They finished transcribing the journals at nearly two in the morning, and Nathan rode immediately back to the fort so that Jimmy could lock them safely away. Riding back, Nathan stayed off the main road, and it was well that he had, because he saw Hargreaves ride by as he hid camouflaged in the heavy forest.

With his perfectly pressed serge, the angle of his hat strictly regulation, and his straight-backed posture, Hargreaves was the picture of the ideal Mountie – and Nathan seethed as he watched him pass by. Having never chosen to marry, Andrew Hargreaves had no understanding of a wife and child left behind, no compassion for the grief borne of his decisions, and if asked, he would consider himself exemplary.

It took every ounce of Nathan's willpower to keep himself from riding after him and pulling him off his horse to do battle.

But that wasn't the way to truly hurt Hargreaves. The most efficient path was to take away his command, relieve him of the uniform he hides behind, and force him to spend the rest of his life finding out just how much pain he had caused innocent people – starting with Jack and Eizabeth Thornton. Nathan had no doubt that when his superiors were presented with the evidence, Hargreaves would lose everything.

But Nathan's feelings about the journal were complex to say the least. Until Elizabeth had assured him it wasn't true, Nathan had felt he was in Jack's shadow. How do you compete with a ghost – and one who died suddenly at the height of his service as an excellent Mountie, and as an excellent man? If pressed, Nathan would say that his competition had always been more with Jack than with Lucas.

He had assumed that every time Elizabeth stepped into his office, every time he rode by on his horse, every time he stood leaning on the boardwalk post drinking his coffee, that Elizabeth had years' worth of memories to compare to, and he always wondered how he measured up. How did she feel when he held her in his serge, when her cheek was against the red wool that was so familiar to her, did she close her eyes and imagine…

Nathan shook his head and allowed himself a moment before he spurred Newton on. This whole trip had been about Jack, and it was no wonder his thoughts were veering in that direction again.

But in the dark of the night as they took a break from transcribing, Elizabeth had more than explained how different they were, and that the serge and the job were only a very small part of who he was.

"You and Jack couldn't be more different," she said as she rubbed her eyes in the candlelight.

Nathan stopped and looked up, his heart suddenly quickening. He had never wanted to ask, but now he could.

"In what way?" he said, keeping his voice even.

"I think I always knew that he would keep taking more and more dangerous missions until something…" she looked down at the journal in front of her, "... this, happened." She sighed and smiled thinly at Nathan. "He always made it clear to me that he had fallen in love with me almost against his will. He never intended it – to have a wife, much less a child."

Nathan nodded. "I suppose you could say the same about me in a way. The last thing I intended was to fall in love with you."

"Yes, but you made it clear what your priorities are." Elizabeth released a deep breath. "Out by the log, when you told me you would quit the Mounties? I know I didn't show it, but that meant so much to me. That you would even say it. That's why I had to ride away, because if I hadn't, I would have thrown my arms around you and never let go."

Nathan took her hand across the table. "Would that have been so terrible?"

Elizabeth laughed softly. "It would have made things much easier, wouldn't it?" She shook her head. "I couldn't. I had promised myself I would never be in that position again, of waiting for hours, days, months, to know if my husband was coming home. To see the look in the eyes of some poor Mountie tasked with telling me he died. I thought I would die with him…"

Nathan simply squeezed her hand. "I meant it, Elizabeth. My job will never be more important than you, or Allie, or Jack."

Elizabeth nodded brightly. "I know that. And that's the difference. Honestly, as I read this journal, it all feels so… so inevitable. And with you, I feel none of that. I see a long life ahead of us and a love as solid as rock. It's so very different."

Nathan felt a peace come over him, and he understood. Jack was Elizabeth's first love, but Nathan would be her forever love. He felt all the worry, jealousy and envy melt away.

Now, as he let Newton run, Nathan remembered the day that he and Carson had stood watching the women they loved and vowed not to give up. That resolve was still as strong in Nathan as it was that day. He'd said then that Elizabeth needed to know him – and now he felt that she did.

The best way to put all of this behind them was for Nathan and Bill to clear Jack of any wrongdoing and allow him to rest in peace. And when that was accomplished, Nathan planned to ask Elizabeth to marry him, and express his wishes to adopt her son. He hadn't developed a clear plan, but his grandmother's ring was safely wrapped in a velvet square inside a wooden box that had been tucked away in the bag that he carried even now. He reached down into his saddlebag just to touch it and be sure.

Nathan was a romantic who resided in the body of a man who didn't feel he knew how to express it. Elizabeth already thought of him as one, because she'd never been a woman who wanted grand gestures. She still thought fondly of the apple he had brought her, the plaque he had made for her to put in the library, and the countless sweet words and notes she'd received in recent months.

He wanted everything to be perfect when he finally asked her to be his wife. He didn't know when that would be – he just assumed he would know when the time was right.

"Just a little while longer…" Nathan said softly, as he urged Newton on into the first light of morning.

When Nathan arrived back at the inn, he let himself into the room quietly. Elizabeth was asleep on the bed fully clothed, and he took a blanket from the cedar chest at her feet, Wrapping it around her, he kissed her gently, in awe of how beautiful she was in the flickering firelight.

He could still faintly see the tracks of her tears on her cheeks. This had been a painful night for her, as he knew it would be. But in a way he felt it had been a catharsis of sorts, the closing of a door.

Nathan sat by the fire to warm himself and watched Elizabeth sleep for a bit. There was no great hurry now. Inquests couldn't be organized on a moments' notice, especially when they would be as controversial and emotionally charged as this one. By the time Hargreaves began the process, Nathan and Bill would have initiated a safe transfer for Jimmy and would have a signed statement that he had been forced to write the false journal. Hopefully, Bill had found some of the old guard who knew most of the story and would be outraged by Hargreaves' duplicity.

Nathan rubbed his eyes and finally closed them. The fire was warming his tired muscles – four cold rides to and from Fort Clay on top of the long journey from Hope Valley were beginning to take their toll.

Just for a minute, he thought.

He woke to a gentle kiss from Elizabeth and the tantalizing aroma of bacon, eggs, and freshly baked biscuits.

"Nathan," she whispered, "I let you sleep as long as I could but we only have the room for another hour…"

Nathan smiled and stretched after the hours in the chair. The blanket he had placed on Elizabeth was now pulled up to his chin. He gazed over at the small table filled with breakfast and two glasses of ale.

Elizabeth laughed softly. "Cook is convinced I'm pregnant and feeding two, and I didn't dissuade her of the notion. Thank goodness corsets have gone out of style!"

Nathan laughed too, and stood slowly to stretch some more. "You take very good care of me, Elizabeth," he said, gazing at her with soft eyes.

"You take very good care of me, Constable," Elizabeth said quietly, matching his gaze.

They stood for a moment enjoying what could be viewed as domestic bliss, and then both sighed, and Nathan said, "An hour, huh? I suppose we should eat and find a way to get me out of here without scandalizing the inn."

It was easier than they imagined. Cook was in a very loud argument with her serving girl and they wouldn't have noticed an army coming down the back stairs and out the door.

They met on the main road after Elizabeth collected Sargent and Nathan went to the livery for Newton. They were still laughing about what they'd heard in the kitchen.

"What do you think happened to that mutton bone?" Nathan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It went to her boyfriend or her dog, and it sounds like she didn't know that Cook was intending to make soup with it. Poor girl was shaking!"

"Imposing woman…" Nathan said, grimacing. "I've sat for disciplinary meetings that were friendlier…"

"And you've sat for a lot of those, have you?" Elizabeth asked, tilting her head.

Sighing, Nathan said, "A few. I've had some trouble with rule-following." He smiled and raised his chin a bit. "But only when the rules make no sense."

Elizabeth nodded and smiled. "I think you know it's the same for me. It's one of the reasons I would never have fit in with Hamilton society. Sometimes I watch my mother at charity teas and I think she's screaming inside. But the difference between us is that she would never admit it."

Nathan looked over at her as they ambled the horses slowly to the main road. "So you won't miss the house Lucas was going to build for you?" As always, it was a serious question softened with a smile.

Elizabeth immediately shook her head. "I never wanted it. He wanted it for me." She paused and looked up at the sun rising in the sky. "The night before I broke off our engagement I was sitting in my little house looking at photographs. It was very late, but Rosemary saw that my light was on and came to see if I was alright. I most definitely wasn't."

Nathan let her take her time and didn't interrupt her.

"I was thinking about you and Hope Valley and the simplicity of my house and my life – and I just couldn't imagine giving it up. I felt as if I had been moving forward for so many years, and Lucas was pulling me backward, back into a life I had long ago left behind." She looked down and sighed. "I couldn't imagine raising Jack in that life, and I couldn't imagine that life…" She looked over directly into Nathan's eyes, "...without you."

Nathan took a deep breath to expand his chest with the feeling those words brought on. "And is that what you said to Rosemary?"

Elizabeth laughed. "No. I suppose I had to admit that I couldn't marry Lucas first, and then that I was in love with you. Rome wasn't built in a day."

Nathan laughed too. "No I suppose it wasn't." He gazed back at her. "Can you imagine a less likely couple? We've both spent so much time trying not to be in love. It seems simple to say we should have just let go into it, but nothing about us has been simple."

Elizabeth reached her hand across and clasped his. "Nothing truly worthwhile ever is. But by the time Rosemary left, I had my answer."

He moved her hand to his lips. "I'll be sure to thank her for that someday." Releasing her hand, Nathan said, "You ready to ride a little faster? There's a place I want to show you where we can get a wonderful lunch."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow. "I think I can keep up with you. Lead on!"