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".

(29/07/2018)

CHAPTER 16

Elizabeth watched in surprise as Billy hit the ground hard. She heard screaming behind her and then there were people everywhere, surrounding Lee and Billy.

Someone splashed water on Billy's face and he woke up with a splutter. She saw Lee standing over him, giving an earful.

"After everything she has been through, you leave her alone. You hear me."

Elizabeth saw Billy nodding.

Julie came flying out of the house.

"What happened?" she wailed.

Lionel stepped in. "Billy's mouth got him in trouble, Julie. Let it be."

"Billy! You promised!"

Elizabeth had enough. She walked back over to the jumping castle, where a few of the children, including Halley and Will, had stopped and were watching.

"Keep jumping kids. I think there will be birthday cake soon. Go on!"

They all started jumping again when they realised there was nothing to see.

Viola came up behind her.

"Are you okay, Beth?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Thankfully, Viola changed the topic and started talking about what she was doing with her kids in the break.

Elizabeth turned back at one stage to see Billy staggering into the house with Julie following close behind him. Lee and Rosie were talking animatedly near their seats.

Elizabeth checked on Lucy, who was still having fun, oblivious to what was going on.

Jack and Eve had a nice day together. They watched tv, played with Eve's dollhouse and had a tea party for her teddies before they both fell asleep on the couch. The noise of two excited young girls woke Jack from his nap. He got up, rubbing his eyes, and went to find them.

"Daddy!" Gracie screamed, as she ran in and jumped into his arms.

"Hi Gracie. Did you have fun at the party?"

"Yes! They had a jumping castle and cupcakes and lolly bags. I already ate mine on the way home."

"No kidding."

Clearly the sugar hit was still in her system. Jack put her back down and she tore off through the house yelling for Eve. Halley came and gave him a hug too before following her sister.

Jack looked up to see Elizabeth coming in from the garage, shutting the door behind her. She looked exhausted. She had a bag of takeaway dinner in her hand.

Elizabeth put the bag down and walked straight into his arms as well. She held him tight and he matched her hug, sensing she needed it.

"Are you okay, Beth?" he whispered to her.

"I'm fine."

She pulled back. "I've got dinner. Let's eat so the girls can go to bed a bit earlier."

She took the food to the kitchen table and set it all out.

Elizabeth had almost finished eating. Both girls had eaten quietly while Eve babbled on about what her and Jack had done during the day. Jack had asked Elizabeth how the day went and she was brief, avoiding the most exciting part of the day.

"Halley, did you have a good time too?" Jack asked her.

"Yes, the jumping castle was so fun."

"That's great."

"But the best bit was when Uncle Lee punched Uncle Billy in the face. He fell on the ground. They said he broke his nose" she said laughing.

Elizabeth inwardly groaned at what Halley had innocently brought up. She looked up to see Jack's surprised expression, his eyes seeking out hers.

Elizabeth just shook her head to advise him not to ask. He changed the topic.

As they cleaned up from dinner, Jack came up behind her and asked quietly so the girls couldn't hear him, his hand resting on her back gently.

"Why did Lee punch Billy?"

"Because he deserved it."

He ran his hand down lower. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She pulled back. "Mmm hmm. I'm going to get the girls ready for bed and then take a shower."

"Okay."

Jack helped bath Eve and Gracie and read them a book. He waited until they were asleep before he went back downstairs. He grabbed his phone and after a few minutes trying to navigate his phone and find the contacts, he called Lee.

"I'm sorry" Lee said immediately instead of a greeting.

"What happened?" Jack exclaimed.

"I snapped. You weren't there and I just felt like I owed it to you to take care of it."

"What did he say?"

"She didn't tell you?"

"No. She wouldn't say."

"He just said that they had a future and your amnesia was a sign that you two weren't meant to be."

"Why would he say that? What does he want from her?"

"I'm not sure."

Jack felt his blood boiling. "Well I'm glad you took care of him. Is he going to cause her any more trouble?"

"I don't think so. They asked him to leave immediately. Julie was furious."

"Okay. Thanks Lee. I owe you."

"Don't worry about it Jack."

Jack hung up the phone. He headed back upstairs and listened to make sure the shower had shut off before he walked toward her room, calling out to her.

"Beth?"

"Yeah?" he entered the room to see her in her pyjamas sitting on the side of the bed combing her wet hair.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Jack. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I spoke to Lee" he admitted.

"Wow, that was fast" her blue eyes pierced his accusingly. "I told you, it was no big deal" she said, annoyed.

"It was a big deal if he felt the need to defend you and punch Billy."

"Jack, I had it under control" she said angrily.

"How?" he said throwing up his hands.

"I had already told him there was no chance. My only future has always been with you. Everyone knows that."

"So if you had it under control why did Lee punch him?"

"It's been a long time coming and you weren't there. Lee has always sworn to you to protect me when you're away."

"I wasn't away."

"No, but you may as well be" she stood up, walking back into the bathroom.

Jack followed her. "What does that mean?"

"Nothing, I just …"

"You asked me to stay home with Eve, so I did. I didn't want to leave you to go on your own after you told me everything the other day but I did as you asked. Now you're saying I may as well have been deployed?"

"No, I didn't mean that."

"What did you mean then?"

"I just meant you wouldn't have been able to do anything if you were there anyway. You don't remember anything."

Jack was hurt. The way she said it, you would think he was doing it on purpose.

"I remember what you told me and I would have done exactly what Lee did!"

"Jack, it doesn't matter. Just let it go."

"It doesn't matter? A guy makes a move on my wife and you're saying it doesn't matter?!"

Elizabeth spun around to face him.

"Lee took care of it. It doesn't matter anymore. Stop turning my words against me. You know I hate it when you do that!" she yelled back at him.

The fact was, Jack didn't know. He turned and walked out.

Elizabeth was angry at herself. She had been dreading this conversation all the way home. To be honest, she was hoping Jack wouldn't find out, at least for a few days anyway.

She was angry that after what Billy did, he was still impacting her life. Now, she had hurt Jack because of something Billy had done.

Elizabeth knew where Jack was coming from. She had asked him to stay home and then had essentially blamed him for not being there. Then she had said it didn't matter when of course what Billy said did matter. Finally she had turned his lack of memories onto him. He couldn't defend something he had no memory of.

The fact was that she had been scared about something for a while. It was time that she admitted it to Jack.

Jack lay on his bed with his eyes closed. That whole thing had not gone to plan. All he wanted to do was find out why Elizabeth hadn't told him and it had hugely backfired.

He didn't know how but in just two weeks he loved Elizabeth so much and felt very protective of her. He knew he would do anything for her.

Hearing what Billy had said made him so angry he was actually glad he hadn't been there. Punching the hell out of a guy in front of his wife and daughters was not something he would have wanted them to witness. Honestly, he would have just brought them all home. He knew that was why he had never done anything in the past. Billy probably knew that they were his weakness.

He lay there trying to remember anything but his mind was blank.

He heard the door open and knew who it was. He lay there with his eyes still closed until he felt her lay down on the bed beside him.

"I'm sorry Jack. I didn't mean any of that. I just didn't want you to find out."

"Why?" he said turning his head toward her. "Was it because you knew I would never go and punch him in front of you and the girls? That's why I've never done anything, isn't it?"

"Yes. You've either been holding Gracie or Eve or talking to someone whenever he says stuff to me. I usually wait until we get home before I tell you."

Jack didn't say anything. They lay there quietly.

"The thing is, something that Billy said today has been worrying me. I haven't told you because I was scared of the answer."

Jack watched her in the semi-darkness, the light from the hallway casting a beam of light across her body.

"Jack, what if your memory doesn't come back and you decide that you don't want to be with me anymore?"

Jack was floored. "What?"

"You know, what if you don't feel like you can love me again? Maybe we fell in love because of the people we were when we met ten years ago but now I'm ten years older and not as exciting as I was back then and you still feel like your 26 years old. Maybe you won't fall back in love with the 'mom with three kids' version of me."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah" Elizabeth nodded, her eyes wide.

"Elizabeth Thornton, you are crazy you know that?"

She pulled back slightly, clearly not sure what he was getting at.

"I love you more than I can explain. It's not a question of falling back in love with you. I already love you, its just remembering how and why I fell in love with you in the first place that I'm figuring out. I'm not going anywhere. You've got me for life, babe." He smiled at her.

Elizabeth grinned back. "Really? You're sure?"

He rolled over and kissed her. "Yeah." He brushed another stray curl out of her face, running his finger slowly along her cheek, taking her all in. She was so beautiful.

"Come back to bed with me. Our bed is more comfortable than this one" she said as she stood up.

"Okay." She took his hand and pulled him back into their bedroom.

The rest of the week went by quickly.

Jack had another hypnosis session which didn't uncover anything new. He was able to tell Suzie more details about the memory he had of Elizabeth playing the piano but there were no new memories uncovered.

Jack had a session with the army psychologist, Frank. He had seen Frank many years ago after Doug's death but Jack didn't remember any of that. Frank listened to Jack's worries and concerns and was going to help him get readjusted once he came back to work. Jack really liked Frank. He was easy to talk to and offered him a unique perspective on how to improve things at home. Frank also knew of another army officer who had a similar problem to Jack. He planned to approach the officer and if she was willing, Frank would set up a meeting with her.

Jack took the girls to the park with Elizabeth and they even drove into the city zoo one day much to their delight. The girls ran around the park to all the exhibits with such excitement. Eve couldn't get enough of the penguins, so Jack sat with her while Halley and Gracie went off to see the other animals. He watched Eve's excitement when one of the zookeepers came to feed them. They asked if anyone wanted to help and immediately Eve jumped up and down eagerly, her shyness gone. Elizabeth, Halley and Grace came back just in time to see Eve throw the penguins some fish and Elizabeth was able to get some photos.

"Did you see Daddy?" she came running back to him, her fishy hands outstretched to him.

Jack picked her up, trying to avoid them. "Let's wash those hands first, hey?"

"Why?"

"Because you smell like a fish."

"A fish? Don't be silly."

He watched as she smelt her hands and then she screwed up her nose in the exact same expression that he had seen Elizabeth make.

"Ew" she squealed.

Jack laughed at her, before whisking her away to find soap and water.

The fishy smell kept wafting back to him. He remembered going on countless fishing trips with his dad and brother when he was younger. As he walked to the restroom with Eve he remembered something else. A giant fish on the deck of a boat. Tom and Lee were both there with some other people Jack didn't recall. It was Lee that gave it away though. It was a new memory.

After washing Eve's hands, he walked back to Elizabeth and his daughters.

"What's wrong Jack?"

Elizabeth could immediately see it in his eyes.

"Did I go on a fishing trip with Tom and Lee at some stage?"

"Yeah, you've been on a few. You went on one for your buck's party and then you went on a few after we were married as well. Probably haven't been since Gracie was born though."

"I just remembered being on a boat with them."

Elizabeth smiled. "You're saying there was an advantage of Eve smelling like a fish?"

"Yeah" he smiled back.

Elizabeth had a phone call from her friend Jasmine during the week. She was in town and insisted on catching up for a girls night with Sarah and Rosie. Even though Sarah and Jasmine were her rowing friends they had seen Rosie enough over the years to consider her one of their friends too. Jasmine and Rosie got on way too well with one another, Elizabeth found it worrying.

Sarah lived nearby and offered to drive Elizabeth and pickup Rosie on the way. It was all arranged for Friday night.

"Jack, I was going to go out on Friday night for drinks with the girls. Viola is going to take the girls for a sleepover so you can go out with Lee or Tom if you like."

"Are you sure? I don't mind staying here with the girls."

"You've been here with us all week. You need to get out. Talk to other people. You could even call Garry. He was keen to organise a night out with the army guys."

"Okay. I will arrange something. What time will you get home?"

"I don't know. It won't be too late. We are going into the city though."

"It's just women with you?"

"Yeah, Rosie is coming and Sarah and Jasmine from my rowing days."

Jack nodded. "Okay, I will give Lee a call."

Elizabeth didn't want to admit it but she had asked Viola to take the girls for a reason. Things had drifted back into a normal pattern with Jack sleeping beside her in their bed but that was all that had happened. A few kisses was all they had shared since the episode before the party on Sunday. She sensed Jack was nervous because every time she would start to kiss him at night he would pull away or hug her instead. It was infuriating.

Friday rolled around and Elizabeth dropped the girls off at Viola's and went back home to get ready. She had even gone and bought a new dress during the week. It was dark red and complemented her hair and skin tone perfectly. She pulled it on and proceeded to put loose curls in her hair and do her makeup. She pulled on some black peep toe stilettos before checking her reflection. She thought she looked hot. If Jack didn't do something tonight, she doubted he really loved her as much as he said he did.

She walked down the stairs with her purse in hand and went to find her handbag and transfer everything she needed over. She heard footsteps behind her and saw Jack walking toward her looking down as he was finishing doing up the buttons of his shirt. He looked really cute.

He looked up and Elizabeth watched with pleasure as his jaw dropped.

"Wha .. Why …" he stuttered something unintelligible.

"Sorry?"

"Why are you wearing a dress like that?"

"Why not?"

"Um because you're married."

"So?"

"You're going to have men all over you."

"Jack, don't be silly. I'm 35 years old with three daughters. Plus I have my rings on."

"As if that's going to stop them" he said quietly.

Elizabeth just laughed. She heard a car horn out the front.

"That's Sarah. Bye Jack. I will text you when I'm on my way home."

She walked over and kissed him on the lips, lingering for a moment, before walking to the door. She glanced back before she closed it behind her to see him still standing there staring after her. Well at least that part worked. He's going to be thinking about me all night.

Once they picked up Rosie and she got into the car behind Elizabeth, immediately Rosie was on to her.

"Did Jack see you leave the house like that?"

"Yep."

"What did he say?"

"After he picked his mouth up off the floor, he said I shouldn't be wearing a dress like this because I'm married."

Rosie laughed.

"So do you think he will be thinking about you in that dress all night?"

"That was the plan."

"You're good, Beth. I'm surprised. I didn't think you had any game."

"It's been three weeks, but I feel like the little progress we made has now caused us to go backwards for some reason."

"Well, that dress will definitely make him move forwards."

Elizabeth grinned. That was what she had been hoping for.

"I would have jumped him already … I mean if it was Lee – not Jack" Rosie added quickly.

"Thanks for the clarification, Rosie" Elizabeth sniggered.

Lee spun by the house and picked up Jack and headed for a local bar. Tom was going to meet them there later. They found seats in a booth and they ordered some beers.

Jack told him about the memory of the fishing trip.

"That's great Jack!"

"Yeah. Do you know when it would have been?"

"It was probably the bucks party. We caught some pretty big fish that day."

Nine years before … (July 2009)

One week before the wedding, Rosie had organised Elizabeth's bachelorette party on the same day that Lee had organised Jack's bucks party. Rosie was dragging Elizabeth to a day spa and then out into the city to a restaurant and nightclub. Lee was taking Jack on a deep sea fishing trip with Tom and the army guys. Lee was going to see how things panned out but he knew where Rosie was going to be later.

Lee picked up Jack and they drove to the marina. It was all a big surprise so when Jack saw what they were doing, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. It was slow at first but after an hour or so, the captain found a hoard of tuna and they pulled in three giant fish. Jack was lucky enough to reel in one of them. He had said it was the work out of his life. Lee was just glad it had been Jack and not him. He didn't think his arms would have been able to take it.

Due to their success, the beer flowed freely and combined with the warm sun, quite a few of the guys were feeling under the weather by the time they returned to the marina.

Lee and Tom, however, dragged Jack to a hotel to freshen up and head out for the night.

"One week, Jack. Are you sure you want to do this?" Tom asked. "One woman for the rest of your life?"

Jack just laughed. "She is the only one I want to be with."

"Forever?"

"Yep. Forever. I can't wait."

Lee knew how head-over-heels Jack and Elizabeth were for each other. They had been since day one.

They finished their dinner and Lee got a text from Rosie telling him where they were. Lee wasn't sure if they should go but then Rosie sent her a photo of all the girls together. Rosie's dress was short and tight, the low cut emphasising her cleavage. Lee didn't really want to leave her in a club on her own and as he looked at Elizabeth's outfit, he knew Jack would feel the same way.

"Come on boys. We have somewhere to be."

Lee dragged a questioning Jack and Tom down the road to the club.

"What is this place?" Jack asked.

"Oh, it's a club where bachelorettes tend to go" Lee said.

"Lee" Jack groaned. "We don't need women … although Tom does" he said with a snigger.

"Yes, we are going in" Tom said already dragging him to the door.

They walked through the club and Lee saw a bunch of girls on the dance floor, guys surrounding them trying to get an edge in. Right in the middle were Elizabeth and Rosie surrounded by all of Elizabeth's friends.

Lee tilted his head at Jack.

"You still don't need a woman Jack?" he yelled over the music.

Jack followed his gaze. Lee watched as the realisation hit him. Immediately he was in a trance, moving across the dance floor.

Elizabeth didn't see him coming but he slid past her friends when they recognised him. Lee watched as the guys surrounding them were shocked that Jack had made it into the circle. Jack wrapped his arm right around Elizabeth and she started until she realised who the arm belonged to and then she turned into him and they stayed there dancing for the rest of the night.

Jack sat in silence, thinking.

"What's wrong, Jack? You've been awfully quiet."

"Just Elizabeth."

"What about her?"

Jack looked across at him, shaking his head.

"You should have seen her Lee. She looked amazing. She would have guys all over her by now. Just like at her bachelorette party."

Lee laughed out loud. "If you're worried, I will just text Rosie."

"NO! I already got in trouble last week for being Mr Over Protective. That will just make it worse!"

"Fine. You will just have to wait until she comes home tonight." Lee said before adding "If she comes home."

"Lee she's my wife! Why wouldn't she come home?" he said shocked.

Lee laughed at him. "I just meant she might crash at our place, since it's on the way."

Jack gave him a stern look.

"Oh, so you do still love her?"

"Of course, I do. "

"Have you done enough to show her that?"

"I don't know" he said quietly.

Honestly Jack was frustrated. He wanted Elizabeth, like really wanted her, but he was worried how she would react if he made a move.

"Look I know Beth and she generally doesn't dress like that if she's going out without you, so I think she did it to do just this."

"Just what?"

"Make you jealous. Make you see what is right in front of you."

"Really? No, she wouldn't do that" Jack said, shaking his head.

"She would if she's not getting the attention she wants from her husband. And she managed to get the three girls out of there tonight as well. What other reason do you need?"

Jack thought about it. Lee was right. It was all too convenient.

"Fine. If she's going to play games, text Rosie."

Lee sent the text and immediately got a photo of Beth dancing with Jasmine on the dance floor. Jack could see all the men's eyes watching from behind her.

That did not help. "Tell Rosie I want her home."

"You can't do that" Lee exclaimed. "This is the first night out that she's had in about a year. You have to trust her Jack."

"I don't trust them" Jack said motioning to the men in the photo behind Elizabeth. "If I had the car I would be driving in there right now and bringing her home."

"You would not."

"Yeah I would."

Lee just shook his head at him.

Needless to say, Jack was nervous for the rest of the night.