Chapter 8

Church had been nice. Nathan and Allie had sat with Elizabeth and Little Jack, Elizabeth sitting between Nathan and Allie. They had garnered quite a few curious looks from various people when they walked into the church together with Nathan carrying Little Jack, but Elizabeth noticed Bill above all of them. She had not spoken to him in a few days since he had told her about the gun in the prison transfer. She could see the subtle smirk on his face and the raised eyebrow and she knew he had questions.

The church service was going by quickly and Little Jack had been content to sit on Nathan's lap the whole time. She was amazed at how natural Nathan was with him and how much Jack seemed to like him. Her mind wandered not for the first time during the service and she could picture him playing catch with Little Jack in front of their house, taking him on fishing trips, and teaching him all the things that dad's taught their sons. She suddenly felt a small pain of guilt at the thought. She had always pictured Jack doing those things and she couldn't help but feel like he had been cheated out of those life experiences, but she was also very confident that Jack would have approved of Nathan and would have been thrilled to know that another Mountie had stepped in to take care of the two of them.

She shook her head slightly, 'whoa,' she thought, 'where did that come from, front of our house? Elizabeth you're getting ahead of yourself he hasn't even asked to court you yet.'

Nathan had seen her head move slightly in a quick back and forth motion. He turned and looked at her and then whispered in her ear, "You're thinking about something and it has nothing to do with the sermon."

Her eyes got big and she tilted her head at him and then leaned over whispering back, "What? How did you…"

He put his finger up to his lips in a quieting motion and whispered back, "Shh, I'm trying to focus on the sermon and you're distracting me." He threw her a mischievous smirk and then turned his focus back towards the front of the room.

She feigned a look of annoyance and leaned over putting her lips right up to his ear, "Well I never…..Constable Grant if anyone is doing the distracting around here it is you." He could feel the tickle of her breath on the back of his neck and it caused him to shudder. Elizabeth could sense his response and she knew she had him.

Suddenly Bill, who was sitting in front of them, turned around and gave them both a stern look, "Shh, some of us are trying to pay attention." Both Nathan and Elizabeth sat up straight and diverted their eyes away from each other. "Thank you, both." Bill turned back around, but not before noticing how closely they were sitting to one another.

The service finally ended and everyone exited the church and stopped to thank the pastor and shake his hand before leaving. Nathan and Elizabeth stopped just outside of the church and Nathan handed Little Jack back to Elizabeth, "Nathan, do you want to grab lunch with Rosemary and Lee and I?"

"I would love to, but I need to get to the office. I have quite a bit of paper work to do with the Elias and Jenny case and I'm going to have to do my rounds later. Maybe I can take a rain check?" He smiled at her, "By the way, what were you thinking about in there?"

She eyed him closely and then smiled, "You are incorrigible. Wouldn't you like to know." She said it as more of a statement.

He inhaled sharply and gave her his crooked smile, "Are you flirting with me, Mrs. Thornton?"

She raised an eyebrow at him and smiled, "Maybe…..and don't for a second think that flashing me that smile is going to work."

He tilted his head, "Well it might not this time…..but eventually you'll succumb to it."

Her quick intake of breath did not go unnoticed by him and he had finally rendered her speechless which was not an easy thing to do where Elizabeth was concerned, "If I'm going to get that work done I'm going to have to get moving, but maybe I'll stop by your place towards the end of my rounds and say hi."

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then," she replied.

He put his hat on his head, gave her a quick smile, and tipped his hat at her and then gave Jack a quick smile and shake of his little hand. He then reached up and gently brushed a quick caress on her cheek with the back of his fingers, "by Elizabeth." He winked at her and after watching her turn a crimson color, he turned and walked toward the town.

As soon as he was gone she let go of the breath that she had been holding and then started to turn, but quickly walked into Bill who had observed the whole exchange.

"Elizabeth," he acknowledged.

"Bill," she exclaimed. "I uh…I guess you're probably wondering what's going on."

Bill put his hands in the air in a stopping motion, "Elizabeth, I told you before, you don't owe me any explanations, but if you must know, I highly approve and I'm happy for both of you as long as you are happy. You are happy, aren't you?"

She shook her head, "Yes, very happy. For the first time since Jack passed I feel like I can love again and that my heart is open."

He nodded in understanding, "I knew it would happen eventually, but how do you feel about him being a Mountie?"

"I'm not going to lie and say it doesn't worry me, but when I realized I had feelings for him it didn't matter anymore. I knew that even if I didn't pursue this with him that I would still worry about him no matter what, but he is also different from Jack. I loved Jack very much, but I knew that his sense of honor and duty came first and while I never doubted his love for me for even a single second, I knew that he was always a Mountie first. Nathan though, is so different. He is family first and his job comes second. He has already proven that with Allie. I know there will always be risks involved and there are no certainties for anyone in life, not even me and there certainly weren't any for Lee either and he's not a Mountie, but the one thing that Jack taught me was that loving him was worth the risk and it will be with Nathan as well."

"I told Nathan you were tough. I'm happy for you both and I will support you in whatever way I can."

"Thank you, Bill." She gave him a hug, "Do you want to join Rosemary, Lee, and myself for lunch?"

"Well, thanks for the invite, I believe I'll take you up on that."

They both walked over together and joined Rosemary and Lee. "Hi, are you guys ready for lunch? I asked Bill to join us. I hope that was ok."

"Of course it's ok," Rosemary exclaimed, "What about Nathan and Allie?"

"He had to go to work, but said he might stop by later when his rounds are over," answered Elizabeth.

Rosemary gave her a sad face, "Ahh…..well all right then, Shall we head back to our place?"

"Yes, let's go," said Lee, "I'm starving."

Lunch had gone by quickly and after the dishes had been cleaned and Bill had gone home Rosemary and Lee had offered to watch Little Jack so that Elizabeth could concentrate on finishing up some school work and possibly getting some writing done. She had started off sitting in her house, but she had found it extremely hard to concentrate so after she had finished her school work she had grabbed her notebook and then told Rosemary and Lee she was going for a walk up towards where she had taken the kids on the field trip and would be back later before Nathan came around.

The walk had done her wonders and provided her a time to contemplate and reflect on everything that happened over the past week. She knew she had feelings for Nathan, but Lucas had left her confused and she had been flattered by his attentions towards her. By all accounts she knew that one day he would have the right woman for him, but she also knew that she could never be that person. He would always be a friend, but nothing more.

Nathan, sweet and shy, had endeared himself to her. She had been scared of the feelings she had towards him and she had tried to push them down, but she had come to realize through him almost dying that no matter how hard she tried they would always bubble to the surface. She remembered how her heart had suddenly stopped beating when Carson had spoken those words that he was gone and the relief that had flooded over her when she saw Nathan aimlessly meandering towards her. She knew the rumors that Rosemary had told her about would come and perhaps it hadn't been the wisest choice to throw herself at him like that in such a public setting, but she didn't regret it at all. It was a choice her heart had made in that moment and she had needed the reassurance of feeling him close to her that it was really him.

She looked up at the trees waving listlessly in the air, their long branches reaching outwards toward one another. Once in awhile they managed to touch the tree next to them. Her relationship with Nathan had been like that, always reaching for one another, but never quite touching and meeting, the changing wind always being a factor. That was all different now and all she could think about was their future together. She had seen a wonderful change take place in him. His heart was lighter and he was starting to comfortably banter and flirt with her, showing a different side to him that she had being waiting to see more of, and the trust between them was starting to grow.

She had finally reached a clearing overlooking a large meadow and found a nearby log to sit on. The wind had picked up slightly and she watched as the tall grass that had been growing in the summer sun danced and tangled together. Their lives were starting to do that, the tangling of them together and the dance had finally begun. She smiled at the thought of that and then she looked down at her hands, the shiny, shimmering object on her left ring finger caught her attention.

She remembered the night when Jack had placed that ring on her finger and made a promise to her that they would be bound together. She knew in a small way that they always would be, even through death his love would always remain a part of her. That would never change and there was a time when she didn't think it possible to experience anything like it again, although Jack had made it clear in his letter that he had wanted her to open herself up again. Nathan had changed all of that and though it had taken some time to figure out, she was grateful for his presence in her life and she knew that he was going to make a wonderful husband and father to Little Jack if and when that time came. There were things that he could teach Little Jack about his dad that she knew she would never be able to explain to him about his service and the honor of it.

She twisted the ring around her finger. She knew it wasn't the right time to remove it yet, but that at some point she would need to. That would only be fair to Nathan and it would symbolize her willingness to move forward. She would put the ring up for safe keeping and one day possibly offer it to Little Jack for his bride.

She sat on the log for a little longer before opening up her journal and then began to write. For the first time in a week the words just flowed from pen to paper as she jotted down all of her thoughts and feelings that she had been having and her hopes for the future. She became so absorbed that she hadn't even noticed that the wind had picked up and the sky had taken on a grey color with ominous clouds forming in the distance. Then she felt the first drop hit her hand and then another land on the paper in front of her. She closed her journal and tucked it away and then looked upwards. It was starting to get late and she needed to get home, but the wind had picked up even more and she was reminded of the day she had gone on the field trip with the students. She knew how quickly the dangerous winds could turn, especially during the fall months.

She stood up from the log and started walking back towards the trail she had walked up on. The trees were now swaying even harder and the rain was starting to pick up, but she continued to move forward. Somewhere from up above her she heard the cracking of a branch and she looked up in time to see it come flying down towards her. She tried to dash out of the way and was partly successful, but part of the branch had brushed against her face anyways and she let out a short yelp of pain.

She could instantly feel a sticky substance running down the side of her face. She reached up with her hand and gingerly dabbed at the source of the pain on the side of her forehead, wincing at even the slightest touch. There was a small gash there and she pulled her fingers away and looked at them to reveal the crimson color of fresh blood. Feeling defeated she quickly came to realize that she was not going to be able to make it back home and then she remembered the nearby hunting cabin. She could be stubborn at times and in her earlier days in Hope Valley she may have tried to keep going, but now she had a son to think about and knew she needed to make it back to him safely.

She started heading towards the cabin, she would probably have to stay the night there and she knew that Rosemary and Lee would take good care of Little Jack, but felt guilty because she also knew that they along with Nathan would probably be worried sick about her and the thought of putting them through that worry caused her great concern. There was no use dwelling on it though, she could not change anything about her current circumstances by doing so. Right now her focus needed to stay on making it to the cabin and the growing headache was starting to make her feel lightheaded.

She walked in the direction towards where she remembered it to be and after moving through several obstacles of fallen tree branches she finally saw the cabin in the distance. She quickened her pace and finally found herself safe inside its walls. She said a silent prayer of thanks and then plopped down on the small bed in the corner of the room and listened to the howling wind calling from outside.

TBC….