Chapter 43: A Date is Finally Set

Elizabeth had been at the schoolhouse all day that Friday, setting up for the first day of school that would occur the Tuesday after Canadian Labor Day. Joseph had agreed to hold services outside in the schoolhouse that Sunday so that the classroom could remain intact after Elizabeth had completed preparations. They would have services there outside and once again have a potluck celebration for the end of summer in the center of town.

All the desks were set up with the necessary materials and Elizabeth had prepared all of her lessons for the first day. All that she had left to do was the decorations for the classroom that she wanted to hang. Fall was almost upon them and she loved to decorate for that within her classroom.

Elizabeth was trying to hang her traditional back to school banner, but was struggling to reach the top nail that was used to anchor hanging objects. Despite her efforts, she was failing miserably on her own. Just as Elizabeth was attempting her fourth time reaching up with the string in hand on her tiptoes, Nathan appeared in the doorway. Seeing Elizabeth's struggle, he immediately went up behind her, took the banner's string from her hand and hung it onto the nail, anchoring the banner into place.

Elizabeth placed her feet firmly back on the ground and slowly turned around. Their eyes locked on one another for that brief moment as they stood inches apart. Although there were no words from either, so much was said in that instant. Remembering another time, but something else too was there. Feeling her heart start to race, she took a chance and leaned in closer to Nathan to close the distance between them. Just as she was close enough that she could feel his warm breath on her face, he backed away and held up his hand in front of himself as if to halt her advancements towards him.

"Nope, not yet. Can I help you with anything else before I go?", Nathan asked as he grabbed his hat up on the desk behind him.

Elizabeth remained where she was staring at Nathan trying to figure out what had just happened , or didn't happen. She shook her head without a word, still maintaining eye contact looking at Nathan puzzled. "Nathan, what just happened there? Did I misread that scenario?", Elizabeth inquired.

Nathan rubbed the back of his neck, wore an awkward look on his face for a moment and then gestured towards the front door. "Do you think we could step outside onto the swing for a moment?", he asked.

"Sure, just give me a moment.", Elizabeth responded as she placed several items from her desk into her basket. She took one last sweeping look around the room to make sure she felt confident of how she was leaving it for Tuesday morning and then made her way towards the door. Nathan followed her down the steps, across the yard and to the swing . Elizabeth placed her basket on the ground and took a seat on the swing. When Nathan sat down on the other side, Elizabeth turned to face him, looking into his blue eyes.

"Nathan, please talk to me. What was that in there? I thought we had a moment, but, you pulled away. I'm confused, can you help me understand?", Elizabeth implored.

Nathan searched Elizabeth's eyes and knew he needed to figure this out enough so that he could begin to explain it to Elizabeth. He cleared his throat and began, "I mentioned before we began courting that I wasn't ready for this kind of exchange between us because what I had experienced at a distance with you and Lucas. I know we had some incredible correspondences during our time away, but I still feel like it is a bit soon, for me, at least. We are still so very new in this relationship and we've barely been together alone during that time. We haven't even had our official date yet. I personally need time with us both in the same town and interacting in person more, before I want to take what's between us to that level of intimacy ."

Nathan searched Elizabeth's eyes once more with a sense of pleading of his own. Urging her without words to understand where he stood and to be patient. Elizabeth grabbed Nathan's hands within her own.

"Nathan Grant, I will wait for you as long as necessary. It may kill me in the process, but I am more than willing.", Elizabeth responded making a teasingly exasperated face as she did.

Nathan smirked and lifted her two hands that were in his own hands to his lips and kissed each one. "Thank you, my love. Your patience on this journey means more to me than you'll ever know. He looked up at her with her piercing blue eyes and Elizabeth about melted in her spot.

She quickly, but as casually as possible took her hands away and scooched over slightly to create some necessary space for herself for the time being. The butterflies in her stomach were fluttering about profusely and she swore that her cheeks maintained a constant blush to them. Elizabeth fiddled with her hands on her lap for a moment and then looked back at Nathan.

"Nathan, although I always love seeing you and I appreciate the help, was there a specific reason that you stopped by this afternoon?", Elizabeth looked intently at Nathan.

Nathan chuckled and realized that he himself had almost forgotten the reason that he had stopped by the schoolhouse.

"Yes, Lizbeth, there is a specific reason. I was curious if you think that you'd want to take me up on my dinner invitation tomorrow night. I thought since your prepping today and with it being a long weekend, it would be a good time to do it.", Nathan answered matter factly.

Elizabeth thought about the idea and smiled. They'd finally do it, go on their date. It had been so long in the making. It had taken them so very long to get here to this point. She was lost in her thoughts of that when Nathan was calling out her name to get her attention.

"Lizbeth… where did you go off to?", he asked wearing a curious look on his face.

She blushed, glanced over at him with a smile and answered, "Nowhere particular, just imagining our first official date. "

Nathan's crystal blue eyes twinkled with that comment and he smiled at her in response. "Now Lizbeth, I want you to know it won't be anything extravagant or extraordinary. It will just be your average date, you know, without the children. Hey, we don't even have to dress up. Just wearing something like you're wearing now will be just fine.", Nathan answered as he gestured to her white blouse and mint green skirt.

Elizabeth opened her mouth slightly in shock. Well, it definitely wasn't what she was used to, but Nathan was different to both Jack and Lucas. Simple was good, because it was Nathan. She smiled sweetly and nodded back at him.

"Do we have a time for this date?"Elizabeth asked, eyeing Nathan curiously.

Nathan smiled and nodded quickly in response. "Sure! Let's say be ready at 3pm tomorrow afternoon. Would that work for you.?", he asked, still wearing his smile.

It seemed a little early for a date, but Elizabeth was willing to be flexible. Once again, she smiled and nodded again. Nathan got up from the swing, placed his hat back on his head and reached for Elizabeth's hand. She placed her small hand in his large hand and he gently squeezed it. Then, he brought it closer to himself and bent down and kissed it. After one more gentle squeeze, he released it and said goodbye.

Elizabeth watched Nathan as he walked away, admiring his tall, lean stature. As if knowing he was being watched, Nathan turned around at one point and looked right at Elizabeth, smiled and tipped his hat to her. She blushed and waved back at him. As she kept swinging, Elizabeth thought to herself that she wasn't sure what to expect for this date, but she knew that with Nathan, it'd be special in its own unique way.