Chapter 27

Elizabeth and Nathan had grabbed Allie along the way to the café and now all of six of them were walking down the main street of Hope Valley, heading for dinner at the café. Rosemary and Elizabeth were jabbering away while Lee, who had taken Little Jack and was now carrying him, had engaged Allie in a side conversation of their own, leaving Nathan to his own thoughts for the first time since that whirlwind moment had occurred in front of the Mountie office. He glanced at Elizabeth as she talked to Rosemary, all smiles and giddy laughter and he could see how truly happy she was and it made him smile that it was reciprocated by him.

He was still in complete awe that this woman who had captured his heart from the moment he had met her would feel the same way about him and he kept wondering when he was going to wake up from this dream and hoping he never did, but it was real and he was an engaged man. When he had taken on Allie, all hope of ever finding a woman who might want to share in helping him raise her had soon been squashed and he became so consumed with his work and raising Allie that, truth be told, he just hadn't time to even contemplate the idea of courting anyone and his experience with women had been limited because of his shyness around them.

They had never stayed in one place long enough to tie themselves to anyone in more personal relationships and in a couple of places they had lived the only women had been attached ones to other Mounties. He had settled it in his heart that he would probably never get married and that it would always be just him and Allie moving from place to place when his work called him to it, but that had all changed when they came to Hope Valley and he met Elizabeth Thornton who convinced him to stay and set up roots for Allie. If he were honest though he had done it as much for Elizabeth as he had for Allie.

He had tried to keep his distance from people to start with, even from Elizabeth who from the start had begun to pull him into her circle, but he knew it was useless the first time he had met with her as a parent in the schoolhouse. He had been so taken with her and in awe of how she handled Allie that he found himself just staring at her and it was the first time he had allowed himself to get lost in those bright blue eyes of hers that were already shining with so much compassion for Allie, something that he hadn't seen before in other teacher's she had. They had all lectured him about what he needed to do as a parent, but none of them had taken the time to actually try to understand their circumstances the way Elizabeth had. He knew she had truly cared from the start and he had been a goner as far as Elizabeth Thornton was concerned from that moment on.

It was after their fingers touched on the book in the library that he had even dared to dream that she could possibly feel the same way about him. It was an awkward moment of connecting with eyes that would not long after become a habit between the two of them. He knew that somehow the words he couldn't speak out loud had been communicated to her through his eyes. He couldn't always say to her what he was feeling, but his eyes had revealed his heart to her in ways that the spoken word could not. He couldn't hide them from her no matter how hard he tried, his eyes always gave him away and he knew she could see straight into him and see in the depths of his eyes things that he never would have dared to tell her.

As if on cue he saw her turn her head away from Rosemary and look up at him with the same eyes that he had just been thinking about. She gave him a flirty, seductive grin that made his heart flip and caused him to shyly look down while adding a small amount of color to his cheeks. He then looked back at her with a grin of his own that matched hers and he wondered if he would ever get use to that look having that affect on him and quickly decided he hoped not.

"A penny for your thoughts," she asked while grabbing his hand and intertwining it with hers. She leaned into him, reaching across her body with her other arm and wrapping her hand lovingly around his upper arm while continuing to look at him with complete adoration.

He lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a light kiss to it before looking back at her and speaking, "I'm just marveling at the fact that I get to be the lucky man to marry you, that you chose me, and thinking that if this is all a dream, I hope I never wake up from it."

"Hold on, let me check," she lifted her left hand and examined the newly placed ring on her finger. "Nope, not a dream," she sighed, "it's all real."

"Elizabeth, when I saw you get out of that stagecoach and run towards me, I knew in an instant that I could never risk another minute of not having you permanently in my life. I love you so very much and I regret not having told you sooner."

"None of that matters anymore, Nathan, the only thing that matters is that we got it all figured out and I love you too so very much." Nathan released her hand and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her in as they walked and kissing the top of her head. She sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder. It had been a long time since she had felt this content with an inward peace about her past and future and she felt so safe, protected, loved, and cherished by this man.

The small group finally made it to the café and entered it, putting a few tables together to accommodate all of them and then sat down together, chattering amongst themselves while they looked over the menu. Lee spoke up, "The meals on me tonight to celebrate book deals and more importantly engagements."

"Ah, Lee," Nathan looked across the table at him, "you don't have to do that."

Lee waved his hand in the air, "No, I don't, but I want to because Elizabeth is family to us and we are so very grateful that someone who truly cares about her and Little Jack has swept into her life again."

Nathan smiled a grateful smile at him, "thank you."

"Of course."

"Elizabeth!" Clara spoke from across the room with a surprised expression on her face. As soon as her name had come out of Clara's mouth, Elizabeth also saw Bill's head pop out from around the kitchen doorway with a confused look that matched Clara's. They both walked over to the table.

"Elizabeth," began Bill, "What are you doing here? We just saw you get on the stagecoach. I'm so confused. Did something go wrong?"

Elizabeth and Nathan looked at each other grinning and reaching for one another's hand under the table and then they both looked up at Bill and Clara. Nathan nodded to Elizabeth, encouraging her to speak, "Nothing's wrong, in fact, everything is right."

Bill and Clara looked back and forth between Nathan and Elizabeth before Bill spoke again and then it was as if the lightbulb went off and his eyebrows shot up with a small smirk spreading across his face as he nodded in understanding, "Well, I'll be. I don't believe it…does this mean congratulations are in order?"

Clara still looked confused, "Congratulations?"

Nathan's smile grew wider and he looked at Elizabeth one more time with a twinkle in his eye and a wink, "It sure does. I asked Elizabeth to marry me and she said yes."

They both stood there staring in shock at Nathan and Elizabeth. After all this time, the towns tongue tied Mountie finally proposed to the woman that they all knew he had feelings for from the moment he had practically met her. "Well," Elizabeth shrugged and smiled at them, "say something!"

Clara finally finding her bearings squealed and ran to hug Elizabeth as Elizabeth stood to receive it, "I knew you would find love again, this is so exciting!"

Bill reached to shake Nathan's hand, "Congratulations, Nathan. I'm not really surprised. I think I saw where this was heading between you two, long before you did." He moved to Elizabeth, hugging her, "Congratulations, Elizabeth. I'm so happy for you…..and Jack would be too."

"Thank you, Bill. I know he would. He wanted me to be happy and I feel like in a way I'm honoring his wishes for me."

Bill nodded at her and then turned to the rest of the table, "Dinner's on the house tonight!"

Lee looked at Bill and smiled at him, "Well I had already said I would pay, but I won't turn that offer down!"

"Well good then, that settles that. I'll go get started and leave you all to talk for now, but save me a seat." Bill dismissed himself and he and Clara went to the kitchen to start cooking.

Rosemary looked across the table at Nathan and Elizabeth, "Look at them, Lee. They can't keep their eyes off each other, isn't love wonderful!"

Lee smiled back at her, "Yes, it is, of course, they are so absorbed in each other that I wonder if they even hear the rest of us."

Allie all of the sudden spoke matter of fact like, rolling her eyes, "Oh you'll get use to it, Mr. Coulter. They do it all the time. I could probably dance on the table right now and they wouldn't even notice me," she paused contemplating it, "Hmm….maybe I should try and test that theory."

Without taking his eyes from Elizabeth, Nathan answered Allie, "Allie….I wouldn't try it." He then broke his gaze with Elizabeth and looked around at Allie, "I'm not completely lost in your teacher's eyes that I still can't make sure you are staying in line."

Allie laughed at the funny face her uncle gave her, "I'm so happy that we are going to be a family. Can I tell people now?"

Elizabeth and Nathan both laughed. "Yes," he answered, "you can tell whoever you want now."

Allie stood up from the table and pumping her arm exclaimed, "Yes!"

She then started for the door, but not before Nathan stopped her, "Wait, where are you going?"

"To tell my friends, this news can't wait, Uncle Nathan."

"It can wait until after you eat your dinner, Allie."

She groaned and let out a long, "but Uncle Nathan, I told Robert that I had big news already and I would tell him as soon as I was allowed to."

"It can wait until after you eat, Allie. Sit down, please." Allie sighed and walked back to the table, plopping down in her chair. Nathan turned to Elizabeth, who he could see had a mischievous smirk on her face and with a groan of his own spoke to her quietly under his breath, "I should have known it would be Robert."

She whispered back to him, "I've been noticing them. I think our Allie girl may have her first school girl crush. She's growing up, Nathan."

"Yes, too fast," he sighed, "I'll have to keep my eye on that boy."

Elizabeth laughed, "I think you'll be ok and you know as well as I do that Robert is a very respectable young man. I don't think you'll have to worry too much."

"Maybe not this time, but there will come a day…..," his voice faded away, cracking a little, "she's not my little girl anymore."

Elizabeth gave him a sympathetic look, "She will always be your little girl, no matter how old she gets."

He gave a soft harumph and flashed her small grin, "Yeah, I guess you're right, but I still don't like it."

"Nathan, we have so much to be grateful for. Look around this table, everyone we love is here celebrating with us, including Bill and Clara in the kitchen and we have so many more who aren't here. The children are going to grow and we can't stop that, but we have a community surrounding us as we go and tonight, we celebrate that."

He smiled at her, "You're right, Elizabeth. I love you and I've never been happier."

She smiled back up at him, "I love you too, Nathan."

He flashed her a sideways grin and gave her a wink while gently nodding his head. This was going to be the longest seven weeks of his life.

To Be Continued…