Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. All rights go to the actors, writers and creators of the show "When Calls The Heart".

(28/07/2018)

CHAPTER 14

Eve ended up staying in bed for the rest of the morning. Elizabeth went back upstairs with some breakfast for Jack and offered to trade places but he insisted on staying. Elizabeth was glad. Eve looked settled and she knew if Jack moved, she would wake up. She checked her temperature again and it was close to normal. Elizabeth left some water and dry biscuits on the side table for when she woke up.

Elizabeth called Katy to tell her about Eve and postponed their lunch until later in the week. Halley and Gracie were disappointed as expected. Charlotte called to see how Jack was going and when Elizabeth mentioned Eve was sick, Charlotte came immediately and took Halley and Gracie out for the day.

Elizabeth was restless. She cleaned the kitchen and cooked dinner. She tried to read her book but after she read the same line five times, she gave up. She wandered through the house tidying as she went.

She passed the piano and stared at it for a moment. She pulled away, heading up stairs. She tidied her bedroom and each of the girls and checked on Eve and Jack again. She walked down the stairs and stared at the piano again. Slowly she walked toward it. Her fingers ran across the cover. She lifted it up and stared at the keys for a long time.

It had been almost a year since she had played. Her fingers glided over the top of the keys.

Her mother, Grace, had been the one who taught her to play. Grace was the one who encouraged her to practice and sit all her exams. It gave Grace the greatest pleasure to listen to her daughter play. When Grace was sick, she would sit in the arm chair while Elizabeth played. But once Grace was gone, Elizabeth felt her music had gone with her.

Elizabeth sat down on the chair. She pressed a single key down slowly and she felt the tears creep into the corners of her eyes. She took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly. She placed her fingers gently on the keys and paused. Elizabeth willed herself to keep going. She knew once she began playing again it would get easier. She knew her mother would want her to play. It was the memories that haunted her.

Finally, she pressed the keys down and just like that the trance she was in broke. Her fingers glided over the keys gracefully. The melody was soft and soothing. Her mother's favourite song came to life.

Jack was still sitting with Eve. He was leaning up against her bedhead with his head hanging back and his eyes closed. He wasn't thinking about anything specific just daydreaming until he heard a song drifting up the stairs. Clare De Lune interrupted him. Straight away an image appeared in his mind, clear as a bell. Elizabeth sitting at the piano, her long hair pinned to the side wearing a beautiful soft pink gown. Her fingers moved with speed and grace over the keys as she played.

Jack slid Eve's arm off him and immediately grabbed his paper and pencil from his room and while he listened to the music floating in the air, he drew the image of Elizabeth at the piano. He could see her smiling as she played, glancing over to him. He had felt unbelievably happy at that moment. Jack finished his drawing and put it away before he walked towards the sound. He came down the stairs and saw Elizabeth sitting at the piano. He stood there watching her.

When she finished the song, he heard her crying for the first time without the cover of the music. She wiped her eyes and sat there quietly sobbing. Jack felt like he was intruding but at the same time he wanted to comfort her.

He walked over to her quietly.

"Beth? Are you okay?"

Her crying ceased immediately but she kept her head down.

"I'm fine" she mumbled.

Jack came closer and put his hands on her shoulders gently.

"Okay, well I'm here if you need to talk. About anything."

He saw her nod her head slightly. He leant down and gently kissed her on the cheek before he turned and walked out of the room.

As Elizabeth had been playing, all of her feelings seemed to overwhelm her. She missed her mother but she also missed Jack more than anything. She missed having someone who knew her so well that she didn't have to explain anything. Her and Jack had always been soul mates but more than that, there was a deep understanding between them. She knew when he was angry or upset. She knew when to give him space or to not. He knew her just as well.

But since he had come back that understanding had disappeared. He didn't know her at all and she was struggling as well. It was as though they were back to dating but with this underlying current of familiarity. Just before in the bedroom she had felt perfectly at ease with him but then all of these thoughts came flooding back. He doesn't know you, was all she could think.

When she heard Jack behind her after finishing the song, she was embarrassed that he had seen her like that but immediately he made her feel comfortable and loved without pressuring her. So much of the old Jack was there, that she kept forgetting.

She heard him walk away but she stayed at the piano, staring at the keys wondering what to do. Finally, she got up and went and checked on Eve. She was awake and hungry which was a good sign. Elizabeth carried her downstairs and set her up in front of the tv. Eve was overly excited to have the tv to herself. Elizabeth set her up with some toast and a drink and found Jack in the other room on the lounge.

She went and sat down next to him silently, leaning into his chest as he automatically put his arm around her. He held her hand with his free hand.

They sat there in silence not saying anything. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

After some time, she began to talk.

"That was my mother's favourite song. She passed away from cancer almost a year ago. I haven't played since she passed. I had always played piano for her. She made me get the lessons and practice and I resented her for it for some time but as I got older I realised how much I enjoyed playing."

"Her photo was on the family tree downstairs with your father."

Elizabeth smiled.

"I don't see much of Dad anymore. He still works pretty hard, especially since mother passed. I try and talk to him every few days though."

"He must miss her a lot."

"We all do" Elizabeth said feeling the tears rising again.

"I recognised that song" Jack said quietly.

"It's a popular song used at weddings and other things. I played it at Viola's wedding as well as the processional song."

"Were you wearing a pink dress?"

Elizabeth pulled back from him and looked at him. "You remember?"

"Yeah" he said nervously, his eyes darting away from hers. "It was just a moment though. You were sitting at the piano playing and I was sitting down watching you. You had a pink dress on and your hair was pinned to the side with little flowers in it, I think. You turned and smiled at me."

Elizabeth could feel herself grinning. "You remember being there with me?"

Jack nodded.

Elizabeth couldn't believe it. He was really starting to remember.

"That was a good day. Do you remember anything else?"

"No" he said sadly. "Why was it so good?"

"Well …"

Nine years before … (June 2009)

Viola's wedding day had finally arrived. It had been a crazy month of phone calls backwards and forwards between Elizabeth and her sister. Julie wasn't returning any calls and had essentially dropped off the face of the planet, so it was left to Elizabeth to do everything. She wasn't really surprised. Julie didn't even show up to Viola's hens party or bridal shower. Viola was so grateful for Elizabeth's help but she was still upset with her little sister.

After Julie didn't show up for the third scheduled dress fitting, Julie was dropped from the bridal party. Viola needed to find a substitute that would fit into Julie's dress, and fast, since they only had two weeks.

Elizabeth convinced her that Rosie would be perfect. Rosie ended up fitting perfectly into Elizabeth's dress and Elizabeth ended up squeezing into Julie's. It was a lot more fitted than she had been hoping but it still looked beautiful.

The week before the wedding, Elizabeth was practicing the wedding songs every spare moment that she got. Jack had wanted to come over but she had to tell him not to. She had to get the music perfect. Viola had a 300 strong guest list so Elizabeth couldn't afford to make a mistake. She had to play five songs in total and she was really nervous about Clare De Lune. She had played it for years but since it was the first one, she was really worried about pacing it and not rushing knowing she would be nervous.

Jack came over the night before the wedding rehearsal and dinner. Elizabeth played for him and he looked at her in awe.

"Elizabeth that was beautiful. You did that perfectly. The tempo was spot on. You don't need to be nervous" he said as he sat down beside her on the bench with his back facing the piano.

"Jack, I'm playing for 300 people!" she exclaimed.

Jack smiled, putting his hand up to her face.

"No, you're not. You are playing for your sister. No one else matters."

"What about you?"

"You can play for me too if you like, if that doesn't make you nervous."

She smiled at him. "No, you don't make me nervous."

"Really?" he said as he leant in and kissed her, his hands sliding across her stomach and reaching her hip.

"No" she said.

As he was kissing her, his hands glided over the fabric of her dress, down along her thighs.

"Still?"

"No" she said as she could feel her heart rate rising.

His lips found hers again just as his hand found the hem of her dress. His fingers ran along it before moving underneath and proceeding to creep back up her bare thigh. His other hand was holding the base of her neck as he kissed her firmly.

He pulled back, breathless. "Still?"

"No" she said again, even though her body was telling her otherwise.

Quickly he lifted her clean off the seat and carried her to the lounge before pulling her dress straight over her head and laying her down before climbing on top of her. His hands went straight back to her bare thigh and gradually moved its way up along her waist, his hips pressed into her. She pulled his shirt over his head and his hands went straight back to her body.

She could feel her heart racing now and the butterflies in her stomach.

"Still?"

"A little" she admitted.

Just like that he stopped and shifted his weight off her.

"What are you doing? Why are you stopping?" she cried with disappointment.

"You said I didn't make you nervous. I was just proving you wrong."

He was still laying next to her but his fingers had left her body and instead trailed through some loose curls that ran down the side of her face.

"So that's it?"

"Yeah" he laughed. "Have you thought about when you want to get married?"

"We don't really have enough time to plan anything before winter, so maybe next spring?" she looked up into his eyes and saw the disappointment.

"You want to wait nine months to get married?" he asked with a hint of despair in his voice.

"Too long?"

"Yes."

"Eight months?" she asked.

He leant down to her and began kissing her again and his hands begun to work their magic. There was no way she was going to be able to keep away from him for eight months.

"Seven?" she mumbled before his lips pushed back on hers, forcing them to part and he deepened their kiss. No seven was way too long and it was the middle of winter.

"Five?"

His kisses were getting more passionate and his hand was now back on her thigh, creeping to the inside of her leg.

"Three?"

His hand crept higher and higher. No, I want him now. Three feels like a lifetime.

"One?"

"Now you're talking" he finally answered, as his lips devoured hers again.

The rehearsal the following night went smoothly. Elizabeth played briefly on the piano to become familiar with it. Jack sat in the audience watching. Rosie and a friend of Viola's walked down the aisle, followed by Viola. Viola and Lionel stood up the front, Viola giggling nervously.

Elizabeth was really happy for her but at the same time she wished it was her getting married in two days. Seeing how over-the-top Viola's wedding was made her realise one thing. She wanted a small and intimate ceremony. One that only took a few days to organise.

The dinner afterwards was at a fancy restaurant. Jack and Elizabeth sat down the end of the table with Lee and Rosie. Elizabeth's father had barely spoken to them. She knew her father wasn't a fan of Jack's. When Elizabeth announced their engagement, her parents had yet to meet Jack. The rehearsal dinner was only the second time that they had met. As Elizabeth sat there, clinging to Jack's hand, she saw her father staring at her. Elizabeth smiled at him but he just looked away again, continuing his conversation with someone.

The dinner went smoothly. Lionel got up to do a speech and thank everyone for coming. Everyone was excited for the wedding in two days time. Elizabeth was as well, although she was looking forward to the ceremony being finished and her role as the pianist being over.

The wedding day finally arrived and Elizabeth was up early for makeup and hair. She had been texting Jack backwards and forwards all morning. He knew how nervous she was so he tried to keep her distracted, sending her jokes and random photos and videos. It had worked. She had burst into laughter on more than one occasion only to receive odd looks from Rosie or Viola or her mother.

Once Viola was finally ready, they made their way to the church. Elizabeth got out of the car first and made her way in. Jack met her out the front and escorted her to the piano out the front. Lionel gave her a friendly nod as she passed. Jack kissed her on the cheek and whispered good luck to her before he took his seat.

Then she began to play. Immediately her thoughts went back to her and Jack the other night and the notes flowed with ease. She looked over at him briefly. He was beaming at her, a huge dimpled grin. One of happiness and pride. She smiled back as she continued to play. The whole wedding went beautifully.

After the dinner and the first dance, Elizabeth's partner left the dance floor to find his wife and as Elizabeth was about to wander off, Jack immediately wrapped his arm around her back and took her hand in his.

"Hey, baby. I finally get to spend some time with you. I've been waiting all day."

The music was slow. Elizabeth's arms slid up to his neck, her fingers slipping into the hair at the base of his neck.

"I've missed you today, Jack."

He kissed her gently, not caring who was watching.

"So do you still want to wait until next spring?" he teased.

"No. You were right. I can't wait that long to marry you. I wanted to be Viola today, you know."

"I understand. I felt the same way."

They stayed dancing slowly in each other's arms. Elizabeth rested her head on Jack's shoulder. She glanced over to see her father watching her from his seat. She smiled at him. He stared at her for a moment before he stood up and approached. He tapped Jack on the shoulder and realising who it was, Jack pulled away from her.

"Excuse me, Jack. Would you mind if I have a dance with Beth?"

"Of course not, Sir."

He placed Elizabeth's hand in her father's and left the dance floor. William and Elizabeth began to dance slowly.

"Dad, what's wrong?" she asked when he danced in silence.

"It's nothing Beth."

"It's not nothing …" Elizabeth began cautiously.

"This Jack guy …" he began.

"My fiancé. Yes, what about him?"

"I'm worried for you Beth. He seems like a nice, decent kind of fellow. It's just him being in the military concerns me."

"Why? Because he doesn't make a lot of money?" she said disappointedly.

"No. I saw what you were like when he was deployed. That is going to be your future, Beth. Staying at home, worrying, while he is overseas fighting. I worry about you. I don't want to see you have to go through that."

Elizabeth smiled at him.

"Dad, I understand. But I love Jack. I couldn't walk away from him now if I tried. I know it's not going to be easy when he has to go away but we will deal with that when it happens. I know it won't be easy for him to leave me behind either."

"Okay, well you have a little while to think about it before the wedding. Just make sure you're making the right decision."

"I am, Dad. But the wedding won't be very far away. We're going to get married soon."

"Why? What's the urgency?"

"We don't want to wait. I don't want a big wedding like Viola. This isn't really me."

"Is that it? There's no other reason why you have to get married in a hurry is there?"

Elizabeth looked at her father in surprise. "No, Dad" she said shaking her head. "We just realised that we didn't want to wait until after winter. We both want something simple with our family and after his last deployment we've realised that life can change in the blink of an eye."

Her father looked down at her and nodded. "Okay Beth. I can see you've made up your mind. I am proud of you, you know."

"I know Dad. Maybe a bit over protective too?" she said with a smile.

William smiled at her and gave her a small nod.

"So it was a good day. I think we finally got my father's approval that day."

Jack still had her arm around her as she talked.

"And that was why we ended up getting married so quickly? Just because I made you nervous?"

Elizabeth could feel Jack laughing against her.

"Yeah well, you still do lately" she said quietly, regretting it as soon as it came out of her mouth.

"Really?" His hand unlaced itself from hers and he was tilting her head up to him. She saw his eyes exploring hers, trying to read her expression. "Why do I make you nervous?"

Elizabeth laughed. "Where do I begin?"

"Well if its any consolation, you make me nervous too."

"Why?"

"Because you know me better than I know myself. You remember things about me, that I don't remember ever doing. Its like waking up from a big night of drinking, not remembering what you did to embarrass yourself the day before, except magnified."

"I would hardly say you did anything too embarrassing over the last ten years. I mean you have had your moments" Elizabeth grinned.

"Jack, I have faith that your memories will come back. You've remembered a few things now and its only been two weeks since your accident."

"You know, I'm not too worried about getting my memories back specifically. My biggest concern is you and the girls. I cannot imagine what you must be going through."

"It's not easy but it's no harder than having you deployed for months and not being able to see you. I'm just glad that you're back home safe." She kissed him on the cheek gently.

"Even though I have no memory of being with you?"

Elizabeth heard the intonation in his voice and realised what he meant. Of course she missed being with him, more than anything and she was surprised that he had thought about that. Then, again this was her Jack who was talking.

"Even then. It will come, Jack. There's no rush." She said that to calm his worries but at the same time she wondered. What if he never got those memories back? What if he never wanted her like that again? She banished those thoughts from her mind as she put her head back on his chest and held him tight.