Jack groaned when the alarm blared on the nightstand. "No. It's too early." He reached over and shut it off.

I rolled onto my back. "Why did we think it was a good idea to go back to work less than a week after our wedding?"

"We weren't really thinking when we made that decision." He sighed. "I guess I should go hop in the shower." He looked over at me, smiling mischievously. "You're welcome to join me."

I felt my cheeks color. "Jack… I don't think that would really help me feel better about having to leave you to go back to work."

"You're probably right." He slipped out of the bed and kissed my forehead. "I'll be out in a bit."

Thirty minutes later, I made my way down the stairs, tucking my blouse into my skirt.

Jack turned from the stove when he heard me. I laughed when I noticed the frilly apron he was wearing over his uniform.

"You're such a goof, Jack Thornton."

"Hey, you better be nice to me, or I won't give you any of these delicious pancakes I've been making."

I kissed his cheek. "Oh, you'll give me pancakes."

"What makes you so sure of that?" He smirked.

"Because I plan on being very nice to you later today." I ran my fingers along the collar of his shirt, looking up at him through my eyelashes. "Unless, of course, you deny me my pancakes."

He groaned. "You play dirty, Mrs. Thornton."

I leaned in and kissed him, slow and deep, making sure he knew I meant business.

"Is it too late for us to call in sick?"

I laughed softly. "I think so." I felt his eyes on me as I moved across the kitchen to retrieve plates and silverware. "So, your shift is over at four?"

He nodded as he stacked pancakes on our plates, sprinkling extra chocolate chips on mine. "And you'll be home before me?"

"I should be, but I might stop by Abigail's on my way home."

"Make sure she knows you can't stay long because you promised to be very nice to me later." He smirked.

"Jack!" Heat filled my cheeks. "I can't say something like that to her! I know you're joking, but still!"

He reached across the table and squeezed my hand. "Just making sure you remember your promise."

I moved around the table to sit on his lap, sliding my arms around his neck. I kissed him softly. "I won't forget."

He smiled and touched my cheek. "Now I'm going to be distracted all day at work, so thank you for that."

"Speaking of work," I glanced at the clock, "we need to head out soon, or we'll both be late."

...

"Elizabeth! Good to see you!"

I hugged her tightly. "It's good to see you, too. I missed you, Abigail."

"Oh, I missed you, too. How was the honeymoon?"

I felt my cheeks color as a smile stretched across my face. "It was…" I searched for the right word to describe the first days of my married life with Jack. "Wonderful. Magical. Perfect. I didn't want to leave." I sighed contentedly. "Jack is amazing."

"I bet it was tough for you two going back to work today." She moved back behind the counter, restacking coffee mugs as we talked.

I sat down on a stool, resting my chin in my hands. "I don't know why we thought it would be a good idea to have a short honeymoon. It seemed like the practical thing to do since Jack missed work with his injury over the summer and I didn't want to leave my class with a sub for too long so early in the school year. But, wow, I really didn't want to leave him this morning."

"Were your students excited to have you back?"

I nodded. "They were so happy." I laughed softly. "They kept apologizing for accidentally calling me Miss Thatcher."

"Oh, that's right. They have to get used to calling you Mrs. Thornton now."

"I'm still not used to it," I grinned, "but I love being Elizabeth Thornton. It's still hard to believe that only seven months ago, I was sitting right over there," I pointed over at my usual table, "listening to you trying to convince me to give the new sheriff a chance."

"You're welcome." She winked.

"If I recall correctly, your reasoning was that we were both 'good looking and single.'"

"I did say that, didn't I?" She laughed. "Well, I'm glad it worked out for you—for both of you."

I glanced down at my watch. "As much as I'm enjoying your company…"

She gave me a knowing smile. "Go. Get home to that good looking and no longer single sheriff of yours."

I squeezed her hand. "Thank you, Abigail. I'll see you soon."

...

"Jack?" I glanced around when I walked into the house. His car was outside, so I knew he was home, but he was nowhere to be seen downstairs.

"Up here." His voice came from our bedroom.

I let the dogs into the backyard before I scaled the staircase. "Sorry I'm a little late. I got caught up talking to Abigail. What are you doing in here?"

"Elizabeth, I need to tell you something." His voice was filled with concern.

I sat on the edge of the bed and met his eyes. "Is everything okay?"

He sighed. "I don't know. Come here." He motioned for me to move closer. I leaned against the headboard and took his hand. He kissed my fingers. "I have to help out with some work in another town for a little while. I'm supposed to leave in a week and a half."

"Jack…"

"I know, we just got married. I'm so sorry. I tried to get out of it, but I really don't have a choice. They need me there."

"How long will you be gone?"

"A month."

"A month?!" I felt tears fill my eyes. We had only been married for five days. By the time he returned, we would have spent more time apart than together since the wedding.

He pulled me into his arms, burying his face in my hair. "I'm so, so sorry. I don't want to do this, but I have to."

"Just promise me you'll be safe."

He kissed me. "I will come back to you, Elizabeth. I promise. In the meantime," he brushed his lips across my cheek, "we can make the most of the time before I have to leave."

I fingered the buttons on his shirt, smiling mischievously. "Well, I did promise to be very nice to you."

...

Saturday afternoon, the front door opened, and I smiled as Jack walked in.

"Hi, Beth." He kissed my cheek. "How was your day?"

"Good. I got a few more of your boxes unpacked."

"Thank you for doing that."

"It's really a selfish thing on my part." I put my hands on his chest. "If I unpack your boxes while you're at work, then that leaves more time for us to spend together."

He kissed me softly. "Give me just a few minutes to change, and then I'm all yours for the rest of the evening."

"Good plan."

I watched him as he headed up the stairs, still in awe that he was actually my husband.

My phone buzzed, bringing me away from my thoughts. A grin spread across my face when I saw the message.

"Jack!" I took the stairs two at a time and walked in on him changing out of his uniform.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" He pulled on his T-shirt, concern covering his face.

"Nothing's wrong. We have a goddaughter!" I held out my phone so he could see the picture of the brand-new baby. "Lee just sent me that picture. Her name is Alina Rose, and Lee said she and Rosemary are both doing great."

"Wow, she looks a lot like Lee." The little baby had a full head of dark hair and clear, dark eyes.

"Don't tell Rosemary that. Knowing her, she probably wants this baby to be her clone." I laughed. "I was thinking maybe we could head to the hospital soon to see them. I already asked Lee, and he said it was fine."

"Just let me get some shoes on, and we can head over."

Half an hour later, we arrived at the hospital. A nurse pointed us in the direction of Rosemary's room, and we knocked quietly on the door. Lee ushered us in, and we saw Rosemary holding their tiny daughter.

"Hi there, godparents." She spoke quietly, trying not to wake the baby in her arms.

I stood beside the bed. "Rosie, she's beautiful."

"Thank you." She stroked the baby's cheek. "Do you want to hold her?"

"Yes, please." I carefully took the baby into my arms. "Hi, sweet Alina. I'm your Auntie Beth. Thank you for waiting until after uncle Jack and I got married before being born." I looked up at Rosemary with a wink. Alina slowly opened her eyes, blinking sleepily. "Oh, Jack. Look at her."

He moved beside me, sliding his arm behind my back. "You look good with a baby." His voice was quiet, so only I could hear what he said.

I felt a flush rise in my cheeks. "Not yet, buddy."

"May I?" He held out his hands, glancing between me and Rosemary.

She gave him a small nod and a smile, and he lifted the baby from my arms.

Seeing Jack standing there, holding a tiny baby in his strong arms, I felt as though the breath was knocked out of me. Someday, it would be our baby that he was holding. One that I had carried inside of me for nine months; one with dimples and curls, a perfect blend of me and Jack.

It caught me off guard just how much I wanted that. I knew that Jack and I would have kids eventually, but I had been so sure that I wanted to wait. But now… Now I wasn't so sure what I wanted. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to try sooner. Except that Jack was leaving in less than a week, and I wouldn't see him for a month. My stomach tightened at the thought.

"Elizabeth?" Jack's voice broke me from my thoughts. He had passed the baby back to Rosemary, and he brought his hands to my arms. "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Just thinking."

"About?"

"We can talk about it later." I knew my face had dropped when I remembered that Jack was leaving, and he would be worried about me until we talked.

Jack cleared his throat. "Well, we should let you guys enjoy some more time alone with that sweet baby of yours."

"Thank you for letting us come meet her."

We all bid each other goodbye, and Jack and I left the hospital in silence.

"Beth?" He squeezed my hand as we walked to the car. "What was that all about?"

I sighed. "I just keep forgetting that you're leaving, and then it's like I'm getting punched in the gut every time I remember."

He stopped walking and stood directly in front of me. "Oh, Elizabeth." He wrapped his arms around me. "You have no idea how much I wish I could get out of it. The thought of having to leave you tears me apart."

I took a shaky breath. "I'm going to miss you so much."

"We still have a week before I have to go."

"That's not enough time."

"I'll come back. It's not forever, I promise." He rubbed my back.

"I just want to go home."

We were both quiet on the drive. I was thankful that Jack didn't press things further. I went straight to our room when we arrived, wanting some time alone to process my feelings.

I curled up and pulled the quilt up to my chin. Silent tears rolled down my face. It wasn't fair for him to leave me two weeks after our wedding. It would be bad enough if he was only leaving for a few days, but he would be gone for an entire month. We probably wouldn't have the opportunity to speak often while he was gone, so I would have no idea how he was doing.

What if the work he was doing was dangerous? He could be hurt, or worse. I couldn't handle that.

I eventually cried myself to sleep.

When I woke, Jack was in the bed beside me, propped up on his side.

"Hi." He brushed the hair from my face.

"Hi."

"I'm sorry, Beth."

"It's not fair."

"I know." He pulled me into his chest.

"I love you, Jack."

"I love you, too."

...

"Jack?" I stood in the doorway of the bathroom, watching him splash water on his face. I pulled my robe tighter around me.

He turned toward me, wiping a towel across his cheeks. "Hmm?" He closed the distance between us, pressing his lips to my forehead.

"Um, there was something else on my mind earlier, at the hospital."

"Care to share?"

"Well, it's just that, seeing you holding Alina… It got me thinking." I fiddled with the hem of his T-shirt as I spoke. "Maybe when you get back, we should talk about changing our timeline a bit…"

A wide grin spread across his face. "Are you saying you want to try for a baby sooner?"

I shrugged. "Maybe. I think we should definitely discuss it, at least."

"Why don't we try for one now?" He nudged me out of the bathroom, smiling mischievously.

"No, sir. We need to discuss it first. Besides, whenever we do decide to have a baby, I want you here for every moment."

"I guess that's a good point."

"But in the meantime," I brushed my lips across his cheek before they found his mouth, "we can still have some fun."

"I'm all for having fun."

...

Over the next week, we settled into more of a routine. We arrived home from work around the same time, and we spent most of our evenings cooking dinner together before walking the dogs. I tried to keep my mind off of the fact that he was leaving, but Saturday morning came before I knew it.

"Hey."

I awakened to Jack kneeling beside the bed, touching my cheek.

"I have to get going."

"Mm, don't leave."

"I have to." He leaned in and kissed my forehead.

I sat up, wrapping my arms around his neck. "I don't want you to go."

"It's just four weeks. We can do this. I'll be back before you know it."

"You'll call?"

"As often as I can." He glanced at his watch. "Okay, I really need to get going, or I'll be late."

I touched my forehead to his. "Be safe, Jack."

He brushed a tear from my cheek with his thumb. "I will. I love you, Elizabeth Thornton. So much."

"I love you, too."

He kissed me deeply before he got up. "See you soon." He turned back before he stepped through the bedroom door, smiling sadly before he walked away.

Once I heard the front door close behind him, I let the tears fall. The next four weeks were going to be difficult.