Chapter 113 – Abigail and Elizabeth

After speaking, Abigail stepped closer to Elizabeth and linked her arm with Elizabeth's.

"Let's head downstairs." Abigail said. "I need to steam the boys' shirts and vests. I will also do your dress."

"I am not sure which one I am going to wear." Elizabeth said. "I have three. Jack suggested one of the two sapphire ones."

"I think that would be great." Abigail said. "I hope that you feel comfortable with me. I have known Jack most of his life. My husband, Bill, is Jack's godfather and I have stepped into the role as godmother since Bill's wife Nora passed away and Bill and I got married."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "Bill told me that he was Jack's godfather last night. I didn't ask about his godmother, but thank you for telling me. I hope to feel comfortable with you as well. I am sure that you heard from Bill that Jack and I are together. Jack gave me this promise ring."

Elizabeth showed Abigail the ring. Gran was smiling as she listened to Abigail and Elizabeth talk. She was glad that they got along. Gran knew how important that Bill was to Jack and was hoping that Elizabeth would take to them.

"That is so pretty." Abigail said. "I love horses. Horses have always been important to Jack. More than just the farm, I think he is more comfortable with horses than most people."

"I would believe that." Elizabeth said. "Jack has a ring as well. My ring, at least the horse is cut from Jack's ring. He went a step further and had our initials engraved on the inside. His on the horse and mine are just to the inside of the cut out of the horse on his."

"That is so sweet." Abigail said. "It sounds exactly like something that Jack would do."

They continued downstairs, with Gran right behind them. Abigail was quiet for a moment.

"Elizabeth." Abigail said. "May I ask you a question?"

"You can ask me anything." Elizabeth said. "As I told Bill last night, you guys are important to Jack and I am sure that you want to make sure that we know each other. I will tell you what I told Bill and if you still have questions you can ask. I told Bill that I felt a connection with Jack the instant that we met and it has only gotten stronger over the last week. Yes, there are things that we don't know about each other, but we really do love each other deeply. We have pledged our lives to each other and when the time is right, Jack will propose to me and we will be married."

"Knowing Jack." Abigail said. "He probably already has the ring and wanted to ask you when he gave you that promise ring."

Elizabeth and Gran both laughed.

"Abigail." Gran said. "You know that you are right."

Abigail smiled.

"Thank you for telling me." Abigail said. "I think you have answered my questions. I will say one thing, don't keep Jack waiting too long. He is a young man and I am sure that he is being a complete gentleman, but I am sure that it is also hard for him."

Elizabeth nodded.

"I, personally." Elizabeth said. "I think we need more then ten days. A lot has happened and Charlotte and Thomas aren't exactly happy that Jack and I are together, especially Charlotte."

"I will talk to her." Abigail said. "If I can't make her see reason, I will have Bill talk to her. What I will say is, that you need to do what is right for you no matter what other people think. There were people that didn't think that Bill and I should have gotten married. We had both lost a spouse and I had a young son. We had known of each other when we had each been married, but we were never more than a face that we recognized at church and maybe said hello to. It was actually Peter that brought us together. Peter went on a church campout that Bill was helping to run. When I dropped Peter off, I wanted to meet the chaperones. That was the first time I was actually introduced to Bill. That was ten years ago."

"How long have you and Bill been married?" Elizabeth asked.

"Just over nine years." Abigail said. "We celebrated our anniversary in April. When Bill and I met, my Noah had been gone about a year and his Nora about three. We started dating about a month after that first meeting. Bill proposed to me that Christmas and we were married in April."

"So how long were you dating?" Elizabeth asked.

Abigail stopped and looked like she was thinking.

"Let's see." Abigail said. "That camping trip was in May. Our first date was at the end of June and he proposed at Christmas. So we dated for about six months. We knew each other for less then a year when we were married. I am not saying it was easy being married and having an instant family. We had our struggles, but they made us stronger. Now I can't imagine my life without Bill. He knows that there will always be a part of me that loves Noah, just as I know that a part of him will always love Nora."

"So how long have you had Cody and Becky?" Elizabeth asked.

"They came to us when Cody was about fifteen months old." Abigail said. "We adopted them about eight months later. John and Thomas were critical in pushing that adoption through. Normally, children removed from the home and are put in foster care, it can take a few years to adopt them. I mean there are circumstances that change that, but it is rare."

"If you don't want to talk about it." Elizabeth said. "You don't have to. What happened to their biological parents?"

"The biological father killed the mother." Abigail said. "He is in prison for the rest of his life. The children were taken as an emergency placement when their mother was found dead. Because of circumstances out of their control, the children were separated right away. Bill found out about it from one of his law enforcement buddies, he was upset that the children had been separated with no plan to reunite them. We talked and immediately knew what we had to do. We called John and he called in a few favors and we were given emergency placement of both children. It helped that Bill was law enforcement and I have my teachers certificate. I am a sub for the local schools.

That first night, we knew that Cody and Becky were meant to be with us forever. We tried talking to the social worker, but they didn't think that we were right for them. They used Bill's job as an excuse and the fact that it was a second marriage for both of us. We talked to John and he had his lawyers and Thomas' firm look into things. When John went to talk to the social worker personally, she didn't want to hear it. So John went over her head and after talking to the head of social services, the case was assigned to a new worker. John talked to a judge and got the biological father's rights terminated before the trail was even done and then worked to push through the adoption."

"Wow." Elizabeth said.

"We are forever grateful." Abigail said. "That is the thing about John and Jack as well, they will pull out all the stops and help those that they care about. They will also defend them to the ends of the earth if they are threatened. I will tell you if Jack comes on too strong, you can tell him to back off. He doesn't mean any harm when he does that. He is just fiercely protective."

"Thank you." Elizabeth said. "He did come on pretty strong with the protection, but I am grateful that he stepped in to help me. I know that things would have been a whole lot worse if he hadn't. It has been a lot to take in, but I trust Jack and that is the most important part."

"Yes it is." Abigail said. "Now let's check out those dresses."

"Okay." Elizabeth said.

Doug and Lee found Jack just inside the stable talking to a hand to make sure that the tack would be ready for the next day.

"Hey, Jack." Doug said. "Can we talk for a moment?"

Jack held up his hand, indicating for them to wait a moment. When Jack was done, he turned to look at his two best friends.

"Jack." Lee said. "We are worried about you. I know that you aren't happy with the way that your parents have been acting, but please don't take it out on us."

"Also." Doug said. "Please don't act like this in front of Cody. He doesn't understand. I think you might have scared him with your tone."

Jack stopped and looked between his two friends. He then backed up to the wall and slid down it, with his head in his hands. Doug and Lee immediately went to Jack. Nathan saw Doug and Lee squatting down talking to Jack, so he turned so Cody wouldn't see and got him interested in one of the horses. While Nathan kept Cody interested in one of the horses, Doug and Lee pulled Jack to his feet and took him to the office.

After a few moments, Doug came back out and stood next to Nathan and Cody as they gave Honey some attention. Nathan looked at Doug and motioned toward the office. Nathan knew what he was asking and shook his head.

"Hey Cody." Doug said. "Do you want to go see some of the new little horses?"

Cody looked at Doug and nodded his head. Nathan set Cody down for a moment. Both Doug and Nathan stepped back.

"I will take him to look at some foals." Doug whispered. "Go talk to Jack, Lee is with him in the office. Also call up to the house and let Gran know."

"Father Mark?" Nathan whispered.

"You can try." Doug said. "I don't know his schedule."

Nathan nodded. Doug squatted down to Cody and got his attention.

"Let's go." Doug said. "Nathan and Lee need to help Jack with something. We will be back later. Besides, you will be with us on Sunday."

"Okay." Cody said.

Doug picked up Cody and headed out. He got the keys from a hand and headed off to see the mares and foals with Cody. Once they were gone, Nathan pulled out his phone and made two calls – first to Father Mark, where he left a message and the second to let Gran know what was going on. After making the calls, Nathan headed to the office to see Jack. When Nathan got to the office, he knocked softly and Lee immediately let him. Nathan stepped into the office and looked at Jack who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch with his knees drawn up and his head down. Nathan wasn't sure if Jack was crying or not. He looked at Lee who just shrugged his shoulders.

"Doug took Cody to go look at some foals." Nathan said. "He will meet us back at the house. Has he said anything?"

"No." Lee said. "Honestly, I have never seen him like this."

"I can hear you." Jack said, without looking up at them.

Both Lee and Nathan stepped over toward Jack. Nathan sat down on the floor next to him.

"What can we do to help you?" Nathan asked.

Gran went to the laundry room to start sorting things out. Abigail and Elizabeth headed to Elizabeth's room. Elizabeth grabbed all three dresses.

"I see what Jack was saying about the green one." Abigail said. "It is nice, but I like the blue ones better. Which one do you like better?"

"Honestly." Elizabeth said. "I liked the sheath dress better when I tried on the one that Katie had brought. It was a different color, but then we went back and chose this color."

"Do you still like that one better?" Abigail said.

Elizabeth nodded.

"Then that is the one you should wear." Abigail said. "What about shoes?"

Elizabeth pulled out the sandals as well as the dress shoes that Katie had picked up.

"Think that as long as you have nylons." Abigail said. "You should wear dress shoes."

"You think so?" Elizabeth asked. "Katie had suggested either of the wedge sandals, without nylons."

"I can see that." Abigail said. "But knowing what Margaret is wearing and what Charlotte usually wears, I would say the dress shoes. Jack will be wearing dress boots. Do you feel comfortable wearing dress shoes?"

Elizabeth stood there chewing on her bottom lip for a moment.

"I guess you are right." Elizabeth said. "I am representing Jack and his family."

"But are you comfortable?" Abigail asked.

"Not really." Elizabeth said. "I don't usually wear dresses or shoes like that."

"Then wear the beige sandals." Abigail said. "I want you to be comfortable."

"Are you sure that it will be okay?" Elizabeth asked.

"Yes." Abigail said. "Let's go show Margaret. I am sure she will be fine with it."

"What about Charlotte?" Elizabeth asked.

"Don't worry about her." Abigail said. "Do you have jewelry to wear?"

"No." Elizabeth said.

"Then don't worry about it." Abigail said. "If Jack doesn't have something for you, talk to Margaret and she will loan you something tomorrow."

Elizabeth looked at Abigail.

"I mean it." Abigail said. "Margaret has several nice pieces that would look lovely with your dress, but if I know Jack, I am sure that he ordered something for you."

"Okay." Elizabeth said. "I am not going to worry about it. I am not use to things like this."

"Well, you should start." Abigail said. "Jack likes to get gifts for the people that he loves. He doesn't usually spend money on himself that often, but he does like to buy gifts for other people. He got me a nice set of earrings for Christmas, so I know that Jack had excellent taste when it comes to picking out pieces."

Elizabeth nodded. She stood there chewing on her lip for a moment. Then she looked up at Abigail.

"Can I ask you something?" Elizabeth said.

"Sure." Abigail said.

"Do you think that Jack and I are too young?" Elizabeth said. "Do you think that Charlotte is right and Jack isn't thinking things through?"

Abigail took a moment to think. She took Elizabeth's arm and directed her to sit on the bed. Abigail took a seat at the desk, with the chair facing Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth." Abigail said. "You are eighteen, so I can see how you would think that you are too young to get married, but as long as you and Jack love each other that is all that matters. Don't let your family or anything that Charlotte has said bother you. I will tell you this and I want you to think about it. Jack doesn't make rash decisions. Yes, he may get upset and say things when he is angry. But he doesn't make life changing decisions without thinking through everything.

I think you heard Bill last night say that he has been praying for Jack for months. Specifically taking time and praying that he be open to God's will and the opportunities that were put in front of him. I have joined Bill in praying for Jack over the last month when he told me what he was doing. But as I was praying for Jack, it was on my heart to pray that Jack would open his heart to love. So I started praying for him in that regard. I was also praying for you, Elizabeth, without ever knowing you. I was praying that whoever God had for Jack would be ready to accept Jack's love and that the two of you were brought together when the time was right.

So it doesn't matter that you have only known Jack for ten days. Ten days, ten months, ten years. When you know it is right, it is right. Just because it is a short time in some people's eyes, doesn't matter. What matters is that you and Jack were made for each other. I firmly believe that you and Jack were made for each other. So shut out all the other voices and listen to your heart. Do you understand what I am saying?"

Elizabeth looked at Abigail with shock written all over her face.

"You were praying for me?" Elizabeth said.

"Yes." Abigail said. "I didn't know it was you, but just the woman that was meant for Jack."

Elizabeth nodded.