William Thatcher received a telegram from his office the day following Jesse and Clara's wedding. There was a meeting scheduled for next week in which his attendance would be required. He had left the running of the business to his management however as the owner, there were certain things he needed to be present for. He made a call to the train station to purchase tickets in a few days for Hamilton.

Elizabeth had just dismissed the students when her father walked into the school house with Jack. William was holding Jack's hand as he walked towards his mother. Elizabeth reached out and picked him up, hugging him close, "Hello, what brings you both here today?"

"I received a telegram this morning. I will need to leave to go back to Hamilton by the end of the week. I was thinking that we could take a small trip to Buxton tomorrow so I can take you shopping and to a nice dinner. We could stay in the hotel there and drive back the next day. I already asked Lee if we could borrow his car. If you can find someone to cover school for the day, perhaps we could also ask Nathan and Allie to join us?"

"Are you sure you have time father if you need to be back in Hamilton?"

"I do. I wanted to do this before I left. We just need to speed up the time line since I need to leave soon."

"I would love to. Why don't we walk to town and I can stop at the mercantile to talk to Florence and then we can see if Nathan is in his office."

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When William asked Florence if she would watch the students for a couple days so he could spend time with his daughter and grandson, Florence readily agreed. Elizabeth laughed thinking that Florence did not seem that eager the last time she asked. Elizabeth wasn't going to question it though seeing how excited she was for the trip, even if it was only for the day.

Nathan wanted to go with them however he was concerned about Allie missing school. Elizabeth assured him that missing a day or two would not affect Allie's schooling and she would make sure that she got all the work she missed. Elizabeth also knew that the children would not get as much done with a substitute for the day so it would not be hard for Allie to catch up.

William was putting their bags in the car when Nathan and Allie walked up in front of Elizabeth's row house the next morning. William had explained that everyone would have time to change for dinner so everyone was wearing normal everyday clothes to travel in. Everyone that is except for William who was always wearing a suit. Once all the bags were packed in the car, everyone started to walk towards the car not sure where everyone would sit.

"Can Jack and I sit up front with you, Mr. Thatcher?"

"You can. But Allie, if it is ok with your dad, why don't you call me Grandpa. Mr. Thatcher seems very formal when we are going to be spending a lot of time together today."

Allie looked at Nathan and he nodded. She had the biggest smile on her face as she turned back. "Thank you Grandpa," she said. William helped Allie and Jack get into the front seat and then he walked around to the driver's side.

Nathan turned to Elizabeth with his hand on the handle of the car door. "Grandpa, huh?" Nathan opened the door with his crooked smile towards Elizabeth.

As Elizabeth walked past, she leaned into Nathan and whispered, "Well, we will all be family one day. Hopefully soon." Elizabeth kissed his cheek and went to get into the car. He looked at her dumbfounded, standing outside the car for a moment.

"Nathan, is everything alright?" William asked when Nathan wasn't getting into the car. Elizabeth tried to hold in the laughter at Nathan's reaction.

"Yes, sorry about that. I'm ready," Nathan said as he climbed into the car. Elizabeth reached for Nathan's hand and when he took hers, he pulled it to his lips and kissed her hand, his eyes never leaving hers. Elizabeth had never been so happy to have a long car ride.

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The group arrived in Buxton later that afternoon. William had called ahead and reserved two large suites in the hotel: one for him, Elizabeth, and Jack and the other one for Nathan and Allie. All of them wanted to do a bit of shopping before heading back to the hotel to get ready for dinner that evening. William walked to the menswear shop to see if they had something similar to what he would purchase in Hamilton. Nathan offered to take Jack with him to go to the bookstore in town. He wanted to get a couple new novels that he was interested in as well as a few for Allie. Perhaps he could even find a children's story for Jack.

Elizabeth and Allie went to the dress shop in town. Elizabeth wanted to treat Allie to a new dress and she wondered if she could find something herself to wear tonight. The two of them walked into the shop and the sales woman immediately came to help them. Allie found a light purple dress that she took to try on while Elizabeth continued to look at the dresses on display. Over to the side, she saw a beaded grey dress with lace capped sleeves. It was definitely not something she would normally wear in Hope Valley. As she was admiring the dress, Allie came out of the dressing room.

"Oh Allie, you look beautiful. That dress is lovely on you."

"You really think so?"

"I do. Would you like to get that one and you can wear it to dinner tonight?"

"Thank you Mrs. Thornton!" Allie said as she wrapped her arms around Elizabeth's waist.

"Why don't you go in and change back into your clothes. I am going to go into the changing room right next to you and try on a dress I found. Just wait right outside when you are done," Elizabeth said.

"Will you show me the dress when you try it on?" Allie asked.

"Of course." Allie went into the changing room and Elizabeth walked over and took the dress she was looking at off the rack. She walked into the changing room and she could hear Allie outside as soon as she finished. Elizabeth fixed the dress and walked out to show Allie.

"Mrs. Thornton, that dress is perfect. My dad will be so surprised when he sees you in that, in a good way," Allie said clasping her hands in front of her. Elizabeth turned and looked in the mirror at the dress. Allie was right, it was perfect. After Elizabeth changed back into her clothes, she took both dresses to the front counter and paid for them. The sales woman boxed them both up and handed them each a box. Elizabeth and Allie walked back to the hotel to wait for the men.

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Nathan purchased a large stack of books at the shop. The owner of the shop offered to have the books sent to the hotel later that day after Nathan mentioned that he had a couple more stops to make that day. The owner watched Nathan with Jack and thought how nice it was to see a father spending the day with his son. He even made a comment to Nathan about it and Nathan was so happy at the thought that he didn't bother to correct the man.

As Nathan left the shop, he held Jack close to him with Jack's head on Nathan's shoulder. Jack started to fall asleep as Nathan walked to his next stop. He opened the door to the jewelry shop and walked inside. The man behind the counter was helping another gentleman with a purchase so Nathan began to look around. He saw a display with necklaces of all different styles. He walked a little further into the shop where he could see a display of rings.

Adjusting his arms so Jack was secure against him, Nathan looked down at the selection of rings. All of them were beautiful to be sure. Some were very large and nothing he could see Elizabeth wearing day to day. When he looked at the others, nothing seemed to look like Elizabeth. The man behind the counter walked over to him shortly after he started looking at rings and took out some examples for Nathan to look at closer. Still nothing felt right. He decided today wouldn't be the day to purchase a ring and he said thank you to the man.

Nathan left the shop discouraged. After learning where Elizabeth grew up and meeting her father, he wanted to give her exactly the ring she wanted. He wasn't sure what exactly that meant but he thought he would know it when he saw it. Nathan started to walk to the menswear shop where he said he would meet William before going back to the hotel.

When he walked in, he saw William standing with another man near a table with suits lying all over it. It looked like William had been trying to decide on what color or style to get for a new suit. There were also ties and waistcoats of many colors. Jack was starting to wake up and he put his little hand to his eyes. William saw them both approach and greeted them, "Hello, please come over here Nathan and let me introduce you to Mr. Harris who owns the shop."

"Hello sir. It looks like you all have been busy. Did you find a new suit William?"

"Yes and no."

"I don't understand," Nathan said.

"I wasn't looking for a suit for myself. Nathan, I would like to buy you a new suit." Nathan started to object but William quickly said, "I'm sure you have a suit that will work but I wanted to get you something new while I was in town. Elizabeth told me she wanted to buy a dress for Allie and so I wanted to get a suit for you. I would get one for Jack if I thought he would wear it," William said, laughing at the last part.

"William, I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything. Mr. Harris and I have picked out the best suits that he had in the shop, you will only need to pick the color. We can choose a few ties and waistcoats so you can match to Elizabeth or for the occasion."

Nathan looked through everything that was set out as William held Jack. He decided on a navy blue suit. The owner was prepared to tailor the jacket and pants but it was as if it was made for him it fit so well. After choosing a few colors of ties, the owner said it would just be a few minutes to get everything packed up. Nathan and William went to sit in a couple of chairs near the door with Jack while they waited.

"William, I was wondering if I could ask you something?"

"Anything, Nathan. What's on your mind?"

"How did you know what type of ring to buy for your wife before you proposed to her?"

William looked at Nathan with surprise for a second and then he smiled. Nathan had asked about proposing to Elizabeth when William had first arrived in town but with everything going on nothing else had been said about it. He was glad to hear that Nathan was making steps towards making it official. "Well I didn't give her the ring I thought I would, that is for sure."

Mr. Harris came over to where the two men were sitting and brought all the boxes carrying the purchases. William had called for a car from the hotel while Nathan was changing back into his regular clothes and it was waiting outside. All three of them climbed into the chauffeured car as they made their way back to the hotel to meet Elizabeth and Allie.

Once in the car, William continued, "I wanted to buy an expensive diamond ring for Grace. But my business was just starting out and the rings I could afford did not look like what I had in mind. One night we were sitting at dinner and I looked into her eyes. The love I had for her meant more than any ring and I knew she would feel the same. I went to a smaller jewelry store and I fell in love with an emerald ring. I gave it to her when I proposed. I have bought her diamond rings since for anniversaries, but she still wears that emerald ring on her left hand with the others on her right."

Nathan looked deep in thought as he heard William explain. Nathan could afford any ring in that shop, the money was not the issue in his case. But none of the diamonds he saw in the shop seemed right, just like when William explained about looking for a ring for Elizabeth's mother. Nathan thought of the ring his mother had given him, that was hidden in his drawer back in Hope Valley. It wasn't the typical engagement ring but when he thought of putting that ring on Elizabeth's finger he could see the future.

"Nathan, I won't tell you what to do. The ring should be your choice. Just know that whatever you choose, Elizabeth will love it because it came from you."

"Thank you William. I think I know exactly what to do."