
After the meal was over and they moved to the living area of the state room, William shifted the conversation back to Hope Valley and her life there.
"I'm happy for you, Elizabeth. You really seem to have made a life for yourself, there." He started.
She smiled at him and replied, "Yes, Father, Little Jack & I have a pretty good life. I have really strong, supportive friends and I treasure my students."
William smiled and continued, "Since school is out, I was not able to witness your interaction with your students, but there were some other things I noticed. I didn't want to make a comment at the time. Perhaps we could discuss them, now?"
Elizabeth's eyes went wide. What had her father noticed and what did he want to discuss with her?
In reply, she inquired, "What would you like to discuss, Father?"
William looked at Elizabeth with a puzzled look on his face. He waved his hand in the air and said, "Well, when I first saw you on Saturday morning, the man you are courting approached me in the street. Later on, we find out he is under investigation by the Mounties and I never saw anything more of him. One would think if this man is to be your intended husband, he would want to speak with your father to discuss his intentions and perhaps clear the air regarding the investigation. I was there for almost a full week, yet he made no attempt to either speak with me or seek my blessing. Are things done differently in the West?"
Elizabeth swallowed hard and fluffed the skirt on her dress before replying, "Actually, Father, we are no longer courting. I ended the relationship after being made aware of some significant information about him, I previously did not know."
William was wide-eyed, "What sort of 'significant information'?"
Elizabeth looked around the room and pondered the question before answering, "Well, for starters, he was being investigated by Bill and Nathan…"
William interjected, "Ah, yes, Nathan. Where does he fit into all this?"
"Father, what do you mean? You know very well Nathan is Hope Valley's Mountie."
William looked at his daughter in disbelief. "Yes, of course I know who he is; I stayed in the man's home for almost a week! I was asking how does Nathan fit in with your decision to end things with the other one – what is his name?"
Elizabeth's face went beet red and she was very uncomfortable. She never expected to have this conversation with her father!
She softly replied, "Father, his name is Lucas." She was a little unsure how much information to divulge, so opted to say very little.
William realized his daughter was not going to be very forthcoming with information, so he decided to help draw her out.
"Elizabeth, you previously told me Nathan told you he loved you. Then, you proceeded to stammer your way through your possible feelings for him. Are you unsure how you feel?"
Elizabeth gave a deep sigh and answered, "It's complicated, Father."
William looked at her and said, "Is it complicated or have you made it complicated?"
She chewed on her lip trying to figure out how to answer his question. Eventually, she admitted it was both. She explained again how she had a deep-seeded fear of losing Nathan in a similar way as she lost Jack. This time, she would be left with two children, perhaps even more if a marriage between them had expanded their family. He once offered to quit the Mounties for her, but she needed to accept him for who he is and that includes what he does for a living.
She thought to herself, although it hurt her to hear him say it, Nathan expressed this well during yesterday's talk - she needed to look beyond the uniform and love the man who wears it.
William looked at her with sad eyes and a thoughtful look, "Elizabeth, it sounds to me like you have rejected a relationship and possible marriage to a very good man, based on fear of the unknown and what might happen." He paused to let that sink in and then continued with, "The truth is, anything can happen to anyone, at any time.
"Have you ever approached God for His direction regarding your fears? He is waiting for you to ask for His guidance and wisdom. Until you ask, you will never know God's thoughts on this situation."
"Here's something for you to think about while you think about your future - how would you feel if you closed the door on a relationship with Nathan and then had to watch him move on with his life with another woman - watch as they continue to live in Hope Valley, raise a family and grow old together. Your interaction with him would be limited to community events and maybe school events, unless his wife handled those. Do you want to watch another woman live out what could have been your life, had you not been paralyzed by fear? Elizabeth, only you can decide how important this man is to you."
He watched as tears filled his daughter's eyes.
William gently continued, "Please know I am not discounting your feelings. You loved Jack with all your heart and you tragically lost him far too soon. Now, you are in love with Nathan and fear is stopping you from moving forward with him, because he holds the same job as Jack did."
Elizabeth finally spoke, "Father, what makes you say I am in love with Nathan?"
William moved his jaw from side to side trying to figure out how to tell her something. He finally decided, as always, honesty was the best policy and asked her, "Elizabeth, what would you say if I told you Little Jack and I were outside playing yesterday morning and inadvertently heard part of a conversation you had with Nathan?"
Elizabeth pointedly looked at her father and in a soft, angry tone, she asked, "What exactly did you hear?"
William looked at her and replied, "Well, at first, I could only hear people talking. I wasn't really paying any attention as I was minding Little Jack. All of the sudden I recognized your voice as it got louder and I heard you tell Nathan you were in love with him. Everything went silent after that. I never heard another thing."
Elizabeth was now pacing the state room, like a caged animal. She was embarrassed she had blurted that out and that her voice had carried so far. Now, here she was - stuck on a train facing her father's questions, with nowhere to go.
Her father, sensing her distress, walked over to comfort her. He stood beside her and reached out, hugged her and gently soothed her with, "My Darling Daughter, please don't be upset or embarrassed. There is no shame in admitting you love someone. You do realize I already had a pretty good idea you were in love with Nathan, and he with you, before hearing your conversation, don't you?"
Elizabeth, still flushed, looked at her father and asked, "How could you possibly have known?"
He smiled and said, "Elizabeth, even I could see the connection you two have with each other. Do you remember, when I first came to see you, I asked about Lucas and then about Nathan?"
Elizabeth nodded.
William continued, "Well, you didn't seem to know very much about Lucas, however, when I asked you about Nathan, your face lit up like it was Christmas and you shared every minute detail about the man. As for knowing how he feels about you, well, no man allows a woman to yell at him in public if he doesn't love her."
"By any chance, is Nathan one of the reasons you left Hope Valley for a few weeks?"
Elizabeth, now with tears threatening to fall, admitted to her father he was correct. "Oh, Father! I made a terrible mistake a while back and hurt Nathan, deeply. What you heard was part of my apology to him. He ultimately forgave me, but told me he needs time to sort things out. Oh, Father, what if I have lost him for good?"
Her father looked at her thoughtfully and replied, "Elizabeth, we all make mistakes. It takes a strong person to not only admit they are wrong, but also apologize for it. If he says he needs time, you would do well to give it to him – within reason, of course. If you two love each other half as much as I think you do, you will find your way to one another – and as an added bonus, you already have my blessing!"
"Father, when did you become such a romantic?"
William chuckled and said, "My Dear, when you have been married as long as I have and helped raise three daughters, you will have spent time praying for wisdom when it comes to love."
Elizabeth laughed at her father's reply and looked at him sheepishly, saying, "Father, would this be a good time to tell you I shared your private phone number with Nathan?"
William threw back his head and laughed, heartily.
As always, thanks to MamaBethany for her input into the finished story. :)