Chapter 43/Epilogue Part 2
Whilst Nathan was out on his evening rounds, Elizabeth had been kept busy with the task delegated to her for the next day's celebration. The tables had been set out in the Queen of Hearts according to Rosemary's plan and now she was helping dress them with the very best linen and dinnerware that Lucas could provide. Yet there was a simplicity about it all, she thought, something that she was surprised he would do. Perhaps this was Rachael's wish, for in the short time she had spent in the other woman's company she had realised just how much of a perfect balance she was to Lucas's showmanship.
Place names were set out for each person although she did notice that there was a section on the main table where they were missing. When she asked Lucas he explained that he had forgotten to give the names of Rachael's family members to Rosemary when the cards were being written and so now they had to wait until Fiona was finished helping at the church so that she could complete them to match the others, her handwriting so exceptionally beautiful that she had been asked to do everything that required good penmanship.
"Aren't Rachael's and Mary's aunt, uncle and cousins leaving it late to be arriving for the wedding?" she asked him. "I am happy to collect them from the station in the morning if no-one else is available. Now that school is finished I have the time."
Before Lucas could answer Little Jack came hurtling around the table towards his mother, chased by Allie, and the love that radiated from all of them when they were together was so clear for everyone to see that it made them pause to watch. Lucas knew that as tomorrow drew nearer it would be increasingly hard for them, the thought of seeing someone else realise the dream that was being denied you must be very painful. Abigail had told him how Elizabeth and Nathan had only shown the real emotion they were feeling when pushed by her in private and that outwardly, for the sake of the school children and their friends, they had retained a stoical attitude about the wait that was being enforced upon them. They had been determined to be as much a part of the wedding preparations as anyone else, not allowing their own feelings to get in the way of wanting this to be right for him and Rachael.
"Elizabeth, I want you to know that I understand what you are going through. It can't be easy to have to stand back and watch this but I know that your time will come soon. You need to keep the faith."
She gave him a smile that almost broke his heart, the struggle between her own despair and her happiness for him written into it. "Lucas, tomorrow is not about me or Nathan. This is your time. Yours and Rachael's and I shall be celebrating your wedding as much as anyone else. I am so proud of how far you have come, what you have done for so many in the past six months, and it is evident by the number of people involved in all of this that others share that. When you arrived in Brookfield just before Christmas who would have thought we would be standing here like this barely six months later?"
Once all the tasks were finished for the evening, farewells were said before everyone headed home. Lucas was spending the night with Leigh and Rosemary so that Rachael could have his suite in the hotel, where Mary and the girls were joining her. In the morning he would face the chaos that would no doubt ensue there with all the final preparations Gustav would be making, but only once the bridal party had made their way to the back of the café where they would be getting ready.
Nathan had settled Newton in the livery and now the four "Grants" walked together towards their row houses, Little Jack up high on Nathan's shoulders shouting out all the things he could see from that vantage point. To anyone watching they seemed the perfect father and son, so close was the bond that they had forged. It was clear that there was nothing Nathan wouldn't do for this boy who he already loved as a son.
Allie and Elizabeth walked arm in arm, neither speaking as their minds were far away on other things. After a while Allie broke the silence, struggling to find a way to voice what she was thinking. "Am I a bad person for believing this is unfair?"
Elizabeth stopped, turning to face the young girl, "What is unfair, Allie?"
"That Mr Bouchard's fiancée was able to give up her teaching job to come here and get married to him. Why couldn't they have been the one's to wait. She could have taken over from you in the school so that you and Dad could marry. We deserve to be a family."
Drawing her into a hug Elizabeth let out a small sigh, not wanting to admit how that very thought had crossed her own mind at one time.
"Because the children of Hope Valley are my responsibility, not hers. I am your teacher and I will stay that for as long as it takes to find someone else to take over. Miss Rachael shouldn't feel obligated to do that. You know they have waited a long time to get married, through no fault of their own, so I think we all need to be happy for them. Tomorrow we will celebrate with them because everyone wants to see their friends happy. Isn't that right?"
Allie looked embarrassed at her outburst and Elizabeth drew her deeper into the embrace, whispering quietly "we may not yet be a family in the eyes of God or the law but the love we all feel for each other is just as strong. Mr Bouchard said to me tonight that I need to keep the faith and he is right, we all do."
Nathan and Little Jack had stopped ahead, then started to walk back when Nathan realised that his girls were not right behind them. "Are you two okay?"
Elizabeth nodded, her eyes telling him that nothing needed to be said and to just give them a moment longer. "How about Little Jack and I get back to your house and put the kettle on and make some sandwiches for supper. It is such a beautiful evening that a picnic in the back garden seems like a good idea to me."
That, Elizabeth thought, is why I love this man so much. He just knows what each of us needs at any time. Simple things that make every situation right. That make us all feel so loved.
The day of the wedding dawned bright and warm, the blue sky casting what would be the first of many blessings on the happy couple.
Elizabeth and Nathan shared coffee on her back step before he headed out on his rounds, a daily routine that they had begun to enable them to spend as much time as possible together. Whilst it may not be the correct thing for an unmarried couple to do, no-one in Hope Valley would ever begrudge them these snatched moments of intimacy as it was for their children the sacrifice of not marrying was being made.
They sat close beside each other, taking comfort from their nearness and yet torn by the longing to be able to have more. After a while Elizabeth spoke, "Rachael is going to be a beautiful bride, there is so much love between her and Lucas. I haven't seen her dress because Rosemary is keeping it very secret. She says it is going to be a surprise for everyone. But I know it will be beautiful."
Nathan could hear the longing in her voice but knew that they had long since passed the point where he needed to respond with words of platitude. They were each other's release, able to say in front of the other all the things they kept hidden from the children, from their friends. And yet his arm tightened just a bit more around her shoulders as she kept on talking.
"It certainly seems as though Lucas has pulled out all the stops to make this wedding something we will all remember for a long time. One of those days that people will still be speaking about in years to come."
"Would you expect anything less from him?" Nathan asked, the friendly tone of his voice a marked difference to how he would have spoken about him only a short time ago. "It wouldn't be the Lucas we know without some sort of show. I'm surprised he doesn't have Rachael arriving in one of those hot air balloon things he was talking about last night!"
He was glad to get a laugh out of Elizabeth with that comment and knew it was a good moment to leave her. "I need to get going. The sooner I start my rounds the earlier I will be back to get ready for the wedding." Reaching across to brush his lips against hers he added, "See you in church my love."
When he walked into the livery he was surprised to see Newton already saddled and from Hero's stall he could hear someone whistling. Bill's head popped up over the door at the sound of the approaching footsteps.
"Good morning. What a glorious day! I decided it was too good to miss being out there in it so I thought I would join you on rounds. Besides I do want to have a quick look at my land again so thought we could stop there for a minute. Abigail keeps asking me what I am going to do with it but before I make a decision I want to visit it again and there never seems to be the time on other days."
Nathan kept his face expressionless, just raising his eyebrow at the excuse Bill was giving. "What you mean is you want to stay out of the way because it will be chaotic in your house with everyone getting ready for the wedding. I don't know what you and Abigail were thinking when you agreed that all the orphanage children could stay with you. I know Mrs Winters and Grace are there, along with Mary and Nancy, but it must be absolute pandemonium." Bill didn't try to deny it, just gave a shrug of his shoulders before turning back to buckle the girth strap on his horse.
Nathan walked Newton out to the front of the livery, the view down Main Street something he paused to appreciate every time he was starting his rounds. This was his town, his friends, and although his life wasn't exactly as he wanted it to be right now it was still pretty good. I guess you need to have experienced the real lows to know that you don't always need the highs to be happy, he muttered to himself.
"What was that you said?" Bill asked, coming up beside him leading Hero.
"Oh, I'm just counting my blessings here, Bill. I may not have everything exactly as I want it yet but what I do have is pretty darn wonderful. I'm glad that Lucas is finding his happiness today, he deserves it."
Bill didn't reply but the look on his face had Nathan confused. "What?"
The older man just shook his head but it was clear that he was stopping himself from telling Nathan something. He knew better than to probe too deep. If Bill wanted him to know he would get around to it in his own time. Somehow though he felt that it was just the other man's way of saying I'm here for you.
Lifting his voice to show an enthusiasm the day deserved Nathan mounted Newton, "Ok, let's go then. We have a wedding to get back for!"
Elizabeth had offered her services for any last minute tasks but Rosemary had assured her that it was all in hand and she would be of best use helping Abigail and the others with the children. So between the two of them, Mrs Winters, Mary and Nancy, they had gotten them to the point of just needing to put on their good clothes before they left for the church. For the first time that morning there was calm, all of them now sitting quietly in the front room listening to the story Grace was reading.
Elizabeth and Abigail had taken a moment for a quick cup of tea before the final frenzied burst of getting them ready, something Elizabeth was quite glad she was missing as she would need to get home to collect her dress before joining the bridal party at the cafe.
"You look deep in thought there Elizabeth," Abigail commented as she poured tea into the two cups set in front of them.
"I'm just thinking how unreal this all seems, to be here celebrating Lucas's wedding when only six months ago I was fending off his attention!"
Suddenly the image of her confrontation with him out in the snow came into her mind and she realised that what had at the time been a tense moment was actually the turning point for both of them in finding their happiness. So much of what happened in the days after had become a blur but as time passed she was grateful for all of it, even the darkest of nights. She made a promise to herself then to be more accepting of what she had. Being engaged to Nathan, mothering Little Jack and Allie, teaching the children, this was almost everything she had dreamed of. Now she knew that having patience for the rest would make the realisation of it so much more wonderful.
Lucas stood at the top of the stairs in the Queen of Hearts, surveying the room below him. It was all looking exactly as he had envisaged. Knowing how every bride wanted her own day to be special he had listened carefully to each detail passed on to him, wanting to make sure that she would be happy. He was glad that in Rosemary he had found a kindred spirit, someone who looked at the minutiae, knowing the difference that just missing one little thing could make.
Of course he had no concerns about the kitchen. Gustav was a perfectionist and even if he had raised his eyebrows at what was requested Lucas knew that it would be done in a way that had all the guests asking for more. He had seen the cake, a surprise in itself but something that would delight every guest as he doubted many had ever seen its like before.
Now it was time for him to get ready and with Rachael having left for Rosemary's he had regained the use of his room. As a man who liked everything just so he gave a double take when he opened the door and saw the mess that she had left strewn around the dressing table and on the chair. How someone who was so neat with everything else in her life could be this untidy was beyond him and yet it added to his love for her. Opposites attract was a saying often bandied about and in this instance he knew that was true for she seemed to fill in the gaps that had been missing in his stilted upbringing, showing him that everything didn't always need to be perfect.
But today had to be. In fact he wanted it to be more than perfect. For Lucas there was no compromise on just how much magic and happiness this day was going to bring.
Allie and Chloe had helped Grace with the storytelling by keeping the little ones quiet and settled so that they didn't all get worked up again. Now as the others herded them upstairs to get ready Allie slipped out of the door and began the walk back to her mother's home. This was special for her, the first time she would be getting dressed for an event with someone other than her dad to do her hair or help with the buttons of her dress. She was feeling excited and downbeat at the same time.
Christmas in Brookfield had been a time of so many ups and downs that she had come away from there almost overwhelmed with everything that had gone on. But oh how lovely those highs were. Finally being adopted. Mrs Thornton asking her dad to marry her. Little Jack becoming her almost brother. Her new friends Chloe, Megan, Mae and Beth who all now lived her in Hope Valley. There was so much to be grateful for and so she tried hard to keep the longing for them to be a proper family from taking over. But sometimes she could see the sadness in her father's eyes and that was when it hurt the most.
She had written a letter to Mr Landis asking him to make an exception to the rule that was stopping the final piece of their puzzle being put in place. In it she poured out her heart, telling him how much it meant to her to finally have a mother and how she loved her mum even more for the dedication she was showing to her students. They were exceptional people, Mrs Thornton and her father, she had written, always putting others before them. Didn't they deserve the same happiness as everyone else?
Then she had waited, wondering if he would even acknowledge her letter. Finally his reply arrived, Mr Yost coming out of The Mercantile to hand it to her specially when she was heading home from school. Her hand was shaking when she opened it, wondering if this was going to contain the answer to all her prayers but the final sentence was all she needed to read to know that was not the case. I'm sorry, but there is nothing that I can do as the law is the law.
As she reached the first of the row houses she paused, pushing her shoulders back and putting a smile on her face. Today she wouldn't think about it. She had made her mind up that she was going to have fun and celebrate the happiness for someone else. Isn't that what she was taught was the right thing to do?
With a nod to herself she began to walk at a faster pace, wanting to get the flowers that dad had collected out of the bucket in the kitchen and drop them at mum's door before she got back, along with the note that he had written. He had picked them last night when out on his rounds, muttering that it was the only way to get any at this time because of the wedding, but deep down she thought mum preferred these to all the fancy flowers that would be everywhere today.
As she wrapped them in the paper he had left she glanced out to the road just in time to catch the back of a familiar figure as they went by. Someone she would not have expected to see here today.