Elizabeth brought out a bowl filled with some leftover beef and vegetables from the previous night's dinner. "Hopefully she likes this." She set the bowl down in front of the puppy, who had been climbing all over Jack's lap.
The puppy immediately pranced over to the bowl, knocking a bit of food out in her haste.
"She still needs a name."
"We could call her Wolf, since I'm still convinced she has some wolf in her."
Jack scratched the puppy between her ears. "Is your name Wolf?"
As if she knew what he was saying, she gave a little howl in response before she returned her attention to her food.
He laughed. "Well, I think that's our answer. Welcome to the family, Wolf."
"You have a soft place for her to sleep tonight, right?"
"Not yet. I thought I'd ask you if we have any old blankets or something we can put in the shed for her."
"I'll see what I can find." She took a seat beside Jack on the grass. "How big do you think she'll get?"
"I'm not sure. It's hard to say how old she is right now, so I don't know how much more growing she has to do. Her paws do look big, though, so she'll probably be a decent size."
"We had a pair of bullmastiffs when I was young, so I'm sure Wolf will seem small in comparison." She chuckled. "You should've seen when they tried to squeeze into a bed with me and my sisters."
"I bet that was a sight." Jack smiled, petting the puppy as she finished her food. "I'm glad our boys will get to grow up with a dog around."
"I hope she stays friendly with us. Now, with strangers, she can be aggressive." She laughed.
"We can train her to be a good guard dog. And I think I'll go ahead and start bringing her to work with me tomorrow. That way we don't have to worry about her tearing anything up around here."
"Okay." She put her hand on his thigh. "I'm going to see Faith again tomorrow, by the way."
"Are you still thinking that you're pregnant?"
"Yes. I'm hoping she'll be able to figure out how far along I am. Everything has been so irregular since I had the twins, there's no telling if I'm two months along, or three, or four."
He reached over and touched her stomach. "You think you could be that far along?"
"I could be." She shrugged. "I'm sure you've noticed that I'm already starting to show. Come here." She stood, tugging him into the shed and closing the door behind them. She untucked her blouse, lifting it over her belly. "See? But I have no idea how far along I am. I started showing early with the twins, but it took longer with Maxwell."
"Well," he trailed his fingers over the skin of her stomach, "regardless of how far along you are, I can't wait to meet this little one."
"Jack." She put her hand on his. "What if something goes wrong?"
"Everything will be just fine, sweetheart. What happened with Marjorie was rare. Remember, Faith said it's unlikely that will happen again."
"But still, something else could happen."
He cupped her cheek in his hand. "If—God forbid—something happens with this baby, we will figure it out together, just like we always do."
She pulled her blouse back down, tucking it back into her skirt. "We should head back inside in case one of the boys woke up."
Jack opened the shed door, and Wolf pranced in. "Let's keep her in here for now, just so she doesn't wander off and get into trouble."
...
"Well," Faith walked over, clipboard in hand, "have you still been having symptoms?"
"The headaches have gone away, so I'm fairly certain those were more a result of the head injury, but I am still having a bit of nausea."
"Last time you were here, you said you'd gained some weight in your stomach?"
"About that." She pulled her skirt tight against her abdomen, revealing the distinct bump that she had just shown to Jack the day before. "I think this gives us a pretty clear answer about whether I'm pregnant or not."
Faith chuckled. "I'd say so. Let's get some measurements and see if we can figure out just how far along you are." She pulled the curtains around the bed.
Elizabeth settled on the bed, lying back on the pillow. "Can you tell with just measurements? Even if I don't know when my last cycle was?"
"We should be able to narrow it down a bit with the measurements." She stretched a tape measure across Elizabeth's stomach. "Have you felt any movement?"
She shook her head. "No, not yet."
"Okay." She moved the tape measure to a new position, then wrote down the measurements she had taken. "This isn't exact, but based on your measurements and this being a third pregnancy, your symptoms, and the fact that you haven't felt any movement yet, I would guess you're between three and four months along."
Elizabeth calculated in her head. "So that would make me due around March?"
"Sometime around then." Faith nodded. "I know this is your third time around, but do you have any questions?"
"What are the chances that this one will have the same problems that Marjorie did?"
She set the clipboard down. "It's hard to say exactly. Because you have two healthy children, I'd say the likelihood of having another baby like Marjorie is very low. So far, all the signs say that you and the baby are healthy. Just take things easy, and don't hesitate to come by if anything feels off."
"Thank you, Faith."
...
Wolf bounded into the jail, her tail wagging wildly as she jumped up on Bill.
"Who's this?" he asked gruffly, gently pushing her out of his lap.
"This is Wolf." Jack scooped her up. "Sorry about that. We obviously haven't gotten her trained just yet."
"Why is she here?"
"Elizabeth had some errands to run, and I didn't want her to risk her tearing up the house if we left her alone." He scratched her between the ears. "Don't worry. I'll try to keep her away from you."
"Well, if you can keep her under control for a few minutes, I have some new information on Hughes."
Jack lowered the puppy to the floor, handing her a bone he had stashed in his pocket. "What is it?" he questioned as he took a seat across from Bill.
"They caught one of his lackeys outside of Victoria."
"Did they get him to talk?"
Bill nodded. "They have a few men searching all boats leaving the island. Apparently, Hughes got spooked and is trying to run to South America."
"And they trust this accomplice? He's not just trying to throw us off?"
Bill shrugged. "They've still got men keeping an eye out around here, but the fact that the accomplice was all the way in Victoria makes it seem pretty likely that Hughes also moved west."
"I just want him locked up. Elizabeth won't admit it, but I know the stress of him still being out there is getting to her. And then with the boys and the new baby. It's a lot."
"He's not going to get her again, Jack. We'll make sure of it." He shuffled a few papers on the desk. "Wait. Did you say 'new baby'?"
"Oops." He let out a laugh. "Can you keep that to yourself?"
"I'll try to do a better job than you did," Bill joked.
"Elizabeth's actually going to see Faith today to try to figure out how far along she is, so depending on how that goes, you may not have to keep our secret for very long."
"Well, congratulations."
"Thank you." He reached for the paper Bill handed to him. "So did the accomplice say anything else? Like why they targeted Elizabeth and myself instead of anyone else involved in the case against Gowen?"
He shook his head. "No. He did admit that he was one of the men who kidnapped Elizabeth and told them where they were planning to take her. They already did a thorough search of the area and found no sign of Hughes there."
"He's smart, but eventually he'll have to slip up. Right?"
"Probably. We'll find him, Jack. Half the Mounties this side of the country are on his trail. He can't outsmart them all."
Jack sighed. "I'm just not going to relax until he's behind bars. Something in my gut tells me we aren't out of the woods yet."
"We can set up a watch here, if that would make you more comfortable."
"No, no. We don't need to do that unless there's evidence that he's moving back this way."
Both men looked up when the door opened. Wolf gave a little bark, bounding over to Elizabeth.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Jack shook his head. "You're not interrupting. What did Faith say?"
She glanced over at Bill, her eyes widening a bit.
"Don't worry. Your husband already let it slip that there's another little one on the way." Bill smirked. "Congratulations, by the way."
"Thank you. Jack?"
He stood. "We can talk in the back." He led her into the back room of the jail, closing the door behind them. "So, did Faith say everything is okay?"
She nodded. "She thinks I'm probably due in March."
He smiled, reaching out to touch her stomach. "So it's official now."
"It is." She put her hands on top of his. "You know, if I'm due in March, that means this baby will only be a month or two younger than Tom and Julie's baby."
"That's true. And speaking of Tom and Julie, when do you want to tell our families about this one?"
She shrugged. "Maybe we could take a trip to Benson Hills soon and tell Tom and Julie in person? And it's probably about time I send my parents another letter anyway."
He slipped his arms around her waist. "Sounds like a good plan. I can write a letter to my mom, too."
"And I suppose I should talk to Olive soon. Also, I've been thinking that maybe we should talk about me stepping back from teaching for a while after this baby is born. Just until the children are a bit older."
"I'll support whatever you want to do, sweetheart." He slid his hand up to her cheek. "Anything to make you happy."
She smiled, leaning into his touch. "You make me very happy, Jack Thornton."
...
Elizabeth tensed at the sound of a car pulling up in front of the house. A glance at the clock told her that Jack wouldn't be home for another hour.
"Max, stay here with Eli, please," she instructed, trusting that the boys would stay put.
She crept toward the front door, peering out the window. She relaxed when she saw who was in the car, and quickly moved to open the door.
"Elizabeth!"
"Julie!" Elizabeth hurried outside and hugged her sister tightly. "How are you? How is Benson Hills?"
"I'm great. Everything's great." She grinned. "Tom is really liking his job at the wood shop, and I've started working a few days a week at the dress shop there."
"And how are you feeling?"
"Really good." She put her hands on her stomach, where a small bump was beginning to appear. "The morning sickness has gone away, and I have more energy now. Tom and I are starting to set up the nursery."
"I'm so happy for you, Julie."
"And how are you? Tom told me about everything that happened."
She sighed, but gave her sister a little smile. "I'm okay. I would be a lot better if they could catch the man responsible, but Jack says they think he ran and won't be coming back. But we do have some wonderful news."
At her sister's statement, Julie suddenly seemed to notice the bump that Elizabeth was sporting. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed, reaching over to place one hand on Elizabeth's stomach, the other still resting on her own. "Sweet little cousins. When are you due?"
"We think in March. Hello, Tom," she greeted her brother-in-law as he approached them.
"Look at this, Tom! Our baby is going to have a cousin who's just a little younger than they are."
"Congratulations, Elizabeth." Tom pulled her in for a hug. "It's good to see you."
"You, too. So what exactly brings the two of you to Hope Valley?"
Julie shrugged. "Oh, we just thought it was time for a visit. I've been missing those nephews of mine."
"Come on inside. Jack is at work for another hour, but the boys will be very happy to see Auntie Julie and Uncle Tom."
Elizabeth led them into the house. Maxwell squealed when he saw their visitors, jumping up and running straight to Julie.
She laughed, scooping him up into her arms. "Hello, Maxwell. Did you miss me?"
Elias toddled over to Elizabeth, looking at his aunt and uncle with uncertainty.
"Sweet boy." She picked up her son. "Do you remember your Aunt Julie and Uncle Tom? Can you say 'hi'?"
"Hi," he said quietly.
Julie looked over at her husband with a smile. "Can you believe we're going to have one of these soon?"
He returned her grin. "I can't wait."
...
Jack slowed as he approached the house, noticing the car parked out front. He reached down to pet the puppy walking alongside him. "Who's here, Wolf?"
She gave a little growl before letting out a bark.
Elizabeth opened the front door, flashing a smile at Jack. He sighed with relief at the sight of her, unharmed. "Hello, beautiful," he called out. "Who's here?"
"Come see for yourself."
He mounted the front steps, putting his arm around her as they entered the house.
"Tom! Julie! What are you doing here?"
"What? I have to have a reason to visit my favorite brother?" Tom crossed the room, giving Jack a big bear hug. "But really, my boss needed someone to come meet with Lee Coulter, and I volunteered. I figured we'll have our hands full before long, and I didn't know when we'd be able to get away again."
"Well, it's great to see you both. No matter the reason for your visit." Jack clapped his brother on the back.
"Congratulations, by the way. Elizabeth told us your news."
"Thank you. We're pretty happy." He reached over, taking Elizabeth's hand.
She put a hand on her stomach. "Is anyone hungry? I was thinking we could go to the café for dinner. Eli has been asking to see Abigail."
"That sounds great to me," Jack stated. "Let me just change out of uniform and put Wolf up."
"Wolf?" Julie furrowed her brow.
"Oh, we got a puppy." Elizabeth chuckled. "Or, I should say, Jack brought a puppy home, and I couldn't just turn her away."
Julie shot Tom a look. "Please, don't bring home a puppy. We have enough on our plates as it is."
He held his hands up, laughing. "I wouldn't dream of it."