Chapter 35
The past two days had gone by in a blur with the party the night before and now the rehearsal had gone well and they were all gathered at the café for dinner. Bill had prepared a delicious dinner with all the fixings and they were all gathered around the table enjoying one another's company. Nathan still was in awe that Elizabeth was about to become his wife and just when he had thought it wasn't possible to love her anymore, something would happen to disprove those thoughts. As they sat there together, he reached his hand out underneath the table and found hers, grasping it tightly he gently rubbed his thumb over the top of hers in small circles.
She looked up at him and smiled, "this time tomorrow."
"I know, I can't wait," he replied back, his eyes shining bright with joy and love for her. "What do you say you take one more walk with me as Mrs. Thornton? We can go the long way around the pond. I have something for you, a wedding present from me to you."
"Sounds perfect, I have something for you too, but you're going to have to wait till tomorrow for it."
"Oh yeah?" he eyed her quizzically, "Any hints?"
"My lips are sealed until tomorrow."
He winked at her and raised his eyebrow flirtatiously before leaning over to whisper in her ear, "I bet I can make your lips talk."
Nathan watched as she stood there with a surprised, speechless smile, tugging at the corners of her mouth, face turning a crimson red color. Pleased that he could have that effect on her and shocked at his own boldness, he then stood up from the table to address everyone else, "Well all, we have a long day tomorrow, but before we go I just want to thank everyone for your love and support over the past few years and for making this place feel like home for Allie and myself. You have no idea how grateful I will forever be for that."
"Nathan," Lee began, "we are grateful for you as well. It couldn't have been easy coming into town and taking over as the Mountie after Jack, but you did and you proved to all of us that you belong here. You're gaining a wonderful woman in Elizabeth and I know we don't have to tell you how special she is, but we are so happy that the two of you have found your way to one another and thankful to you for helping her to open up and live life again. It has been a while since we saw that glow come back into her eyes and it's nice to see it again. You guys were certainly meant to be."
"Thank you, Lee. That means a lot to me. If you all will excuse us though I think Elizabeth and I are going to say goodnight. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow; although," Nathan paused looking at Elizabeth with a sideways grin, "I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep much."
Rosemary looked to Lee, "I remember that feeling of anticipation, don't you?"
"I sure do, Rosie. I don't think I slept a wink that night. Well," Lee said while standing, "I think that Rosemary and I are going to bid you all farewell too. Do you guys want to walk home with us?"
"I think Elizabeth and Nathan have other plans, honey," Rosemary replied to Lee.
Lee smiled, "Oh, well then shall we." He offered Rosemary his arm and she gladly reached out and took it.
Rosemary looked to Elizabeth, "We will take the kids home with us, you take all the time you need."
"Thanks, Rosemary," Elizabeth smiled at her and then turned to Nathan, "Ready?"
"When you are," Nathan reached out and took her had in his and then guided her toward the door. They walked outside into the cool summer evening air and walked toward the pond. She snuggled in closer to Nathan, laying her head on his shoulder as they walked. They stopped at the dock and watched the small ripples of water move through the murky pond water as the sun began to set behind the trees, leaving the sky dancing in shades of purple, blue, and pink.
She lifted her head and looked up at him and without a word was instantly left breathless by desire filled eyes. This was an affect that he had been having on her since before she even had her feelings sorted out for him. She could easily get lost in the depths of that cool blue stare. She could see them sparkle with love for her and it made her heart skip a beat. She could feel her heartbeat speed up as he leaned and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss started off slow and then slowly deepened into more before he gently pulled away from her, leaving her head spinning. Placing a quick kiss to her forehead he then unwrapped his arms from her and reached into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a small box.
"I wasn't sure what to get you, but I figured maybe this can be your something new for tomorrow." He handed the small, carefully wrapped package to her with a shy smile, the same shy smile that had initially endured him to her and that she thought was absolutely adorable. In many areas, his confidence over the last few months had soared, but once in a while she would get a small glimpse of the Nathan underneath all that growing confidence.
She took the package from him and slowly unwrapped it. Lifting the lid, he watched as her eyes lit up and she pulled out a charm bracelet that matched the one that he had given to Allie. She gasped and smiled in delight, "Oh Nathan, I love it."
"Really?" he questioned with uncertainty laced in his voice.
She smiled up at him and gave him a long drawn out, "Yes," and then added, "it's perfect, really. Wait, what's this?"
He smiled sheepishly at her while shrugging slightly, "that's one of the charms."
"It's a dart," she started to giggle and it spilled over to Nathan who also couldn't contain himself and began to lightly laugh with her.
"I couldn't think of anything else to put on it," he said sheepishly.
She looked up at him, eyes shining, "I certainly hit my bullseye that night, didn't I?"
He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers, "I'll say you did and I was the guy lucky enough to be the target."
She looked down at the bracelet and caught sight of the other charm on it, it was in the shape of an apple and had the letters EG on one side and NG on the other. She ran her fingers over it tenderly and whispered in a soft voice, "EG…..NG." She took in a deep breath, overcome with emotion, remembering the day he had brought her the apple in the schoolhouse. She looked up at him with glistening eyes, "Thank you. It's beautiful."
He wrapped his arms around her, "I love you Elizabeth and I can't wait to marry you tomorrow."
She looked up at him, locking her eyes with his, "I love you too, Nathan so very much. I never thought I would feel this way again, but you changed all that."
He leaned in and kissed her again. He couldn't help himself, she just knew how to lure him in and he was drawn to her in a way that was hard to explain, but he hoped that the feeling would never end. He pulled away speaking to her, "I think I should walk you home."
"I don't want to go home, can't we just stay out here all night with each other?"
He sighed, "I wish, but tomorrow night we won't have to say goodbye."
"All right, I suppose we better head back." They began walking towards the rowhouses hand in hand, chatting lightheartedly with one another until they reached Elizabeth's house. From a distance they could both see a figure standing on her front porch.
Nathan spotted him first, "Hey, is that Bill?"
Elizabeth looked up toward her house, "Yes, huh, I wonder what he's doing out here? I hope there isn't anything wrong."
Nathan groaned, "I hope not either, the last thing we need is for me to have to go out on official Mountie business the night before our wedding." As they got closer Nathan called out to him, "Hi Bill."
"Nathan…Elizabeth," he nodded at them, "it took you long enough to walk home. I've been waiting for a half hour for you."
"What's going on?" Elizabeth asked with an expression that was a cross between worry and curiosity.
"Nothing official, just personal. You can breathe easy," he smirked at them.
"Well what can we help you with?" asked Nathan confused. "I mean we just left you at the café and didn't expect to see you again until tomorrow."
He shook his head up and down, "I know. I have a gift for the two of you, but I didn't want to give it to you in front of everyone else and didn't want to wait until tomorrow." He held out an envelope to them.
Nathan shook his head perplexed, "I don't understand, what's this?"
"Just take it and open it."
Nathan grabbed the envelope from him and tore it open as Elizabeth looked on. He suddenly felt himself unable to breathe as his eyes began to fill with water and the words he wanted to say just weren't coming out. He stood there shocked and completely overcome with emotion, tears threatening to fall.
Elizabeth starred at him as a concerned look began to fill the features on her face. She reached out and touched his arm, "Nathan, what is it?"
Nathan couldn't even speak, he turned his head to her and simply passed the papers to her and then turned back to Bill before finally finding his voice, "Bill, how?"
"Let's just say we had an understanding and leave it at that," Bill said with a slight mischievous smile on his face.
Nathan heard a small audible gasp come out of Elizabeth who was standing beside him. He turned to see her hand fly over her mouth in surprise and the tears glistening in her clear blue eyes. "Oh, Nathan," was all she could manage to say.
He looked at her all choked up and swallowed the lump that was rising in his throat, "She's ours Elizabeth, she's ours."
"Congratulations. I'm so happy for you both." Bill stuck out his hand and Nathan grabbed it, shaking it with gratitude that he couldn't seem to put into words. "After you and Elizabeth are married tomorrow you can sign those papers and bring them back to me and it will all be official," he smiled at them.
"I don't know how to thank you, Bill. This is the best gift I could have received."
"You thank me by taking care of your new family. I'm happy for you both. It sure took you long enough to get things figured out, Ty."
Through the tears that were building Nathan managed to let out a small chuckle and Elizabeth looked at him curiously, "Ty?"
"I'll explain later."
"Well, I need to get going. Goodnight. I'll see you in the morning." Bill bid them farewell, feeling the need to let them have some privacy to digest everything.
Elizabeth reached over and hugged him, kissing him on the cheek she pulled back and said, "Thank you, Bill."
He nodded and then headed down the steps and back towards the town, leaving Elizabeth and Nathan standing there staring at one another in complete silence, their eyes speaking for them what their voices could not find to say. Elizabeth looked up at Nathan as one of the happy tears that had been threatening to fall finally slid down his cheek. She reached up and brushed it away and then threw her arms around him, laying her head on his chest and holding him in a tight embrace.
"I can't believe it Elizabeth, Allie is ours, she is truly ours. We can adopt her now."
She looked up at him and smiled in disbelief, "I don't think I could have asked for a better wedding present. Could you?"
He smiled back at her and shook his head, "No, not at all." His lips came slowly crashing down on hers and they stood there together letting their lips move passionately against the others on the eve of their wedding, faith, hope, and love for their future together filling them with a complete, unexplainable joy. They were both finally able to put the past behind them and move ahead, embracing the future and the start of a new life together.
To Be Continued…..