"Thanks for dinner, Mrs. Coulter." Allie called, heading out the door.
She was followed by Jack saying, "Thanks, Auntie Rosemary." Who ran after Allie.
"You are very welcome, you two," Rosemary answered, then corrected herself, "Well, I should say you four," giving her friend a pointed look.
The look on Elizabeth's face was all the confirmation she needed, but knew her friend would have a reason for not saying anything and decided to keep things under her hat, for now.
"Thanks, Lee." Nathan said, extending his hand. Lee smiled and returned the gesture.
"Anytime. It's always fun to have dinner with family and friends" Lee told him.
"Good night everyone, and thanks" Elizabeth called as she and Nathan followed the kids out the door.
Nathan smiled, watching Jack and Allie as they trudged up the stairs to the Thornton's house and went inside. Turning to Elizabeth, he said, "Well, that didn't exactly turn out like we'd planned, but it was fun spending time with everyone. It's not often Allie and I get those kinds of invitations."
Elizabeth looked at him with a puzzled face, "What do you mean by 'those kinds of invitations'?"
Reaching for her hand, he pulled her close, and placed a kiss on her cheek. "You know, invitations to other people's homes for dinner. Sure, Allie eats with the Canfield's quite often, I mean she practically lives there most of the time, but other than dinner with you and Jack, we haven't really interacted with a lot of Hope Valley family's, outside of official town stuff."
Looking up at him, Elizabeth felt a wave of guilt wash over her, but pushed it back down. Nothing was going to spoil this absolutely perfect day. "I think we will have to remedy that situation very soon." She reached up and kissed his cheek as well, "But for now, let's plan on just us tomorrow? I really want to just be with you."
His heart melted hearing her say that. For so long he had pushed down the hopes and dreams of being with Elizabeth, and not just passing on the street, or picking up Allie from school, but to have her on his arm, so to speak. He tilted his head to the side and gave her a grin before saying, "That is the third-best thing I've heard all day."
Before she could answer, Jack called to her from the porch, wondering why she was still outside. Startled, Elizabeth realized that somehow she and Nathan had walked to her house but had stopped before they got there. Thankfully, it was dark and Jack didn't see them holding each other. Dropping her arms, Elizabeth cleared her throat and whispered, "Come back later?"
"You read my mind." Nathan whispered into her ear, sending shivers down her spine and goosebumps over her arms.
They finished walking to the house and Allie met them at the door, "Come on kiddo, it's time we headed home too."
"Goodnight Jack," she said, giving the little boy a kiss on the head and went down the steps. She then gave Mrs. Thornton a side hug and smiled at her. "Good night, Mrs. Thornton."
Allie had always been able to read her dad like a book. Especially when he tried to hide his emotions, like he was right now. Secretly she hoped the reason for the twinkle in his eyes was because of Mrs. Thornton, but she'd also learned that with some things it was better to let him bring it up. Then she would help him through the conversation.
"Hey Jack," Nathan called out, "You ready for your riding lesson tomorrow?"
"I sure am!" the little boy answered excitedly, clapping his hands.
"Okay then, I'll be here early to get you, and then we'll go have some fun, okay?"
Jack gave him a Mountie salute and then ran inside.
"Aren't you going to say good night to Allie and Mountie Nathan, Jack?" his mom called after him. Poking his head out the door, he called, "Good night." and could be heard running up the stairs.
Elizabeth closed her eyes and shook her head, her little boy exasperated her sometimes, but then would follow it up with something that would melt her heart. "Good night, Allie, Nathan. See you tomorrow." she said, walking up the stairs and giving a small wave.
Nathan just stood there watching her for a moment, slightly worried that if he let her out of his sight she'd change her mind, or he'd wake up and find this was all a dream. Feeling Allie pulling on his hand, he let her pull him towards their home.
"That was fun, wasn't it, kiddo?" he asked as they approached their house.
"It was." she told him. "I liked seeing Mr. and Mrs. Coulter in their house, just being themselves. Maybe we can do it again sometime."
As they entered the house and turned on some lights, Allie turned to her dad and said, "But next time, Dad, can you not look like you were standing in the rain for an hour?" She wanted to say more but started giggling so instead ran upstairs.
Nathan wasn't sure what she was talking about and then remembered he and Elizabeth had been out in the rain, and walking by the small mirror they had by the door, he was shocked to see the streak of dirt on his forehead and his hair plastered to his hair had dried in a bunch of funny directions. "And Rosemary and Lee saw this, great how I am going to explain this one?" he asked himself, trying to recall if Elizabeth's hair had been out of place.
"So dad, anything you want to talk about before I go to bed?" he heard Allie say from the stairs.
Giving up trying to smooth his hair back into place, he walked to his daughter, took her hand and led her to the couch. "Actually, Allie, there is something." How could he tell his little girl what had happened, she was just a little girl. How was she going to handle something like this? He looked at her and realized just how grown up she had actually become, and he hadn't even noticed. She looked so much like her Mom, especially right now. Sitting on the couch, looking at him with the biggest smile, and laughter in her eyes.
"Allie," he began again, "Earlier today, Mrs. Thornton and I… Well Mrs. Thornton and I talked and … Well…" This obviously wasn't going well. He took a breath and tried again, "Earlier Mrs. Thornton and I talked and decided…"
Allie could see her dad struggling and chuckled to herself, remembering the other awkward conversations they'd had. Deciding to help him along, she finished his thought, "Decided to be a couple?"
"Well, yeah, but how… ?"
"Dad, no offense, but you are terrible at hiding your feelings. Plus, you both showed up at the Coulter's after having, obviously, been in the rain together, and your eyes have their sparkle back. Really, it wasn't hard to figure out."
"Really?" Nathan asked, a little stunned that she knew exactly what he'd been trying to say.
"Yes, and for the record, as long as you are happy, I am happy."
"Really?" he asked again, "You really are okay with it?"
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she asked.
"Well, I mean, it's been you and me against the world for so long, I was afraid you wouldn't be happy about adding someone else."
"Don't you mean two someone else's"
Nathan smiled, his daughter never ceased to amaze him. "Yes, with two someone else's coming along."
"Like I said, I want you to be happy, you deserve it. Besides, I know you will always be there for me and love me no matter what, now I have a feeling you might want to take a walk, so I am going to get ready for bed." Standing up, Allie reached down and gave her dad a hug and whispered, "I love you, dad." before placing a kiss on his cheek.
"I love you too, kiddo. Never ever forget it." he told her before she turned and headed towards the stairs.
Elizabeth walked into her house a little dazed, still not quite comprehending what exactly had happened today. She woke up this morning with such a sense of dread, but now, she realized that feeling was long gone and something had taken its place. She searched for a word, but nothing could quite describe it.
"Mama, how come your hair is funny?" she heard Jack ask.
Turning to her son, she asked, "What do you mean, Honey Bear.?"
"It's all messy, like mine is when I wake up."
Elizabeth had started walking towards the mirror, saying "Jack, what are you….." and she saw what he was talking about. She'd been in such a daze she'd forgotten about the rain. Her mind when back to that moment, and she felt her cheeks begin to warm up at the memories. Only to then realize that not only had she been with Nathan, looking like that, but had dinner with Lee, Rosemary, and the kids. "What on earth is happening to me?" she mumbled to herself.
Looking over at Jack and seeing the silly grin on her face told her he knew something was different. "Tell you what, Jack, let's get ready for bed and we can read our bedtime book."
"Okay mama" the little boy said, scampering up the stairs with Elizabeth following, trying to figure out how to tell him about her and Nathan.
Soon the two of them were snuggled together in Jack's bed, ready to read a few chapters of their current bedtime book, Peter Pan in Kensington*. Jack was loving the story of the boy who never grew up, and Elizabeth was delighted that he enjoyed reading as much as she did.
"Jack," she said, "Before we begin, do you mind if we talk for a minute?"
Jack, shrugging his shoulders, looked up at her.
"If Nathan and Allie started spending more time with us, would you be okay with it?"
"Sure" he answered with a smile, "I love Allie, and Mountie Nathan is teaching me to ride."
"And would you be okay if Mountie Nathan and I maybe spent time together, just the two of us?" Elizabeth asked.
"Like you and Buddy did before he went away?"
"Yeah, a lot like that." Elizabeth answered, watching his eyes in order to gauge his reaction.
"Does that mean Mountie Nathan will be my new Buddy?" he asked, a little confused.
"No, sweetheart, Mr. Bouchard will always be your buddy, even when he isn't around."
"Okay, can we read now?" he asked, ready to be done with that conversation.
Relieved to know that Jack didn't seem to mind, even if she wasn't sure he completely understood, she smiled and gave him a hug. She opened the book, and together they became lost in the story.
*Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens by J.M. Barrie (1906)*