"Elizabeth," Nathan said, turning to look at her, "I want to apologize…."

Elizabeth shook her head, interrupting him, "No Nathan, before you say anything else, there are things that I need to say first, and I will not tolerate any interrupting from you." Seeing Nathan's raised eyebrow and knowing he was going to object, she placed her finger on his lips and smiled. "You know, once upon a time, Jack told me I had a scary teacher face, and trust me you don't want to see it."

"Mrs. Thornton, I am pretty sure I've seen that face on more than one occasion" Nathan answered with a grin.

Elizabeth shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. Then, taking a deep breath, she began talking.

"Nathan, I lied to you. I came into your office and said things that were unfair and untrue. I had been trying so hard to convince myself it was true and thought that maybe by saying them out loud, it would make them true. Never once did I look for or see Jack when I saw you. True, there were times when you first arrived I'd see the red serge and think of Jack, but only for a moment or two. After a while that stopped and I only ever saw you. Nathan Grant, the man and not just the Mountie." She stopped to take a breath before continuing. "It was never about you being a Mountie, Nathan. It was overwhelming fear of losing you, for any reason, that made me run away. Picking up the pieces after Jack died has been the hardest things I've ever done and the possibility of breaking apart like that, again, well I wouldn't even let myself even think about it. As I've thought about it, I don't know of any occupation you could have had that would have made my reaction any different. My heart lifted every time I saw you, even if it was from a distance. I'd find myself looking for you everywhere, all the while trying to convince myself that I wasn't feeling anything."

"That first time you told me you loved me, I wanted to tell you I felt exactly the same. My heart was overflowing with love, but in the next instant I saw what would happen to me if I lost you, and the fear took hold so tight I couldn't breathe. All I could think about was getting out of there, and that's what I did. Once I was far enough away and the fear started to ease off, I knew I had to ignore all my instincts, and protect my heart, which meant running to Lucas. I knew the heartbreak I was causing you, but I just couldn't do it. Lucas was safe, and while I knew that if something happened to him, it would be devastating, it would be nowhere near as bad as loosing you or Jack. If I loved him, my reaction to something happening to you wouldn't be so bad. I actually thought I had succeeded and pretending to be happy became so normal, I didn't even recognize the difference. But when I thought you might have been shot, I realized how very wrong I was. When I realized you were involved with the standoff in Rock Creek, everything came crashing down around me and I finally had to admit to myself that, no matter who I was with, I would still break into a million pieces if something happened to you. It still took some time to get my heart and my head on the same page, but once I admitted that Lucas was not the right choice but the safe choice, I knew what needed to be done, and I ended things with him. The truth is, Nathan, I did and do love Lucas, but I was and still am so in love with you."

Even thought he had inadvertently overheard her say those things to Bill, watching the emotions play across her face, as she said them to him, was even better. To see the truth, the honestly, and the vulnerability in her eyes broke his heart and then sewed it back together again. Hearing her last sentence, his emotions overwhelmed him and all he could think about was the missed opportunities and interruptions they had and couldn't stand it any longer. He reached for her hands and together they stood up. Slowly, he bent his head down, and captured her lips in his. Nothing could have prepared him for the onslaught of emotions that poured through him at that moment, and he savored each one. Slowly, his arms reached around to her back and then down slightly lower to her waist. His fingers intertwined and began pulling her tighter and tighter until finally she became a part of him and loved how she fit perfectly. As though they had been made precisely for each other. Slowly he pulled back and looked deep into her eyes, one of his favorite places to get lost in, and heard himself saying, "Elizabeth, I love you, despite my best efforts, could never stop loving you more and more each day." Pulling his hands back to her face, he gently cupped her cheeks and pulled her in for a deeper, desire filled kiss. He threw caution to the wind and let his instincts take over.

The moment his lips met hers, time stopped, and she became overwhelmed with emotion. Kissing Lucas had been really nice, kissing Jack was incredible, but the feel of Nathan's lips gently probing hers took her breath away. Willingly, she followed wherever he led, never wanting the moment to end. She felt him pull back and reluctantly did herself, only to hear him say he had never stopped loving her. Then his hands were holding her face, his thumbs gently caressing her cheeks, and once again felt time stop as their lips began dancing again. Her legs began to turn to water, so she reached up to grasp his arms and held on for dear life. She felt him gently ask for permission, and willingly allowed him in, letting their tongues start a dance of their own. She couldn't get enough of him, and felt that he couldn't get enough of her.

Just then, the heard a loud crack of thunder, but that didn't slow things down. Another clap of thunder, and the heavens opened and rain began to pour. Elizabeth giggled against Nathan's lips, knowing they were going to get soaked if they stayed here they were for much longer. Reluctantly, the couple pulled apart and came back to reality. Seeing each other dripping wet, they began to laugh and quickly ran to the nearest tree, hoping for some protection. They saw a bolt of lightning flash against the sky and heard more thunder. Remembering how she and her sisters had been afraid of it when they were little, Elizabeth knew that from now on thunder would always remind her of this perfect moment. She felt her back softly hit the trunk of the tree and heard Nathan say, "I've always wanted to kiss in the rain." pulling her closer to him and capturing her lips once more, and together they entered that special place where it was only the two of them, and time stood still.

A few moments later, the rain had stopped, and the storm clouds began moving away. Nathan wrapped his arms around Elizabeth and pulled her close. Resting his chin on her head, he smiled, saying, "That was the best thunderstorm I have ever been in."

Elizabeth laughed and leaned back, looking at his face, loving the excitement she saw there. It was like the rain had washed away his normal reluctance, and he could show her his true self. "It's a good thing it was a new journal I brought with me," she said, stepping away from him, while also taking his hand. This time, the spark of electricity she felt wasn't surprising, but instead seemed comforting. Looking at their entwined hands, she was also amazed at how well they fit together.

"You know," Nathan began as they started walking back to the blanket, "There is an old saying that humans began with one body and two heads, but the God's broke them apart, cursing them to look for each other their entire lives. I never really bought into it, but now I am a firm believer." he pulled their hands to his lips and flashed his crooked grin at her.

They reached the blanket and decided that since they were both wet, they'd sit back down and enjoy being together in this magical place. "I wish we could stay here forever, or at least for a long while. I am not sure that I'm ready to face the world again." Elizabeth said, wistfully.

Nathan leaned over and gently kissed her lips. "We can stay, at least until we dry off. Who knows what kind of scandal it would cause, us showing up in wet clothes" he said.

Elizabeth smiled at him, but he noticed it didn't reach her eyes. "Lizbeth, what's wrong?" he asked, taking her hand. She tried to look away, but he reached out and gently pulled her face back to him.

"They are mostly happy tears, I promise." she assured him. "It's just a bit overwhelming. It's been quite a week, first the saloon, then worrying about you, but not feeling brave enough to try to find you. Then this magical moment, and sitting here with you. It's like we have the chance at a fresh start."

"Why were you worried about me?" Nathan asked, confused. "You were the one who got hurt because of me."

"Because of you?" Elizabeth was confused, "Nathan, you had nothing to do with what happened to me in there. I understand you were the one that made the rescue happen."

He was torn, did he want to have this conversation now, after what they'd just shared together. If he was honest, he'd say no, he didn't want to tell her, but on the other hand, it would be so much easier to move forward with everything out in the open.

"Lizbeth, I knew Shaw might come to Hope Valley, but I was sure I could keep you from even knowing about it. Then everything happened, and I panicked when Lucas brought you down those stairs. Even after we got you to Faith and learned things weren't as bad as they could have been, I couldn't shake the guilt. I had planned on visiting you, every day, once you were home, but the guilt kept getting stronger and stronger."

"Guilt for what, Nathan? I don't understand. You had nothing to do with it."

"Elizabeth, things could have turned out much worse than they did. And I kept thinking how it was my job that put you in that situation, and I got scared. I realized that the chances of something happening to you, because of my job as a Mountie, were really high, and very real I couldn't…." he paused for a moment to steady his emotions. I couldn't risk it, I just couldn't. So I decided it would be better if we went back to friends, but only as a Parent and a Teacher, for Allie. Actually, I had decided to come over tonight, after Jack was asleep, so we wouldn't get interrupted, and more importantly, no one else would be around. This morning… "

Elizabeth began to tense as he spoke, the dream, the words, the dread, the fear, it all started coming back to her and despite what had happened earlier, she was sure he was going to walk away. She'd done it to him, after all.

Seeing her start to shake her head and pull away, Nathan had paused, and then asked worriedly "What's wrong?"

Not quite ready to talk about it, she said "Nothing, well something, but please, finish what you were going to say." Trying to keep her voice steady.

A little confused, Nathan continued, "Well Bill and I had a conversation this morning, and he made a point of asking me why it was okay for Allie to possibly be in danger because of my job and not you. I don't remember what my answer was, but I and couldn't get the question out of my head. It was while helping Mrs. Gentry get her chickens rounded up and safely back in their coup again, that I realized the truth." taking both her hands in his he continued "Elizabeth, I didn't realize it, but the more time we spent together, and the closer we got, my fear of you running from me again took hold. Things were so good between us, and honestly, I was waiting for you to give me a sign that you were ready, but then Shaw came and that gave me an excuse to back away. I got so stuck on it, it became the truth. We are not that different after all. We couldn't acknowledge our deepest fears, so we latched onto something else and tried to make it real. Everything started to make sense, your actions, and decisions, my thoughts and decisions, but Sweetheart, I don't want to live like that. I want to live my life open and honestly, with you by my side, and not have fear dictating how I react to things. I've seen what my future could look like with you, and, well, it's pretty great, and so that's the future I want to make for myself. I came up here to organize my thoughts before coming to talk to you tonight, but then you showed up, and said all those beautiful things and I could understand exactly what you meant. It didn't seem necessary to go through it all again, although I wouldn't mind the ending happening again."

"Nathan, I don't understand?"

"That's because you tripped over a twig before I could get my thoughts in order." He teased, pulling her to him for a kiss. "Everything is jumbled around up there at the moment, but what I want you to know is this. I understand what you were going through, and I appreciate you trusting me enough to tell me, but now that we've talked about it, let's put it in the past and, like you said, start fresh moving forward. What do you say?"

Elizabeth looked at the man sitting next to her, not only was he exceptionally good-looking, in, well, everything he wore, and did not wear, she admitted remembering the Jail. He had always been able to lift her heart, to help her see the truth, even if it was uncomfortable. He pushed her just enough and then let her decide to keep going. "Nathan Grant, you are a remarkable man, an impeccable man, and I will consider myself the luckiest woman on earth to love you every single day for the rest of my life." With that she leaned in, intending on a chaste kiss, but one that would show the truth of what she said. Instead, she found her self deepening the kiss and soon the two of them were on the ground, Elizabeth on Nathan's chest, enjoying the feeling of safety and truly being home. Without warning, Nathan rolled them over, and she found herself with her back on the ground and Nathan on top of her. She wrapped her arms around him, pulling him closer. Her heart was racing and the roaring in her ears was getting louder when she felt herself loose a bit of her control. Nathan, sensing his resolve weakening as well, slowly pulled back until he was looking at her, passion and desire turning the blue of his eyes even darker than she'd seen. "And here I was thinking I'd be the one pushing the boundaries." Gently, she pushed him away, and he rolled over next to her before they both sat up.

"I'll have you know, sir, that a proper lady from Hamilton would never even come close to pushing any boundaries."

Nathan stood up and held out his hand to help her stand up as well. "And what about a lady from Hope Valley?" he asked with a grin.

The sun was starting to set when Allie knocked on the door at the Coulter's row house, hoping that they might know where her dad was.

"Hello, Allie," Lee said with a smile as he opened the door. "What brings you by?"

"Hi Mr. Coulter, I was wondering, have you seen my dad? I thought maybe he was at Mrs. Thornton's but no one was there, and I am hoping you might know."

Seeing Allie at the door, Jack ran to meet her, with Goldie right behind him. She knelt down and smiled as both kids ran into her arms. Once she had stood back up, Jack took her hand and asked, "Allie, are you having dinner here too?"

"Well," she said, just as Rosemary joined them, "Of course she is Jack. Goldie, do you want Allie to stay for dinner?" Goldie smiled and reached out her hand for Allie as well.

Trying to choke down the emotions that welled up, she smiled and said, "I sure am" and the three of them headed to the kitchen.

The sun was starting to set, and the cool air was getting more noticeable. Even though their clothes were mostly dry it was decided that they should head home.

"Nathan." Elizabeth said as they were folding up the blanket.

"Yes."

"Would you be okay if we kept this place to ourselves, I mean if others already know about it that's fine, but I'd really like to keep it as our magical place, just for a while, if we can."

"I couldn't agree more." Nathan said, reaching for her basket with one hand, and using the other to take her hand.

"Thank you." she said, with a smile, and together they headed back home.

"So, now what happens?" Elizabeth asked, "Once we get home?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there's Allie and Jack, and our friends to think about, so what do we tell them?"

"How about we have dinner tonight, just the four of us, and explain what is going on." Nathan suggested

"Okay, but…" Elizabeth hedged.

"But what?" Nathan asked, confused.

"What exactly are we going to tell them?" she asked.

"Ahhh. What are you comfortable saying?"

Elizabeth thought for a moment, "Jack probably won't exactly understand like Allie, so maybe we just start with telling them we plan to spend more time together. The four of us and just the two of us, and maybe that's what we tell everyone for right now."

"I second that, but Elizabeth," Nathan said, stopping and turning pulling her around to look at him, "If I am being honest, I would like this to turn into something a lot more than that. I want to marry you, Elizabeth. I want to share my life with you, and Jack and Allie."

"Nathan, I feel exactly the same way, but can we just enjoy this as it is, for now?"

Nathan leaned down and captured her lips once more, "Yes, I like that idea, Just know that this," he kissed her again, "Won't stop."

"That's a relief" Elizabeth giggled, "But maybe we should try to be strong around the children."

"I agree." Nathan said, while winking at her.

They began walking again and soon were out of the trees and stopped at Elizabeth's row house. "Jack is at Rosemary's, so I need to go there to pick him up." Elizabeth said.

"I'll go with you" Nathan told her as they walked up the stairs.

A moment after knocking on, the door opened to reveal Rosemary, with Goldie on her hip. Seeing the two of them standing together, she squealed and leaned into hug Elizabeth. Her squeal had gotten the attention of Jack, who came running up to them.

"Hi Mountie Nathan" he said, giving a little salute

"Hi Mountie Jack" Nathan responded, with a salute of his own.

"Dad, there you are!" Allie cried coming to the door, "I was getting worried…" her voice trailed off when she noticed something different about her teacher and her dad. Not wanting to spoil anything, she quickly finished with "I was getting worried and came looking, Mr. and Mrs. Coulter asked if I'd like to stay for dinner."

"And she said yes!" Jack told them excitedly.

"And you two are welcome as well." Lee said, joining the group, while wiping his hands on a dish towel.

"Absolutely." Rosemary told them, a little too loudly. She was trying really hard to contain her excitement, but couldn't seem to do it.

Elizabeth looked at Nathan, who smiled and nodded. "Works for me." he said. He knew that any kind of relationship with Elizabeth would include the Coulters, and it didn't bother him at all. In fact, he was secretly happy to be included and get to know them better.