Chapter 16

"I was wondering if you were ever going to do this," Bill stated as he and Nathan sat in the living area of the cafe, hunched over the coffee table.

With a smile Nathan said, "I'm ready. I am more than ready. We love it there; she loves it there. Our future is there." He paused a moment. "And they are hatching. She is going to love it".

"Are you sure it's not too soon? I do not want you rushing into something. I mean, she is fabulous, but it is quick too. Look at how you felt about Elizabeth."

"Bill, I never felt like this for Elizabeth, the need to be with someone all of the time. When you know, you know." With a flick of his hand, he was the new owner of Bill's land.


The morning was beautiful. There was fog hanging over the field in front of the row houses, and the dew glistened in the morning sun. Elise loved mornings like this. It was still early, and she dared to go outside in her robe and slippers. It was Saturday, and she had nowhere to be. It was a rare day to not have plans, and other than spending the day with Nathan and Allie, there was nothing for her to do.

She sipped her coffee, then noticed a figure coming through the fog. Her heart skipped a beat as she would know that figure anywhere. He had on his plaid blue shirt, a nice pair of pants, and suspenders. In moments, the man of her dreams was in front of her kneeling down to her level on the stairs, and gently kissed her.

"Good morning," his eyes dancing.

"Good morning," she replied.

"It's a beautiful morning. Go for a ride with me?"

"Give me 10 minutes?"

"Let me go get the horse, and I'll be right back". He kissed her again, then turned and headed to the livery.

When he disappeared back into the fog, Elise jumped up from the stairs and ran into the house. She quickly took care of her coffee mug, then ran upstairs to get ready for their ride. She put on a pair of jodhpurs, a cute blouse, and her boots. She decided against putting her hair up, and feeling playful, she quickly parted her hair and put it in two braids. She liked how the braids felt when she rode, bouncing up and down and swaying back and forth. But then she loved riding. She always felt free.

She hurried back down the stairs, and a few moments later she heard Nathan knocking on the door. She pulled it open, thinking that he was back sooner than she thought it would take to saddle both horses. He was standing there, Newton tied to the post, and no Storm. She looked at him, curious as to what was going on.

He noticed her expression, and quickly answered the unspoken question. "I want to take you someplace you haven't seen yet, so it's a surprise. I thought we could ride together."

She nodded, still a little skeptical to what he had up his sleeve, but she mounted Newton and he was up behind her a moment later. She settled into his chest, and she felt like she was made to fit right there with him.

"Hmm, that's pretty comfy. Maybe we should ride this more often".

"I would be perfectly fine with that", and he chuckled. He brought out a blindfold and asked, "Do you trust me?"

"With my life".

He tied the handkerchief around her head and leveled it out in front of her eyes. He put his arms under hers and grabbed the reins. She placed her hands on his, and together turned Newton in the direction Nathan wanted to go.

Along the way they made plans to go on a picnic and fishing after church the next day and talked about how quickly it seemed that summer was going. It was already late July and soon enough Allie would be back in school.

Elise loved being this close to Nathan. She could feel how muscular his chest was through the back of her shirt, and for a moment she imagined what he looked like with it off. She quickly reined her imagination in and concentrated on the conversation. Nathan also had a problem not taking notice of how close Elise was. He breathed in the scent of her hair and thought of the day when he could always hold her like this. The thought brought a smile to his face, and he was glad she could not see him, as he was turning red just thinking about it.

A few minutes later they got to their destination. He dismounted Newton, then gently helped her down from the saddle. Nathan told her to shield her eyes while he took the blindfold off as it was quite bright. He removed the fabric, and she slowly took her hands away from her eyes.

They were in a small meadow and floating between the milkweeds were hundreds of monarch butterflies. Elise had never seen so many butterflies in her life, the sight was truly amazing. Some of them came close to enough to brush her arms.

"Oh Nathan, this is amazing! I've never seen a sight so beautiful".

He thought the same thing as he watched her smile and take in the scene around her.

"Could you see yourself living here? Or near here?"

Elise turned towards him, questions filling her face, her eyes opening wider. She remained silent, sensing he had more to say.

"The other side of that tree line is the meadow we picnic in, the overlook just past that is where we confessed our love and kissed for the first time." He began to slowly walk towards her, until he was standing mere inches from her. "Until last night, Bill owned this land. Now I do. Now," he hesitated a moment, then continued, "we do. I want to build a home here, with you. I want to raise children here, with you. I want to live the rest of my life here, with you. I want to wake up every day with you in my arms, kiss you and whisper Good Morning." Nathan paused a moment, never taking his eyes off Elise. She had tears streaming down her face. "I once read that to love another person is to see the face of God. If that is the case, I have seen the face of God since the day I met you, and I want to see the face of God for the rest of my life."

Nathan stepped back, reached into his pants pocket, and removed a small black box. He knelt on one knee, while Elise put her hands to her face, not believing this was happening.

"Elise Jane Monteith, would you make me the happiest man in the world by spending the rest of my life with me?"

She started nodding her head and then she threw herself into his arms, knocking him off his center, and they both landed on their sides, facing each other, in the mixture of wildflowers and grass. She started kissing him unabashedly, and he responded with as much passion. And then he quickly stopped.

"Elise, I dropped the ring." They both quickly sat up, and a moment later Nathan saw the glint from the diamond in the grass. He reached over, picked it up, dusted it off, and reached for Elise's hand. The ring appeared delicate, but was stronger than it looked, much like Elise. The band was made of white gold, with what appeared to be vines interlocked up to meet the raised stones. The main stone was surrounded by smaller stones, making it look like a flower in bloom. It was simple yet stunning. Looking into her eyes again, he slid the ring on to the finger where it would remain the rest of her life. He then took her face into his, and kissed her, slow at first, then with all of the passion that they had for each other.

They were not sure how long they sat there with the butterflies floating around them and Newton grazing in the meadow, talking about their future. They finally rose, both mounted Newton, and turned towards Hope Valley to let Allie know.


Allie sat impatiently at the switchboard waiting to hear that her dad and Elise were riding back into town. She had seen him ride out to the rowhouses that morning, and while he did not tell her he was going to propose that day, she had a feeling. Last night after dinner he had gone to see Bill, and now he had been gone for hours with Elise. Allie just knew she would say yes! They all loved each other so much, and Allie knew they were meant to be a family.

Ned Yost was out sweeping the mercantile steps when Allie heard him say "Here comes your dad Allie". Allie bolted from the switchboard, through the store, almost knocking over Florence Yost in the process. She ran down the steps as Florence yelled for Allie to slow down. She came to a stop as Nathan brought Newton to a halt. He hopped down from the saddle, then turned to help Elise down. Not a word was said, but Elise brought her hand up to her face, and Allie saw the ring she had chosen on her finger. Allie screamed and ran straight into Elise's arms, tears coming down her cheeks. Nathan wrapped his arms around both, and heard Allie repeat through the sobs and tears, "I have a mom again".

Allie screaming in the street caused a bit of a commotion, and the next thing they knew was the residents of Hope Valley started to make their way out of their stores and businesses, and made their way towards the trio, wondering what was happening. Allie looked up, saw them standing there, and loudly stated, "She said yes!"

The spectators clapped and hollered, excited for the three of them. Their amazing Mountie had finally gotten his girl!