Disclaimer – Nothing, I own.
The holidays flew by in a blaze of sparkly lights, fancy dresses and heartwarming gifts. Now it was time to plan a wedding. Elizabeth had selected a dress and with Clara's help sent her mother the measurements. Time was zipping by them and they still hadn't purchased several larger items for the house.
Jack and Elizabeth had decided to take a small trip to nearby Calgary to see about two beds and some furniture for the sitting room. Just the other day a beautiful black Piano had arrived as a gift from Charles. A separate note to each of them had accompanied it. In Jack's note, Charles had apologized for stepping in where he shouldn't have but had asked Jack to appreciate that he had had to know for sure, for his own peace of mind. In Elizabeth's he'd told her he was truly happy that she had found her place and he'd been honored that they would consider inviting him to their big day.
It had been respectful and kind and allowed both of them closure on a subject they had never fully addressed.
The snow had almost completely dried up in the week between Christmas and New Years and the roads were good so they'd purchased two tickets on the Stage to Calgary and Elizabeth could hardly contain her excitement.
Not only would she be alone with Jack but she'd get to go shopping, in a bigger city. She loved Hope Valley, it really had become her home but she would still always enjoy a trip to the city.
They spent the 2 day ride to Calgary cuddled together in the back seat of the stage, each reading from their own book. On the odd stop to feed or rest the horses Jack would excitedly pull out a couple of his new pastels and work on a landscape.
Elizabeth had felt almost embarrassed giving him her Christmas gift after she'd seen that beautiful house and that room he had built just for her. They had finished a beautiful dinner at Abigail's and everyone had bundled up and made their way to church. Since they were well ahead of the other parishioners they'd gathered around the piano and sang Christmas carols. After service Jack had followed Elizabeth home fully prepared to sleep on her sofa again so that they could wake Christmas morning together, he had walked into the house and this time it had been his turn to gasp in shock.
There on her little kitchen table was a display of art supplies. A huge set of pastels like he had never seen with special paper and the proper tools it was the most thoughtful gift he could have been given and tears welled in his eyes.
"I know they're nothing compared to," he knew she felt the gift was too small so he cut her off before she could say something ridiculous.
"You met my mother Elizabeth. She is a good woman, strong, capable, and compassionate but she does not waste time or money on things that are frivolous. My father snuck me my first set of proper pencils the Christmas before he died. No one else has ever thought my passion for art was something I should pursue." He dropped his hand over the pastels and in much the same way that Elizabeth had lovingly stroked her new kitchen table Jack took in his art supplies.
When he turned around Elizabeth had a delicate warm smile on her face and he couldn't have stopped himself from bringing her in close to him. He held her in his arms and then with no music but their own heartbeats he led her in a slow dance around the room.
"Every time I look at you I wonder how I got so lucky, Thank you for my gift." He covered her lips with his own and they took a moment to enjoy the taste of each other.
When Elizabeth finally pulled away she lay her head on his shoulder and whispered, "I feel exactly the same way," and then she was yawning and he was ushering her up the stairs to bed.
It had been a beautiful Christmas and when they'd made the arrangements to go to Calgary Jack had been nearly desperate to bring his pastels and draw along the way. The set was unfortunately too large so Elizabeth had found an old case for her make-up so he could select a few colors to bring with him.
They arrived in Calgary just before dinner and found their hotel easily.
"There must be something going on in town, I don't think I've ever seen it so busy here." Jack clasped his fingers around Elizabeths and led her through the crowd into the lobby and up to the front desk.
"Can I help you?" A gentleman in a suit approached them, and Jack smiled in greeting.
"We have a reservation under Thornton," The front desk attendant looked through his book of reservations and then checked off a name. He took a key out and asked them for the deposit.
"You're in room 217, just down the hall and up the stairs."
"And the other room?" Jack met a startled look on the attendants face.
The man leafed through the book and then asked them for a minute and slipped into a back office. Jack's heart began to race; he did not want Elizabeth thinking he'd been indecent in his plans for this little trip.
"I am so sorry Mr. Thornton, there seems to have been some kind of mistake. The ledger is showing that you reserved two rooms unfortunately we only have the one room remaining. It's the winter festival this week and things have been busier than normal." Jack looked to Elizabeth and neither one was sure what to do.
"Is there another hotel nearby?" Jack asked.
"Well yes Sir, just across the street and down the road as well but I'm afraid you'll find everyone is in a similar situation to us. The city is filled up. We're turning many people without reservations away as it is," Jack was upset, he'd reserved two rooms and now they were going to have to put themselves into an awkward situation.
"Did you still want the room?" The attendant asked and Elizabeth noticed several other men waiting to see if they would take the key or not.
Elizabeth accepted the key with quick thanks and pulled Jack away from the counter.
"We can be respectful of each other. We'll take turns getting dressed and I'm sure there is a spare blanket in the room one of us can sleep above the covers with the blanket and the other below. No one needs to know we shared a room before we were married…it will be our little secret. Besides it's only for two nights." She tried to keep cheerful but the thought of sharing not only a room but a bed with Jack before they were married did make her a little nervous.
"I'm not worried about what other people will think, I'm worried I won't be able to keep my hands off you." Jack sighed and took the bag Elizabeth was carrying. He was already on his way up the stairs but Elizabeth was frozen in place, little tingles firing all over her body at the image that Jack's words had put into her head.
…..
Jack was pacing back and forth in the hallway as he waited for Elizabeth to finish getting dressed. This was going to be an interesting two nights. He couldn't help thinking back to the Christmas Dance. He'd arrived to pick Elizabeth up and she had been on her way down the stairs in a dress he hadn't seen before. The dress, a bright emerald green that matched her ring perfectly hugged her body in all the right places. He had been completely slack jawed as he'd taken in her hourglass figure in the soft silky fabric. He'd been so enthralled he had missed the look of delight on Elizabeth's face.
Elizabeth had begged her mother to find her a dress in the color of her ring and when she had opened the package and seen the near perfect match she had hugged the dress close to her body. Not only was the color fitting for the holiday, she had always looked lovely in green.
Jack's hands slowly moved up over the beaded cap sleeves and she let him take in every inch of her. His eyes slid from one feminine part to another and she felt a blush rising passed her chest and up into her cheeks. Even though she knew that he liked her long curls down over her shoulders she'd tucked them up into a high messy do that she'd seen in one of the publications her mother had sent her. Several curls had escaped and were dangling down her neck. Jack took one of the runaway curls and fingered it gently. His mouth moved in and a kiss was dropped in the place that the curl had been.
Elizabeth's lips parted softly and he clasped her tighter as he felt the warmth of her breath caress his ear.
It had been a true struggle for them to part ways and join the town at the saloon for the Christmas Dance.
Jack was absolutely terrified she was going to step out of their room in that emerald dress and he was going to have not a single buffer between them when they returned after dinner.
"Ready," Elizabeth smiled, as she stepped from the room and locked the door behind her. Jack took in her white winter coat and groaned at the beautiful green silk he could see sweeping across the hotels carpet.
"What's wrong?" she asked. Jack closed his eyes, told himself to be a man and then he smiled at Elizabeth.
"Nothing, you look lovely," he took her arm and they made their way down and out to the restaurant.
Hard packed snow covered the busy streets which had been filled with winter decorations and big city streetlights. It gave the entire area an almost magical feel. They walked down 8th avenue watching the trolley cars push through falling snow and Elizabeth fell in love with Calgary. It wasn't near as big as Hamilton but it was a booming city that had a small town feel that Elizabeth immediately connected with. She would love to visit the town again in the summer; perhaps they could have another little holiday when the children were out of school for planting season.
"It's just here," Jack led her into a fancy restaurant attached to a much larger hotel than the one they were staying in. He had a brief moment where he thought he should check for another room, since they were there. Then he changed his mind what was done was done and he couldn't have bared the idea of being so far from her in such a big city.
The server hung their jackets in a front closet and Jack watched every man in the room take in Elizabeth in that dress on their way to a table tucked into a corner; just what he'd hoped for, quiet and private.
"Everyone is looking at you," Elizabeth whispered as they sat down and Jack chuckled. "Darling, they aren't looking at me." He brought her hands up and kissed them softly letting everyone man in the room know that she was his.
"That's the first time you've called me, Darling," her smile widened.
"Is that alright?" He asked unsure of himself all of a sudden.
"Of course, but now I'll need something for you." She smiled wickedly and he chuckled again.
"How about Jack?"
"That won't do, what about…sweetcheeks," she laughed expecting him to be appalled. Instead he leaned closer and whispered, "How do you know my cheeks are sweet…you've yet to lay those pretty eyes on them." Another blush blossomed in Elizabeth's cheeks as her joke backfired.
"Let's move on shall we?" she looked down at her menu just as a waiter approached.
They spent a lovely evening together and before long they were headed back to the hotel. Elizabeth let Jack change first since it was more appropriate for him to be standing in the hallway in his undergarments than it was for her. When it was Elizabeth's turn she changed quickly and then crawled under the covers.
Jack had decided at the hotel that it was better he didn't touch her at all once they'd returned to the hotel so when he came into the room and saw only her head peeking out over the covers his sigh of relief was audible.
"Are you going to be warm enough with those blankets?" Elizabeth asked as Jack lay back on the bed atop the covers and pulled the two throw blankets they had found, over himself.
"I'll be fine. Let's just go to sleep." He knew his voice was rougher than it ought to be but he had to keep some kind of distance between them even if it was just emotional.
Neither Elizabeth nor Jack could fall asleep. As they lay there on their backs staring up into the darkness neither one moved a muscle. It must have been over an hour when Jack gave a little shudder and Elizabeth exploded out of the bed.
"This is ridiculous; we'll be husband and wife in less than three weeks time! Get up," she cried and Jack was so shocked he could only obey. Once he was standing she snatched up the blankets and lay them out over the entire bed. Then she pulled the entire set of covers back and climbed into the bed. "Get in," she ordered and Jack hesitated for only a second before another chill shook him and he jumped in beside her. Once under the covers Elizabeth boldly moved into the middle of the bed and tucked her body in beside his. "Good night," she whispered and within moments he could hear the gentle sound of her sleepy breathing. Jack smiled to himself and then wrapped an arm around her holding her to him and without thought he was joining her in slumber.