Chapter 2: With Friends Like These
Nathan glanced to his left to spot Gabriel smiling at him with a wink in his dress uniform. Confused, he looked down at his own clothes to see that he was wearing the same. He turned slightly to ask Gabriel what was going on when he saw her.
Lee Coulter drove a flower decorated wagon, stopping at the end of the aisle. An older man stood, climbed down from the wagon, and helped down Elizabeth. He could only see the back of her head with the man at her side blocking his view. Even with the little that he could see, she was absolutely breathtaking with her hair pulled back in a low chignon with curled tendrils cascading softly down her back.
Bill's low voice joined his thoughts—which were many. "Breathe, Nathan."
Nathan released the breath that he didn't realize he was holding. He was completely captivated by this vision of a woman. The man rounded the corner of the wagon with Elizabeth on his arm, and Nathan audibly gasped before his vision blurred with tears.
A strong hand found his shoulder. "Breathe, Buddy. If you pass out, I'm just going to drag you." Gabriel spoke low, but the mischief in his eyes was apparent to anyone who saw him.
Softly chuckling now—erasing his nerves— Nathan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. Elizabeth was stunning in an ivory colored scoop neck gown. Intricate pearl-like beading covered the translucent capped sleeve and down the fitted bodice, giving way to a few beaded lines, flowing down the dress. The dress hugged her trim waist in all the right places. Each step drew her closer, and the look in her eyes melted his heart to a puddle.
A hoarse whisper from his best man tickled his ear, "Nathan, close your mouth."
He discreetly threw an elbow—landing it's mark squarely between Gabriel's ribs. Bill greeted the crowd, but Nathan was completely zeroed in on the woman presently before him.
"Lizbeth, you look…wow! …Is this a dream?"
She smiled warmly with a girlish giggle and nodded.
Nathan blinked to find himself in his bedroom with Elizabeth in his arms, her hair falling loosely over her bare shoulder with a flirtatious smirk. She leaned down and captured his lips with her own. He closed his eyes to savor the kiss.
When he opened them, he found the sight of Allie and Jack hanging ornaments. Elizabeth was standing with a beautifully swollen belly next to a Christmas tree on tip toe attempting to hang the exact cardinal ornament from this past Christmas on the top branches. She dipped her head and glanced at him through her lashes as if in invitation for him to help.
He swallowed, and unconsciously blinked to a new sight of Elizabeth laying in bed. Her face was flushed, yet completely glowing with joy as she stroked the still wet downy head of a son. She held the swaddled boy up for him to hold, and his eyes filled with tears.
He blinked them away to find both of his hands being held by little mittens belonging to a little toddler girl on his right with a lopsided grin and bright blue eyes. His left hand tugged to find a slightly bigger little girl with chestnut curls and bright blue eyes.
"C'mon Daddy. Do you have the seedling?" A young boy asked from beside him. Nathan looked up to find a smiling Allie and a much older Jack standing with one foot still on the shovel with a hole dug in a line of growing pine trees.
Blinking again, he found himself in a crowd with a pregnant, but just barely showing Elizabeth who was clutching his arm. "ALLISON MAYS GRANT SUMMA CUM LAUDE," was announced and Allie walked proudly across the stage in cap and gown as her siblings cheered wildly.
He blinked again to a vision of Allie, all grown up on the stairs in a wedding dress. "You should probably breathe," Allie reminded him. Willing himself not to blink, she approached him tenderly, taking his arm. "Dad? It's ok. Wake up."
He inhaled sharply at her use of "Dad" to find himself laying flat on the cabin floor feeling sore and cold and not at all as warm and fuzzy as he had just felt.
A low chuckle across the room made him roll over. "Good morning, Sunshine. So…who is Elizabeth?" Gabriel sat at the table with a steaming mug in his hand and a triumphant smile—like a cat that had just caught a mouse.
Nathan's face flushed every shade of red and his mouth went completely dry. "Uh…what?"
"Oh come on Nathan, your lips have been puckering in your sleep the last five minutes, and you kept whispering, 'Elizabeth.' I'd say whoever she is…she's pretty special. Spill it."
Nathan laid his head back with a groan and ran his fingers through his unruly bed head. Of course. He thought. He let out a long sigh, and Gabriel obnoxiously started tapping his moccasin-covered foot against the cabin's wood floor—communicating effectively that he was waiting for an explanation.
"She's….aghh…she's…. Allie's teacher. And I know…" Nathan was starting to explain.
"Wait. Jack Thornton's wife Allie's teacher? Or…oh Buddy…it is…isn't it?" Gabriel's face lit with amusement as he put the pieces together of what was being said, but more so of what was remaining unsaid.
"You've fallen in love with her, haven't you?"
"Gabe! I hardly know her. She's Allie's teacher…she's just been a friend and just…welcoming us to the community that's all."
"Are you telling me that or yourself that?" Gabriel challenged.
Nathan let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm there to protect the town, Gabe. To protect her and Little Jack."
"Little Jack, huh? Not just 'her son?" Gabriel set his tea down and leaned back in his chair amused at the current interrogation and his friend's nervous wiggling.
Nathan unconsciously smiled at the thought of Little Jack and how much that little boy already meant to him. He may have just turned two, but he had Nathan completely wrapped around his little finger. The way the little boy looked at him as he rode past, and turned around to wave at him in church had completely endeared him to the little man.
"Huh…so…what did you dream about then?" Gabriel leaned forward again—enjoying watching all of the color drain from Nathan's face.
"Uh…Allie." Nathan attempted to sell the half-truth.
"Allie AND…?" Gabriel ventured raising his eyebrows.
"Allie and Elizabeth…and….Little Jack." Nathan finished without looking up—finding the wood grain of the floor suddenly fascinating.
"And whom were you kissing?" Gabriel's eyes lit with delight as he watched the color return to Nathan's face and settle predominantly in his cheeks.
Nathan cleared his throat and opened his mouth before snapping it closed again. He took a deep breath before a look of determination crossed his face. "My wife." He answered confidently.
Gabriel sat up straighter at the admission. "And was your wife Elizabeth Thornton?"
"It was just a dream, Gabe." Nathan quickly rolled over before anything more could be revealed in his face. In reality, it didn't feel like a dream. It felt more real than anything he had ever experienced. It was the type of dream that changed a man, and fueled his heart for loving a woman who was healing.
Satisfied with the answer given, Gabriel chose to drop the topic and show his friend some mercy. "Thank you…for taking care of me last night."
Nathan breathed a sigh of relief, and sat fully up on his bedroll. "You're welcome. Saving each other's lives is kind of our thing."
Gabriel smiled at the comment. It was true. "Sure you don't want to spread that life-saving thing around to some others?"
"Not if it involves hypothermia. Once was enough. Thanks. Speaking of that, how are you feeling? How are your fingers? They looked pretty red last night." Nathan stood—still in his long underwear and cotton trapper shirt and came over to check out Gabriel's injuries in the morning light.
Gabriel unwrapped his hands from his mug and showed Nathan the whitish tips of his fingers.
"I think we caught it early. I've only gotten a few blisters so far. They're tender, but not as bad as I feared yesterday honestly."
"I'm surprised that your face isn't worse." Nathan responded seriously as he inspected Gabriel's chin, cheeks, and nose.
"Gee, thanks." Gabriel deadpanned.
"You know what I mean. You scared me yesterday. I'm just glad that you're ok."
"Me too. You can't get rid of me that easily, Grant." Gabriel looked up with a smirk at his friend.
"Trust me, if I wanted to get rid of you I wouldn't have picked almost dying halfway up the mountain in a snowstorm." Nathan laughed with a lop-sided grin.
"Fair enough. Just be sure to pick somewhere warmer if it comes to that." Gabriel's eyes narrowed in a teasing glare.
Nathan rolled his eyes, "yeah, ok. Sure, Gabe."
Nathan stood to make himself some coffee with the boiling water on the stove. "Did you go out this morning and collect snow? I didn't even hear you get up."
Gabriel laughed, seeing his opportunity, "of course you didn't, you were too busy dreaming," he teased.
Nathan sputtered a cough. He was never going to live this down.
With a smirk, Gabriel continued, "Yeah. I checked on the horses too. They're doing fine. The weather is looking clear. When do you want to head out?"
Nathan eyed his friend, "well, I'm wrapping your hands first so those blisters don't get infected. How are your toes?"
"They're about the same. Not really any blisters."
"I'm looking at them anyway."
"Ok, Mum."
"Don't mention it, Princess." Nathan retorted with a smile.
Gabriel huffed at the new nickname that was starting to stick. Nathan searched through the kitchen cabinets looking for coffee.
"You won't find any coffee," Gabriel told him wistfully as he took another sip of his tea. "I've already searched."
"Well, good thing I'm the better tracker." Nathan responded with a mischievous wink. Gabriel shook his head and smiled knowing full well how Nathan's search would likely end.
A few minutes passed with only the sound of Nathan's rustling in the kitchen.
"Find any coffee o' greatest tracker in the territory?" Gabriel teased with a smirk.
Nathan returned to the table with a glare and a steaming mug of tea. "No."
"Oh?" Gabriel hid his smile behind another sad sip of the tea he didn't really want. Turning serious he mentioned, "So the snow has definitely buried any tracks they may have left. What direction do you want to head next?"
Nathan let out a sigh knowing that his friend was right. "I don't know yet. Probably head back up over the ridge and see if we can see any signs of life."
Gabriel nodded agreeing with the plan. "There's no eggs or anything, but how do you feel about some breakfast beans?"
"Can't say that I'm particularly excited. What are breakfast beans?" Nathan asked suspiciously.
"They're the same beans as last night, but you eat them in the morning." Gabriel smiled wide enjoying his own joke, but more so he was enjoying the exasperated look he got in response from his partner.
"We're out of food, aren't we?" Nathan responded flatly.
"Yep."
"We need to report today anyway. Hopefully we'll find a town or post nearby. We'll see what we can find up on the ridge."
After a quick meal of beans, the Mounties cleaned up the cabin, changed back into their now dry and warm uniforms, and reset the stove for an emergency—repaying the kindness for how the cabin was gifted to them. A quiet thankfulness settled into both their hearts as they processed the weight of the danger they had lived to tell.
Nathan covered Gabriel's hands and feet in salve before wrapping them in gauze for protection. The Mounties closed the cabin door tightly and replaced the scoop shovel. They saddled the horses and headed up through the mountain pass—pausing at the top of the ridge. Gabriel glanced back at the cabin. "Nathan, how in the world did you see that last night?"
"I thought the same thing. I can't explain it, Gabe. It was a miracle."
They scanned the still-snow covered horizon and spotted a wisp of smoke ascending, seemingly just past the next ridge. Nathan and Gabriel nudged the horses forward slowly—giving them time to find the proper footing on the slightly icy slope.
A/N:
A few fun Easter Eggs to my other stories via a premonition dream for future chapters of But Now I See, with the Christmas tree scene from What Child Is This, a peek into baby Will's/Bruver's birth, the Christmas tree sapling tradition from s7 Christmas movie mentioned also with this many Grant kids in You'll Always Be My Little Girl, a peek at Allie's graduation, & the opening scene on the stairs from My Little Girl. This was a fun segment to write. Hope you enjoyed the unexpected moment!
Hopefully another chapter in the next few days. I've been traveling & hosting family the last few weeks so I've had to write in snippets! Thanks for the patience & kind reviews! -Amy-
PS- Special thanks to Cinda for the tip to write on Pages App!