Nathan sat on the front porch enjoying his morning coffee while Scout bounded around the field taking care of his 'business'. It was going to be another beautiful late Spring day in the valley. Maybe even more beautiful because of yesterday.
He couldn't stop his smile as he recalled the end of what had been a trying, yet incredible, day. He and Little Jack had fallen asleep while reading a story. When he awoke a little while later, they were covered by a blanket and he saw his girls - his girls - with their heads together at the kitchen table looking at a book of some sort. This turned out to be a photo album that Elizabeth had kept from the first day she arrived in what was then Coal Valley.
The feeling that he had in that moment was one of ultimate peace. He and Allie, were where - and with whom - they were supposed to be. Oh and his dog, who was curled up at his feet. He didn't fool himself that Scout wanted to be near him. No - it was the boy he didn't want to leave. This was the way it was meant all along. He was thankful that he hadn't tried to force another relationship. He'd been ready to give up on love because 'he wasn't good at it', when in reality - he had never stopped loving Elizabeth and never would. For an astute investigator, he'd been pretty successful at burying his feelings so that he no longer recognized them.
He was startled from his daydream as Allie came out and sat down next to him. "Morning, Dad."
"Morning, Daughter." he replied.
She bumped her shoulder against his as Scout bounded towards them at the sound of Allie's voice. Nathan reached over and took Allie's mug of tea from her hand before she got her morning bath from the dog.
That's when he noticed Elizabeth coming out of her house and sitting down on her porch, mug in hand. Allie caught his gaze and rolled her eyes, "Go ahead, Dad. I'll get breakfast going." She got up, calling the dog and went inside as Nathan rose to greet Elizabeth.
Down at the Thornton house, Elizabeth's heart leapt when she'd spied the Grants on their front porch. She saw the moment when Nathan noticed her and began heading her way. She was, once again, struck by how right this all felt. It could be like this all of the time. She admired his easy stride, clad in tan pants, a blue plaid shirt and his brown suspenders. His face was lit up by a smile. It was clear that he was delighted to see her which sent little shivers up and down her spine.
She stood up just as he approached her porch. She was on the step and now eye level with him. It was all she could do to not throw herself into his arms and put her lips on his.
He reached for her hand. "Mornin' Lizbeth. Did you sleep well?" he drawled. Grinning when he caught her looking at his mouth.
"Hmmm?" she asked, her cheeks becoming a bright pink. "Um, yes. I did. And, you?"
"Never better. It looks like it's going to be a beautiful day. I'd planned on taking Newton out for some exercise. Would you and Sergeant like to join us?"
She nodded, giving his hand a tug so they could sit down and enjoy their coffee together. "Sergeant and I would love to join you. What time were you thinking?"
Slipping an arm around her, he sighed. Then remembered she'd asked him a question. "How much time to do you need? Whatever is convenient for you. Allie needs me to pick up some ingredients for our supper tonight, so probably sooner rather than later. If you'd like, she can keep an eye on Jack while we're gone."
Just then, the door burst open. "Mountie Nathan!" Jack shouted. Nathan had set his mug down the second he heard the door start to open. Turning, he caught the pajama clad boy deftly.
"Jack! Are you supposed to be outside in your pajamas?" he said as he tickled the boy's belly.
Elizabeth watched them fondly for a minute, then knew she needed to reign her son in so that the two of them could get ready for the day. "Jack, we need to get you inside so you can eat breakfast and get dressed. You'll be spending some time with Allie and Scout this morning."
Her son suddenly stopped his wrestling with Nathan. "Allie? Scout? Really?!" he turned to Nathan, "Sorry, Mountie Nathan, but I gotta go!" and with that, Jack scrambled down and ran back into the house.
Nathan laughed. "I know where I rate! Behind a dog!"
Elizabeth pulled at his suspenders until they were face to face, "Not with me, Nathan Grant." she brushed her lips gently over his. "You rate very high with me." she abruptly got up and threw a smile over her shoulder "Should I bring Jack to you or will Allie be coming over here?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah. Maybe bring Jack to our house. I'm not sure how much Allie will be trying to get done." he was a little stunned by the kiss; could still feel her on his lips. He needed to hurry and let his daughter know she was babysitting.
"I'll see you in, say, 45 minutes?" at his nod, she turned and went inside. He must've stood there like an idiot for a minute or two, then hustled back home.
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As Nathan, Newton, Elizabeth & Sergeant left the livery, Elizabeth turned to him, "So, can we go to our log?"
"Our log?" he asked, eyebrow raised.
She reached over and grasped his forearm, looking carefully into his beautiful eyes. "I'd like for us to create some new memories there. I think that's partly how I wound up there last fall. Also, there are some things I'd like to share with you about that fateful day when you first declared your love. Things that I've never told you."
"Anything for you, Lizbeth." he replied warmly, then leaned towards her for a quick kiss.
They took off with Newton & Sergeant, who also seemed to be reveling in this beautiful day. Giving the horses their head, it wasn't too long before they arrived at 'their' log. After taking care of the horses, Nathan removed some refreshments from his saddle bags and the two walked over and took a seat on the log.
They drank water and ate some cheese and crackers, both completely at ease with the silence between them. Being comfortable with silence was a new feeling for Elizabeth. She may have had that with Jack, somewhat...but she had a whole new appreciation for it now. With Lucas, the silences were often awkward. It was as if there was nothing to say - probably because they never talked about anything of any consequence.
Once they'd finished with their refreshments, they worked together to clean up and then they sat back down on the log. Elizabeth turned to Nathan, reaching out for his hands. She took a moment to just drink in the sight of him and feel his hands in hers. It brought her back to the hand holding game at Ned & Florence's pre-wedding party. What a fool she'd been back then!
She looked down at their entwined hands and gave her head a shake.
Nathan chuckled. "You're thinking about that game Fiona cooked up, aren't you?"
Her eyes widened as she looked back up at him. "How? How did you know?" she asked, not registering that Nathan asked precisely the same thing of her last night.
"You're not the only one who can read well, Lizbeth." he laughed, though his eyes were full of only love for her. It simply took her breath away.
"Well, we both now know that the only mistake I made that night was saying Lucas's name. I picked the right hands. Obviously, not being able to see with my eyes, my heart knew where to go. I'm only sorry that it took the rest of me so long to work up the courage to follow."
Nathan reached up and tucked an errant curl behind her ear, his hand caressing her cheek. "But, you did follow. And, we're here now. Didn't you mention that Minnie had talked to you about not getting lost in regrets?"
Her heart did somersaults at the warmth of his hand on her face. She closed her eyes briefly, turning her face towards it. She put a hand on top of his and looked at him. "You're right, of course. So we'll not mention that particular regret again now that we've talked about it."
"Nathan, while I don't like revisiting the times that I hurt you - probably anymore than you do - I really wanted to begin to create new memories in significant places. Good memories. The best memories."
He nodded, understanding where she was going. "I agree. And, I believe it's good that we clear all the air. Talk about the things we've really never discussed since they happened. And I know that there are more places that we need to revisit."
Elizabeth knew he was thinking about the Mountie office. The place where she drove the knife deep into his heart. She had plans for the Mountie office. Great plans. But, first they needed to clear some other places. Like this log.
Their hands entwined together again, she drew in a deep breath. "The day that you declared your love for me - we've talked about that - but what I didn't tell you was what I said to Rosemary after it happened. I told her about it and then I said that if I had stayed, I was afraid of what might have happened. And by that, I meant that I didn't believe I had the resolve to resist you. And I was terrified of not resisting you."
She fiddled in her pocket for her hanky, but Nathan beat her to it. He gently dabbed away her tears. "You don't need to cry anymore, Lizbeth, but I'll always be here for you if you do."
It was her turn to place a hand on his face. "You are so worth the wait, Nathan Grant, do you know that? Do you understand how precious you are to me? How much I value your opinion, your support, your friendship, your humor? Your love?"
"All of the time I was working with Minnie, I knew I was in love with you and that those feelings had worked their way free. They would no longer be denied. But, I didn't know where your heart was. When you were out of town, I came here often and simply prayed. Prayed that I wasn't too late. That you still loved me the way I love you." she leaned over the side of the log and pointed to the ground.
Nathan looked to where she was pointing. There, on the ground, were what looked like flowers in varying stages of decay. He looked back at Elizabeth, obvious questions in his eyes.
"Daffodils. I brought them here as soon as they began to bloom. They're a symbol of new beginnings. A sign of the beginning of spring and the end of cold, dark days. Sometimes they represent forgiveness. They won't bloom again until next Spring."
Nathan's gaze traveled down to where she'd laid the flowers as she came here. It looked like she'd been here a lot. Now he'd have to find a way to get a dried, pressed daffodil. One that she could keep forever.
"I love that, Lizbeth. I didn't know that about daffodils, but I've always appreciated how beautiful, yet hearty they are." Swinging a leg over the log, he pulled her closer. It was time to secure this new memory and put the sadness of the past to rest.
He cupped her face in his hands. "Thank you for telling me what you shared with Rosemary. It helps to know those things now. I'm almost glad that I didn't know them then. I wouldn't have wanted to push you any harder than I already did."
Her heartbeat kicked up, and she covered his hands with her own. She then pulled them to standing. "I love you. Nathan...I'm in love with you. It's time that I said that back to you, here in this spot. I can't take back what's happened since then, but I want to keep coming here and making beautiful new - and better - memories with you."
Rising up on her toes, she reached her hands around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss. This time, she didn't hold anything back. His eyebrows rose in slight surprise, but it didn't take him too long to recover and respond in equal measure.
Elizabeth's hands traveled into Nathan's thick hair. She could get carried away with him very easily...the man could kiss!
After a few minutes, pulled back just a bit, resting his forehead against hers, and tried to calm his racing heart. "Lizbeth...I think we might need to take a breath."
She chuckled, trying to calm her own heart as well. Leaning her head back a bit, she gazed into his crystal blue eyes. So beautiful, so true and so full of love for her. It didn't scare her anymore, but the longing to get lost in him had been building for so long that she felt she couldn't wait anymore.
"You're right, but I think it's rather unfortunate, don't you?" she responded with a saucy grin.
Nathan laughed, "Oh, it's most definitely rather unfortunate. No...extremely unfortunate. But I'm not sure I'd be capable of stopping if that kiss lasted any longer."
That filled her with such joy, that she turned her face to the side to try and hide her smile.
Nathan saw it and chose to not comment. It was time to get themselves back to town where there were countless chaperones. "Um, we should probably get back to town and gather Allie's groceries so she can feed the four of us supper!"
Elizabeth nodded as they walked towards the horses. "I'd love to come over and help her in any way possible. And, I still plan on bringing dessert. It's already made."
"Dessert?" Nathan asked with a delighted grin on his face.
Laughing, Elizabeth shook her head. "You and your sweet tooth!" With that, she took off on Sergeant, leaving Nathan to catch up.
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After a delicious supper of beef roast, mashed potatoes, green beans and carrots, Elizabeth served her blueberry pie, Nathan made coffee and tea while Allie and Jack took Scout outside.
By the time the pie and drinks were ready, the kids and canine were back inside. Scout was ready for his water and the kids washed their hands and sat down for dessert.
Once the dessert had been devoured, charades were played. Then Jack asked for a game of Old Maid, but oddly - Elizabeth suggested some story time instead. The Grants had a nicely stocked bookshelf and they'd kept many of Allie's childhood favorites.
During the first story, Jack was thrilled as Nathan, Elizabeth and Allie all joined in and did the voices. "I wanna do a voice!" he cried. Allie sat down next to him, book in hand, and chose a very brief sentence. She read it to him a few times and then Jack stood up and puffed, "And I'll blow your house down!" afterwards, he dissolved into giggles.
After two more stories, Jack climbed up onto Nathan's lap and fell asleep on a giggle because Scout was licking his hand.
Elizabeth & Allie had gone to clean up the dessert dishes, and she turned to see her boy asleep on Nathan - again. Her heart ached with the need to just blurt out that they should just get married already. She'd waited - they'd waited - so long for this very thing. Every moment needed to be treasured and she wanted them to do those moments together, as a family.
When everything was cleaned up, Allie kissed her father on the cheek and hugged Elizabeth saying 'Good night.' then headed upstairs.
"I'll walk you home and help you get this one into bed. He's a bit big for you to be carrying anymore, isn't he?" Nathan stood with ease, despite his precious burden.
Once Jack had been put to bed, they went downstairs. Both of them knew that it was probably not advisable for them to be alone for too long right now.
As they neared the front door, Nathan pulled Elizabeth into his arms. "I want nothing more than to wrap my arms around you and never let go, you know that - right?" he asked, his voice husky.
"I do. I happen to feel the same way, Nathan. It's as if I want nothing more than to start making up for all of the lost time."
His eyes flared as he gently brushed the hair back from her face and drew her in. Slowly, he took her mouth in an achingly tender kiss that left both of them breathing more quickly. "We will, Lizbeth. Every single day, we will."
They stepped out on her porch, hand in hand - sharing one more gentle kiss. "I'll see you at church tomorrow? I have rounds first, but I'll be there."
She nodded. "If you're not there right away, we'll have Allie sit with us and save you a seat."
"Thanks. I love you, Lizbeth." he said softly as he started to turn to leave.
"I love you, too, Nathan." she responded just as softly and she didn't go inside until he'd turned to wave from his porch. And, as if it were choreographed, the two front doors closed at precisely the same time.