Chapter 11

"Allie, come downstairs, we have a visitor," Nathan yelled coming through the door. He closed the door behind him and carried Jack to the middle of the room and sat down on the couch placing him on his lap.

"Hi," Allie bounded down the stairs and across the room, "Oh…hi Jack!" She looked around the room in confusion, "Where's Mrs. Thornton?"

"She is at home resting. I told her we could look after Jack for a little while. She had quite the night," he told Allie as he bounced Little Jack up and down on his knee. "I was hoping maybe you could help me with him."

"As long as we don't have to keep him overnight I'm in. He woke up not once, but twice last night and believe you me, I think he woke everyone else up too all the way down to the last row house." She rolled her eyes to match the preteen attitude.

Nathan chuckled, "Well, we aren't keeping him overnight, just for a couple of hours. Why don't you go get your old blocks for him to play with and I'll fix us some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch."

"Deal." She ran back up the stairs and promptly came back down with a giant box and dumped them on the floor.

Nathan placed Jack on the floor with Allie, "there you go buddy." He leaned forward on the sofa and showed Jack the blocks. "Allie,"

She looked up at her Uncle, "Yes?"

Nathan rubbed his nose and let out a big breath, leaning forward with is elbows on his knees, "Um, you like Mrs. Thornton, right?"

"Of course, she's the best teacher I have ever had. Can I ask you a question?"

"Uh…ok."

"When are you going to admit how much you like her?"

He cleared his throat, "Well of course I like her. She's a great teacher and writer."

"That is not what I meant."

His face grew serious, "well what do you mean?"

"Uncle Nathan, everyone knows you are sweet on her."

He gave a nervous chuckle, "Allie, do you even know what that means?"

"Yep," she shook her head, "I sure do, it means you really like her, like her well enough to want to marry her. It's pretty obvious to the whole town. The kids at school have all been trying to guess when you will finally ask her out on a date. What is taking you so long?"

His eyebrows shot up and he rubbed his fingers across his forehead. "You are growing up way too fast," he mumbled. "Allie, how would you feel if Mrs. Thornton and I were to court one another?"

"I'm all for it and I would say it's about time…wait, are you trying to tell me you're courting her?"

"We have discussed it and, yes, we've decided we want to start courting and to see where it goes."

"Soooo….when did this all happen?" She eyed him curiously with a mischievous glare, "Have you kissed her yet?"

He looked away from her with a shy grin slowly spreading across his face, "Uh….I…I..uh…..think I should go fix those sandwiches now."

He stood up from the couch just as Allie's mouth excitedly flew open, "Whoa, you have, haven't you. Way to go, Uncle Nathan!"

"Ok," he said rolling his eyes with a smirk, "we are done and I have grilled cheese sandwiches to fix."

He walked across the floor, shaking his head, to the kitchen area to start the stove up, leaving Allie to play with the blocks on the floor with Little Jack. He smiled to himself when heard Allie talking to Jack, "I think you and I better get use to playing with each other because it looks like I might be your big sister one day and boy do I have a lot of stuff to teach you, starting with how to sleep through the night. Did you see Uncle Nathan's face turn red? That means he really likes your mom." The small smile turned fuller at her words and it reached into his heart, making him feel giddy inside. The fact that Allie approved made things that much better. He suddenly could not picture his life without Elizabeth in it, it simply did not feel complete without her in it.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

After waking from her nap, Elizabeth had found herself piddling around the house anxiously awaiting Nathan to bring Jack back to her. She had been grateful that he had been willing to take him for a while because if truth be told she really had been very tired and needed the rest. She knew he cared for her deeply. The words you matter to me came floating back into her head. She knew at that moment when he said that to her that she could no longer deny the growing feelings for him that had been developing.

She would be lying to herself if she didn't say that his occupation worried her, but she also knew that she couldn't live her life with fear holding her back from being happy either. She subconsciously rubbed her fingers across her mouth. That first kiss they had shared had released so much of those pent-up feelings. It had been a flood of relief to finally have that moment with him and she had been desiring it for quite some time if she was being honest with herself. The kiss itself had been even better than she had imagined it would be and had left her head in a whirlwind and briefly unable to think.

She sat at her desk now with the typewriter in front of her. The whole incident had given her new inspiration for more chapters in her book and she watched as the keys flew up and smacked the paper with a growing intensity that matched the feelings she was having for Nathan. She had almost finished typing when she heard a knock at the door.

"That must be Nathan bringing Little Jack back." she thought out loud, but when she crossed the room and opened the door it was Rosemary standing on the other side, "Oh, hi Rosemary."

"Well you don't have to look so disappointed. I guess I'm not who you were expecting," she answered with an all knowing grin spreading across her face.

"I thought you might be Nathan bringing Jack back."

"Nathan has Little Jack?"

"Yes, he took him so I could get some rest."

"Oh, well you could have left him with us for a little while longer. We would have been happy to keep him."

"I know, but I hadn't planned on leaving him with anyone, but Nathan insisted I needed the rest."

"I see, well you and him seem to be getting along swimmingly these days with your budding romance."

"Rosemary….," Elizabeth said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I can feel it and I just know that you two were meant for each other. Anyways," she said while holding up a basket, "I brought you some food over."

"Thank you, Rosemary," she peered inside the basket as she took it out of Rosemary's hand. "Wow, you brought over enough food to feed an army. There is no way we will eat all of this for dinner."

"Well then you have some for later as well….or to share with someone else." Rosemary winked at her as she moved to sit on the sofa.

Elizabeth put the food on the table and then walked over to join Rosemary. "Ok, I know why you really came over here. You want to know what happened last night in the cabin."

Rosemary shrugged, "Well, of course I do, but only if you want to talk about it." She patted her on the knee and then added, "but you do want to talk about it, don't you?"

Elizabeth shyly smiled back at Rosemary, "Well, if I don't tell someone I just might burst at the seams. He found me in the cabin and he helped get the gash on my forehead cleaned up and before I knew it…," she sighed heavily with a far off look on her face.

Rosemary gasped, "Elizabeth, did he…."

Elizabeth cut her off and shook her head yes, "Mm, hmm….he finally kissed me. Rosemary there aren't even enough words in the English dictionary to begin to tell you what I was feeling in that moment. Relief, joy, euphoria…"

"Well, is he a good kisser? Somehow I just can't picture our shy Mountie being so forward with you."

She inhaled and released it, "Surprisingly good. He was so gentle and I could feel his emotions in it and his desire. It was nothing short of…of…amazing."

"So does that mean that you are courting now?"

Elizabeth tilted her head and looked at her with a big smile, "yes, it sure does. He asked me when we were riding back into town this morning."

Rosemary squealed, "Yay, Elizabeth, I'm so happy for you! I told you, romance is in the air!"

"Well don't get ahead of yourself."

Rosemary shrugged with a smirk, "We all know that courting leads to…."

"Rosemary!" Elizabeth was saved by a knock at the door.

She moved to open it to reveal Nathan, Allie, and Little Jack. "Hi, come on in," she motioned with her hand. The three walked in and Nathan passed Little Jack off to Elizabeth. "Hi big boy, I missed you," she said while planting a kiss on the top of his head and then lowering him to the floor.

Nathan looked up noticing Rosemary staring at him with a silly grin on her face, "Mrs. Coulter," he nodded at her.

Rosemary stood looking back and forth between Elizabeth and Nathan, making Nathan feel a little uneasy at being watched so closely. "I think I need to get back to Lee. Elizabeth I'll see you later," she walked past Nathan and then turned and added coyly, "you two behave yourselves." She then walked out and closed the door behind her.

Elizabeth could see the slight shade or red coloring to Nathan's cheeks. He smirked at her, "She knows doesn't she." It was more of a statement than a question.

Elizabeth tilted her head and gave a small nod, "She does. You should have known it wouldn't stay a secret for long with Rosemary and now the whole town will know so prepare yourself."

"Well, I have a confession to make," he said while wrapping his arms around her.

Allie looked at the two of them and then turned to Little Jack grabbing his hand, "Come on Little Jack, I think things are about to get a little sappy." She rolled her eyes and guided Jack to a corner of the floor to play.

Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh and she put her head against his chest in an attempt to muffle it, "I'm sorry, I can't help myself. What were you saying?" She hugged him tighter and they stood there in an embrace.

He smiled, "I was saying I have a confession to make. I may have told Lee and Bill myself about courting you."

She looked up at him and her mouth flew open, "Nathan Grant, so that's why they were staring at me awkwardly when I walked out of Carson's office." She played with the button on his shirt. "You better not tell Rosemary they knew before she did. If she finds that out I will never hear the end of it."

He released her from his hug while simultaneously grasping her hand with his, bringing it up to his lips and placing a quick a kiss on it before letting go. "We should probably go and let you and Jack have dinner."

She quickly spoke up, "Why don't you and Allie stay and have dinner with us. Rosemary brought food over and she made enough for 20 people. There is no way we could eat it all."

He smiled at her, "Allie, do you want to stay for dinner?"

"Do you have to ask twice? I am starving and would love to stay for dinner and I'm sure it's better than anything Uncle Nathan can fix."

"Hey," he winked at Elizabeth, "I don't usually hear you complaining about my cooking."

"You can cook, other than frying fish," asked Elizabeth.

"Maybe," he flashed her a grin and coked his head, "well….I guess that might be debatable."

She laughed at him, "Well Rosemary happens to be a really great cook so you're in for a treat tonight. Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans and I even think there are biscuits and a strawberry pie for dessert."

"You had me at strawberry Pie, Mrs. Thornton," Allie called out.

"Come on, come sit at the table while I grab the plates. Allie can you put Jack in his highchair please?"

"Sure thing, Mrs. Thornton."

Before long all four were feasting on the meal that Rosemary had left for them. "You're right, wow, she can cook," exclaimed Nathan, "Lee is one lucky guy." He then looked across the table catching Elizabeth's eyes and added more quietly, "but so am I."

Elizabeth could feel her cheeks go red and she smiled at Nathan affectionately, "How about some pie?"

"I'm ready," shouted Allie. Elizabeth stood up and came to the table with a knife and cut each of them a slice and then passed the plates around the table.

"Hmm…so good," Allie mumbled between bites and then she paused, "So Uncle Nathan says you guys are courting."

Elizabeth stopped short of putting the next bite in her mouth and looked across the table at Nathan, who was sheepishly clearing his throat, "It looks like you've been spreading the word faster than Rosemary."

Nathan looked up from his plate and could see the smug smile on Elizabeth's face and knew that she was teasing him. "Uh…well. She asked…..so…..we talked about it."

"Oh, we talked about it all right," responded Allie.

Elizabeth eyed her carefully, "And how do you feel about it, Allie?"

"Mrs. Thornton, I'm happy for the two of you. I've known for a while now that Uncle Nathan has liked you a lot and if he's happy then that makes me happy. It makes sense to me since you have already kissed one another."

Nathan suddenly spit his coffee across the table and started coughing, "Allie…," he said through gritted teeth between the bouts of coughing.

Elizabeth's mouth dropped open and she looked across the table at him wide-eyed, trying not to laugh out loud at how red his face was turning, but she knew her own cheeks were close to matching his. "You told her?" Her shocked tone and expression caused Nathan to close his eyes and rub his forehead with his hand. He wished he could go and hide somewhere.

Nathan stood up from the table, "I think I need some fresh air." He walked across the room, opened the door, and moved outside, taking deep breaths to try and calm his nerves, but it was short lived when the door opened and Elizabeth had joined him. He felt her hand on his shoulder and then it slid down the length of his arm and grasped his hand that she drew out of his pocket. The simple touch made him close his eyes and shiver slightly.

"Nathan, what in the world?"

He looked at her and was at a loss for words, but he opened his mouth and tried anyways, "Elizabeth….I…," he stopped and couldn't breathe or talk. The expression on his face matched the one he had when she had accidentally thrown the dart into his beer at Clair and Jesse's bachelor and bachelorette parties. She couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud at him. He rolled his eyes, "Oh Elizabeth, I knew you were going to laugh at me."

"I would be lying if I didn't say I was a little shocked. I didn't think that would be something you would share with Allie."

He took a deep breath, "I didn't share it with her, she guessed it and I never confirmed it. She just assumed, but you just gave her the confirmation she was fishing for."

"Oh," she mouthed. "She is a sneaky one. She obviously didn't get that spunk from her Uncle."

He shook his head, "No, that all came from Colleen. She and I were like night and day, but Allie is so much like her that sometimes I think I'm looking at my sister again. She even looks like her."

"You miss her," Elizabeth gave him a sympathetic look.

"Every day. We were each other's best friends when we were kids. She would always stand up for me if I got picked on by the other kids. I've always been on the shy and quiet side which always made it hard to make friends, but my sister would always make sure I was included." He took both of her hands in his and turned to face her, "I'm sorry about that. Allie can be…"

"Precocious?"

He titled his head from side to side and flashed her a sideways grin, "That's a good word." He let go of one of her hands and lifted his fingers to caress the side of her face. Elizabeth closed her eyes and sighed and then opened them again. "I probably need to take my precocious child home since she has school tomorrow. I hear her teacher is kind of task master." He winked at her and smiled mischievously and she laughed at him.

He closed the distance between them and drew her closer. She moved her arms up his shoulders and then their lips met in a passionate kiss that said all the things that words couldn't say. He pulled away from her and then opened the door and called to Allie, "Allie come say goodnight."

Allie came waltzing out the door, grinning at them both, "Did you kiss her again, Uncle Nathan?"

"Allie," he gave her a look of warning and then said exaggeratedly, "Say goodnight to Mrs. Thornton."

"Goodnight Mrs. Thornton,"

"Goodnight Allie." She smiled at her.

"All right, lets go," Nathan told her. Allie walked between them and down the steps, Nathan leaned over and gave her one last quick kiss, said goodnight, and followed Allie down the stairs. Elizabeth watched them and couldn't contain the one last laugh bubbling up inside her. She watched has Nathan turned at the sound, rolling his eyes and flashing a grin at her. He then winked and turned back to put his arm around Allie and the two of them kept walking into the darkness.

TBC…..Reviews always welcomed!