As her son passed her, Elizabeth looked up from her book and smiled. As Jack was walking away, she put a bookmark in her book and closed her book and sat it on her lap. She took off her glasses and closed her eyes. She started thinking about her son. He was the spitting image of his father. There were moments where Elizabeth would see Jack Jr. walk through the door and she thought she was seeing Jack. As she had her eyes closed, she felt someone take the book and glasses from her lap and put a blanket over her. She knew that it was Jack Jr. He was always taking care of her, just like his father.
Elizabeth was traveling to Hope Valley with her son and granddaughter. She had suggested the move to Jack Jr. after the war had ended. Elizabeth could see that the war had taken on her son. She remembered the times she was truly happy and they all involved in Hope Valley. When he found Jack's blueprints for the house he wanted to build in Hope Valley, Elizabeth asked Jack Jr. to build that house. Jack Jr. saw it as an opportunity to honor his father and agreed to the move. It would be a fresh start for all three of them. Elizabeth remembered when she first arrived in Hope Valley. Her stagecoach had been robbed and she traveled by wagon to Hope Valley. She had a lot to prove to the townspeople and to one Mountie who thought she was a princess. Little by Little, she gained the trust of the townspeople and fell in love with that Mountie.
She left Hope Valley after Mrs. Bouchard became ill and Lucas took over the publishing company. Lucas was a good man and provided a good life for Elizabeth and her son. Elizabeth published a second book. Although it wasn't as popular as her first book, she was still proud of it. She was working on a third book when she became pregnant. She and Lucas had a beautiful baby girl, Emily. But the happiness was only short lived. One day, she went into Emily's room to feed her and Emily wasn't breathing. The doctor's didn't know what caused her death but said it seemed like a sudden death. The doctor told Elizabeth that he has seen this in other infants. Sometimes infants die and there is no reason. The death broke both Lucas's and Elizabeth's heart. After Emily's death, Elizabeth stopped writing and lost interest in everything. There were days that she couldn't get out of bed. This put a strain on Lucas's and Elizabeth's marriage. They decided to send Jack Jr. to Hope Valley for the summer to give them privacy to fix their relationship. It had seemed to work but she saw Lucas emotionally detach from her and Jack Jr.
After Jack Jr. had returned from Hope Valley, he wanted to know everything about his father. He had heard all the stories when he was in Hope Valley. Elizabeth loved sharing stories of Jack but was conflicted because of Lucas. They had just lost a child and Elizabeth didn't think it would help if she shared stories of Jack in front of him. Elizabeth told Jack that every Sunday after church, they would have breakfast and she would tell him all the stories. She told him about how Elizabeth and Jack didn't like each other in the beginning but little by little, they fell in love. One day, Elizabeth was reading a book and Lucas was reading the paper. Jack came into the room and announced that he was only going to go by Jack Thornton. After Jack had left the room, she saw the hurt in Lucas's eyes. Elizabeth told Lucas that she would talk to him. Not wanting to make a big deal, Lucas agreed to let him go by Thornton only. She knew Lucas wanted the Bouchard name to live on. They talked about having more children but after Emily, Lucas didn't seem interested.
When Jack Jr. was twelve, Lucas decided he should go to a prestigious boarding school. The same one he had gone to. This seemed to make Lucas happy so she agreed to the school. However, Jack Jr. was not as excited. He refused to go. Elizabeth told Jack Jr. that if he went for a year, they would talk about transferring to a school near home. Jack Jr. didn't make it a year. After 6 months, he was expelled from school. He go into multiple fights because he was teased for not being of "rich" bloodline. Even though his stepfather was rich, his biological father was just an inept Mountie. After Jack Jr. was expelled, he was sent to another boarding school. That one wasn't much better. He was expelled for fighting and poor grades. They sent him to a third boarding school. This time, Jack was doing well in school and not getting into any fights. At this boarding school, there was corporal punishment. One day, Jack Jr. saw a teacher hitting a small child. Jack Jr. went into the room and took the ruler from the educator and started beating him. They expelled Jack Jr. All these expulsions had caused friction between Jack Jr. and Lucas. Finally, Elizabeth suggested homeschooling Jack Jr. This was the best solution for Jack Jr. Elizabeth saw that Jack Jr. had a talent for drawing, just like his father. She encouraged Jack Jr. to embrace his talent.
Jack Jr. was strong headed. Elizabeth knew he got that from her and his father. Jack Jr. was not a fan of the rich kids who lived around the neighborhood. Jack Jr. decided to find friends in different neighborhoods. Elizabeth didn't mind who he made friends with. Lucas on the other hand did not like the friends he was making. Lucas saw them as lower class. One day, Jack Jr. introduced one of these friends to his mother. Her name was Maggie. Elizabeth could see in her son's eyes that they were more than friends. Jack Jr. confided in Elizabeth that he had been chasing her for almost a year and that he was in love with her. Elizabeth encouraged Jack Jr. not to give up on her. One day, Maggie finally let Jack Jr. catch her. Six months later they were married. Their love reminded Elizabeth of her and Jack's love, loving and tender.
Jack Jr. wanted to be in the Mountie's just like his father. The easiest way for him to become a Mountie was to join the military. He was stationed at home for a year. But in 1939, the whole world was involved in a second great war. Jack Jr. was being deployed to Britain to help with the war. Elizabeth, Lucas and Maggie saw him off. Elizabeth will always remember that day that Jack Jr. embraced Lucas. It seemed that Jack Jr. had finally accepted Lucas as his father. Six months later, Lucas became ill and passed away. The loss of Lucas devastated Elizabeth. If it wasn't for Maggie, she probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed. After a year, Jack was given leave for a month. It was nice to have him back if only for a month.
After Jack Jr. had left, Maggie came over one day to give her news. Maggie told Elizabeth that she would be a grandmother. Elizabeth was thrilled and she and Maggie started planning for the baby. Maggie lost her mother when she was young, so Elizabeth treated her like a daughter. Elizabeth was there for Maggie every step of the way. Maggie had received news that Jack Jr. was shot in the leg and went into shock. He was in a hospital in a coma. Maggie was six months pregnant at the time. Elizabeth assured Maggie that Jack Jr. was a fighter and that he would make it. At nine months, Maggie was staying with Elizabeth and went into labor. Elizabeth rushed Maggie to the hospital. Elizabeth was told to wait in the waiting room. After ten hours of labor, the doctor came out and told Elizabeth the baby was healthy but unfortunately, Maggie lost a lot of blood and had died. Elizabeth broke down in the waiting room. Elizabeth couldn't understand why God was punishing her with deaths in her life. After she composed herself, she went to the nursery and held her granddaughter. Elizabeth realized that God was not punishing her. Everything happens for a reason. Elizabeth and Maggie had discussed names for the baby. She and Jack had decided they would name the baby Sophie if it was a girl. Elizabeth told them to put Sophie Margaret on the birth certificate.
Jack woke up from his coma. Elizabeth went and visited him. She broke the news of Maggie's death to him but told him of his beautiful daughter. Jack Jr. was broken over the loss and told Elizabeth to give it up for adoption. He told her that he could never love a child who killed the love of his life. After Jack Jr. was discharged from the hospital and the military, he came home. He refused to hold, feed or look at Sophie. One day, Elizabeth told Jack Jr. that she had asked God why he was punishing her with all this death in her life. When she held Sophie, she realized that God wasn't punishing her. Maggie loved Sophie and would want Jack Jr. to love her too, just as his father wanted Elizabeth to love their son. That night, Elizabeth went out to dinner with her sisters. When she came back, she saw Jack Jr. in a rocker with Sophie, both of them fast asleep. Elizabeth smiled and knew that Jack Jr. had come to the realization that Maggie would want him to love Sophie with all his heart.
For the next 5 years, Elizabeth helped Jack Jr. take care of Sophie. Jack went to school at night to complete his college degree. Since he was shot in the leg, he was disqualified from being in the Mountie's. Elizabeth encouraged Jack to take a few classes to see what interested him. One day, Jack Jr. told Elizabeth he wanted to be an architect. Elizabeth was thrilled for her son. Even though it seemed like Jack Jr. was finding his way, she could see the effects of war were still with him. He had nightmares and would go into these episodes where he thought he was in the war again. Elizabeth could see her son was suffering. One day, while looking through an old chest, she found Jack's blueprints for the house he was going to build in Hope Valley. Elizabeth smiled and remembered that the times in Hope Valley were the best times of her life. She showed Jack Jr. the blueprints and asked Jack Jr. to build his father's house. The money that Lucas had left for Elizabeth and the money Jack Jr. received from the military was more than enough to build the house. Jack Jr. smiled and told her that he would build that house for his mother.
After Elizabeth left Hope Valley, she kept in touch with a few of her friends in Hope Valley. She kept in touch with Rosemary. Rosemary stayed in Hope Valley. Lee became the Mayor and was re-elected a second time. Rosemary also became pregnant a year after Elizabeth left. Hope Valley was their home. The last time she had seen Rosemary was at Bill Avery's funeral. Even though they hadn't seen each other since the funeral, they kept in touch. When Elizabeth told Rosemary that they were moving back to Hope Valley. She screamed and told her it would be like old times.
The other person she kept in close contact with was Nathan Grant. Elizabeth thought after she broke Nathan's heart that he would hate her. It took Nathan a while to forgive Elizabeth. But when he did, they became close friends. After Elizabeth left Hope Valley they wrote each other often. Their letters were mostly about the children and Hope Valley. Nathan married and had three children. The letters stopped for a long time. When Elizabeth went back to Hope Valley for Bill Avery's funeral she reconnected with Nathan. He was now a husband, father and an inspector. Elizabeth knew that he had found happiness. After Lucas had died, Nathan sent his condolences. Elizabeth wrote a thank you back to him. About two years ago, Nathan wrote a letter to Elizabeth. He wrote to Elizabeth telling her that his wife had passed away. Elizabeth knew exactly what he was going through and they started writing each other often. When Elizabeth wrote Nathan that she was moving back to Hope Valley, he was glad. Elizabeth wondered if any old feelings would come back when she saw Nathan. Elizabeth pushed the thought out of her head and remembered that she is moving to support her son and granddaughter.
