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".

(26/8/2018)

CHAPTER 31

Wednesday afternoon Jack was nervously getting ready to go out for a few drinks with his work friends.

"Don't you want me to drop you down there? Then you can just get a cab home" Elizabeth said as she sat on the end of the bed watching him get ready.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Then you can have a few beers and not have to worry."

"What if I want to come home earlier though?"

"You can still get a cab. It makes no difference. If there's a problem I can put the girls in the car and come and get you."

"I guess."

"Jack, it will be fine. Just listen to what's going on. You've always been a good listener and very perceptive."

"Who else do you think will be there?"

"I'm not sure. I only remember Garry, Dennis and Adrian being friends. Apart from that it could be anyone."

"Okay. And I'm friends with these people?"

"Yeah. You're not best mates but you would hang out with them. You and Shane usually went together. You two were always inseparable."

"Have you spoken to Katy? When's he coming home?"

"They're hoping for Friday week. It's still a bit earlier so it won't be confirmed until next week." Elizabeth paused. "Jack, calm down. If you're really feeling out of place just call it a night. They will understand."

Elizabeth went downstairs and put the girls in the car and sat in the drivers seat waiting for Jack to emerge. Finally he appeared, looking very handsome in his dark jeans and button down.

"You're looking very handsome. Who you trying to impress?" she said with a laugh, but realised it wasn't the right thing to say when she saw his reaction. "Hey, I'm just kidding" she said as she ran her hand gently over his arm. "Got everything?"

"Yeah. Let's get this over and done with."

Elizabeth drove him toward the local pub where the army people frequented. She pulled in out the front and he leant over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Love you" he whispered.

"Love you too."

Jack grinned at her before he jumped out. He stood on the curb as he watched her drive away, before taking a deep breath and putting his shoulders back he walked into the pub. Jack glanced around, trying to find Garry in the crowd, before a bunch of people called out to him.

"Jack!" a few of them called him over.

"Hey" Jack said forcing a smile as he came closer. Garry was there with an empty seat next to him.

"Come sit here Jack" he said, pulling the chair out. Jack took a seat.

Thankfully, they were all really understanding as all of the people on the table re-introduced themselves to him.

"I'm Dennis. I came through training six months behind you and Garry and we served in Afghanistan together."

"I'm Adrian. Same as Dennis, all four of us were in Afghanistan together under Gowan."

Jack nodded, none of it remotely familiar.

"This is Trish, Ron and Gez. They joined us a few years back" Garry said as he introduced the three women at the table.

"And Blake and Seb will be here soon."

All of the others began groaning. Jack glanced between everyone trying to work out what the problem was.

"What did you invite him for?"

"I didn't" Garry said. "He overheard me talking to Blake and he invited himself."

Garry turned to Jack. "Blake goes way back with us, you might remember him. Seb has latched on to us. He's still a Corporal as he doesn't take orders well. Be warned Seb is a pain in the ass. Just ignore whatever he says. He's actually not too bad normally around you because you scare him so just remember that."

Jack nodded turning back to the conversation.

Trish began talking to him about Elizabeth and the girls. Trish's daughter was in Gracie's class at school too and they were friends.

"Is Gracie looking forward to going back to school? I know Caitlin is excited to see her again."

"The girls haven't really mentioned it. We've been doing stuff every day so it was probably a good time for me to be off with them."

"Yes, it would have been. My husband and I each had to have time off to look after the kids during break so we didn't get much family time."

She spoke about her little boy who would end up going to school with Eve the following year and they were exchanging funny stories when two more men walked up to the table.

"Blake. Seb" Garry said as they joined the table. Jack remembered Blake from training.

"Jack!" Blake said when he recognised him.

"Hi Blake. How are you?"

"Good mate. When are you back?"

"Monday."

"Great. It will be good to have you back. Where will you be?"

"I'll just be getting familiar with everything again so I'm taking it easy for the first week or so."

"That's too bad about your brain, Jack" Seb piped up with a snigger.

"Yeah it is, Seb" Jack said.

"They said you've forgotten ten years. Looks like you will be below me now."

"I haven't lost my rank. I'll never be below you" Jack said, his eyes cold towards this guy who he immediately didn't like.

"And you forgot your beautiful, hot wife? How is that possible?"

Jack's fists clenched under the table. "I haven't forgotten her. That's the one thing that I have remembered clearly. Comments about my wife are off limits."

Jack turned his conversation back to Trish who eagerly tried to pick things up where they left off, anything to help Jack avoid talking to Seb. Garry and Ron joined in too, all three of them unifying. Jack could see quite quickly what type of people they were.

Seb ended up sitting on the end of the table, trying to break into conversation between Dennis and Adrian.

They ordered some pizza and Jack helped Garry at the bar buy a few rounds of beers.

"Sorry about Seb."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

They watched as Seb downed three beers in quick succession without paying for any and as it got later, his comments became more inappropriate and more slurred.

Jack was talking to Blake after a few beers himself when Seb yelled over at him.

"Jack! You deserved that knock on your head. You were always full of yourself! This will bring you down a notch."

"Ignore him, Jack" Blake said before he continued talking about what they were up to on base at the moment.

Seb kept at him throwing one comment after another across the table.

"I think I better get home" Jack said after he had enough. He stood up and turned to Garry.

"Thanks for inviting me, Garry. I really appreciate everything. I know the situation is weird, but I do appreciate it all the same."

"You give me a call next week, Jack, if you have any problems. I can come and give you a hand if you need it."

Jack shook his hand. "Thank you."

Seb was still yelling things at him as he walked away. He almost turned back when he heard something about Elizabeth but when he looked over his shoulder he saw that Blake had him in hand, his t-shirt balled up into his fist giving him a talking to.

Jack got outside and hailed a cab. He got home about 10 pm and walked up the drive, pulling his key out to open the door. He kicked his shoes off before creeping upstairs.

Elizabeth was sitting in bed, the lamp on with a book in her lap but she had fallen asleep. Jack pulled off his shirt and jeans before he went to her bedside and took the book out of her hands. He bent down kissing her on the forehead to which she woke, startled.

"Jack!" she said as he sat down beside her.

"Hi Beth."

"How was it?" she asked as she reached out, her hand resting on his shoulder.

"It was good, except one guy was being a moron. Have I mentioned Seb before?"

Elizabeth groaned. "He was there?"

"Yeah, he invited himself apparently."

"Who else was there?"

"Garry, Dennis and Adrian like you said. Blake, Trish, Ron and Gez."

"How's Trish going? I meant to have Caitlin over for a playdate over the holidays but we've been so busy."

"She's good."

Elizabeth brushed her hand along his face.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's going to be hard remembering everyone's names again, but I'll get there."

"Yes, you will. You coming to bed now?"

"Yeah" he said as he leant in and kissed her.

She giggled at him. "How much beer did you drink? You taste like a brewery!"

Jack pulled away and went into the bathroom to clean his teeth. He came back to see Elizabeth had slid down and was ready to turn out the light. He slid under the covers and the room was plunged into darkness. Jack moved toward her, his hand finding her body and he leant over, kissing her again.

"Mmm that's better" she said.

Jack wrapped his body around her holding her tight as Seb's comments flew through his head. She's too good for you was the last thing he thought of as he drifted off to sleep.

Thursday afternoon Jack had another session with Suzie. Once again all of these memories resurfaced that Jack wasn't sure of. Suzie had asked Elizabeth to come in at the end to help work out what the memories were of.

"Okay Jack, tell me what you remember" Suzie said, her pen poised in front of her ready to take notes.

"Most of it was snapshots of being in a tent, surrounded by dust everywhere. It must have been one of my deployments. There was the same man with me all the time."

"It's probably Shane" Elizabeth said. "You've been with him on every deployment so far. It will be hard to narrow down which deployment it was. Perhaps you should draw what you remember and we can ask him when he gets back."

"That's a good idea" Suzie added. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes. A holiday. I think we went to New York" Jack said turning to Elizabeth.

"We did. We went when Halley was about 9 months old."

"I remember going to Central Park. We had a picnic there maybe."

"That's right" Elizabeth said smiling.

"It was really cold but you always wanted to have a picnic there so we sat there for about ten minutes until you gave in. We hurried back to the hotel and had our picnic on the floor of the hotel room instead."

Elizabeth beamed at him. "You remember all of that?"

"Yes" he couldn't help but feel happy too.

This therapy was much more successful than the hypnosis and Jack was beginning to feel a lot more optimistic that the memories were in there, they just had to be unlocked somehow.

Rosie called on Thursday afternoon to invite Jack and Elizabeth out to dinner.

"Can you get a babysitter? There's a new place in the city that I've been meaning to try."

"I can try. Maybe Viola or Charlotte could mind the kids."

"Let me know and maybe you can swing past and pick us up on the way."

"Okay."

Elizabeth called Viola and she was more than happy to have the girls over for a sleepover. It was organised that Jack and Elizabeth would drop them off on their way.

On Friday afternoon, Elizabeth packed overnight bags for the girls and had them showered and dressed, ready and waiting downstairs. Jack was in the other bathroom getting ready as she went for a shower and curled her hair and did her makeup.

She put on some of her lacier underwear and pulled on a black dress from her closet that she hadn't worn in years. It hugged her figure and showed off her long legs. She put some black stilettos on with it and checked her reflection. Elizabeth knew Jack loved this dress and she was looking forward to seeing his reaction.

She took out her black purse and swapped her wallet contents over to it and walked down the stairs. Jack was standing at the door to the lounge room and he turned around when he heard her approach.

Elizabeth got the exact reaction that she was hoping for. His eyes went wide and his mouth hung open slightly.

"What …"

"Hey babe. You look handsome" she said as she got closer to him and grabbed his shirt collar, pretending to fix it. She was the same height as him with her heels on and he could see he remained speechless. She leant in to kiss him.

"Are you ready?" she asked as she went to move past him, but his hands found her waist pulling her back to him.

"What are you wearing?"

"It's one of your favourites, Jack."

"I can see why but surely no one else should be seeing it except me."

Elizabeth laughed. "It's definitely all for you, Jack. Let's go" she said as she hurried the girls out the door and Jack walked behind her.

"Jack, the bags!" she said.

"Oh right" he said turning back for them, clearly distracted. Elizabeth smiled.

They drove to Viola's and dropped the girls off.

"Wow Beth, what are you trying to do to your poor husband?" she whispered to her with a giggle.

"I'm just making sure he only has eyes for me."

"That he does. He can't keep his eyes off you" Viola laughed.

They pulled up at Lee and Rosie's and they jumped in to the back seat before Rosie directed them into town. They got a parking spot just a block down the road by chance and Jack and Lee walked ahead while Elizabeth and Rosie followed them.

"My goodness Beth. You can pull off a little black dress!"

"Thanks Rosie."

"How did you get out of the house like that? Poor Jack. Look at him, he keeps turning around to check on you. I don't think Lee has turned back once!"

"He is not checking on me. He's probably just wondering what we're talking about."

"Uh uh. That man is still head-over-heels for you."

They walked into the place and found an empty booth. They ordered steaks and sides and enjoyed their meals as the dance floor opened up and live music began to play.

"This is quite something Rosie. It's like a restaurant turned club."

"It's great right. We'll have to have a dance later, Beth."

"That we do."

Jack and Lee went to the bar to get some more drinks and Elizabeth watched as women swarmed them. She was used to it happening and it never made her uneasy before but now it did.

"What's wrong?" Rosie asked her.

"Nothing" she said turning her attention back to the table.

"You cannot be worried about him getting all that attention again."

"I don't know. Things are different now."

"Beth, that man still loves you. He's not paying any of those women any attention. Look."

Sure enough she looked up to see Jack was watching her, his back to the ladies that were next to him. He grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back.

When the guys got back, some song came on and Rosie began to squeal.

"Beth, this is a sign. Let's go dance. I love this song" she said practically dragging Elizabeth off the seat.

Elizabeth and Rosie hit the dance floor and began dancing. A guy immediately approached Elizabeth and tried to dance with her. He had dark hair and bright green eyes and he looked bigger than Jack in size.

"Hi" he said moving in.

"Hi" Elizabeth said but moved closer to Rosie.

"Let's dance" he said trying to cut in again.

"Sorry. I'm married. I'm just going to dance with my friend here." The guy left her alone and her and Rosie danced until Jack came up behind them.

"We're just checking the score of the game on the screen over there" he said pointing to the other side of the room.

"Okay" Rosie said.

Jack leant in and whispered in Elizabeth's ear. "I can't wait to get you home" he said with a cheeky grin before he kissed Elizabeth on the lips slowly and then he moved off the dance floor.

Rosie and Elizabeth kept dancing and after ten minutes, the guy with the dark hair and green eyes returned.

"Hey baby. I've been watching you" he breathed into Elizabeth's ear.

She shuddered and pulled away, grabbing Rosie's hand. "I'm not interested" she yelled over the music.

He put his hand around her arm. "I think you are."

Elizabeth pulled her arm away. "Rosie, lets get out of here."

Elizabeth went to walk away but the guy grabbed her again, this time tighter and Elizabeth couldn't pull free.

"Get Jack!" she yelled at Rosie as she tried to get away. She tried to hit him but he grabbed her arm like she was swatting a fly. He pulled her close so she couldn't even kick out at him and then he dragged her off the dance floor.

Lee and Jack were sitting on stools watching the scores of the baseball and the highlights flash across the screen. Lee groaned when his team had apparently been flogged again.

"JACK!"

Jack turned to see Rosie frantically calling him.

"It's Beth!" she screamed.

Jack jumped off his stool, letting it crash to the ground.

"A guy grabbed her!" Rosie yelled.

"Where?"

They raced back to the dance floor but he couldn't see Elizabeth anywhere.

"Where is she Rosie?!" Jack frantically looked for her, pushing his way through the crowd. Jack saw something happening at the side of the room.

He rushed over and saw the guy pinning Elizabeth against a wall, his hands all over her. Her hands were pushing against him and hitting him but they did nothing.

Jack rushed over and yanked the guy away from her and punched him hard in the stomach. The guy doubled over.

Jack rushed to Elizabeth, his hands wrapping around her.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded as Jack realised the guy was standing back up and coming toward him. Jack pulled away from Elizabeth and tried to step in front of her but he wasn't quick enough. The guy swung his fist and it connected with Elizabeth's face and she was knocked to the ground.

Jack was furious. He hit the guy so hard that he knocked him out cold. Jack turned back to see Rosie crouching by Elizabeth's side, her hand on her face. Jack leant down and scooped Elizabeth up before he left the bar, with Lee and Rosie racing outside behind him.