At last

My love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song

Oh, yeah, yeah, at last

The skies above are blue

-Etta James, "At Last"

Elizabeth could barely contain herself she was so happy, even if she was eating cold pie-the cold coffee she left untouched. She had actually planned to wait to talk to Nathan after dessert, but her constraint had met its limit. Sitting and talking through dinner with him had felt incredible and right. And she'd needed to know in that moment if it could become commonplace. He'd looked so apprehensive when she'd begun speaking and said so little that she'd almost lost hope, which is why she'd tacked on an 'out' for him at the last second from insecurity. To her immense relief, Nathan had enthusiastically replied that he also wanted the same thing: a relationship.

After finishing dessert, Elizabeth and Nathan moved to the settee, fresh coffee in hand. They settled comfortably and just sipped the hot drink in companionable silence. Neither of them felt the need to fill the quiet, both content to just be in the other's presence. Elizabeth thought it was nice and liked the fact there was not any awkwardness left from their frequently awkward moments of days' past. She almost chuckled at how often they'd both wound up not knowing what to say to now courting. She also felt they should enjoy the quiet because it wouldn't always be so since Allie and Little Jack would be with them in the future. They both apparently wanted to savor the quiet this night provided them. An errant thought then occurred to her.

"Nathan," she said softly.

He looked at her. "Hmm?"

"I was wondering why you were so stoic when I invited you to dinner this afternoon."

Nathan blushed slightly and looked down into his cup as if it held the answers to every question one could ever ask of life. She found it adorable yet confusing.

He shifted uncomfortably and stuttered over his words. "Well, I-I thought you had come to tell me that while you were flattered by my feelings for you, you were-that you were..." He didn't finish.

But Elizabeth immediately understood. And she felt horrible.

"You thought I was going to inform you that Lucas and I were courting." She stated it as a fact, not a question.

And he thought I would do that over dinner? She wasn't sure if she should be amused or a bit insulted. Maybe both?

Nathan looked at her sheepishly. "Yes," he said meekly.

"I'm sorry that I gave that impression. It truly wasn't my intention. I was just so focused on getting the words out that I guess I didn't pay much attention to my demeanor," she said sadly.

"No! You didn't, Elizabeth. Not at all," he quickly assured while he shook his head to emphasize. "It was just my own insecurity shadowing my thoughts." He chuckled then. "It was actually when you had turned down the invitation from Lucas or extended one for him to join us that I let myself hope a little."

He smiled but then look at her in surprise. "But why would you have trouble with words? That's usually my role."

Elizabeth laughed, knowing he was correct. It usually was him who had trouble speaking, but she supposed she had to have had a turn at some point.

"I was trying to reassure myself that I was doing the right thing." Nathan looked at her in bewilderment, so she knew she needed to elaborate a bit more. "I wanted to give you the time you needed. It felt like something changed between us the night after you came to my house. That maybe I was finally listening to my heart instead of just worrying about what to do."

Who to choose, she thought, but left that part out.

"Then this morning, I wanted so badly to just say yes because I knew what you were trying to ask me. But I didn't want to seem too forward. I told myself that there would always be another time for you to ask." She could see his embarrassment at his failed attempt to ask her to dinner, so she quickly continued, her tone turning a little sad. "But I realized that there was every possibility that there wouldn't be another time.

"Jack and I courted for four years before he asked me to marry him. And then we had to wait almost a year before we got married because he went to the Northern Territories. As much as I told myself that he would come home to me, he very well might not have-like so many others." Elizabeth felt her eyes welling with tears over Doug Burke, the young constable and friend of Jack's who she'd only met once, but had made such an impact on her life.

"We were married for only days when he was given the assignment at Fort Clay. He was meant to be gone for two months, Nathan. Two months! I only had to wait two months and then we would have the rest of our lives. But he didn't come home." She was so caught up in the pain of the past that she missed Nathan's flinch. "So, we didn't have time, and I was unwilling to make the same mistake again."

By the time Elizabeth was done speaking, the tears she'd valiantly been holding back had spilled down her cheeks. Nathan gently wiped them away, a sheen to his own eyes.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth. I've never been a verbose man. Especially when it came to you. I just didn't know the right words to say, and then I couldn't get them out if I did-like this morning."

She shook her head. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Nathan. We're all different, but we're still human. I had trouble thinking around you too, sometimes," Elizabeth admitted, feeling her cheeks heat.

Nathan looked shocked. "Really?" he asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes," she said with a smile. "I think it was my heart telling my brain that I liked you, but my brain wasn't ready to acknowledge it yet, so it just sort of went blank."

They both laughed at her description. Nathan adding that he could relate.

"Well, I'm just glad it's going how I'd hoped." They shared another smile. "I also think it's important for you to know that if you'd decided that you didn't feel the same, that I don't and have never viewed Lucas as a backup option."

Nathan visibly startled. "That never would've crossed my mind-if I was crazy enough to choose to not want to be with you."

Elizabeth nodded once-as if putting the matter to rest-and smiled. "Good."

The clock chimed half-past eight o'clock. She had no idea it had gotten so late. She had usually started the routine of getting Little Jack ready for bed by now. Nathan must've understood what the time meant and he stood, offering a hand for her, which she took and stood beside him.

"I should probably get Allie and head home. I'm sure Little Jack will be ready to go to bed soon, too," he said.

Elizabeth affirmed this assumption and they both walked toward the door. Nathan helped her with her coat and donned his own. Before he opened the door, though, he turned to her and said, "Thank you for dinner. I'm glad we're finally on the same page concerning us."

"So am I," she said, smiling tenderly.

Nathan's cheeks pinkened and then he said, "Could I maybe kiss your cheek good night here? I would like to keep the teasing from Allie to a minimum, at least for now."

She laughed, but said, "Yes, but we'll have to endure it at some point, I'm sure."

She almost laughed again at the look on his face. He was clearly pleased that there would be a need for Allie to tease them, but also mortified at the prospect-as it would be for any father when it came to the subject of romance and his daughter.

Elizabeth held her breath as Nathan leaned down and pressed his lips against her cheek. She knew their relationship was extremely new, but she yearned for the feeling of his lips pressed against hers. It had been so long since she'd been kissed romantically and she realized just how much she missed that form of intimacy.

They exited her house and made their way-holding hands-to the Coulter residence next door. The door swung open before they had even fully ascended the porch steps. Rosemary's smile was wide and her eyes focused right away on their joined hands.

"All is well, then ?"she asked all-knowingly as she backed away, allowing Nathan and Elizabeth to follow in her wake.

"Rosemary!" Lee chastised his wife, but he was smiling just as much as his wife.

A very sleepy Little Jack was in Lee's arms, his head resting on his honorary uncle and guardian's shoulder. Allie was placing wooden blocks in a box Rosemary and Lee had for the toys they always kept at their house now. She looked up and saw her uncle and teacher's sheepish, yet pleased smiles and smiled widely in response, correctly interpreting the situation.

"Elizabeth and I are courting," Nathan said happily and unnecessarily to the room.

Rosemary cheered and moved to hug Elizabeth, Allie quickly crossed the room to hug her uncle tightly, and Lee's smile grew. Little Jack was so sleepy that he only looked around at the room's occupants with mild curiosity at their joyous outbursts.

Elizabeth didn't want to put a damper on the mood, but she felt like it was only right that she tell Lucas face-to-face first and he didn't hear it second-hand from anyone else. "I'm so glad that you're happy for us, but," she looked to Nathan, who nodded his encouragement, "we're not announcing it to the whole town just yet."

Allie's smiled wilted just a little, but her two friends nodded their understanding. Little Jack was almost asleep, so Elizabeth walked over to retrieve her tired son. Lee gave her a one-armed, side hug and whispered that he was happy for her. It lightened her heart to know that he approved. She knew how close he and Jack had been, and was happy he didn't oppose the man to whom she'd opened her heart to.

Elizabeth walked back over to Nathan and Allie. Putting her free arm around her student, she said, "Allie, I want you to call me Elizabeth now. But not when we're in school, okay?"

Allie agreed enthusiastically.

Everyone said their goodbyes and expressed gratitude for various reasons-dinner, babysitting, sharing company, etc. Elizabeth received one more hug from Rosemary, a hushed We'll talk later, and a quick wink. Elizabeth nodded, her lips twitching. She wouldn't dream of denying her best friend the interrogation she knew was coming. But it would have to wait. She needed to put her sleepy son to bed tonight and speak to Lucas as soon as possible the next day. It wouldn't feel right to essentially gossip with her best friend about her new beau while Lucas was under the impression they could become more.

The foursome exited the Coulter home. At the bottom of the porch, Allie hugged her teacher one more time, incorporating Little Jack, as he was in her arms.

"I'm so happy-Elizabeth," she said shyly, trying out the new name.

Elizabeth smiled and gave Allie a squeeze herself. "Me too, Allie. Good night," she said to both of them.

Her sentiments were echoed, but then Nathan suddenly spoke before she could turn fully toward her home.

"Oh, Elizabeth, I almost forgot. I promised Little Jack that I would take him to see Newton tomorrow. If you or Laura want to bring him by the livery, I would appreciate it. It'll have to be in the morning, though, because I have to go to Buxton with Bill for Elias O'Rourke's trial. Something about me being there since I arrested him," he said, the exasperation in his tone at the situation evident.

Elizabeth was pleased that Nathan not only made a promise to her son, but also was intent on keeping it. Too often adults would promise a child something to placate them and would never follow through. Nathan was a man of his word, though. She really liked that about him.

"All right. Why don't we all walk to town together after Laura gets to my house. She can come with us and then bring Little Jack home after we're done," she said.

Nathan agreed to her proposed plan and they said good night again.

Elizabeth Thornton went to bed that night feeling like the happiest-and luckiest-woman in Hope Valley. It seemed that at last her lonely days were over.

One house over, while settling into bed and before turning the light off, a husband kissed his smug wife good night and conceded that she had been right all along.

Notes: So I do have more chapters posted over on AO3. I'm currently in the process of re-editing and transferring the chapters to here, so please bear with me. Thanks for reading! :)