Elizabeth opened up her closet. She had to decide what to wear with her dinner with Nathan. She didn't want to be too fancy or too casual. After searching her closet for the right dress, she found a black dress that had sequins sewn into it. Elizabeth sat down and started doing her hair and make-up. She was nervous and excited about this dinner. She was excited because she had not talked to Nathan in a while. They had exchanged letters from time to time. The first letter she wrote to Nathan was to thank him for being so kind to Jack Jr. while he visited Hope Valley that one summer. Elizabeth didn't know what came over her but she was spilling out everything to Nathan. From wishing to be back in Hope Valley to the death of Emily. Elizabeth didn't expect a response but Nathan's response was thoughtful and caring. From that letter on, they exchanged letters. Sometimes it would twice a year, sometimes just once a year.

Elizabeth was nervous to see Nathan because of the way everything that happened between them Elizabeth regretted how she treated Nathan and Allie. Elizabeth thought back to that time. It wasn't fair to string Nathan and Allie along like she had. The cruelest part was telling Nathan that she was just looking for Jack in him. Elizabeth got a lump in her throat thinking about it. How could she be so cruel? Years later, Elizabeth realized she wasn't looking for Jack in Nathan. Nathan was his own man and so was Jack. Nathan had put his heart on the line and Elizabeth crushed it. Nathan had been totally honest with her about Fort Clay and how he felt about her, but she couldn't do the same. Later in life, Elizabeth came to the realization that Lucas was the safer option. She had apologized to Allie for the way everything happened. Allie had accepted her apology but they were never close again.

Elizabeth walked out of her room and toward the stair. Jack Jr. was coming up to say goodnight to Sophie. Jack Jr. smiled at her.

"You look really pretty" Jack Jr. told his mother

"Thank you sweetheart" Elizabeth said

"Have a nice time" Jack Jr. said and kissed his mother on the cheek. Elizabeth smiled and walked down the stairs.

Rosemary squealed with excitement.

"You look wonderful" Rosemary exclaimed

"Thank you" Elizabeth blushed

Rosemary handed Elizabeth the keys to her car and told her not to worry.

"Just have fun!" Rosemary said

Elizabeth waved goodbye and went to Rosemary's car. Lee had given her directions on how to get there. The drive was only a few minutes. Elizabeth pulled right up in front of the café. It didn't look like anyone was inside.

Elizabeth went up to the door and opened it. She closed it. The lights were turned down low. Elizabeth saw Nathan come out from the back room. Nathan was wearing a white shirt with beige suspenders. Elizabeth always found Nathan quite attractive when he was in his suspenders.

"Hello Elizabeth" Nathan said

"Hello Nathan" Elizabeth said back

"I booked the café out just for us. Perks of being part of owner. I hope that is okay with you"

Elizabeth smiled "it's perfect"

Elizabeth looked around inside the Cafe. It was redone but still had warmth to it. Elizabeth saw there were photos on the wall. Some were blown up like the Hope Valley tower and an overview picture of the whole town. But then there were smaller pictures of the people of Hope valley. Elizabeth saw a picture of her and Abigail.

"What are these pictures all about?" Elizabeth asked Nathan

Nathan stood next to her.

"When Bill died, he gave me his part of ownership to the Cafe. Abigail sold the Cafe to Clara and me as long as we didn't tear it down. Of course we kept the name but we wanted to redo the inside. So we knocked out a few walls and made the dining room bigger and redid the kitchen. But we wanted to make Abigail's still feel like Abigail's. We got the whole town to bring us pictures they wouldn't mind sharing on this wall. The response was overwhelming. Abigail sent us that picture to put up"

There were tears in Elizabeth eyes. Abigail had passed away some time ago. Elizabeth saw her a couple of months before she passed. Abigail told her that Elizabeth would always be a daughter to her.

Nathan saw Elizabeth's eyes tearing up. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket.

"I didn't mean to make you cry" Nathan said

Elizabeth took the handkerchief from Nathan.

"These are good tears. It's beautiful Nathan. You and Clara did a beautiful job"

Elizabeth kept looking at the pictures. There was one with Elizabeth and all her students in front of the schoolhouse. There was a picture of Jack in his uniform.

"Where did that old picture of Jack come from?" Elizabeth asked

Nathan chuckled "Rosemary couldn't decide on which pictures so she brings of all of them"

Elizabeth laughed "that sounds like her"

Elizabeth saw a picture of Nathan and a woman she didn't recognize.

"Is that you and your wife? Elizabeth asked Nathan

"Yes"

"She was very beautiful" Elizabeth told Nathan

"Yes, she was" Nathan said

After a few seconds of silence, Elizabeth broke the silence.

"What is the wonderful smell?" Elizabeth asked Nathan

"What is that delicious smell?" Elizabeth asked.

Nathan smiled. "That is our dinner." Nathan guided Elizabeth to the kitchen. There was a table set up with flowers in the middle. There was no one else in the kitchen.

"Did you cook us dinner?" Elizabeth asked

"I did" Nathan said proudly

"When did you start cooking?" Elizabeth asked

"When Bill willed his half of the Cafe to me, I started being interested in cooking. Except I wasn't good at it. This meal I am making is the only dish that was edible and delicious. It was a complete accident. I was making pasta and trying to perfect a sauce. As I was cooking, the spice rack broke and a whole bunch of the spices fell into the sauce. Before I threw it away, I tasted it and it was really good. It's on the menu and it is called the Grant."

Elizabeth giggled at his story.

"I think the best things in life come from accidents."

"That is very true" Nathan said. He poured Elizabeth a glass of wine and then one for himself and sat at the table with Elizabeth.

"It has been a while since a man has cooked for me" Elizabeth said

"How long?" Nathan asked. Elizabeth thought about it.

"Actually it has been a very long time. After Jack and I were married, he cooked me breakfast. It was the sweetest gesture. He made eggs, bacon and toast but it was burnt. I told him I would cook him breakfast tomorrow and we both laughed.

Nathan laughed at the story. Elizabeth knew that it was a genuine laugh and not one of those polite laughs that Lucas used to give.

"What he made was the Mountie secret recipe, burnt."

Elizabeth laughed

After they stopped laughing, Elizabeth realized that maybe talking about Jack made Nathan feeling uncomfortable.

"I didn't mean to bring up Jack. I apologize" Elizabeth said

"Elizabeth. You never have to apologize for telling stories about Jack. Jack was a good man and if telling stories about him makes you happy, then I'm fine with it. I enjoy hearing these stories and you tell them so well"

Elizabeth smiled. She started telling Nathan a story about how there was a baking contest and she had a sad looking cake but Jack bought it anyway. Nathan laughed. It felt so nice to share stories of Jack. With Lucas, she hardly brought Jack up. When she did, she saw that he wasn't interested in her past.

After telling that story, she asked Nathan about his kids.

"How are the twins?"

Nathan took a sip if wine and sat down across the table from Elizabeth.

"Colleen is finishing up nursing school and is going to train to be a midwife. Jacob is my drifter. As soon as he could, he got out of Hope Valley. We would get letters from all over. Montreal, New York City, San Francisco. We once got a letter postmarked from France. He had joined the United States Army to help fight the war even though he's Canadian. One day we received a letter from him. He decided to join the Mountie's. Right now he is stationed at Fort Simpson. He hopes to be stationed in Hope Valley one day."

"Like Father, like son" Elizabeth said

"Nah, he gets his personality from his mother's side."

Elizabeth laughed and took a sip of her wine.

"I know you told me how you met your wife but for the life of me, I can't remember."

There was a ding sound. Nathan got up and went over to the stove.

"Let's let this cool down for a while" Nathan said and he sat down at the table.

"There was a fire a couple days after you left at a barn about a mile from here. When I arrived there, horses were stampeding by me. A woman was standing there. She was going to go back inside to rescue a baby horse. I told her I would go save it. So I go into the barn and there is a baby horse. I don't know how I'm going to carry it out. As I turned around, the woman was right behind me. We both carried the horse out to safety. After we made sure the horse was safe, the woman kissed me. And that is how I met my wife Sarah"

"What a story!" Elizabeth exclaimed

Nathan smiled, "she was a horse breeder and trainer. She was also the second stubborn person I met, you being the first of course." Nathan said teasingly

"Hey!" Elizabeth exclaimed and playfully hit Nathan.

"You're the one who falls in love with hard headed women" Elizabeth told Nathan

"I guess I do" Nathan said. Nathan and Elizabeth locked eyes for a few moments.

Nathan looked away. "I think the food is ready."

Elizabeth took a sip of her wine and wished she had something to fan herself with.

Nathan got up from the table. He put two dishes out and portioned out the food. Nathan brought the food over and put one of the dishes in front of Elizabeth.

"Bon appetite" Nathan said in his best French accent

Elizabeth laughed at his accent

"This looks so yummy." Elizabeth told Nathan

Nathan lifted his glass "to new beginnings in hope valley"

Elizabeth lifted her glass and smiled.

"To new beginnings" They clicked glasses and both took a sip of wine.

Eligible took a taste of the food. Elizabeth savored the food. It was wonderful.

"This is wonderful. Very delicious"

Nathan winked at her as he was finishing his bite.

"Allie told me you are going to be substituting for her class this semester"

"Yes, I am. I am very excited to get back into the classroom. The only problem I have is picking which two books I should have them read. I was thinking Romeo and Juliet"

Nathan groaned

Elizabeth laughed "not a Shakespeare fan?"

"I am, but I don't know any teenage boy who wants to read Shakespeare" Nathan said

"It's a classic" Elizabeth said

"I know but you want them to enjoy reading and keeping their interest, right?"

"Yes, what do you suggest?" Elizabeth asked

"Let me see the list" Nathan said

Elizabeth pulled the list out of her purse. Elizabeth kept eating as Nathan read the list.

Nathan looked over the list. He turned the list back to Elizabeth.

"These two" Nathan pointed

Elizabeth saw that he had pointed to The Wizard of Oz and The Count of Monte Cristo.

"Why these two?" Elizabeth asked

"Because The Wizard of Oz theme is there is no place like home and how friendships are important. The Count of Monte Cristo because the themes in that book are about redemption and forgiveness. Plus it is a really great adventure book." Nathan said

Elizabeth nodded in agreement "It is settled. The class will read these two stories"

"Good" Nathan said with a smile.

They chatted about different books and authors for a while. After they had finished eating, they made their way over to the couch to talk some more.

"Speaking of books, when do we get a third book from you?" Nathan asked

"I don't know. It has been a while since I have actually sat down and wrote out a manuscript. And my last book didn't do well with fans." Elizabeth said

"I know. I liked your first book better than your second. But the second book was more in depth, I just think people didn't like the outcome" Nathan said

Elizabeth took a sip of her wine "That was the problem. I went back in forth. I had two male characters that were different. I had the Tavern Owner and the new Mountie. I broke my fan base into teams which wasn't a good idea to start with. I was going to pick the Mountie but Lucas persuaded me to pick the Tavern owner because it would sell more books. I went against my better judgement."

"At least Mountie Nick was let down easy" Nathan said

Elizabeth knew what he was eluding to.

"Look Nathan" Elizabeth started

"Elizabeth, I was only kidding" Nathan said

"No. I want to get this out in the open because it weighs heavy on me. I am sorry for the way I treated you during that one year. It was wrong of me to compare you to Jack. Nathan you are your own man and an incredible man at that"

Nathan wiped the side of eye "Thank you for that. But I had forgiven you a long time ago. Your heart wanted Lucas and who was I to argue with your heart."

"There was a long moment of silence until Elizabeth asked Nathan a question

"Do you ever think of what our life would have been had we been together?"

"I used to. I saw us getting married. You adopting Allie. Having more kids. Building a house for us. I would have quit the Mountie's. Which I almost did. After the twins were born, I was sent on a 3 month mission. Sarah worried the whole time. I saw how it took a toll on her. I was writing my resignation letter when they offered me the position of Inspector and to stay in Hope Valley. I didn't have to go on many missions and if I did, it was more fact gathering than going after the bad guys. After Bill passed, they offered me the Judge position and had to leave the Mountie's. It would have been a conflict of interest. But you know Elizabeth, if we had married, I wouldn't have the twins, you wouldn't have had Emily, Jack Jr. wouldn't have met his wife and you wouldn't have Sophie. So I think everything worked out for the best."

"Yes, they did work out for the best. I just wished that when Jack Jr. was growing up, that he had a father he could relate to. Lucas was a good father but after Emily died, Lucas ran away. Not physical but emotionally. And then as Jack Jr. got older, their relationship worsened. If you didn't suggest home schooling Jack Jr., I think he may have ran away." Elizabeth told Nathan

"When I was around his age, my father ran off. This time, he didn't come back. The students at school knew about it. They teased me which led me to fight with them. I was suspended for two weeks. My mother who was at her wits end with me, gave me 10 books to read and a list of chores to do. One of the chores was to go talk to the local Mountie. That Mountie told me that the best thing I could do is not to be like my father and to focus on a goal for my life. I focused on a goal and that was to become a Mountie. When you wrote me that Jack Jr. was having trouble in school, I knew how Jack Jr. felt" Nathan told Elizabeth had tears in her eyes.

"That is a beautiful story" Elizabeth told Nathan. Nathan wiped away Elizabeth's tears with his thumb. She didn't shy away from his affection. After a moment, she composed herself.

"I'm just glad that Jack Jr. was able to spend time with you and was able to ride Sargent. I know Jack would have loved that. When I heard that Sergeant had died, it hit me hard. It felt like that was the last of Jack" Elizabeth said

"Actually, you know how I told you that my wife was a horse breeder, well we found an exact breed of horse like Sargent and we bred him. Sergeant has a living son. And in about a year, we will be breeding his son. Sergeant will have Grand children!" Nathan said

"That is so wonderful! I'll have to come ride him" Elizabeth exclaimed

"Bring your Granddaughter. Teach her how to ride" Nathan said with a smile

"She would love that!" Elizabeth said

After a few seconds of silence, Nathan started to ask Elizabeth a question but the door to the café opened up and Allie was at the door.

"Dad! Elizabeth! Jack Jr. has been in a fight and is at the jail.