Oh my goodness! I am so overwhelmed by the positive response I'm getting on my stories! Thank you so much, everyone!
Michelle – Yes, jealous!Jack is my favourite too!
Catherine – He seemed a lot more self-doubting in S2, didn't he? I do wish he would have just given Charles a backhander.
SpaceConveyor – Thank you so much! I TOTALLY CRINGED TOO. Now I just laugh and shake my head. Silly Jack.
LisaNY – Thank you! I truly intend to keep going, even after Billy's left, perhaps, or do as you suggest and make some moments myself.
I'm sorry if I missed anyone (The phone app is really cool) And I'll try to keep replying when I can!
Disclaimer: No matter how many times I clap my heels, Janette Oke and Hallmark still own WCTH. I DO, however, own a Toronto Maple Leafs MicroFibre Heated Blanket. 3
Of Miners and Skunks: Chapter 4
x. .x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The dance was in full swing. No Elizabeth.
Everyone else was there, all the miners, and it had started. Still no Elizabeth. Jack looked around the saloon, trying not to appear too eager. It would be torture to see her with Billy, but it would also be torture to not see her at all. He had yet to decide which was worse.
If he hadn't been on duty, there would have been nothing to prevent him from asking her to dance every single dance with him, but he knew they were on shaky ground.
The second dance started, and suddenly there she was. The sight of her took his breath away, and he was lost. Jack spent the next dance staring at Elizabeth with admiration and glaring at Billy – who, Jack realized begrudgingly – had been completely respectful.
The dirty little –
His thoughts were suddenly wiped clean as Elizabeth and Billy danced passed him, and her eyes pierced his.
She is beyond radiant.
The simple, worshipful thought conquered all else.
The whole evening lasted in that way – Jack longing to be Billy, oh that was not quite true. Rather, he longed to be in Billy's place, leading Elizabeth through dance after dance until they were both breathless and feet were sore.
Jack pretended not to grit his teeth when he watched Billy's hand drift down past Elizabeth's waist slightly, and would have taken a step forward if Elizabeth herself hadn't immediately adjusted his grip with an admonished smile.
That's my girl, Jack thought proudly, and a hint of a smile crossed his lips until Elizabeth saw him and her eyes narrowed.
Jack wiped any lingering smirk off of his face immediately, and quickly averted his gaze. His pride, however, remained unquenched.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The dance was over. Jack had stared at Elizabeth for most of the night and thought of her for the rest of it. He had watched her chat pleasantly with some of the mothers, he had watched her greet her students with comforting touches and hugs, and now he had to watch her leave with Billy. Into the night.
He knew exactly what he would have done in Billy's position, and exactly what he wanted to do still. Billy would walk Elizabeth home in the moonlight, he would set the perfect setting, and then…
That dirty scoundrel had touched her hair.
This, this Jack was unprepared for.
What's more, Elizabeth had let him!
Jack might have stomped on the ground with too much force, his eyes burning from the cold in the air.
"Constable!" Ned Yost was running towards him waving a telegram. "This came for you before the dance started."
Jack opened it eagerly, then seemed to realize that Ned was still there. "Thanks, Ned."
"No record of him," Jack read aloud, "The man's a liar."
Elizabeth! He crumpled the telegram and took off for his horse, wasting no time in saddling him and swinging up into his saddle with the ease of a trained professional. "Come on boy," Jack whistled and tapped his heels against his sides, riding off into the night at a canter.
That dirty, rotten, lying, hand-kissing, smooth-talking, date-stealing, arrogant, fresh-smelling, poetry-spouting miner skunk!
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x