"They know we're doing this, right?" Jack asked as he watched Elizabeth hang a set of curtains in the bedroom window.
"Um, not exactly."
"Elizabeth Thornton, are we breaking into our daughter's house right now? I could arrest you for this, you know."
"Well then you'd have to arrest yourself, too, Sergeant." She turned and winked at him. "She asked me to bring a few of her things over, so she knows we're here."
"But she didn't ask us to move in any furniture or put up curtains?"
"No, but I don't want her and Patrick to have to spend this whole week moving things. I want them to be able to enjoy their time here."
He stepped over to her, winding his arms around her waist. "Well then, I suppose I can let you off with a warning this time." He kissed her temple.
She put her hands on top of his as he moved his lips down her neck. "So many memories in this house."
"My mother putting lard in your shepherd's pie."
"Your mother putting lard in my scrambled eggs."
He laughed. "I'm glad we finally convinced her that she doesn't need to help cook whenever she's visiting."
"Thank goodness for that." She sighed contentedly, leaning into him. "Do you remember all the times we had dinner in this house when we were courting, and we'd plan our future?"
"Mhmm." He nuzzled his face in her hair. "We planned our wedding here, and our house, and our family."
"We really began our life here. We started our marriage here. Our family started here when Jane was born in this room." She looked around, drawn back into the memories.
Jack carrying her over the threshold after their wedding and leading her up to what had become their room. Standing on the front porch after he returned from an assignment, giving him the news that he would be a dad. Sitting on the bed in Jack's embrace, looking down at their tiny little baby girl in the hours right after she was born.
"Do you ever miss living here?" Jack's voice broke her from her thoughts.
"Sometimes." She turned to face him. "But I love our house. You built it just for us. We have so many wonderful memories there, too."
"And we have years and years to make more memories there."
"I love you, Jack." She kissed him softly. "Now, as much as I would love to keep reminiscing, we should finish up in here so Jane and Patrick have a place to sleep tonight."
"Or we could keep reminiscing, and they could just stay with us. Patrick in the guest room, of course," he teased.
"Jack Thornton." She shook her head. "Sometimes it feels like I have nine children."
His face suddenly grew serious. "Elizabeth?" He brushed his fingers across her stomach. "Do you ever think about the one we lost?"
"Almost every day for the past sixteen years." She nodded, taking his hand. "I imagine who they would've been, what they would've been like."
"For some reason, I always imagine they'd be a lot like Audrey."
She laughed softly. "Can you imagine? Our house would be even louder than it already is." She sighed, wrapping her arms around him and settling her hands on his back. "Of course, it broke my heart to lose that baby, but then I remember that we wouldn't have Levi, and probably not any of the others after him."
"You're right. Our lives would be very different, and I kind of like how our lives have turned out. Heartbreak and all."
"We do have a pretty good life here."
He leaned down, pressing his lips to hers, chuckling as he pulled away.
"What?" She looked at him curiously.
"We're never going to get this house ready for Jane and Patrick."
"Maybe I should finish putting things in the kitchen while you get the bed frame put together."
"You just can't resist me." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"Jack Thornton." She gave him a shove. "I'll be downstairs."
...
Ellie put her hand on her textbook, avoiding the eyes of the boy who was staring a little too intently at her. "Um, should we study?"
"I don't know. Maybe we should wait until everyone else is here." The young man put his elbow on the table, resting his chin in his hand. "And while we wait, I think I'd like to get to know you better."
Ellie cleared her throat. "The test is tomorrow. We need to learn about the circulatory system."
"What's your name again? Ellen?"
"It's Eleanor." She flipped her book open trying to ignore the boy's eyes on her. "So, the vena cava."
"Where are you from, Eleanor?"
She didn't answer; she just kept her head down, reading her textbook.
The boy moved closer, putting his hand on her book to block her view. "Come on. There are much more exciting things outside of that silly book."
"If you aren't going to study, I'll just leave. I can study by myself at home."
"Where is home? Maybe I can stop by some time."
"Please, leave me alone." She scooted away, clutching her book to her chest. "I'm just going to leave. Good luck on the test."
She stood and hurried toward the door, fighting off tears and praying that he wouldn't follow her. Just outside of the library, she saw a familiar face.
"Hey, Eleanor." Sidney jogged up. "Sorry I'm late." Noticing her tear-stained face, he stopped. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just going to go home and study there."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded, giving him a forced smile. "I'm sure. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Hey!" a voice called out behind her.
Ellie tensed, and Sidney immediately stepped between her and the young man.
"Oh, look. More of the group is here. Now we can go back in and get to know each other a little more."
"Donny, I think it's best if you leave Miss Thornton alone."
"Is she your girlfriend?" he taunted.
"Let's go, Eleanor. I'll drive you home." He put his arm around her, not quite touching her.
They were quiet until they reached his car. He opened the door for her, and she climbed into the passenger seat.
"Did he touch you, Eleanor? I swear, if he laid a hand on you…"
She shook her head. "No. He just wouldn't leave me alone."
"I'm so sorry. If I had known you were alone with him, I would've told my brother I needed to leave sooner."
"It's okay, Sidney. It wasn't your fault. Please, just take me home."
"Of course."
She gave him a couple of directions, and they were off. When he finally pulled up in front of the Thatcher Mansion, his eyes went wide.
"You live here?"
"Just while I'm in school. This is where my mom grew up with her sisters, but it's just my grandmother here now since my grandfather passed away a couple of years ago, and there are a handful of people here who work for her. Our house back in Hope Valley is a lot smaller."
"Wow."
"Um, anyway, thank you for driving me. I should get inside."
He opened his door and rounded the car. "I'll walk you up." He took her books from her, walking beside her up the steps to the front of the house. "Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked, handing her books back to her.
"I'll be fine." She started toward the door, but stopped before she reached it. "Actually, would you like to come in for some tea or coffee?"
"Would that be okay with your grandmother?"
"She won't mind. She's always telling me I need to do more things with my friends anyway."
"As long as it won't get you into trouble."
"It won't." She led him into the house, laughing softly when his jaw dropped.
"I'm sorry for gawking. I've just never seen a house like this before."
"It's a lot. I know. Grandma?" she called out, wandering into the sitting room.
"Hello, Ellie." Grace smiled at her. "I thought you were meeting with your study group today."
"Change of plans. I'm just going to study here." She waved Sidney into the room. "This is Sidney, a friend from my study group. He drove me home, and I invited him in for some tea. I hope that's okay."
"You know you're more than welcome to have friends over. It's nice to meet you, Sidney."
"You, too, ma'am."
"Well," Ellie turned toward the kitchen, "shall we, Sidney?"
"Lead the way."
Sidney watched from a seat at the counter while Ellie moved around the kitchen, boiling water and brewing their tea.
"So…Ellie?"
She glanced up. "Hm?"
"Oh, I just noticed that your grandmother called you Ellie, not Eleanor."
She poured two cups of the tea, handing one to him. "My family has called me Ellie ever since I was a baby. I don't mind it, but when I came here for school, I thought I'd see how it felt to go by my actual name."
"So what if I started calling you Ellie?"
"Um," she cleared her throat, keeping her gaze directed at the floor. "I actually like it when you call me Eleanor."
He smiled, enjoying the blush that rose in her cheeks. "Well, in that case, I'll just keep calling you Eleanor."
"Sidney, um." She finally met his eyes. "I don't know what your feelings are, but I need you to know that I'm not looking for a relationship right now. I don't want anything to distract me from school."
"I won't deny that I like you, Eleanor, but you don't have to worry about me. I won't push you for anything that you aren't comfortable with."
"Thank you. So," she ran her thumb along the rim of her cup, "maybe you can stay for a while and we can study together."
"I'd like that."
...
"It's probably good that my parents moved out of this house when I was a baby, or else it would feel too weird staying in their room." Jane chuckled, looking around the space that had been set up for them: a bed, a small dresser and nightstand, a chair laden with extra blankets.
Patrick took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Technically, this was probably your room, too. At least for the few months that you were here." He held out his hand, inviting her to sit with him.
"And now, it's our room." She lowered herself into his lap, snaking her arms around his neck.
He smiled, dropping a soft kiss on her lips as his hands found her hips. "We've been married for three months, and part of me still worries that we'll get in trouble for being alone behind closed doors."
"Especially now that we're back home where our families can just drop in at any time," she added.
"And that's why there's a lock on the front door," he joked.
"Patrick, will you dance with me?" she asked suddenly.
"What?"
"Dance with me." She got up from his lap, holding a hand out to him. "I have all these memories of sneaking down the stairs when I was supposed to be in bed and catching my parents dancing in the living room, sometimes without any music. I always thought it was sweet."
He stood, taking her hand and placing his other on her back. "Well, how can I turn you down now?"
She smiled as they started to sway beside the bed, Patrick humming a quiet tune in her ear. "Do you remember the first time we danced together?"
"Our first real dance, or the very first time?"
"Our very first time." She laughed softly. "What were we, about five years old?"
"Something like that. You got mad at me because I kept stepping on your toes."
"Just because I had on brand new shoes. I was afraid you were going to scuff them up."
He laughed, kissing her cheek. "Well, this apology is thirteen years too late, but I'm sorry for scuffing up your brand new shoes."
"Apology accepted. Just don't do it again," she teased.
"I wouldn't dare."
She shifted her hands to link behind his neck, taking a step closer and leaning into his chest as they continued to sway back and forth. His hands both came to rest on the small of her back, lower than he would have dared before they were married.
He nuzzled his face in her hair, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head. "I love you, Janie."
"I love you, Pat." She looked up, brushing her nose against his before finding his lips.
"Mm." He tightened his arms around her, leaning down to kiss her again.
Before either of them could say anything, they were interrupted by a ringing coming from downstairs.
"Is that…?" He turned toward the door.
"They put a phone in here?" Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and made her way down to the living room.
Sure enough, there was a phone sitting on the small table by the front door. Patrick answered it.
"Hello?" A moment later, he held it out to Jane. "It's for you. Ellie, I think."
She put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"
"Jane, thank goodness. I need to talk to you."
"Is everything okay, Ellie?"
Figuring it might take a while, Patrick wandered back up to their bedroom to unpack a few more things, letting his wife catch up with her sister.
"Everything's fine, I guess, but I'm so confused."
"About what?"
"Sidney." Ellie sighed. "One of the other boys in our study group was bothering me, and Sidney got him to back down, but I was upset, so Sidney drove me back to grandma's. For some reason, I decided to invite him in, and we had a really nice time."
"So what's the problem?"
"I might like him more than I like Sammy. And he makes me want to rethink my no-relationships-during-school rule that I set for myself."
Jane shook her head and smiled. "You have to do what's best for you, Ellie."
Ellie groaned. "You're supposed to give me advice, Janie!"
She chuckled. "I don't think I'm the best person to ask for advice on love. I might be married now, but really I'm very inexperienced when it comes to love and relationships. It's always been Patrick for me, for as long as I can remember. Maybe you should talk to mom. Ooh," she gasped, "or Aunt Rosemary."
"Aunt Rosemary would just try to play matchmaker." Ellie laughed.
"Very true. Well, if I were you, I would just take my time. Don't jump into anything too quickly, and see how you feel in a few weeks. It sounds like you had an emotional day before you spent time with him, so I would make sure that isn't clouding your feelings."
"Now that's the advice I was wanting. Are you sure you and Patrick don't want to move to Hamilton so we can talk all the time?"
She let out a laugh. "I miss you Ellie. I promise I'll call you again this week."
"Good. Love you, Janie."
"Love you, little sister."
...
"Mama." Audrey wandered into the kitchen. "Why isn't Jane staying here?"
"She and Patrick have their own house now, so that's where they'll stay whenever they visit. And when Patrick is done with school, they'll move into the house for good."
"Oh." She took a seat at the table. "When I marry Joseph, do we have to get our own house? Because I want to stay here."
Elizabeth chuckled. "You'll probably feel differently when you're old enough to get married, Audrey. But you and your brothers and sisters are welcome to stay here with me and daddy for as long as you want."
"Good." She watched Elizabeth move around the kitchen for a few moments before speaking again. "What are you making, mama?"
"Some cookies for after the baseball game. Aunt Rosemary is making some, too, and Aunt Abigail is making lemonade and fresh ice cream."
"Yummy!"
"Just remember, though, we're not going to get too upset if your team doesn't win."
She nodded. "I know, mama."
"Why don't you go change into your uniform? Dad is going to take you and your brothers to the field soon."
"Okay, mama." She hurried away to do as she was told.
Elizabeth pulled one tray of cookies from the oven, setting them aside to cool.
"It smells great in here." Jack reached for a cookie, but Elizabeth swatted his hand away.
"Those are for after the game, Sergeant."
"Fine." He let out an exaggerated sigh. "I guess I can wait."
"So, Coach Thornton." She smirked, reaching up to fix his collar. "Are you ready to take back the title from Team Coulter?"
"I still think that last run shouldn't have counted. Levi got them out."
She chuckled. "Not this again. Play nice, Jack, or I'll get a different coach next time."
"Okay, okay." He dropped a quick kiss on her lips. "But I better hear you cheering for my team."
"Hey." She put up her hands. "I have to remain impartial for the students. And because two of our children are on Lee's team."
...
Jack approached Elizabeth and put his hands on his hips. "Peter and Andrew are sick, so now both teams are down a player."
"Patrick and I could fill in."
"What am I being volunteered for?" Patrick wandered over after hearing his name.
"They need two more players."
"Janie."
"Come on, Pat." She took his arm. "It'll be just like old times. You can be on my dad's team, and I'll be on your dad's team."
Jack gripped his shoulder. "The kids would love for you to join us, Patrick. What do you say?"
"Okay, but I'd better get two cookies afterward for doing this."
Jane grinned, leaning up to kiss his cheek. "You can have as many cookies as you'd like."
Elizabeth chuckled. "Okay, you two. Go get ready. The game starts in a few minutes." She watched them jog over to join their teams before returning to the stands, where Rosemary and Abigail were sitting, Laurel and Eva in their laps.
"What was that all about?" Abigail asked, passing Eva to her.
"Peter and Andrew are sick, so Jane and Patrick volunteered to take their places."
"Oh, this will be good." Rosemary laughed. "Those two are so competitive."
"Between those two and Jack and Lee, we're bound to be very entertained today."
...
"I'm so sorry, dad." Jane stood near Jack, wringing her hands together.
"It's okay, Jane." He chuckled, pressing the cloth to his forehead to staunch the flow of blood from where the ball had hit him. "It was an accident. Dr. Shepherd said I'll be fine."
"Still. I feel bad. I just really wanted to beat Patrick."
"You got your competitive nature from me, so I can't fault you for that." He gave her a smile. "But really, Janie. I'm fine. You don't need to hover."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure. I have your mom to take care of me." He reached over to take Elizabeth's hand when she walked over. "Go see your friends."
She relented, going back to join Patrick and their friends. Elizabeth took a seat on the bench beside him.
"How are you feeling?"
He squeezed her hand."My head hurts, but I'll survive. I've experienced far worse than a baseball to the face."
"Well, now we know that if we need Jane and Patrick to fill in next time, we'll put them on the same team."
He laughed. "Good idea."
"Is there anything I can get you?"
"I wouldn't say no to one of your cookies."
She smiled, kissing his cheek. "Coming right up, Coach."
...
A/N Heads up that there are only 5 more chapters left in this story!