Bill, Lee, and Nathan were relaxing when Mike and Lucas poked their head around the corner. "Is this a private party," Lucas asked, chuckling. "Or can Mike and I join you, gentlemen?"
"Not private at all, Lucas," Lee said.
"Come join us," Nathan said, gesturing to some empty chairs. Once upon a time, Lucas would not have been welcome. But Elizabeth firmly placed him in the friend zone while making her feelings for Nathan clear. Watching them over the years and seeing how perfect they were for each other made the other single men want the same happiness.
Now he was happily married to Fiona though he was afraid she wasn't as happy. Mike had fallen in love with Katie Yost when she returned to help Elizabeth teach when they needed additional teachers.
"What brings you over our way?" Bill asked.
"Fiona ordered me to make myself scarce for the time being. Mike got similar orders from Katie." Lucas added.
"What's wrong, Lucas?" Nathan asked. "You seem upset."
"I just thought she would want me to help," Lucas said. "But apparently not." Nathan could tell something significant was on his mind, but he was hesitant. Nathan felt he knew what was on his mind and his hesitancy to ask.
"Lucas, you obviously have something you want to talk about. What is it?"
"How do you and Lee keep the spark alive, Nathan?" Lucas asked! "I can't imagine that Fiona would go to the lengths Elizabeth does for my attention. Elizabeth looks at you like she always has. Fiona once looked at me that way. You have been married for 11 years, and we just celebrated three."
"Elizabeth and Rosemary, look at the two of you hung the moon," Mike added. "In fact, I know that she looks at you with the same intensity she did, Jack. I want that same thing for Katie and me."
"Can you teach us your woodchopping technique?" Lucas asked.
"I can, but maybe that's not your problem, fellas," Nathan said.
"Maybe not, but can we start there?" Mike said.
So, Nathan and Lee had each of them chop some wood for evaluation purposes. Then Bill asked Nathan to demonstrate.
Nathan says, "Now, when you two go out, you want to ensure coats are off and shirt sleeves are rolled up. You want Fiona and Katie to see the muscles flex."
Lee said, "Lucas, you will have to lose the suit look. When I chop wood, I'm never in a suit. I may have a vest on but not the whole Jacket and tie.
"I think part of the issue, too, is that you are not what I would call rugged," Bill added.
"What do you mean?" Lucas asked, wondering what Bill was getting at.
"I mean, you never get dirty, so Fiona always sees you being charming. Women like a man that's not afraid to get dirty. Who comes off as capable of handling any problem that crops up."
"They also like a man that is not afraid to challenge them and make them mad," Lee said. "For example, I will use you, Nathan, and Elizabeth as an example. "Lucas, you and Elizabeth hardly ever had a cross word, right?"
Lucas thought about it and realized Lee was right, so he nodded.
"Well, I know that Nathan and Elizabeth disagreed, but he wasn't afraid to tell her how he felt," Bill said.
Lee smirked and said, "The whole town knew most of them,"
When Nathan started to protest, Lucas said, chuckling, "Nathan, you and Elizabeth were like a married couple. You weren't afraid to disagree with her even if it made her mad. I envied your courage. When you would leave, she would stand there wondering what had just happened,"
"Now I know that you and Fiona have had a few disagreements, so when you compare the two, I think you'll understand."
"Anyway, back to the technique." Since they had gotten a bit off track, Nathan repeated his earlier comments, "When you go out to the woodpile, you want to ensure coats are off and shirt sleeves are rolled up. You want them to see the muscles flex."
"Now, facial expressions are also important, and you want to be fluid in your motion," Lee said.
"Take your time and look at the log as if measuring the distance! That's important because you want them to want to watch. Then tighten up and bring the axe down like this!" Nathan said.
"If you can, they really love it when you.…." Bill said but was interrupted by giggles. They looked up and saw Elizabeth, Abigail, and Rosemary standing there, trying to look serious.
"What is it that they really love, and just who are you referring to as they, Bill?" Elizabeth asked, already knowing the answer.
Uh… Uh…" Nathan said, trying to help his friend out. He saw the mischief in his wife's eyes and felt she had heard the conversation.
"Yes, Nathan?" Abigail said, raising a brow, becoming highly amused. "What do you think women like?" Nathan just rubbed the back of his neck and attempted to clear his throat.
"Oh, Nathan, can you show me the proper technique for rolling up the sleeves?" Rosemary said.
"Lee? Lucas? Would you like to enlighten us?" Elizabeth asked, smirking. The women thoroughly enjoyed watching the men squirming. Mike squirmed and looked like he wished the ground would swallow him up. The women struggled to maintain their composure because all the men looked like they were caught with the hand in the proverbial cookie jar.
Elizabeth walked over to her husband and whispered, "Cat got your tongue, my love?" Turning to the other men, she used her teacher's voice and addressed Lucas and Mike, much to their embarrassment.
"We heard your dilemmas, boys, and while I can't speak for Fiona or Katie, I can tell you why I love this man of mine. It's that he's there in the everyday grind. He looks at me like I'm the most beautiful woman there is, even though I've birthed eight children. When someone says you are everything they ever wanted or needed, the rest takes care of itself. My happiness exists because he does, and he has shown me that it is the same with him." Elizabeth said in her teacher's voice before kissing Nathan on the cheek.
But do keep working on the wood chopping because we love watching our man chop! However, I suspect that none of you even understand why that is." Elizabeth said.
"It's because of that primal urge that comes over us to stake our claim on our mate," Rosemary whispered, making Abigail and Elizabeth laugh. Nathan saw the blush on Elizabeth's cheeks and knew he had to know what caused it.
"Rosemary Coulter!" Elizabeth gasped when she added with a whisper, "in the most primitive way possible!"
The ladies broke into a fit of giggles as they watched the men looking at them like they had three heads. It was obvious that the men were clearly embarrassed that their conversation had been overheard.
"Elizabeth is right, and when you truly grasp exactly why that is, then you'll have no problem keeping the spark going," Abigail said with a wink.
"If you ever need advice," Rosemary said with a smirk, "I'm always available. I used to write an advice column, after all, gentleman." Elizabeth and Abigail looked at each other and rolled their eyes, recalling her advice column.
"Well, we will leave you, gentlemen, to continue. I'll see you at home when class is dismissed for the day, Nathan," Elizabeth said with a wink.
"It was rather…. enlightening," Abigail said slyly before the ladies walked away, still laughing.
Later that evening, Nathan and Elizabeth were lying in bed discussing the day when he remembered the blush.
"Lizbeth, what was it that Rosemary whispered to you?" Nathan asked.
Elizabeth smirked and said I'm not sure I understand what you're referring to. She whispered a lot of things to me in the course of the day."
"Oh, I think you do remember because my Mountie senses are going off," Nathan said teasingly. "Am I going to have to employ my professional Interrogation skills?"
Elizabeth giggled and said with a raised brow, "Hmm, I don't know. Are they as impressive as your teaching skills from this afternoon?"
"Oh, you have gone and done it now, Mrs. Grant." He said, wiggling his eyebrows as he maneuvered her underneath him.
"Have I now," Elizabeth said, laughing. "What exactly have I done, Inspector?"
"You refused to cooperate with a Mountie," Nathan said, "and you are being pretty darn lippy with your husband." Then he began to tickle her in earnest until she begged him to stop.
"Are you ready to answer?" Nathan asked, brow raised.
Elizabeth thought about it for a minute, then kissed him soundly before pulling back and saying, "Nope!" They were prevented from further discussion by Holly wanting to sleep with them because of a bad dream.
