"How long a ride is it to Murrayville?" Elizabeth asked.

Nathan looked over at her and smiled. "Too long, I'm afraid. I would love it if you could ride with me, but I think there and back might be a bit much to ask for your third time on a horse."

Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and looked at him. "How did you know that's what I was thinking?"

Nathan laughed and shook his head. "Sometimes I look at you and things just pop in my head. I don't know where they come from." He laughed again and looked forward. "I try not to ask too many questions about all this. About... us." Nathan looked over and smiled softly at her.

Looking back at him, Elizabeth smiled too. She liked the sound of that. Us.

They were riding side by side out to a place that Nathan had found with Allie one day when he was looking for a good spot to go fishing. The pond was always good, but it was so visible to the town, and someone always seemed to have something they needed to talk to the Constable about. This spot was more private, on a small river that ran along the trees, and it happened to be where he was planning to ride with her when Spurlock ran her off the road.

Allie was sitting in front of him in the saddle on Newton, though she had fussed a little about not being able to ride in front of Elizabeth. She couldn't quite understand that Elizabeth wouldn't be experienced enough to hang on to her if anything should happen. Nathan thought Allie felt Elizabeth could do pretty much anything.

This time they were in the meadow, walking slowly, without an internal combustion engine in sight. It was peaceful, and the sound of the birds and the wind in the trees was all that broke the silence when they weren't talking.

Elizabeth looked over at Nathan and grinned. "I love this," she said, leaning back and letting the sun warm her face.

"Sol omnibus lucet," Nathan said softly.

"Your Latin is very good," she said. Elizabeth smiled. "I like that phrase because it applies to everyone. These sweet children have had so much hardship in their young lives, but the sun really does belong to all of us."

"You're a very good teacher, Elizabeth. The children are lucky you chose Coal Valley," Nathan said.

"Thank you," she said, looking down and brushing something nonexistent from the saddle.

"You're not very good with compliments, are you?" When she turned back to look at him, Nathan said, "Neither am I. It's hard for me to say thank you because it feels like I must be agreeing with them, and there's something not quite right about that."

Elizabeth nodded vigorously. "Yes! My mother used to tell me all the time that when she says thank you, in her head, she adds on, 'I know.' You look beautiful today, Mrs. Thatcher. Thank you, I know." Elizabeth laughed. "Can you imagine? She said it gives a lady an air of confidence and a sense of herself, but to me it always just sounds stuck-up and like she thinks she's better than everyone else."

Nathan gave her a crooked smile. "You do look beautiful today, Miss Thatcher," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Stop!" she said, laughing. "Change the subject, please. What were we talking about before you started shamelessly complimenting me?"

"We were talking about choices. How you chose Coal Valley."

"Oh, yes. And you told me once that you chose Coal Valley too, when it was between you and the other Mountie? Jack? What made you choose this instead of... where was it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Cape Fullerton," Nathan said. "And the main reason was Allie." Hearing her name, Allie bent her neck back and looked up at him. Nathan smiled and kissed her on the head.

Elizabeth nodded and said, "Do you regret it at all?"

Nathan grinned at her and narrowed his eyes. "Is this a trick question? Because I've been known to put my foot in my mouth in these situations." He laughed softly. "Do I regret that it's me here riding with you instead of Constable Jack Thornton? Not for a split second," he said. They were riding so close that he could stretch his long arm out and hold her hand if she reached out too, which she did.

Elizabeth laughed. "That's a pretty big assumption, that I would be riding with... Jack… um..."

"Thornton," Nathan said, helping her.

"Jack Thornton," Elizabeth said, raising her eyebrows. "That makes the leap that I would be as..." She felt a blush coming on and she turned so he wouldn't see it. She couldn't think of a better word, so she just said it. "...attracted to any Mountie that was posted here. That I'm interested in the uniform more than the man in it?"

Nathan nodded, taking her question seriously. "I've often wondered about that. It's a great honor to be a Mountie, and the uniform is such a visible symbol..." He looked over at her, frowning a little. "How much of who I am is connected to the red serge for you?"

Elizabeth looked at him softly. "You're not wearing the red serge now. And there's no one I'd rather be with." She looked around at the beauty of the meadow and the trees beyond. "And there's definitely no place I'd rather be than here, riding next to you."

Nathan wasn't ready to let it go. "So your feelings for me have nothing to do with the uniform?"

Elizabeth laughed softly. "I will say that after spending the night in that stagecoach, I was pretty happy to see your red serge in the distance, but that was because I knew that I would be able to trust whoever was wearing it to make sure I was safe." She squeezed his hand. "No, Nathan. We would be here whether you worked in the mine, or owned the Mercantile, or drove the stagecoach."

Nathan laughed. "Ah, but what if I owned the saloon?" he said, raising his eyebrow.

She laughed too, but Elizabeth said, "That might be a stretch." She looked over at him seriously. "But you would never choose that profession, would you? I like Tom, he's a good person, but you must admit that someone who elects to spend their nights serving beer and whiskey to gamblers is a very different type of person from the one who chooses to wear the red serge and live under a code of honor." Elizabeth was beginning to feel passionate about what she was saying, and before she knew it, she said, "And what about children? Can you imagine raising children together in a saloon?"

Elizabeth suddenly heard herself, and the blush that took over her cheeks felt almost as if she had been burned by the sun that was gently warming them from above the trees. She turned and looked to her right just so she could catch her breath without him looking at her, and she laughed self-consciously. "Not certain where that came from," she said quietly.

"Do you want children?" Nathan asked softly.

She turned and looked at him, and again was amazed at his ability to cut right to the heart of a question when she least expected it.

"Yes," she said, smiling. "Very much. You?"

Nathan didn't hesitate before nodding, and then he smoothed Allie's hair affectionately.

Elizabeth looked at Allie, who was leaning back into Nathan's chest peacefully, watching the world go by and taking in every last detail of it. "They are extraordinary." She inclined her head toward Allie. "Look at her. She's only been here for four years, such a short time, and yet, I gaze into her eyes sometimes and I feel like I see the wisdom of the ages..."

Nathan nodded, understanding completely. "I know. I think the same thing. And what she's seen already..." He stopped and looked at Elizabeth, his eyes suddenly intensely focused on her.

For a moment he seemed to go somewhere else, the way he always did when he thought of Colleen. Elizabeth waited with her eyes on his. Finally, Nathan spoke.

"Tomorrow is Saturday," he said, his voice firm and strong. "What if I take Tom's wagon instead of riding to Murrayville? Will you go with me? Abigail is always saying that she'd like to spend a day with Allie."

Even at the distance between the horses, Elizabeth could see how blue Nathan's eyes were.

Elizabeth nodded. "Yes. I'd like to go with you." She felt they were on the edge of some kind of precipice, about to step off. And she was ready for it. Ready to hear anything he had to say.

"I want to tell you what happened to Colleen. And I want to tell you why I don't have a father. I want to tell you everything." His voice held a kind of melancholy power as she heard him make the decision to open his heart to her.

Elizabeth thought she could see his eyes not only getting bluer, but glistening slightly in the sunlight. She felt honored by the trust she saw there. "I want to know everything," she said softly.

He looked away and she thought she saw him hold Allie a little tighter to him. "You may not," he said quietly. "But I need to tell you before we... " He took a deep breath that transitioned into a sigh, and then she saw him shift. He turned and looked at her with a faint smile. "You're good company, Elizabeth. I look forward to it."

It was a beautiful spot.

Newton and Sarah were grazing under the trees on the tender grass that lay all around them. Nathan, Elizabeth and Allie lazed on the blanket Nathan had brought with him while they nibbled on the apples, bread and cheese he'd packed. Allie was very happily dissecting a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Nathan knew that would require that Allie be practically bathed in the river afterwards, but she loved them so much that he just couldn't say no.

Elizabeth cut off another small piece of cheese and put it with a bite of apple that she popped in her mouth. She smiled at Nathan, "You are a good man to have around, Constable Grant. I will never go hungry with you."

"And you haven't even seen me fish yet," he said, raising an eyebrow. He stood and took his empty canteen over to the river, and Elizabeth watched as he found a spot where the water was rushing by to fill it again. He looked back at her. "Always where it's moving," he said, "And always upstream from animals."

Elizabeth laughed. "You'll turn me into a Mountie yet," she said.

"Simple survival. You may need to know that someday."

"Says the man who lived on the dew from leaves for two days," Elizabeth said, tilting her head.

"You remembered," he said softly, clearly pleased that she had. Nathan walked back over to the blanket and stretched out. He'd taken his boots and socks off and Elizabeth found herself fascinated with his bare feet. She didn't think she had ever been with a man in bare feet before, at least not since she'd been an adult. She could sooner see her father take off and fly to the moon than be anywhere without shoes and socks.

Nathan saw her looking and frowned a little. "Does it bother you? Am I breaking another rule?"

Elizabeth laughed. "I don't think so. At least not in any courting handbook I've ever seen."

Nathan's eyebrows went up. "There's a handbook?" he said incredulously. "Should I read it?"

"I'll let you know if you're crossing any lines," Elizabeth said, smiling at him.

"I appreciate that," Nathan said, handing the canteen to Allie and then balancing it so she could take a drink of water. "Sweetie, you are covered in honey. We're lucky we're not surrounded by bees," he said laughing.

"Here, let me take her," Elizabeth said, starting to stand up.

Nathan looked skeptically at her. "I highly recommend you take off those nice boots. Riding home with wet feet is something you won't ever want to do twice." Then he raised his eyebrows. "And it feels incredible."

At first Elizabeth looked at him as if he'd said something slightly scandalous, and then he watched as she began to see it as a challenge. Nathan gazed at her while she methodically unlaced the brown suede boots she'd ordered through the Mercantile on the first day she was in Coal Valley. They were sensible and comfortable, and no, she didn't want to get them wet. But when it came to her stockings, she raised an eyebrow and twirled her finger in the air indicating she wanted him to turn around.

Nathan laughed out loud and did as she asked. "That must be in the handbook," he muttered, looking at Allie, who smiled and then giggled when he said, "Allie? Dogs say..."

"Ruff!" she said, grinning.

"And cats say..."

"Meowwww," Allie said, with great feeling. But the last one was always for her Uncle Nathan, because no one could do a cow like he could.

"Cows say..." Allie said, her eyes dancing in anticipation.

"Mooooooooooooo," Nathan said, reaching out and tickling her as she collapsed into giggles.

Elizabeth was laughing, just watching them. "You two..." she said, standing up and feeling the cool grass under her bare feet. "Oh, she said, enjoying the sensation so much that she had to stand there for a while, wiggling her toes. "It's been a long time since I've done this," she said.

"Told you..." Nathan said, looking up at her.

"Allie," she said, putting out her hand, "Let's go see what's in the water." She made it sound like an exciting adventure, and Allie jumped up and took her hand. Nathan watched her as she made washing up seem fun, and he felt it again; the warmth of understanding that he wanted to do everything with Elizabeth, take her to every place that mattered to him, and tell her things that had been bottled up inside him for far too long.

Is this love? He asked himself again. Every day he felt closer to the answer. And it was starting to dawn on him that the answer might be yes.