Nathan dropped a rock into the pond and gazed out toward the town. He would often stop here on his way back from rounds, just as he had on that day so long ago.

From a distance, he'd seen Elizabeth on the dock with Jack, and though he'd meant to simply wave and ride on by, he'd found himself almost against his will ambling up on Newton to say hello.

It was the day he'd first asked her what was in her heart.

Back then he'd had hopes that they might find their way to being together, but they'd always been fighting twin battles – his guilt over waiting so long to talk to her about Fort Clay and her fear of losing him in the same way she had lost Jack.

Nathan knew he wasn't to blame for Jack's death, but he also knew he hadn't asked to be assigned to Hope Valley to court the pretty schoolteacher and complicate her life. He'd come on a mission – to protect her and her boy. He definitely had not meant to fall in love with her.

But Nathan knew now that those aren't choices we make. Love happens to you, whether you want it to or not. As the days went by, his desire to keep her safe had changed into a wish to see her, to hear her laugh, to know what was on her mind, just to be near her. It wasn't helped by the fact that she appeared to enjoy his company too. It seemed that every time he turned around, there she was – asking him a question, wondering what he was doing or where he was going, wanting to know what he was thinking.

So on that day so long ago, it was unusual for Nathan to be the one asking the question.

What's in your heart?

When he'd run into her outside his office a couple of days before, she'd told him that she was glad he had made Hope Valley his home, and he had been so close to telling her.

"'Lizbeth?" he'd said as she walked away.

She turned around and gazed at him, her face open, waiting.

"I…um. I wanted to say…uh…never mind." He shrugged, caught on the precipice between telling her how he felt or losing her completely if she wasn't ready to hear it.

Elizabeth smiled and began walking toward him. "What?" When he simply shook his head, she said, "Cat got your tongue?"

Nathan had always been a man of few words, and it seemed even fewer when Elizabeth was near the way she was now. Her eyes searched his, a sweet half-smile on her face, and for a moment he thought she was giving him permission. I love you, Elizabeth. I was lost the moment you stepped into my office.

But he was worried that too much would change. He feared the awkwardness that would come if he was wrong and she was only being her friendly, welcoming self. In that split second, he imagined her sudden step back and look of surprise, how from today forward she would cross the street rather than walk by his office and wave, that she would stop seeking him out for conversations, or even that her relationship with Allie might change.

Too much risk, too much at stake. Too much to lose.

Cat got your tongue?

"Yeah, maybe," he finally said. "Or my better judgment."

Was that a shadow of disappointment that moved across her eyes? Or relief? Elizabeth smiled again.

"Well, let me know when you figure it out."

How could he tell her that figuring it out wasn't necessary? He knew how deeply he loved her. And when he'd finally told her out by the log, his worst fears had been realized. She didn't say "I don't love you." She said "I can't love you." He knew it was fear, and if a Mountie knows anything, he knows the unshakable power of fear.

As she rode away and he lowered his outstretched arms, Nathan had made a decision. I've said my piece, and now it's up to her.

And then she had chosen Lucas.

Nathan sighed and sat down on one of the stumps on the dock, stretching out his long legs. He heard Newton grazing happily on the weeds and wildflowers up above. Maybe I'm not meant to be that kind of guy, he'd said to her just the other night over apple juice.

"You're done with love?" she had asked him skeptically. Maybe I should be, he'd answered her. And for a moment as their eyes met, there were no secrets, nothing hidden. She knew he loved her and always would. And he'd seen the love in her eyes too.

Nathan knew she loved him. The question had always been could she allow herself to love him. For a year, he'd watched as she tried with every cell in her body to deny that love and to give it to Lucas. And he knew her well enough to know that now she was losing the battle.

When Allie had told him that Elizabeth hadn't boarded the train with Lucas, that she was in the classroom teaching instead of Minnie, that she was no longer wearing her engagement ring – he had dared to hope.

He'd almost told her again when he emerged from the voting booth, but all he said was "Goodnight." His better judgment was screaming in his head – she knows how you feel, now she needs to decide.

Then at the log, there she was. Nathan shook his head in wonder and laughed as he threw another rock into the pond. He wasn't a man who thought a lot about signs from above, but how many times did they need to be thrown together before they simply gave in to it?

Nathan had wanted to kiss Elizabeth for as long as he could remember. From the day he reached up to put the cardinal on the highest branch of the Christmas tree and looked down to find her so close he could smell the lavender soap she used to wash her hair, to the day in the cabin when he was so infuriated with her that he could hardly speak, and all he wanted was to take her in his arms and kiss the anger out of both of them. And a hundred times in between.

He'd imagined it so often that it was hard to believe it hadn't happened yet, so vivid was the sensation. But he'd stayed true to his promise to himself. If she didn't make the choice, it wouldn't happen. Of the three times he'd held her in his arms, all three had been because she chose it.

Nathan glanced up at the sky as a great blue heron sailed overhead and landed gently in the marsh grasses. For a moment, he watched it, until something in the distance caught his eye. A rider on the path from town. A woman in long skirts on a black horse. Elizabeth.

As it always did, his heart began beating a little faster. As she came closer, he wondered if she would simply wave and ride by, but then he realized she was coming toward him with intention, as if this very dock was her destination.

Nathan stood up and his eyes followed her as she took the same path he had years ago. She smiled and threw her leg easily over Sargent and pulled the reins over his head so he could wander to Newton and graze in the high grass.

"Hi," she said. "I thought I might find you here." He wondered if the quickness of her breath was from the ride, or from something else. He hoped it was something else.

"Hi," he replied.

Elizabeth laughed a little at his familiar economy with words as she walked slowly past him toward the rail, her skirt barely brushing the leather of his tall boots. She was nervous and unsure about how to express what she was feeling, so silence seemed a good option for now.

She worked at calming her breath as she leaned on the rail looking down at the water. It was hard for her to believe that it had all come down to this moment. Elizabeth had known that Nathan was giving her space to find her way to him. It was one of the things that she loved so dearly about him.

"I love this view," she said softly, still looking out at the water.

He moved tentatively toward her and placed his hands on the railing. "So do I. I stop here a lot on my way back from rounds. I think what's so peaceful about it is that it never changes."

Elizabeth looked down. "But we do."

Nathan looked over at her. "That we do," he said. Then he looked out at the water again. "And in other ways, we stay the same."

Everything she had rehearsed just flew out of her head, and she said the first thing that came into her mind.

"I was lying to you, and to myself, when I said I wasn't in love with you."

Elizabeth saw his head turn sharply and could feel his gaze, but she couldn't look at him. She had to say it all before she did that, and she knew that her sweet Nathan would give her the time to do it.

"I've treated you so badly, Nathan, and made such a fool of myself. I hurt Lucas terribly. I tried so hard to love him as much as I love you, but I couldn't… I couldn't…"

As soon as Nathan saw the first tear fall, he took a long stride and folded her into his arms, stroking her hair as he whispered that everything would be okay, feeling the rise and fall of her chest as she sobbed into his red serge. All he could think about was how right it felt to be holding her, how perfectly she fit within the circle of his arms, how tightly her own arms were holding him, as if for dear life.

He had no idea how long they stood there, but soon he was aware that her crying had stopped and the sound of birdsong was all around them. They held each other, breathing together in tandem, as her chest expanded, his contracted, on and on. Nathan realized that not only was his hand stroking her hair, but her hand had moved up to his neck, her fingers fluttering softly like sparrow wings. He sighed, wanting the moment to go on forever.

Then she pulled away slowly and looked up at him. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her nose with a soft blush at the tip, and she had never looked more beautiful to him. He reached his hand up and brushed away the remnant of a tear with his thumb, feeling the softness of her skin. Elizabeth closed her eyes, exhaling with a slight shudder. She spoke with her eyes still closed.

"I do love you, Nathan. I'm certain now that I always will."

She opened her eyes and he saw them go to his lips. It took every ounce of his strength to wait. To wait until she moved toward him, so slowly, and then he felt the warmth of her breath just a split second before that warmth touched his cheek, and moved quickly to his lips.

Her hands pulled from behind his neck as she pressed closer, and Nathan felt himself losing track of his surroundings. His whole world centered on the places where they joined, lips, hands, their chests rising and falling faster as they pressed into a deeper kiss. Elizabeth's lips parted and he tumbled headlong into the need that had been lingering just below the surface for years, the awareness that no one else could ever fill that space, the desire for his other half, his twin soul.

In between kisses he heard himself whispering "I love you, Elizabeth. Always. Always," and each time she sighed and pulled him closer, her hands moving over his cheeks, through his hair. They were both aware that now the truth had been told, they had an insatiable hunger for each other – and that awareness was what finally allowed them to find restraint as Elizabeth's head moved to Nathan's chest, where she listened to his hammering heart as it calmed, and her own breath as it slowed.

A short, low laugh escaped Nathan as he said, "I think we may have figured it out."

Elizabeth released a deep breath and laughed to herself, still clinging to his red serge, finally at peace and in the home she had wanted for so long. She was still afraid, but she wouldn't allow it to steal her happiness. Always do what you are afraid to do.

Nodding against his chest, she said, "I'm sorry it took me so long."

Nathan kissed the top of her head gently. "There was no place else I wanted to be."

Elizabeth leaned back and looked up at him. Then she kissed him again, gently this time, slowly, as he wrapped her safely in his long arms.

From a distance the two figures looked to be very much in love, as the unchangeable pond shimmered on, and their two horses grazed contentedly nearby.