Author's note: This is the fifth (!) story in the Jack Thornton Cliffhanger Collection. If you are just joining us, the previous stories are: The Elizabeth That Jack Loved, A Legacy to Protect, Steadfast, and Going Under. They jump around chronologically, I'm not sure how they read in order - it's just the order I've written them in. Enjoy!
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"Mama! Time to wake up!"
Elizabeth's eyes flew open, startled from a deep sleep by her little boy. She noticed the sun was much brighter than it usually was in her bedroom, so she looked at the clock. "Eight thirty? Honeybear, what time did you wake up?"
"I dunno. But Allie made me breakfast and played with me this morning!" Jack ran out of the room and back down the stairs, presumably to see the girl.
"Allie?" Elizabeth said to herself, rising for the morning. Memories of last night suddenly flooded her brain - she had a nightmare and Nathan stayed with her. There was no indication in her room that he had even been there. Except perhaps the girl downstairs.
She wrapped herself up in her dressing gown and made her way down the stairs. As Jack has said, Allie was down there, currently washing up Jack's breakfast dishes.
Allie turned at the sound of adult footsteps on the stairs and placed the hand towel she had been using to dry the dishes down on the sideboard. "Good morning, Mrs. Thornton."
"Good morning, Allie. What…What are you doing here?" Elizabeth asked as stepped into the kitchen area of the small house.
Allie quickly responded, a little cautious, as if she was someplace she shouldn't be. "Uh. Dad sent me over. He had to go do his rounds this morning, but he said he would stop by on his way back into town. He figured that because of last night, you might want to sleep a little later, so he told me to try to intercept Jack, get him breakfast, and keep him busy so you could sleep some more. But Jack reached his limit a few minutes ago. I'm sorry." She frowned in the direction of the boy playing quietly by the sofa.
Elizabeth was vaguely aware that Allie had seen her last night at Nathan's during the worst of her reaction to the nightmare. "Oh no, no Allie. You have nothing to be sorry for. Thank you for doing this."
That brightened Allie right up. "Would you like some tea? I have some water on. And I can cook up a quick breakfast if you'd like?"
Recognizing Allie's need to be helpful right now, Elizabeth smiled at her. "Yes, tea would be great. And so would some food." She walked over and sat down at the table, while Allie grabbed a teacup and the kettle to pour her some tea.
Elizabeth thanked Allie for the tea, and Allie began cracking up some eggs for scrambled eggs.
"I'm sorry for waking you up last night, Allie." Elizabeth said, opening the conversation up, knowing Allie would have questions.
Allie turned back towards Elizabeth. "Oh, it's okay." She took a deep breath, appearing to Elizabeth like she was trying to gather the courage to ask something she maybe didn't have a right to ask. "Dad told me that you got some news about Mountie Jack yesterday."
'Trust Allie to never shy away from tough conversations,' Elizabeth thought to herself. But something else struck her as the girl spoke. "Mountie Jack? I've…It's odd to hear you of all people use that name."
Allie stopped prepping breakfast and sat down in the chair opposite of Elizabeth. "That's what all the kids call him. They talk about him a lot. Well, they used to, not as much nowadays. But Robert and Emily usually have some story about him. And Opal."
Elizabeth smiled fondly at Opal's name, while Allie continued. "Opal even apologized once," she said incredulously. "Something about thinking that there could never be another Mountie as brave as Mountie Jack, but she was wrong because Dad was just as brave. I didn't really get it."
Elizabeth chuckled lightly. "Opal had a special relationship with Mountie Jack - he saved her from a fire, just before he left for Ft. Clay. So to her, he was her hero." She paused thoughtfully. "When did she apologize to you?"
"After the hike where we got caught in the windstorm. She said Dad was brave for helping find Emily."
Elizabeth smiled at the memory, and at the thought of little Opal apologizing to her friend with something so out of context. And how confused Allie must have been. She sighed, and then noticed that Allie still had a look of concerned curiosity on her face. Knowing she wanted more details, Elizabeth said, "I don't know what your dad told about Mountie Jack, but they are opening an investigation into some…I don't know, dealings, he might have been involved with when he served in the Northern Territories."
Allie's eyes widened as she spoke. Everything she knew about Mountie Jack from the Hope Valley kids that knew him was that he was a good person. But kids don't usually see the other side of a lot of adults, so maybe…
Elizabeth broke her thoughts, stumbling over her words. "Oh. Ugh, I'm not sure if I should have told you that. I know your dad wanted to keep it quiet as long as possible. So that stays between us, okay?" She looked at Allie expectantly.
Allie nodded, clearly expecting this lecture. "Of course. Dad always says Mountie stuff is not to be shared outside the house."
"Your dad shares Mountie business with you?" Elizabeth was shocked.
Allie was quick to correct her. "Oh no! Dad doesn't talk about Mountie stuff at all with me. But not everyone is as aware of small ears, as Dad says. Lots of people talk and didn't notice me around when I was smaller." She laughed. "It doesn't happen much anymore." She got up and returned to prepping breakfast.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes in disbelief and shook her head at the absurdity of people. A small child didn't need to hear the concerns of adults, especially those that they would talk to a Mountie about. In many ways, Allie had to grow up a lot faster than some of the other kids here in Hope Valley. She watched as the girl, no, the young woman stood in her kitchen, getting some bread ready to make toast, reveling in how much Allie had grown since she met her. How much she had been through before coming to Hope Valley, and even after. How much hurt even she herself had caused Allie. And yet, here she was. Happily making breakfast for her.
"Allie?" The young woman turned, with an eyebrow raised. "I want you to know how much this means to me. You being here. And it's not just about making breakfast or helping with Jack."
The girl shrugged and turned back to the food. "It's nothing Mrs. Thornton. It's what you do for the people you care about. For, well, family." She tipped her head down, her long hair hiding her face from Elizabeth.
Elizabeth got up and rounded the table, stopping just to the side of Allie. She gently reached over and pushed Allie's hair from in front of her face to over her shoulder.
Allie took a deep breath and turned to face Elizabeth. "Dad told me that you two were a couple, and well, I just thought…that maybe…" She trailed off, her bravery stalling mid-sentence.
Elizabeth pulled her in for a hug, Allie's arms wrapping around her immediately. She rested her cheek on Allie's head and they stood there, enjoying the closeness.
Elizabeth was the first to pull back, but she kept the young woman in grasp of her arms. "I think you've gotten some lessons in family lately." She grinned and raised her eyebrows at Allie. "And family is what you make it. It's not always about blood, or marriage. You know, I have a whole family - my mother, father, sisters, a niece - all in Hamilton. But when I think 'family,' especially family that's there for me when I need them? I think about Mrs. Coulter. Mr. Coulter. Judge Avery." She paused thoughtfully. "I think of your father. And yes, Allie, I think of you."
Allie beamed. "You do?"
Elizabeth smiled and stepped them back towards the stove to finish breakfast. "Of course I do. I don't think you realize what a big help you are when it comes to Jack. And I care about what happens to you."
"Like when I went to Granville?" At Elizabeth's nod, she continued. "It was nice that you were there. Both for me on the ride home. But also for Dad on the way there. I didn't really think about him when I left." She hung her head a bit.
"Exactly. Family is there for one another - and I was there for your dad that day, without him even asking. I just knew that's where I was needed. Just like you knew you needed to be here this morning." Elizabeth wrapped one arm around Allie's shoulders and squeezed.
They worked together to make quick work of the breakfast and they both sat back down at the table so Elizabeth could eat. After taking a few bites, she complemented Allie on the delicious food.
"It's just eggs and toast, Mrs. Thornton," Allie said as she brushed her hair from her face.
Elizabeth looked at her thoughtfully. "Maybe we can start skipping the formalities when it's just us, hmm? If we're family, right?"
Allie's eyes widened in excitement. "Really?" But then confusion settled over her face. "So what should I call you, Elizabeth?" She scrunched up her nose, the name feeling weird coming out of her mouth.
Elizabeth too scrunched up her own nose. It was weird hearing her Christian name come from one of her students - even Robert and Anna, who were grown adults now still called her Mrs. Thornton. Then an idea struck her. "What about Beth?"
"Beth? I've never heard anyone ever call you that."
"My mother and my father do, occasionally, well, not as much anymore that I'm grown. And that's the point - no one here calls me that. It would be a name just for you to use." At Allie's smile, she added quickly, "Just between us, or the four of us. In public and most definitely in school, I'm still Mrs. Thornton."
"Absolutely." Allie nodded once in determination. "Beth."
They sat in companionable quiet until Elizabeth was lifting the last forkful of eggs to her mouth when Allie asked, "Are you and Dad going to get married? I mean if things are changing…" She trailed off, realizing at the last second she probably shouldn't have asked that question.
Elizabeth schooled her face, attempting not to look as shocked as she felt. She put the fork back down to the plate without taking a bite, knowing Allie deserved her undivided attention right now. "We haven't talked about it, Allie. It's…we're still figuring a lot out. We have a lot to talk about, and with the news about Jack…" 'That's an understatement if ever there was one' Elizabeth thought to herself as she continued. "You and I even have a lot to talk about. But not today," she added at Allie's expectant look. "I don't have that in me today."
Allie nodded and focused her attention on the table, content to have gotten an answer but not really getting the one she was so desperately looking for.
And Elizabeth could see it written all over her face. "But," Allie's face met hers, "I hope so."
Allie, to her credit, managed to contain her excitement and only gave Elizabeth a small smile. She quickly got up, Elizabeth assumed to hide an even larger smile behind the pretext of doing up the rest of the dishes.
There was a knock at the door, and as Elizabeth got up to answer it, the door opened revealing Nathan. "Good morning?"
"Mountie Nathan!" Jack, who had been shockingly consumed with his blocks and cars this morning, ran up to meet him.
Nathan removed his hat as he greeted the boy. "Mountie Jack," he nodded.
"You should come see my city!" Jack ran back to his toys, immediately immersed into the little world he had built.
"I will, just let me say hi to your mom and Allie." After getting no response, he huffed out a laugh and turned to Elizabeth, who was watching the exchange with a hand on her hip. "What?"
"You just walk in now?" She smirked at him.
Nathan, a little lost for words, stumbled a bit. "Uh. Rosemary just comes in, doesn't she?"
Elizabeth laughed out loud. "Oh, just wait until I tell Rosemary you think you're on her level."
His eyes widened, "I can go back out." He gestured to the door, smirking.
She shook her head and walked over to him. "Nah. It's fine." She reached up and stroked his cheek before rising onto her toes and kissing him, right there in the same room as the children.
Nathan responded to the kiss eagerly, but quickly realized they were in the same room as the children and pulled back, whispering, "Not that I mind, but…" he trailed off, eyeing first Jack, then Allie.
"Thank you. First for last night, then for sending Allie over this morning." She wove her fingers through his hair, not wanting to leave the comfort of his arms.
Nathan smiled down at her. "I'm glad she was helpful."
"She was. And we had a bit of a chat this morning."
Nathan raised an eyebrow at that, but was interrupted by said child. "Mrs. Thor…Beth, do you want me to take Jack outside?"
He reacted immediately, he let Elizabeth go and moved to step around her to head to the kitchen. "Allie! You know better."
Elizabeth stopped him with a gentle hand on his forearm. "I told her she could. As long as it's okay with you." He nodded aimlessly, looking down at the hand on his arm. Elizabeth took it as acquiescence. "Yes, Allie, go ahead."
Allie collected Jack up, coaxing him out the door with the thought of picking flowers for his mom, as Nathan processed what had just happened. He smiled at her slightly. "Beth? I've never…"
"Exactly. A name just for her."
She barely had a second to breathe before he grasped her jaw with his palm and pulled her to his lips in a scorching kiss. She gasped into his mouth, allowing his tongue to gain entrance, swirling with her own. It was a quick, fiery kiss, and he was the first to pull away, resting his head on her forehead as he caught his breath. "I love…I love the way you love her," he whispered.
She nodded, eyes misty with the morning's events contrasting with the events of the day and night before. She marveled at the family she had surrounding her, even on what should be one of her darkest days since Jack's death. She wrapped her arms tightly around Nathan's middle, his falling around her - how could she have waited so long for this?
They parted a few moments later, both smiling. "I should get my day started. It's late for me," Elizabeth started back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up.
"Yeah, you might want to get dressed." He said with a smirk in his voice.
Elizabeth stopped in her tracks and looked down. She whipped around. "Nathan Grant! Why didn't you say anything?"
He shrugged his shoulders, silently laughing. "I was here last night and you were only wearing a nightgown then! I didn't think it mattered."
"It was dark! This is the light of day!" She quickly walked over to the steps and started climbing them, but stopped mid-flight and leaned down over the railing. "I can't believe you." Her voice was scolding but her smile shined bright .
He was happy he could pull that kind of smile out of her this morning. There was more to discuss, but she deserved the lightness that this morning had brought her. He walked over to the railing and looked up at her. "I love you."
Her smile softened, and she reached down to grasp his face and kiss him lightly. "I love you, too."
He stepped back, reluctant to bring up the news she received yesterday. "I've got to go finish my rounds, and then I'll be back. We can talk a bit about what our next steps are going to be."
Her smile finally fell from her face, as he walked to the door and left. The next few weeks, maybe even months were going to be a trial. For her, for them, for their family.
Their family.
She smiled despite her grief and climbed the stairs, ready to face the coming storm.
