Chapter 6

Elizabeth was getting her and Little Jack ready for the day at the pond. She had put a hat on him for the one hundredth time that morning only to turn around and see him yank the hat off, throw it to the ground, and then run around the room giggling, "Oh Jack," she put her hands on her hips, trying to give him her best motherly stern face and pointing to him with a smirk said, "you have to keep your hat on."

Hearing a tap at the door she crossed the room to open it. There was only one person that could be and she heard her heart pounding in her chest faster with every step she made. Before opening the door, she smoothed out her skirt and made sure her hair was all in place. She then took a deep breath to calm her growing nerves and opened it. She had wanted this and had sought him out for so long that she could hardly believe that things had suddenly turned very real. She knew there would be no playing around with Nathan, no friends only talk. This all scared her and excited her at the same time and some of those same feelings that she had with Jack in the early moments of their relationship were coming back to her, the butterflies in the stomach, the mind thinking about him when going to bed and upon waking up, the smiles and the glances that melted her heart, and even though he was a Mountie she knew she would never be satisfied if she didn't follow her heart and take the risk. Nathan was worth the risk and that much she was certain of.

Nathan and Allie were standing on the other side of the door with fishing poles in hand and a picnic basket. He was flashing that sheepish crooked smile at her that made her heart melt and had on a blue plaid shirt that brought out the deeper blue sparkle in his eyes, a sparkle that she hadn't seen in over a week.

"Good morning, Elizabeth," his voice sounded happy and relaxed, yet nervous all at the same time and he stood there looking over her with his eyes.

"Hi," she smiled back at him barely able to breathe.

The two stood there for a few seconds, smiling at one another before they both heard Allie pipe up, "Oh for goodness sakes. Are you two going to stare at each other all day or are we going to go fishing?" She rolled her eyes and then looked up at her Uncle Nathan.

He quickly diverted his eyes to the ground and cleared his throat before looking down at Allie with a sheepish grin on his face and giving her a funny look. He then turned back to Elizabeth, "Uh…yeah. Um you ready to go?"

She nodded. He was so adorable when he got all flustered and it was hard to get her brain to think at times like that, but it made her smile, "Yes, just let me get little Jack and our coats." She turned away from him, picking up Jack she placed the hat back on his head and wrapped him in his coat and then grabbed hers. Nathan watched as she struggled with it and then stepped towards her, "here," he said, "let me help with that." He carefully pulled the coat around her and then all four of them were out the door and headed to the pond.

Once at the pond they found a patch of grass and laid a blanket down, sitting the picnic basket on top of it and Little Jack right next to it. They watched as Allie carefully attached her lure to her line and made a beeline for the edge of the pond, "Come on Uncle Nathan, I bet I'm going to catch the biggest one this time."

"All right, all right, we will be right there." He turned to Elizabeth, "Want to fish? You can borrow my pole."

"Well," she said, "I have a confession to make, I've never been fishing before. I wouldn't even know how to hold a fishing pole."

"Well, there is always a first and I can teach you." He took the pole and grasped it with his right hand. Elizabeth watched as his long fingers wrapped around the handle of the fishing pole, "you grab it with your right hand like this and then you whip it behind you and then cast it into the water with a flick of your wrist. Come on follow me and I'll show you."

She reached out and clasped Little Jacks hand and all three walked down to the pond close to where Allie had already taken up residence. "All right so pull back and then cast out into the water. Then you reel it in like this." She watched has he spun the handle around on the pole with his left hand, "Ok, you're turn." He held the pull out to her with a small smile on his face while locking eyes with her at the same time.

Elizabeth hesitated for just a moment before reaching out and taking the pole, brushing hands with Nathan as she did so. She felt that same spark from the touch that she felt the first time their fingers had touched in the library. She broke his gaze and turned to the pond after checking on Jack playing in the dirt nearby, "Ok, pull back and throw with the wrist. It doesn't look all that hard." She tried to mimic the actions of Nathan, but when she threw the line into the water it didn't go very far at all, choosing instead to land in the shallower waters closer to the ponds edge.

She could see the smirk on Nathan's face out of the corner of her eyes, which sparred her determination on even more. Reeling the line in, she pulled her arm back again flicked the line into the water once more only to have the same results happen again. This time Nathan couldn't hide his amusement. She turned to him, "Nathan Grant, are you laughing at me?"

"I thought it didn't look all that hard," a slow mischievous smile spread across his face, "Here, let me help you before you hurt yourself."

"I can assure you I can figure this out." She tried to give him an exasperated look, but it quickly turned to a smirk and he knew he had her, "Ok, I will accept your help."

Nathan moved to stand behind her. He carefully wrapped his right arm around and covered his hand over her hand on the pole. Suddenly she was no longer thinking about the mechanics of casting the line into the water and she wondered if she was even still breathing. She was close enough to him that she could smell the scent of lye and rosewood and it permeated her senses, causing her mind to move in circles. He took her hand and drew back the pole and then flicked it forward using their wrists. This time the line went further out and she squealed in delight that it had finally moved into deeper waters.

As if one arm around her wasn't enough, he encircled her with the other and placed his left hand over hers on the reel. She could now feel his body lightly pressed up against her own and it was causing her head to spin in circles and drawing her breathless and speechless.

Nathan finally spoke first in a low voice, tickling her ear. She could feel his breath on her skin and it sent shivers down her spine, "You're awfully quiet today, Mrs. Thornton. Cat got your tongue?"

She swallowed hard before speaking, "Yes, well…I uh….guess I have nothing to say and I'm finding it hard to concentrate at the moment. I'm trying to catch a fish," and then she added under breath, "a big one."

They slowly reeled the line back in, "Think you can do it yourself this time," he asked.

She flashed a small smirky grin, "No, I think I need more practice first." They recast the line and even though she couldn't see his face she knew she had finally silenced him in surprise. She turned slightly in his arms to look up at him and was rewarded with catching a bashful smile, but then she locked eyes with him and felt herself completely starting to drown in the depths of their blueness. She could barely breathe and she could tell that he was being affected the same way. As if by gravitational pull their heads started moving closer together, 'he's going to kiss me,' she thought.

Suddenly they were both jerked back to reality as they felt a strong pull on the fishing line, "Oh Nathan, I think I caught one." They didn't have time to be disappointed by the interruption, "It must be big, it's definitely strong."

"All right, steady. We don't want to lose it or for the line to break." They stood struggling with the fish, trying to slowly reel it in. Nathan kept leaning back further, pulling Elizabeth's arms back with him. This must not have been the first time this fish had an experience with a fishing line, because he was not going to give up without a fight. Without warning the line snapped and losing his footing Nathan quickly fell backwards taking Elizabeth with him.

At first, he was stunned and then he realized that Elizbeth was laying on top of him. He had tried his best to cushion the fall for her, "Elizabeth, are you all right?" When she didn't answer right away he could feel his heartbeat speed up and the worry in his voice became more apparent, "Elizabeth?"

All at once he could feel her body start shaking and then the giggling sound soon followed. He let out a long breath he didn't even know he was holding. "I'm sorry," she said between laughter, "I…..I'm ok." He released his arms that were still around her and she slowly rolled off of him and stood. He quickly followed and they both stood their laughing at one another and shaking their heads.

Once the laughter had subsided, he looked her up and down with his eyes and asked, "you're not hurt are you?" It was the same question he had asked her in the cabin when they had their argument, but this time said with less edge and more concern and compassion.

She shook her head, "No, not at all. I'm completely fine, and you?"

He smiled at her, "Besides my ego being slightly bruised, I'm not hurt." She gave her head a shake and smiled back at him.

They turned to see Allie running up the side of the pond, "Uncle Nathan, Mrs. Thornton," she yelled. "Look, I caught 3 fish!" As she grew closer they could see the fish were nice sized ones. She stopped in front of them, taking in their disheveled state, "What happened to you two?"

Nathan looked down at the ground sheepishly, "Uh…well…"

"We had a mishap," Elizabeth came to his rescue.

Allie shrugged, "Uh ok. Did you catch any fish?"

Nathan quickly regained his voice, "Nope, just one pretty school teacher." His eyebrows shot up in surprise at his own boldness, 'where did that come from,' he thought. He didn't dare look at Elizabeth, but he glanced sideways with just his eyes and he could see the blush creeping into her cheeks. Never in a million years did he ever think he would have that kind of effect on Elizabeth Thornton and his heart soared. "Uh why don't we sit and have lunch. I made some ham sandwiches and there are also some apples and cookies."

The four them went and sat on the blanket in the grass and began to eat. They were soon finished Allie asked if she could take Jack and go play for a bit. Elizabeth gave her approval and Allie led him to a patch of dirt where they both began digging and building hills. Nathan stretched his long legs out in front of him, crossed them, and then laid back on the blanket, placing his hands behind his head he gazed up at the sky.

Elizabeth spoke first, "I remember the last time you asked me I was hurt. Do you remember that?"

"I was hoping to forget. It was definitely not one of my finest moments and I could have been a bit nicer about it."

She sighed, "you were hurting. I told you before and I'll tell you again, I can see how it might have seemed from your perspective. Nathan about Lucas, nothing happened on that trip between us. We went to see Virginia Woolf and then we went to dinner and then back to the hotel in our separate rooms. I told him we were just going as friends and that I wouldn't go any other way."

She could see his jaw physically twitching as he tried to process it all and then let out a long sigh before speaking, "I know, Bill told me as much, but I was still jealous. I felt at that point as if you had made a choice between us and that I just couldn't compete with Lucas because I don't have the money to impress you with expensive adventures and gifts. I won't lie, it did hurt and I may or may not have cried myself to sleep that night, but I now know that jealousy also kept me from listening to you and I could have lost my chances all together and it would have been no one else's doings, but my own." He reached over and slid his hand into her smaller one. "I was also partly scared that you could have been seriously hurt in that storm and then I would never have forgiven myself," he drew small circles with thumb around the top of her hand, "I meant what I said, I care about you a great deal and I just want you to be safe."

"I know," she responded.

They fell into a comfortable silence just resting on the blanket. "look at that cloud up there, it's in the shape of a heart."

Elizabeth looked upwards and instantly could see the exact cloud he was talking about. "It's for us," she then looked at Nathan and smiled. He winked back at her. It had been a rocky start between the two of them, but they were finally on the same page and moving forward.

They rested there for a while, content to watch Allie play with little Jack. Nathan finally pulled out his pocket watch, "It's almost 5:00, we've been out here all day," he then turned towards his niece and shouted out to her, "Allie it's time to go. Bring Little Jack back." They watched as the two of them made their way back to where Nathan and Elizabeth were.

"I can take care of the blanket, Nathan. Why don't you go get the fish out of the pond." He nodded. After they were all packed away and had started walking back to the row houses, Nathan spoke up, "Elizabeth, why don't you come to our place and have dinner with us."

"Oh, I couldn't impose. I know you two have some sort of tradition after you finish your fishing trips."

"Please, Mrs. Thornton," Allie begged, "we have 3 fish anyways and they are big ones. There is no way we will eat all of it."

One look at Nathan's pleading eyes and she knew it was a lost cause, "Well ok, I guess we can stay for a little while and have dinner, but you have to let me help cook them up."

"Deal," Allie exclaimed. They watched as Allie bounced ahead of them and all four of them headed for the row houses.

They finally all reached Nathan's house and bounded up the steps and in through the door. Nathan put the basket down and then quickly helped Elizabeth with her coat and hung it on the coat rack by the door. Little Jack had fallen asleep in her arms, a long day with no nap had left him very sleepy. Nathan turned to her, "you can lay him down on my bed if you want. It's big enough that he shouldn't roll off of it and we can barricade him in."

She followed him up the stairs and into his bedroom, her mind racing at the thought of seeing it. Nathan moved a few things around, "Well, um…I'm going to go clean the fish," he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, "you can take your time." He nodded at her and then turned to leave back down the stairs.

Elizabeth looked around the room, it reflected Nathan's personality perfectly. It was simple, yet functional. A double iron bed sat in the middle of the room with one nightstand and a small dresser on the side. She put Little Jack in the middle of the bed and tucked him in so he wouldn't roll off. When she stood back up a couple of photos caught her attention on the nightstand. One was of a younger Allie sitting on Nathan's lap, looked to be about four years old in the photo. They were both smiling, but she could see a sadness displayed in their eyes. The photo must have been taken not much longer after Allie's mother had passed away. The other photo was of a younger Nathan, maybe at about 16 and standing next to him was a younger woman, looking to be a couple years older. She studied her carefully and then looked back at the photo of Allie, Allie was a spitting image of her. It had to be Nathan's sister, Colleen.

She gave Jack a kiss on the cheek and then headed out of his room and back to the main floor of the house. Nathan watched her as she descended the stairs, she was absolutely beautiful and he couldn't help, but stare at her. She looked up at him as she took the last step and noticed his gaze, "What," she questioned with a small smile.

He shook his head and shrugged, "Nothing," he said shyly, "you're just…so beautiful." He could hear her sharp intake of breath at his words, "Um….I..I finished cleaning the fish and started frying them."

"Oh, ok. Do you need some help?"

"Sure, maybe you can help peel the potatoes so we can mash them." She followed him into the kitchen area and before long they had the table set for the three of them and they all sat down to eat. Allie told her uncle all about the new report she was writing on the history of Canada and Nathan threw in a couple of jokes that made Elizabeth laugh and Allie roll her eyes like a true pre-teen. Elizabeth couldn't help it, her mind wandered to thoughts of what it would be like to experience this every evening, as a family. She could picture Nathan coming home and them having dinner together as a family of four.

She looked up at Nathan and saw him watching her, "You're thinking about something," he said.

She smiled coyly at him raising an eyebrow, "Maybe."

"Care to share?"

"Just thinking about how natural this feels to be here with you, having dinner at your table." He grinned back at her and then broke out into a laugh, "What's so funny?"

"Here," he picked up a napkin off of the table reached over the table and dabbed at the corner of her mouth. She swallowed slowly and met his eyes, her breathing slowing at his tender touch. He cleared his throat, "there, that's better."

Allie broke the moment between them, "Here, I can do the dishes," she offered.

"If this is how you act when we have company then maybe Mrs. Thornton should come dinner more often."

"Ha ha, very funny, Uncle Nathan." She stood from the table and moved to clear the dishes from it. She soon had them all washed, dried, and put away, "There all done, can I go read in my room, Uncle Nathan?"

He nodded at her, "You may."

"Thank you, good night Mrs. Thornton, I'm so glad you decided to come with us today. It was fun." she bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

"Would you like some coffee, Elizabeth?"

"Sure, I'll take a cup." He poured her and himself a cup from the pot on the stove that had already been boiling and brought them both back to the table, placing one of the mugs in front of her and then sitting back down in the seat next to her.

"Nathan, I saw the pictures on your nightstand. Was that you and your sister?"

He looked down at his coffee mug and slowly swirled it around once before taking a sip from it, drawing in a breath he spoke, "yes."

She reached across the table and put her hand on top of his, "What happened to her, Nathan?"

He looked across the room before speaking and then sighed, "I don't like to talk about it much. She and I were very close growing up."

"Nathan, I want to know you better. Knowing your background helps me understand the man you are now and I care about you a great deal."

He shook his head up and down in understanding, "I know you do. She was pregnant and there were complications during the delivery. The baby came early and came out with breathing issues. The doctor tried to save him, but was unable to. While he was working on him my sister began to bleed," he shrugged and she could see he was struggling to hold it in and that even through all these years later it was still difficult for him. "She bled out and he couldn't save her. She and the baby were buried together. Her husband, Allie's dad, hung around for about a month after she passed, but he was in out of saloons and was not in any condition to take care of Allie. Then one day he disappeared altogether and just left without even so much as a note."

"Nathan, I'm so sorry. That must have been difficult. I can't even imagine losing one of my sisters."

"I wasn't going to let Allie be raised by a stranger or send her to an orphanage. I couldn't do that. I loved my sister and she loved Allie and I made her a promise right before she died that I would watch out for Allie. I think she knew that her husband wouldn't step up."

They sat there in silence for a while before Nathan spoke again with a small chuckle, "You know I would do it all again though in a heartbeat. The truth is that even though I knew nothing about raising a little girl, and it has had its challenges as a single parent, I need her as much as she needs me and she has also brought me a lot of joy that I wouldn't have experienced otherwise and I love her."

"Nathan, what you have provided for her is nothing short of amazing. You are a good father to her, and yes, you are more than just her uncle. You took on a huge responsibility to raise her as your own even when her father couldn't. I admire that kind of strength in a man and one day Allie will understand the sacrifices you have made for her and I can tell she loves you too."

"Thank you, Elizabeth. That means a lot to mean that you think so."

"Well, I do know what it means to love and have that taken from you and just like you I would have done all over again even knowing the outcome of it. Even though my time with Jack was short, I received the biggest blessing from it and I don't know if I would have made it through the grief without Baby Jack. He has truly changed my life for the better. Love is worth the risk." She looked up and met his eyes with the last line and could see the affection and admiration displayed in them and something that she couldn't quite identify yet, but it made her heart leap for joy. She sighed after a long pause, "It's getting late, I should probably get Little Jack and head home."

They both stood, "Yes, well let me walk you home."

"You don't have to do that."

"I want to because you matter to me and I want you to be safe." She smiled at him this time and it made his heart skip a beat.

Elizabeth went back up to his room, picked up Jack, and came back down with him. Nathan was waiting for her at the door with coats in hand. Once on, the three of them headed out the door and started the walk towards the other end of the row houses.

"I can't believe how big he is getting. I feel like he gets heavier every day and harder to carry."

"Here," he reached out with both arms, "Let me take him for you." She passed him over carefully to Nathan and watched as he gently laid him onto his shoulder. She marveled at how much she trusted this man with the most precious thing in her life and the fact that he cared not only about her, but about Little Jack as well warmed her heart. There was something about watching him hold Little Jack that had attracted him to her the very first time he offered. She had let him take him and then walked away only to turn around and see him making funny faces at him, which made Little Jack giggle at him. It had melted her then and had seared a picture into her head of Nathan the man and not Nathan the Mountie. If truth be told he had captured her heart that day and in that moment.

"Oh, that's right," she teased him, "I forgot you had baby training as a Mountie."

He laughed, "Well, I might have an ulterior motive. If I carry him for you then I can use my other hand for this." He reached over and slid his free hand into her hand. Her hand was every bit as soft as he had thought it would be and he knew without a doubt that he would always fight to protect her. She looked up at him a slow smile spread across her face and then she averted her eyes when she started to feel her cheeks redden with the sensation of his warm hand in hers.

Nathan looked up, "lots of stars out tonight and everything seems so clear from down here."

"I agree, very clear." They walked most of the way in companionable silence, but it wasn't awkward at all. It was comfortable, the way it should be between two people who understood one another.

They finally reached Elizabeth's house, "Thank you, Nathan, for walking me home. I had a wonderful evening….and day."

"I did too. It was the happiest I have been in a long while." He stood there, eyes fixed on her, she truly was a beautiful person and not just on the outside, but on the inside too where it counted. "Elizabeth, I was wondering if," he heard an owl off in the distance, "Uh, I was wondering if…"

"The answers yes Nathan."

He looked at her in wonderment, "How do you know what I was asking?"

"Because you already asked me before you left on that fateful day that changed everything for us and the answer is yes, I would love to have dinner with you at the cafe."

He tilted his head and gave her that sideways grin that she couldn't resist, "Really?"

She shook her head yes and flashed a teasing grin of her own, "Really."

"I'll pick you up at 6:30 on Friday."

"Sounds good. It's a date," her eyebrows shot up at the surprise of her own words. She hadn't even thought about dating again and she never would have used that word with Lucas, but she knew it was different with Nathan. He had already captured her heart and she was tired of pretending otherwise.

"Great! I uh…..guess I better get going back to Allie."

He started to turn when Elizabeth called out to him, "Nathan….wait." He turned back towards her, his hands in his pockets, a thing she noticed he did whenever he was nervous around her. "Thank you again for today and for dinner. I really did have a wonderful time. I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time with anyone like I did when we were fishing. Thank you." She moved towards him and she was so close to him that he could barely breathe. She leaned upwards toward him and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. He looked at her wide-eyed with a smile spreading across his face and then backed away slowly, waving and even in the dark she could see his cheeks redden and knew he was completely smitten with her.

TBC