AN: This is the only thing I have been able to write this week and even then, most of it was written yesterday. Please be patient with my other stories which may not get updated a lot due to personal life and a contest I have decided to particiapte in with a pairing I haven't done before. I will try to keep this one going though.

Special thanks to Kaite for both looking over this chapter before I posted and helping me brainstorm some things. She helped me come up with the training officer though the idea for the newly minted Mountie was entirely me. I don't think I have seen this done before. You will get more of how it came about in future chapters.

The Monday following the school board members' visit, Elizabeth found herself walking into the Hope Valley School for the first time. After a lengthy discussion with Nathan, who pointed out that she would be taking the position for the sake of the children and not the parents, Elizabeth was leaning toward taking the position. When she spoke to Ellen, Ally, Opal, Vincent and Timmy they were all supportive of the idea. As all four children would be in the class she was teaching, Opal had said - "it will be just like old times, Mrs. Grant." Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at that. She could not deny she had missed her students. Ellen had offered to take Jack a few days a week if she went back. Nathan offered to help find childcare for the other times while reminding her that with his new job, he could dictate his hours and watch Jack during the day as well.

"You just might be sleeping alone at night," Nathan had teased, getting a chuckle out of her. "Besides," he had added. "If you go back now, you can walk away on your own terms when you are ready, this time."

Elizabeth had to admit Nathan had a very good point. While she did miss teaching, Elizabeth had found satisfaction in her role as wife and mother as of late as well. If they had more children, which she hoped they would, those responsibilities would only increase.

In the end, she had promised to take the position with the understanding that the school board would need to actively search for a more permanent teacher for the position. She had also requested to have a say in her replacement, a promise which she asked for in writing. This time when she left her students in someone else's hands, she wanted to know that they would be in the right hands.

Elizabeth had to admit that the new school building was an improvement over the little one-room schoolhouse she had taught in. There were two classrooms, each with a blackboard at the front, a row of windows along the outside wall of the building, with a smaller, second blackboard across from them. Along with the second blackboard were several different maps. The classroom for the younger children had a chart with the alphabet on it, while what would be her classroom had a globe. A third room had a xylophone, and Victrola for music classes along with art supplies. It was hoped a piano could eventually be procured for the school. A fourth room was lined with shelves, had a large table in the center of the room and was surrounded by chairs. The hope was that eventually the room would be full of books for the children to use without having to go to the library that Elizabeth had started in the original part of Hope Valley. For now, the room was used to hold meetings and conferences.

Standing in the hallway that separated the four rooms, two on each side, Elizabeth felt a case of nerves wash over her. She suddenly felt like she had when she had first come west, fresh from obtaining her teaching certification. It didn't matter that she had been the only teacher in Hope Valley for eight years. Now, she was once again the new teacher. Would she be accepted by the other two teachers? What would her relationship with the children be like?

Elizabeth felt a hand take hers and give a little squeeze. Looking to her left, she found Ally at her side.

"You're a great teacher, Mama. You'll do fine," Ally said. The girl gave a little crooked grin which reminded Elizabeth of Nathan. "I am the one that has to remember to call you Mrs. Grant," she added wryly.

Elizabeth smiled. She had to admit, she liked the sound of that name just as much as she had liked being called Mrs. Thornton. Perhaps Lucas had done her a favor in not allowing her time in the classroom to be tarnished by having used Bouchard in the classroom setting. Not that it changed the fact that he had used his money to discredit her reputation as a teacher just to get his own way. It hadn't occurred to her before this, but in some ways, she would be restoring the damage Lucas had caused to her reputation as a teacher.

With a new resolve, Elizabeth gave the hand in hers a little squeeze before letting go. With her head held high, she walked into the classroom ready to start the day.

In the days that followed, there were whispers, among some of the newer families in the area, about Mrs. Elizabeth Grant's ability to teach. Talk about the incident that had forced her to resign was reignited. At Nathan's suggestion, Elizabeth did her best to ignore it. Her husband told her that like the talk surrounding their own marriage, it would eventually fizzle out. The fact that her husband, Jack seated at his side, was there to pick her up after school every afternoon, helped her be able to do so. Sometimes, Ally would be with her and other times their daughter would have gone off with friends after school.

All four of her home schoolers were welcomed by the other kids with enthusiasm. Elizabeth noted, with pride, that Ally was instrumental in making sure that Vincent was included in activities with the other children whom he'd had little contact with prior to this. She quickly realized that Vincent getting to know more children his age was one of the benefits to her returning to the classroom.

Though a bit aloof the first couple of days, Elizabeth's coworkers quickly warmed up to her. She found Miss Eva Magdon to be a breath of fresh air. It was easy to see why none of the complaints the children had made had involved their art and music teacher. At twenty-six, this was Eva's second teaching position. She had grown up in Halifax. Though not considered rich, Eva's family was still well off and she had been encouraged in her study of the arts. After getting her teaching certification, she had taught in a private school in the city but had still wanted to bring her love of music and art to children who might not otherwise be exposed to it. Fluent in both English and French, Eva admitted to Elizabeth that she had thought about going to the school board about giving French lessons to the children who were interested but hadn't gotten the courage.

"I wouldn't know how to go about making an adequate presentation of the idea," Eva had confessed. Elizabeth had immediately offered to help her.

Miss Magdon was delighted to discover that Vincent knew a bit of French. Gabriel and Faith had discovered that Vincent's mother and her family had been fluent. When he was young, the boy had been exposed to both languages. Once in the orphanage system, there had been little encouragement of speaking anything other than English and Vincent had simply stopped sharing that he knew it. As he spoke French fairly well himself, Gabriel had been encouraging the skill since discovering it. The teacher could often be heard exchanging greetings with Vincent in the second language.

When she first met Ms. Marion Stiles, Elizabeth could understand Ally and Opal's aversion to the woman. The woman came off as serious to the point of arrogant and showed little enthusiasm for teaching. It was clear that teaching was a job and not a passion. It was hard to instill a joy for learning in children if the person teaching did not feel that joy themselves. Though she greeted Elizabeth that first morning, when Ms. Stiles had introduced herself, she had not offered her first name. Out of respect, Elizabeth addressed the woman formally at first, not at all surprised that the woman tried to keep to herself.

Instead of letting her first impression turn her away from her fellow teacher, Elizabeth decided to make an effort to get to know the woman. She estimated her to be about her own age. Though her first attempts were met with a frigid demeanor, little by little, the woman warmed up to Elizabeth. It turned out that Marion had grown up back East. The oldest of six children, she had gotten a job teaching to help support her family. She had married a childhood sweetheart, Marcus, who had decided to come west in search of gold. That search had ended in tragedy when Marcus was killed in his own ill-timed dynamite blast. Alone in the west, Marion had returned to teaching to support herself. She had thought about going back home, but couldn't bring herself to do it, knowing that it would put even more miles between her and her husband's grave. Sharing her own story of losing Jack only brought the two women closer together.

As for Jack Jr., Elizabeth's worries of her son suffering from her going back to work were soon alleviated. Rosemary and Ellen worked out a schedule for watching Jack that worked for them. While Elizabeth and Ally headed off for school together on horseback, Nathan took charge of getting Jack where he needed to be that day. Should Rosemary need to go into the newspaper office on a day she had him, Bill or Archie would have the boy at work with them until Rosemary headed home. Jack was quite proud of being his, 'Grandpa's assistant,' no matter which man he was with. On occasion, if his own work would allow it, Nathan would simply keep the boy with him. The arrangement strengthened everyone's communication skills, and Jack was quite happy to share his adventures with his Mama when he came with Daddy to pick her up.

The only one that seemed to have a problem with the new arrangement was Nate. Missing having Jack around, the duck spent much of the first couple of days wandering the yard and quacking his displeasure. Lee made the comment that he never knew that one duck could cause so much racket. Getting tired of the noise, Nathan set about finding a solution. When Lee came home on the Thursday of that first week of the new arrangement, Rosemary immediately noticed her husband didn't complain about his day being noisy. Her inquiry caused Lee to grin as he answered.

"Given the nice comfy bed Nathan made for the duck in the shop, there isn't much left to quack about. That is the luckiest duck alive. Nathan was still expecting Nate to cause a ruckus when they got home."

As her first week of teaching came to an end, Elizabeth was feeling quite content. It felt good to be back in the classroom again. Even the students that didn't know her well were starting to warm up to her after a couple of pranks. The only one that Elizabeth couldn't find it in herself to chuckle about as she laid in Nathan's arm that night was the garter snake in her desk drawer. No, the prank wasn't exactly original, but it was no less startling for its lack of originality. It wasn't until she mentioned that it had been Ally who had come forward to 'rescue' the snake that Nathan chuckled.

"Ally always has had a soft spot for creatures of all shapes and sizes," Nathan commented.

"Wonder who she takes after," Elizabeth commented, elbowing her husband gently in the side.

"I didn't build that bed for the duck. I built it for my sanity," Nathan replied.

"Sure you did," Elizabeth commented, turning her head to place a quick kiss on her husband's cheek, before settling back comfortably in Nathan's arms.

Walking out of the schoolhouse on Friday afternoon, Elizabeth said good-bye to her fellow teachers. Ally had already gone home with Opal for a sleep over so she was alone this afternoon. Despite some of the whispers, it had been a good week. She enjoyed being with her students again, though there was still a longing in her to simply want to be a wife and mother. She was glad that she had only agreed to the position temporarily. When the correct teacher for her students was found, Elizabeth knew she would be ready to turn the classroom over to him or her and leave, as Nathan so astutely had put it, on her own terms.

"Mama, time to shop for food!"

Elizabeth laughed at Jack's proclamation from the seat beside Nathan. Seeing her two favorite men waiting for her was the highlight of her day.

"Did you remember the list, Jack?" Elizabeth asked her son, having given him a copy of the grocery list that morning. Her son didn't know that she had kept a copy for herself just in case her son forgot or lost it. If it wasn't needed, she had no intention of letting him know.

Jack pulled a piece of paper from his shirt pocket. "Right here, Mama."

"Then we are all set," Elizabeth told him as she approached the wagon. Reaching across Jack, Nathan offered her his hand and assisted her up.

As she settled on the seat, Nathan took her basket and placed it in the wagon bed. He then gave the signal to Cosmo to start forward. The big work horse complied, pulling the wagon toward the original buildings that had first made up the town. Even without asking, Jack launched into a tale about his day. With an arm around her son, Elizabeth listened to the tales he told with glee. So occupied, the trip seemed to take no time at all and before Jack was out of words, Nathan was bringing the wagon to a stop in front of the mercantile.

"Do you need my help with the shopping?" Nathan asked as he helped Elizabeth down.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Jack and I will be fine," she assured him. "Go have a chat with Gabriel."

Nathan just smiled. They were both learning to figure out what the other was planning to do without words passing between them. Reaching up, he lifted Jack down from the wagon. He then retrieved the empty basket he had brought for the shopping trip and handed it to her. Leaning in, he placed a quick kiss on her lips.

"I won't be long," he promised her.

Elizabeth nodded her consent. Reaching down, she took her son's hand. In his other hand, Jack proudly held the list. As Elizabeth led him into the store, Jack read off the first thing on their list. With her son's help, Elizabeth slowly collected the things on her shopping list, patiently correcting pronunciation on the items that Jack didn't quite say right.

"You look like you are a big help to your mother, Jack," Ned commented as the two approached the counter.

"I am," Jack proclaimed, gaining a smile from both Ned and Elizabeth.

"Want to help me ring things up?" Ned asked.

"Yes!" Jack said happily. As Ned motioned him behind the counter, Jack hurried to obey. Ned grabbed a nearby chair and moved it in front of the register. He then helped Jack climb up onto it. "Now what?" the boy asked enthusiastically.

Elizabeth smiled as Ned slowly showed Jack how to ring up the order and then prompted the boy to tell her the total. Ned then patiently went through the counting the coins. The perplexed look on her son's face told her he wasn't quite getting that concept.

"We'll work on counting money at home, Jack," Elizabeth promised.

Jack nodded. He then squealed with delight as Ned hit the buttons that caused the register drawer to open. The boy watched as Ned sorted the money and made change, happy when Ned gave it to him to hand to his mother.

"Thank you for your help today, Jack," Ned told the boy as he helped him climb down.

"You welcome, Mr. Yost," Jack replied not bothering to look back as he went around the counter to join his mother.

"I appreciate your patience, Ned," Elizabeth told the store owner.

Ned waved her praise off. "I had a child his age once myself," he said. "You have a good evening. Tell Nathan and Ally I said hello."

"I will," Elizabeth promised him and then lead Jack out of the mercantile.

Walking down the steps, she noticed a gathering of people outside the RCMP office. Even from this distance, she could see that one of the people was Nathan. Three uniforms, though two were brown and not the red that Elizabeth was accustomed to. The white sling against the red uniform told Elizabeth that it was Gabriel standing next to her husband. From this distance she wasn't sure who the fifth person was but if she had to guess, she would say it was Bill.

Either the new Mounties had arrived or something else was going on. Curious, Elizabeth placed the basket of groceries in the bed of the wagon and started in the direction of the RCMP office. As she got closer, she noted that it was indeed Bill standing with the group. As she approached, the judge looked in her direction. The look of concern that crossed Bill's face invoked a similar reaction in her. Before she could give the situation much thought though, one of the Mounties in brown serge turned to look in her direction as well.

Elizabeth immediately froze at the familiar face that looked back at her. It was a face that she would never have imagined seeing in a Mountie uniform - nor did she want to. Her son, however, was not affected the same way. Seeing the familiar face, Jack pulled his hand from his mother's and started running.

"Uncle Tom!" Jack exclaimed, gaining the rest of the group's attention.

Constable Tom Thornton knelt down and opened his arm to his nephew. The smile on the young Mountie's face matched the one on Jack's.

"Hello, Jack," Tom said, getting to his feet once he had a hold of the little boy.

Getting over her initial shock, Elizabeth started forward again. Part of her brain said that she should be proud to see Tom in uniform because Jack Sr. would have been. Her late husband had worried about the reckless way his younger brother had been living his life. Jack would have been happy to see that Tom had seemed to find direction in his life.

Instead, all Elizabeth could feel was shock and anger. How could Tom do this to her? To his mother? Didn't he realize how hard it had been on Charlotte to lose first her husband and then eldest son to the profession? She had certainly gained a new understanding of Charlotte when Jack had died.

"Hello, Elizabeth," Tom said tentatively as she approached.

"Is this some kind of joke? After all the times you threw Jack's attempts to help you back in his face, now you choose to join the Mounties," Elizabeth replied, knowing the greeting was not at all welcoming but unable to stop herself.

"I am sure this is a shock, Elizabeth. This isn't - "

Forgetting about all the rules she had been brought up on, Elizabeth interrupted her brother-in-law. "Is this some misguided attempt to dissuade your own guilt? Did you even stop to think about your mother's feelings? Hasn't she lost enough to the force?"

"Now, Elizabeth, perhaps we should continue this inside," Nathan said diplomatically.

Elizabeth didn't look in her husband's direction. She had no doubt that his expression would start calming her turmoil of emotion but right then she didn't want to calm down. Right now, she wanted to let Tom know exactly what she was feeling - not be placated.

However, as she opened her mouth to say something more to Tom, her eyes fell on the second new Mountie standing just behind her brother-in-law. Like Tom, the man was not unknown to Elizabeth, though she did not know his name. Still, she had seen him twice before - once among the Mounties returning from the Northern Territories and then on the night her world had crumbled down around her. This was the man whom she had approached asking about Jack when the Mounties had marched into Hope Valley. At that time, he had been unable to give her the information she had wanted, stating that he didn't know Jack Thornton. The second time they had crossed paths, he had brought her news that she had not wanted. This was the Mountie who had brought her word of Jack's death.

Meeting her gaze, the man removed his campaign hat. "Corporal Harold Mayne, ma'am," he told her quietly. "It is good to be able to meet you under better circumstances."

Better circumstances? Her brother-in-law had surprised her by showing up in the uniform that had claimed his brother and father's life. How was that better circumstances?

Unable to handle anymore right then, Elizabeth turned and fled. She heard Nathan call out to her but she didn't stop. She had to get away. She needed to think and get control of the emotions churning within her.